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God, (The Word) according to John became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14) He became son of man when He humbled Himself and was born of a virgin. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (ot) Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.(God with us). (Isaiah 7:14) This passage pertains to a time period when both Israel and Judah wouldn't have kings ruling over them.
Yeshua said that If you see the Son, you have seen the Father. To have an intimate relationship the Father you must go through the Son. This doesn't, as some believe, mean that Yeshua is standing in front of the Father checking passports. The Father and Son are the same. The Son of God wasn't created or born, He is the only begotten. Yeshua was born the Son of man, as Son of God in the flesh. Son of God signifies His authority in heaven and Son of Man signifies His physical presence on earth. Yeshua said, "Before Abraham was I am." He said the same thing to them that He had said to Moses from the burning bush. "I am who I am." Before He spoke those words to Moses, He conversed with Abraham. And before that He created the world through His voice. John established in his gospel that nothing was made without the word, that the word was God, and the word was with God and the word became Yeshua.
Tertullian, a "Church Father" brought into the body of believers a heretical doctrine based on paganism and pantheism. (That God is more than one) The Bible doesn't teach us that there are three Gods. Hear O Israel, the Lord, the Lord your God, He is One.
The 1st century sages understood this pluralistic nature of God in the Shema. "Hear, O, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!" (Deuteronomy 6:4) The triune nature of God is seen with, Lord (Adonai) Our God (Eloheynu) and Lord (Adonai). We also see a triune nature of man seen in the followup passage. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) "Let US create man in OUR image."
When we pray to God the Father we are addressing one God in the nature of creator. When we pray to Yeshua (Jesus) we are addressing God as the Redeemer. We are not praying to separate Gods. They (the three natures of God) are one, never separating from themselves from one another. That is why Yeshua could say that the Son of God was in heaven and on earth at the same time. (John 3:13) Even the Zohar, (kabbalah) states that there is a triune nature of God, but doesn't say that there are three Gods agreeing with each other.
What did Stephen mean when he said he saw Yeshua sitting down at the right hand of the Father? Did Stephen say he saw two Gods, one an old, bearded man and a young Son sitting next to Him? Absolutely not! God's right arm signifies His power and position. He brought the Israelites out of Egypt by a strong hand. What Stephen saw that day was Yeshua sitting on the throne in power and glory. This is how God is ruling from heaven and one day on earth. He has given all authority to the nature of His Son. That is, He has chosen to rule in the nature of Yeshua our Redeemer. God has done this because the plan of redemption two thousand years ago was, and is, the most significant act God has ever devised and implemented. God (One) has chosen for mankind to see Himself one day and it will be in the form of Yeshua, the name above all other names, because of His redemptive plan, something that no person or religion could ever accomplish.
For those who have put their trust in a messiah that they claim is only a man and not God, though it be Jesus, or a future messiah, I must conclude you certainly don't ascribe to monotheism. There is only one God, who is our Creator and Redeemer, and who we must only worship. Messiah is our Redeemer, who brought His Temple (body) to earth. This is why it was so important for God to have had a Temple (House) built for Him to dwell, though He stated that there was no building that could contain Him. It was to show mankind His intention of coming to earth in a fleshly Temple for the purpose of sacrificing it for the redemption of mankind. That is why every furnishing in the Temple symbolizes God and His purpose to perfection. The House of God was a constant reminder of God's plan to dwell with Israel in the flesh. Until next week, Shalom.
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Greetings Patrick Dillon
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of the so-called triune nature of God,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you in your quest for truth.
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Dear Adam Pastor,
ReplyDeleteChristianity has done much harm in defining God's pluralistic nature as a "Trinity." There are not three Gods in one! There is, as the "Shema" states, one God. Christian doctrine has distorted this view of one God with Gentile paganism, and the "Church" has not been able to fully comprehend or explain it. However, we must allow God to explain Himself to us; the word of God will do that if we approach it in a Hebraic mind set, void of Gentile Church philosophy. I watched two of twelve parts of "The Human Jesus." It is the same old confused rhetoric from "Christian" sources, biased by its own inability to understand God from a Jewish perspective. The Tanakh (Old Testament) declares three very important natures of God that even monotheistic Jews acknowledged in the first century. The sages understood God's nature as three. They didn't support a trinity. I would suggest that you stop trying to figure God out from a Christian or Rabbinical perspective and read the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. And by the way, Echad is plural for one. Yachad is singular for one. Echad and not Yachad is used in the Shema. Eloheem, the name for God in the first sentence of Genesis, is also plural, not to mention the fact that we cannot even get out of the first chapter of Genesis without God referring to Himself in a pluralistic nature. Stop trying to understand God by "Human" means and ask God to show you "Spiritual" truth. Shalom. Patrick
Adam,
ReplyDeleteWhen counting, The Hebrew number for one is Akhat not Ekhad. It is spelled Aleph Chet Tav; the word Echad is spelled Aleph, Chet, Dalet. Also Aleph, being the first letter of the Aleph-Bet, has the numerical value of one. Ekhad is never used for counting. Always when referring to God the Bible uses the word Ekhad and not Yakhid. Now the Holy Spirit could have used Yachid to describe God as one and there wouldn't be the controversy that we have today, and you would be justified in your argument. But God preferred to describe Himself as Ekhad, which refers to a uniting together as one. Read Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 48:16 and explain to me how the Redeemer, who is speaking, declares that the Lord God and His Spirit has sent Him. I do know Hebrew, and I study it every day. I am not an expert, but I do know the difference between Ekhad and Yakhid. Don't confuse rabbinical Judaism with Biblical Judaism. Rabbinical Judaism hates Yehsua (Jesus). As a matter of fact they refer to Him as Yeshu, which is a Hebrew acronym for "May His name be forever blotted out." Jews have gone out of their way to change the word Ekhad to yakhid in their writings. The famous Rambam being one Jew who did this. Why? What is the problem with Jews using the word Ekhad? If it didn't refer to a uniting of one then they wouldn't go out of their way to change it.