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It is
crucial to know who God really is. If we would
have true spiritual power, if we would experience
God's blessing, and if we would have eternal life,
we must think of God as He is, not as we think
He is. Idolatry does not consist only in bowing
before statues. The essence of idolatry is having
thoughts about God that are untrue and unworthy
of Him.
The knowledge
of the HaSheeloosh HaKadosh (the Holy Trinity)
does not come from nature, but from divine revelation.
Reason may lead us to believe in the oneness of
God, but it takes God's self-disclosure to reveal
His Tri-unity, His Three-in-Oneness. It took special
revelation, God's self disclosure in His Word,
to reveal that His nature is one of Plurality-in-Singleness,
Trinity-in-Unity, Three-in-Oneness. Since God
has revealed His unique Tri-une nature, it is
essential that we think of God as He is or suffer
the most dire consequences.
There
are many people who reject everything that they
cannot understand or explain. They toss out anything
that does not make sense to them, or does not
seem reasonable. Applying this principle to Almighty
God (for whom nothing is impossible), they conclude
that it is impossible that He can be Three and
yet One. They deny the Trinity on the grounds
that it doesn't make sense to them.
These
people forget that their whole life is surrounded
by mysteries they do not understand. They fail
to consider that any real explanation of even
the simplest phenomenon in nature lies in hidden
obscurity, beyond their comprehension. Despite
the great advancements in science over the past
five hundred years we still can't answer most
of the questions that the Almighty posed to Job:
Have you ever commanded the morning, and caused
the dawn to know its place? Have you walked in
the recesses of the deep? Can you bind the chains
of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you lead forth a constellation in its season,
and guide the Bear with her satellites? Do you
know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their
rule over the earth? Do you give the horse his
might? Is it by your understanding that the hawk
soars, stretching his wings? Is it at your command
that the eagle mounts up?
Do you
know why your nose appreciates the smell of a
rose but is repulsed by the odor of rotting garbage?
Do you understand how your eye can see? Do you
understand why electrons spinning around the nucleus
of an atom don't go flying off into space? Do
you understand the zoo of subatomic particles
like protons, neutrons, electrons, leptons, baryons,
gluons, muons, taus, neutrinos, mesons, and the
various quarks that are the basic building blocks
of energy and matter? We don't fully understand
the workings of a simple cell in our bodies, or
how a seed grows. We don't understand why a baby
takes its first breath. Most of us don't know
why a rainbow forms the way does, or how a beautiful
sunset takes shape, or how a computer computes,
or how a fax faxes. This universe, even after
all our advances in science, is still an inscrutable
mystery.
Since
we can't understand the fall of a leaf from a
tree, the hatching of a robin's egg in our front
yard, the mystery of a caterpillar spinning a
cocoon and emerging as a spectacular butterfly,
how a spider knows to spin a complex, strong and
beautiful web, how a salmon returns to the exact
spot in the river where it was born three years
earlier, why should we expect to fathom the greatest
mystery of all, the eternal, all powerful, all
knowing and all wise Three-in-One? No finite being
is capable of understanding an infinite God.
The
fact that the Trinity cannot be satisfactorily
explained is actually a strong argument in its
favor, because the Uncreated is ultimately
unknowable by any created thing. One wise man
observed this: We think more loftily of God
by knowing that He is incomprehensible and above
our understanding than by conceiving Him according
to our crude understanding. God cannot
be fully known by man, unless the unknowable could
be known, and the invisible seen, and the inaccessible
attained, and the incomprehensible understood.
If we could understand God, then He would have
to be less than God.
In fact
God's divine revelation, the Bible, affirms the
total inability of the human mind to come to know
the mystery of the Holy Trinity. He dwells in
unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can
see (1 Tim. 6:16). The Lord can never be comprehended
as He is in Himself. Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain
to it wise King David admitted (Psalm 139:6).
Our best efforts to grasp the mystery of the Trinity
will always be futile. Only by faith, by trusting
and believing God's special revelation, the Bible,
can we come anywhere close to knowing Him.
The
Trinity was first hinted at in the Tenach (the
Hebrew Scriptures):
In the first verse of the Jewish Bible, God
is revealed as a unity with a plurality.
Plural Name:
"Elohim" is the third word of the Hebrew Scriptures:
In the beginning "Elohim" - "God" (Genesis
1:1). Elohim comes from a root that means "strength,
might, or power." "Elohim" is the most common
word for "God" and is used over 2300 times in
the Scriptures. "Elohim" is plural and can
be literally translated as "gods." Exodus 12:12
refers to "all the elohim (gods) of Egypt."
"Eloah" is the singular form of "Elohim," but
it is used much less frequently - only 250 times.
This plural name that is applied to the One God
is a hint of the plural/singular nature of God
that is more fully revealed in the rest of the
Scriptures.
Plural Verbs:
Normally the plural name "Elohim" is followed
by a singular verb. But there are several fascinating
instances when "Elohim" is accompanied by a plural
verb. Genesis 20:13 literally says in Hebrew
that Elohim (God) they caused me
to wander from my father's house...
And in Genesis 35:7 Elohim (God) they
appeared to him. 2 Samuel 7:23
says: What nation on the earth is like Your
people Israel, whom Elohim they went
to redeem for Himself. Psalm 58:11 declares
that surely there is a God they judge
the earth.
Plural Pronouns:
There are times when plural pronouns are used
to describe the One God. The Lord God, speaking
in Genesis 1:26 says: Let Us
make man in Our image according
to Our likeness. (See
also Genesis 3:22, 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8 for other
instances of plural pronouns that refer to God).
Plural Nouns:
There are several intriguing occurrences where
plural nouns refer to the one God: The LORD...
He is a holy God [literally holy Gods] (Joshua
24:19). Remember your Creator [literally
Creators] in the days of your youth (Ec.
12:1). Let Israel rejoice in his Maker [literally
Makers] (Psalm 149:2). For your
Maker [literally Makers] is your husband
[literally husbands] (Isaiah 54:5).
Plural
Descriptions:
In the Tenach there are mysterious plural descriptions
of the Three-in-One God. King David writes: The
Lord (Adonai) says to my Lord: sit
at my right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool
for Your feet (Psalm 110:1). Psalm 45:6-7
records this: Your throne, O God, is forever
and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter
of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness, therefore God,
Your God has anointed You with the
oil of joy more than Your fellows. The apostle
to the Messianic Jews applies this passage to
Messiah, declaring that Yeshua is God, and that
His Father is God (see Hebrews 1:8-9).
In Genesis
1:1-3 God (Elohim, which is a plural), the Spirit
of God and the Word of God (and God said...),
are all involved in the creation of the universe.
In Isaiah
48 One speaks who calls Himself the first and
the last, and the One who founded the earth. He
goes on to say that from the first I have not
spoken in secret, from the time it took place
I was there. And now the Lord God has
sent Me, and His Spirit (Isaiah 48:12-16).
The Creator who is speaking claims to have been
sent by the Lord God and His Spirit!
In the
Jewish Bible God is pictured sitting on His throne
in Heaven, and at the same time He is present
everywhere throughout the universe (where can
I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your
Presence? - Psalm 139:7), and at the same
time the Spirit of God was dwelling in the
prophets, and at the same time the Shechinah
(God's Dwelling Presence, the Glory of God, the
Holy Spirit) was manifested in the Jerusalem Temple
(1 Kings 8:27)!
From time
to time God manifested Himself as the enigmatic
Angel of the Lord, a mysterious messenger
being (angel means messenger) who appeared throughout
our people's history. When He appeared this mysterious
angel was treated as God Himself. He possessed
divine prerogatives, He had divine authority,
and He received divine worship. When Manoah, the
father of Samson, finally realized that he was
dealing with the Angel of the Lord, he said to
his wife, we shall surely die, for we
have seen God (Judges 13:21-22). In that
same chapter, God is mentioned, the Angel of the
Lord (who is called God), is mentioned, and the
Spirit of God is mentioned. (See Genesis 16:7,
9, 11, Exodus 3:2-6, Judges 2:1-4, 6:11-22, for
other appearances of this mysterious Angel of
the Lord).
What
about the Shema? Some have objected that the
Shema (Hear O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is One - Deut. 6:4) reveals that
God can only be a simple unity. But there are
two Hebrew words for "one" - "echad" and "yachid."
"Echad," which is used to describe the oneness
of God in the Shema, connotes a composite
oneness, as in the unity of a husband and wife,
which are said to be "one" flesh (Genesis 2:24).
"Yachid," which is not used in the Shema,
connotes an absolute oneness, as that of an only
son (Genesis 22:2). The Shema teaches the
unity of God, based on a oneness that allows for
a composite Three-In-Oneness.
HaSheeloosh HaKadosh was clearly
revealed by Messiah Yeshua:
God's singular/plural nature was hinted at, but
not fully understood by the holy Jewish prophets
and priests in the Tenach. It took the revelation
of the Son of God to clearly and fully reveal
God's Three-in-Oneness.
In many ways Messiah Yeshua claimed
equality with God:
Messiah Yeshua did not hesitate to use the plural
when speaking of Himself along with the Father.
We will come to Him and make Our abode with
him (John 14:23). I and My Father are One
(John 10:30). He stated that the person who had
seen Him had seen God (John 14:8-9). He told us
that we are to be immersed in the name (singular)
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit
(Matt. 28:19). When Yeshua told a group of Jewish
leaders, Before Abraham was, I Am (John
8:58), He claimed to be the same eternal "I Am"
God that appeared to Moses at the burning bush
(See Exodus 3:14). He claimed to be omnipresent,
which is only applicable to God. He stated that
wherever two or three are gathered in His name,
He is there in their midst (Matt. 18:20). He promised
to be with each one of His followers to the end
of time (Matt. 28:20). He claimed the attribute
of omnipotence when He said that all authority
in heaven and on earth has been entrusted to Him,
and that He has power over all things (Matt. 28:18).
Even though honor and worship is something that
only God can receive, Yeshua instructed us that
He was to be equally worshipped along with the
Father. All are to honor the Son, even as they
honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent Him (John
5:23). He claimed to be the proper object of our
faith, and that if we believed in Him we would
live forever but if we didn't we would miss eternal
life (John 3:16, 8:24).
Yeshua
claimed to do mighty works that only God can do:
He claimed that He is the source of life (John
14:6), and that He gives eternal life to whom
He wishes (John 5:2), when God alone is the Source
and Giver of life. Even though God is the only
one that prayer may be directed to, Yeshua claimed
that He hears and answers prayers from all people
at all times in all places. Whatever you ask
in My name, that I will do,
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If
You ask Me anything in My name, I will do it
(John 14:13-14). He claimed that He sends
the Holy Spirit (John 15:26), something that only
God can do. He claimed that He indwells all believers
(John 14:23), something that only God can do.
He claimed that He will be the One who raises
the dead on the Last Day (John 10:37-38, 11:25),
something that only God will do. He claimed that
on the Day of Judgement all human beings will
appear before Him for their judgement (John 5:22,
27), something that only God will do. He claimed
to have authority to forgive sins, something that
only God can do (Luke 5:17-26).
Messiah
Yeshua made these claims about Himself. By
doing so He was the first to clearly reveal these
truths about the unique unity of nature and relationship
between Him and His Father. Then He proved His
claims by doing signs and wonders and mighty acts
of power that demonstrated that He was supernaturally
sent and empowered by God. Yeshua demonstrated
His power to heal. He showed His power to raise
the dead. He demonstrated His power over nature.
He manifested His power over Satan and all the
hosts of hell. He proved that He had authority
over His own life, authority to lay it down and
authority to take it up again. Since God would
never allow a liar or a deceiver to be raised
from the dead, Yeshua's resurrection from the
dead was the final demonstration that everything
that He said and did and claimed was done with
God's blessing and approval, and that what Messiah
Yeshua said was the absolute truth. That is why
a leading rabbi like Nicodemus could say to Him:
Rabbi, we know that you come from God as a
teacher, for no one can do these signs that You
do unless God is with Him (John 3:2). However,
most of the Jewish leaders were not like good
rabbi Nicodemus. Many were furious with Yeshua
because they understood that He was a man who
was making Himself out to be God (John 10:33).
It was not Yeshua's claim to be the Messiah
that led to His crucifixion; it was His claim
to have equality with the Father, to be God in
the flesh, that outraged the religious leaders
of His day. They rejected His claim of oneness
with God, which led to the most dire consequences
in their own lives and the life of the entire
nation of Israel that has lasted to this day.
Knowing
that the Trinity was hinted at in the Tenach and
made clear by Messiah Yeshua demonstrates that
the Old and New Testaments are in perfect agreement,
and that the New Testament is the true spiritual
heir of the Old Testament.
Not only
was the Three-in-Oneness of God hinted at in the
Tenach (the Hebrew Scriptures), and made clear
by Messiah Yeshua, but His Jewish Apostles
taught that Yeshua is God in human form, and therefore
the Trinity is true: Even though these Jewish
men were trained in the Shema (Deut. 6:4
- Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord
is one) and the first and second commandments,
they state as absolute fact that Yeshua is the
source of all life (something that is only true
of God - see John 1:4, 5:21, 14:6). They claim
that He created all things (see John 1:3). They
taught that He preceded all things; that all things
were created by Him and for Him; that He upholds
all things, and in Him all things hold together
(Col. 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:3). They claim that in
the future Yeshua will first dissolve and then
remake the entire universe (something that only
God can do - see Heb. 1:10-12, Phil. 3:21, Rev.
21:5). They claim that like God, Messiah Yeshua
is immutable - He never changes - He is the same
yesterday, today and forever (see Heb. 13:8).
They taught that Yeshua has the very form of God,
which means He has God's essential attributes.
He possesses inwardly and displays outwardly the
very essence and nature of God; Messiah Yeshua
is God's equal, and possesses complete equality
with God (Phil. 2:6-8). They taught that Messiah
Yeshua radiates God's glory and exactly represents
God's nature (Heb. 1:3). They claim that the Lord
God was pleased for all His fullness to dwell
in Yeshua (Col. 1:19), and that in Yeshua all
the fullness of God dwells in bodily form (Col.
2:9).
These
Jewish apostles taught the Tri-une nature of God
by the worship Messiah Yeshua receives:
It is very clear from Holy Scripture that God
alone is to be worshipped. No man, woman, saint,
angel, or any created being is ever to be worshipped.
But these Jewish emissaries testify that since
He is equal to God, Messiah Yeshua is to be worshipped
by both angels and men: Let all the angels
of God worship Him (Heb. 1:6). Those who
were with Him in the boat worshiped Him saying,
You are certainly God's Son! (Matt. 14:33).
These apostles declare that throughout eternity
Messiah Yeshua will be worshipped by all created
beings: At the name of Yeshua every knee will
bow of those who are in heaven, and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue confess that
Yeshua the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father (Phil. 2:10-11). To Him who
sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever
and ever (Rev. 5:13).
The
Tri-unity of God is seen by the titles these Jewish
apostles call Him:
They called Him the Savior (a title which can
only apply to God - see Is. 45:21, Acts 4:12,
2 Peter 2:20). They refer to Him as the Redeemer
(which properly applies to the God of Israel -
see Is. 41:14, Col. 1:14, Titus 2:13-14). Like
the God of Israel, Yeshua is called the First
and the Last (see Isaiah 44:6, Rev. 1:17). Like
Israel's God, Yeshua is the Holy One of Israel
(see Isaiah 43:14, Acts 3:14). They recognized
that Yeshua is the unique Son of God, the One
who bears the same divine nature as His Father
(see Psalm 2:7-12, Matt. 16:16, 26:61-64).
These
Jewish emissaries called Yeshua "Lord" in the
Brit Chadasha (New Testament) with the same frequency
and regularity that the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob is called "Lord" in the Tenach (Hebrew
Scriptures). Yes Lord, you know that I love
you. Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the
Messiah, the Son of God. Lord Yeshua receive my
spirit. Believe in the Lord Yeshua and you shall
be saved. And the Lord said "I am Yeshua." The
grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with you.
He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
the Lord of all, the Lord of the living and the
dead, the Lord of all who are in heaven and on
earth and under the earth. These Jewish apostles
are in complete agreement with the prophet Jeremiah
who said that the Messiah's name ("name" means
nature, essential characteristics) is "Adonai
Tzidkaynu," "the Lord our Righteousness" (Jeremiah
23:5-6).
Perhaps
strongest of all, these Jewish apostles claimed
that Messiah Yeshua was "God":
These Jewish men sent by the Master of the Universe
claimed that Yeshua was eternally with
God (In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God), and that He is completely,
totally, and fully identified as God, and that
He is in fact God (and the Word was God
- see John 1:1-2). My Lord and my
God declared Thomas when he saw
the resurrected Yeshua (John 20:28). The apostle
to the Messianic Jews writes: But of the Son
He (God) says, Thy throne O God
is forever and ever (Heb 1:8). In other words,
God the Father acknowledged that His Son was truly
God.
The apostles
looked forward to the blessed hope and the appearing
of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah
Yeshua (Titus 2:13). These Jewish apostles
are in perfect harmony with the prophet Isaiah,
who wrote that the Messiah will be the son that
is born to us and "El Gibor," the "Mighty God"
(Isaiah 9:6-7).
One modern
rabbi made this observation: "Is your master God?
For now I realize only God can demand of me what
Yeshua is asking. (A Rabbi Talks With Jesus,
Doubleday, 1993, pp. 53-54).
The attack
on the doctrine of the Trinity in the fourth century
by Arius and others was aimed at this claim to
Messiah Yeshua's deity and therefore the doctrine
of the Trinity. During the Arian controversy many
of leaders of the Church met at Nicea and adopted
a statement of faith dealing with the Three-in-One
nature of God. I believe in one God, the Father
almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all
things visible and invisible. And I believe in
one Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, the only begotten
Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages,
God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God.
Begotten, not made, of one substance with the
Father. By whom all things were made.
The Nicene
Creed also declares that the Ruach HaKodesh, the
Holy Spirit, is fully God, and equal to the Father
and the Son: And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from
the Father and the Son. Who together with the
Father and the Son is adored and glorified.
For more than 1600 years this statement has
stood as the final test of orthodoxy and genuine
Biblical faith, for it condenses and expresses
in theological language the teaching of both the
Tenach and the New Testament, concerning Yeshua's
divinity and the truth of God's Three-in-One nature.
How does
the truth of the Trinity harmonize with the statement
of Yeshua: My Father is greater than I
(John 14:28)? The old theologians knew, and wrote
in another creed: He is equal to His Father
as touching His Godhead; He is less than the Father
as touching His manhood. Since God can
never become less than Himself, it was impossible
for Yeshua to surrender anything of His essential
deity. When God took upon Himself the nature
of man, Yeshua did not become less than God. In
the incarnation the Son of God added humanity
(which was already made in God's image), but He
did not diminish His essential deity. When
Yeshua became a man He veiled His deity, but He
did not void it.
God
the Father, Messiah Yeshua, and the Spirit have
a single will:
A popular belief among some Christians divides
the work of God between the Three, assigning a
specific part to each One. For instance, creation
is attributed to the Father, redemption to the
Son, and regeneration to the Holy Spirit. But
God cannot divide Himself so that the Father works
while the Son doesn't. The Tri-une God always
works together. The smallest act is never done
by One without the instant agreement of the other
Two. Every act of God is done by the Trinity in
perfect unity. Don't think of the Father, the
Son and the Spirit conferring with one another,
huddling together like some football team. Think
rather of a perfect sharing of mind, a complete
oneness of will, a total unity of purpose, an
infinite unified wisdom, perfect mutual understanding,
taking place instantaneously and eternally.
The Tri-une
God works in perfect unity in all the mighty works
that are done throughout the universe. The work
of creation is attributed to the Father (Gen.
1:1), and to the Son (Col. 1:16), and to the Spirit
(Gen. 1:2, Psalm 33:6). The Incarnation is shown
to have been accomplished by the Father and the
Son and the Spirit working in one accord, although
only the Messiah became flesh to dwell among us
(Luke 1:35). At Messiah's tevilah (baptism) the
Son came up out of the water, the Spirit descended
on Him, and the Father's voice spoke from heaven
(Mt. 3:16-17). The resurrection of Messiah is
likewise attributed to the Father (Acts 2:32),
and to the Son (John 10:17-18), and to the Holy
Spirit (Rom. 1:4). One of the most beautiful descriptions
of the work of atonement is found in Hebrews 9:14,
where it is stated that Messiah Yeshua, through
the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without blemish
to God. The salvation of each individual is shown
by Simon Peter to be the work of the Holy Trinity.
Peter informs us that we are chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the
sanctifying work of the Spirit, for the purpose
that we may obey Messiah Yeshua (1 Pet. 1:2).
Each child of God is said to be indwelt by the
Three-in-One God. Messiah Yeshua promised us:
I will ask the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, that He (the Spirit) may be with
you forever... I will come to you... We (Yeshua
and His Father) will come to you and make Our
abode with you (John 14:15-23).
The true
Messianic Community has not hesitated to teach
the Tri-unity of God. Without pretending to understand
this mystery, the community of saints has given
its witness to this revealed truth and repeated
what the Holy Scriptures teach. Just as the presence
of God was in the pillar of fire by night and
the cloud by day leading the people of Israel,
declaring to all the world, "These are My people,"
so belief in the Trinity has since the days
of the Apostles, shone above the true Messianic
Community as she journeyed through the years.
Purity and power have followed this faith. Under
this banner have gone forth Jewish apostles and
prophets, pastors and teachers, martyrs and songwriters,
reformers and evangelists. God's approval and
blessing has rested on their lives and labors.
However they may have differed on minor matters,
the knowledge of the Trinity bound them together.
But error, heresy, apostasy and destruction have
come to those who deny this Biblical truth. The
mystery of the Holy Trinity. Understand it? Never!
So humble your limited, finite human understanding,
become like a child and simply believe what God
has revealed in His Holy Scriptures about His
Three-In-Oneness.
[I am
indebted to The Knowledge of the Holy by
A.W. Tozer, and Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum for much
of this article]
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