From now on we will allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves as God’s
Self-revelations and necessary truths about human existence.
So who is the God of Israel?
There is only one true and living God. He is Elohim.
“You were shown these things so that you may know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:35
“Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:39
“This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: ‘I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God…Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.’” Isaiah 4:6,8
Elohim exists as a composite unity.
What does this mean? This may surprise you. “Elohim” doesn’t properly translate “God.” It is plural—“Gods.” Let’s look at the very first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning, Elohim, (that is, Gods) created the heavens and the earth.” Now moving a few verses further to Gen 1: 26, we read of the creation of man: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….” Can anyone make man but God alone? Who is “us?” Who is God talking to? There are many other references to God in the plural as our “Makers,” “Creators” “Husbands,” etc.
Even in the watchword of the Jewish faith, the “Sh’ma,” God is described as a composite/compound/pluralistic unity, specifically in the word “echad.” Here is the literal translation of the Sh’ma found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear Israel, YHVH [special singular title for the God of Israel as opposed to pagan gods. Its pronunciation is unknown--Yahweh, Jehovah, Adonai, and the LORD--have all been used], our Gods, YHVH is one composite unity.”
How do we know this is correct?
1) The word “echad” has numerous other references in the Scriptures that illustrate it to mean a compound/composite unity:
Genesis 1:5 “And there was evening and there was morning, day one (yom echad).” The union of darkness and light is a composite unity.
Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh (l’vasar echad).” Man and woman are united as one compound unity.
Ezekiel 37:17 refers to Judah and Israel being 2 sticks rejoined together as one stick (l’aytz echad) “and they shall become one (echad) in your hand.”
In a number of other references the people of Israel are called “am echad,” one people, made up of many individuals, therefore a compound unity.
2) An absolute singularity which signifies “excluding all others, standing by itself” has its own Hebrew words. Yachid, rak, and bilti all indicate an absolute singularity. Yet none of these were used in the Sh’ma.
3) Evidence from creation. If all of nature reflects the nature of God, there is a strong argument for God’s plurality in His unity. All of creation exists in compound unities. So far scientists have found no “unities” in nature that are not composed of many parts. Just recently European researchers studying one of the smallest known bacteria have discovered it produces 689 proteins which assemble into “some 200 specialized protein complexes [machines] that do most of the work of the cell.” [New York Times, 12/1/09, Section D-3]
Has God told us anything about the integral components of His unity?
Yes. In numerous scriptures, God reveals the nature of His components. We will call these components “Persons” or “Personalities.” The patriarchs of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel as well as the heroes of the faith, Moses and David all knew of these Persons, and the writers of the Scriptures all wrote about them. Who are they?
Persons of Elohim
1) The Spirit of God In Genesis 1:1,2 we see both Elohim and Ruach Elohim active in creation. "In the beginning Gods [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth....and the Spirit [ruach] of Gods [Elohim]was hovering over the waters." The first refers to a plurality in God and the second expression singles out one of these to state His special work in creation.
What is the Spirit of God like? He is not just a “force,” a “mode,” or an “emanation.”
In Isaiah 11:1,2 the Spirit is described with personal traits such as wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, and knowledge.
In the Scriptures, we see that the Spirit would rest on or temporarily dwell in certain people for a specific time to accomplish specific tasks requiring supernatural power, wisdom, skill or foresight.
In Psalm 51:11 King David pleads with God to forgive him for committing adultery and murder and cries out, ”Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.”
2) The 2nd Divine Person is described in many ways with many titles.
Here are some: “The Angel of YHVH,” “The Wisdom of God,” “The Right Hand (or Arm) of YHVH,” “The Servant of YHVH,” “The Son of God,” “The Name of YHVH,” “The Word of YHVH.” These names help to describe who He is and what He does.
Angel of YHVH
There are at least 20 appearances of “The Angel of YHVH” (translated “The Angel of the LORD”) in the Hebrew Scriptures. The word “angel” is malach, which also can mean “messenger.” Appearance is an appropriate word here, because this Person takes on a recognizable human form and appears to both men and women. Yet in nearly every instance, this “angel” is also called “YHVH” or “Elohim.”
He appeared to Hagar in Genesis 16:9 and speaks to her from heaven in Genesis 21:17.
He appeared to Abraham, being referred to as “the LORD” [YHVH] who tells Abraham of the son Sarah will bear and of the coming destruction of Sodom. Abraham is certain he has spoken to the LORD Himself. Genesis 18
Jacob wrestles all night with an angel of whom he says, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” Genesis 32:22-30
In Exodus 3, He appears to Moses in flames of fire from within a bush. In verse 2, this Person is called “the Angel of YHVH,” but in verse 4, He is called both YHVH and Elohim. And verse 5 settles it: “that they may believe that YHVH, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has appeared to you.”
In Exodus 14:19, The Angel of the LORD is the one who brought Israel out of Egypt and goes before and behind the Israelites on their desert wanderings and is said to have The Name of God [which refers to His nature] in Him. Ex 23:20
The list goes on. He appears to Balaam (Numbers 22:23), to Gideon (Judges 6:11-22), to Manoah and his wife who were Samson’s parents (Judges 13:3-22), to King David (2 Samuel 24:16,17), to Elijah (1 Kings 19:5-18; 2 Kings 1:3,4,15), and in the fiery furnace and the lion’s den to rescue His servants (Daniel 3:24-28; 6:22).
The Wisdom of God
In the 8th chapter of Proverbs, the first 13 verses describe wisdom, personified as a woman. Then in verse 14, another voice declares that He is wisdom itself, that by His authority kings rule and princes judge. We see that God is speaking of Himself. Then in verses 22-31 we see that the speaker is eternal and was with YHVH at creation. He is everlasting, given power and authority by YHVH, and assisted YHVH in creating the universe. This is none other than the 2nd Person of God.
The Word of God
In numerous instances in the Bible we read “The word of the LORD came to….” While it may be easy to dismiss this as thoughts, ideas, or directives that were communicated in words to men and prophets of old, let’s look at some examples that reveal a different perspective. In certain cases, could it be that the “Word of the Lord” was actually the appearance of the 2nd Divine Person?
Genesis 15:1 “The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision” and told Abram not to be afraid. Ideas don’t usually visibly appear nor do they speak. Abraham’s response is “Oh Sovereign LORD!” and he proceeds to converse with the “Word of the LORD.”
Psalm 33: 4-6 “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” Here the word is spoken of as working, loving, and creating. Note who is with him—the breath or ruach or Spirit. Thus 2 Divine Persons are mentioned here in creation—the Word and the Spirit.
In Psalm 147:15 and Isaiah 55:11, we learn more about the Word of the LORD. “He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly”…. “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which it was sent.” Here we get a picture of one being sent forth by God's command to swiftly accomplish a mission and then to return to God having fulfilled it.
In Ezekiel 1:3, “...the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel, the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.” Immediately Ezekiel saw visions of God describing in verses 26-28 a man with “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” And he fell facedown in worship.
From these few examples out of many, we see that “the Word of the LORD” in many instances is the visible 2nd Person of God.
God’s Son
In Psalm 2 and Proverbs 30, we see two specific references to God having a Son who is co-equal with himself. In Psalm 2 we learn that this Son is a King who inherits the nations, possesses the ends of the earth, rules, judges and presides over all. He is to be served, feared, and worshipped and has man’s destiny in his hands. No earthly king can fulfill this role.
Proverbs 30 begins with praises to God for his omnipotence and sovereignty. At the end of verse 4, we read, “Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!”
The Right Hand (or Arm) of YHVH
Like the “Word of the LORD,” the “Right Hand” or “Arm” of the LORD is often described as going forth to save men, conquer enemies and fulfill God’s purposes. More information on this can be found in Stone #12.
The Servant of YHVH More information in Stone #7.
From the above descriptions, we begin to see that the 2nd Person of God is one who goes forth from God to perform mighty acts, to carry out God’s purposes among men, and to return to God when the mission is accomplished. He may also be seen as a “personal LORD” as King David refers to Him in Psalm 110:1 where he says,
The LORD (YHVH) says to my LORD (Adoni), “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
3) The 3rd Person in Elohim is the LORD YHVH.
In His essence, He is the most mysterious and unknowable of the Persons in Elohim.
Unlike the Spirit and the Word who deal directly with humans, this Divine Person is the Transcendent One, the Supervisor, Orchestrator, Director, Planner, Sender, Elector and Father. He is also unapproachable Light, the One who, if men see in their flesh, they will die.
Like electricity, which can only be known by its effects, we can only know the Almighty Father through the properties of what we can experience as human beings. The Israelites knew this well and pleaded with Moses to be their mediator, fearful of the consuming Presence of God. Yet how could Moses, a mere man himself, speak with God face to face as the Scriptures tell us (Exodus 33:11) and not be consumed? He spoke with the 2nd Person who represents the Father and may be seen, heard and experienced directly. Therefore, our knowledge of the LORD YHVH comes only through the works of His Spirit and His Son.
There are actually some scriptures that reveal the presence of all three Persons of God together. Here is one:
Isaiah 48:12-16 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, My called: I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand up together. All of you, assemble yourselves and hear! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall do his pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken; yes, I have called him, I have brought him, and his way will prosper. Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord YHVH and his Spirit have sent Me."
In this passage, The Lord YHVH is the Sender along with His Spirit, and “Me” is the 2nd Divine Person who carries out the Father’s plans on earth.
In summary, there are 3 distinct, yet undivided, Persons in God: The Father, the Word, and the Spirit. Elohim is a Tri-Unity.
So what is God like? What are His attributes? Prayer: "God, please open my eyes."
Go to Stone 4. ->
