Trinity or Tri-unity in the Hebrew Scriptures
Posted on Sep 6, 2013 in Published Articles by John, UGP | 0 comments
by John B. Metzger
The Trinity is a subject that we will never fully understand. But God has given us some basic information from His Word to help up grasp this difficult subject.
I would like to preface our study with a concept that is largely ignored by many evangelical scholars. The Scriptures clearly state that God created all things (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3, 10; Colossians 1:15-19). God is also the author of language and is completely capable of speaking for Himself without the aid of flesh. So when we view Scripture we should take it as God gave it and not read our human bias into it.
Genesis 1:1
Let us begin with Genesis 1:1 which says, In the beginning God created. We will look at two words, God and created. The word God in the Hebrew is Elohim which is a plural noun. If the plurality of God is not in the Hebrew Scriptures, why did Moses use a plural noun when he had available to him two words in the singular, El and Eloah? Moses used a plural word for God showing the plural personhood of God. The second word is created which is a singular verb. In both English and Hebrew if the noun is plural the verb will also be plural. However, in the very first sentence of Scripture God violates grammar. Why? He did it to make a statement to draw our attention to what He is saying about Himself. He is a plurality of persons and when He acts He acts as one. So Genesis 1:1 is making a foundational statement concerning the plurality of His person.
Genesis 1:26
Next our attention turns to Genesis 1:26. Verse 26 states, And God [Elohim] said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. On each day of creation God introduces His creative activity by saying, Let there be in verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, a very generic, impersonal and matter of fact statement. However, when Elohim creates man He becomes very personal about His creation. Elohim is pure Spirit and does not have arms, legs or a physical body. Elohim is showing His personhood when He says let us make man, instead of let there be. God is a person with intellect, emotion and will who is about to create man like Him, in His image and after His likeness meaning a being with intellect, emotion and will.
Elohim who is plural created the heavens and earth is now going to create man who is to have dominion over the earth. A plural God who creates man in His image and likeness in verse 27 creates man; male and female, plural! Yet man and woman are to be one (Gen 2:24). There is yet another factor, everyone reading this article is a tri-unity in himself. Every man and woman has a body, soul, and spirit; you are 3 in 1 even as Elohim is. You are a plural unity of three – body, soul and spirit which are one. Beyond that the body is the only aspect of our being that can be seen. The soul and spirit, a very real part of us, but is unseen, meaning Elohim in creating man like Himself, a plurality. The Second Person of the Godhead consistently has become visible as man is visible (the body). Meaning two persons of the Godhead remain invisible as man has two parts of his being that are invisible (soul and spirit). When God revealed Himself throughout biblical history He did so exclusively by one member of the plural unity of Elohim. God the Son, the Second Person of Elohim, revealed Himself in a form that man could see, hear or both which is called a theophany, God the Son revealed the will of the Father, for the Son is always the sent one of the Father (Isaiah 48:12-16; John 1:18; 3:31-36). It was God the Son in the Scriptures on behalf of the Father who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Samuel and others throughout biblical history and often spoke as the LORD Himself (Isaiah 50:1-6; Zechariah 12:1, 10).
Plural Personal Pronouns
Before moving on, let us look at four usages of the plural personal pronouns that God uses of Himself to show His plurality in unity: the “us” passages. First, we have already looked at Genesis 1:26 where Elohim, which is a plural noun, refers to the creation of man as let us, with each member of the Godhead involved. The second passage appears in Genesis 3:22. Here the LORD God is speaking. The Hebrew word translated as LORD in your English Bible is the word Yahweh which is always a singular word. Here Moses combines LORD and God emphasizing the oneness of God and His plurality in the same phrase. The third passage is found in Genesis 11:7 in reference to the confusion of the languages at the tower of Babel. Here Moses wrote that Yahweh, singular said let us go down and confound their language. The plural personal pronoun is connected to Yahweh which is a singular word. This means that Yahweh, the LORD used the singular word to describe Himself with a plural personal pronoun us. The fourth and last instance is found in Isaiah 6:8 where the speaker stated, who will I send, who will go for us. This time Isaiah referred to God as Adonai or Lord. Adonai is a plural name for God which means master. So in the four usages of the plural personal pronouns God interchangeably used His names of God, LORD and Lord, plural and singular words, with plural personal pronouns to describe Himself as us.
Jewish rabbis and many Christian scholars alike often refer to these plural personal pronouns as plural of majesty, a grammatical plural, and plural of deliberation or the heavenly court. These statements show us that they are simply not taking God at His word. He, as the Creator and author of Scripture and grammar, chose to refer to Himself in the plural. Is it not arrogant for finite humans to reinterpret His own words to suit secular unbelieving religious thought or of evangelicals who have succumbed to secular religious thought.
Theophanies of God
The next area to investigate in our study is the theophanies of God. A theophany is where God appears in a form that man can hear, see or both. We will look at two passages from Genesis 22 and Exodus 3 as it relates to the Angel of the LORD.
Genesis 22 is the story of God testing Abraham. It is Elohim that tests Abraham in verse 1, but verse 11 introduces us to the Angel of the LORD who calls to Abraham out of heaven and we see in verse 12 that the Angel of the LORD speaks as Elohim. Look at verse 12: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. Here the Angel of the LORD speaks as Elohim, a plurality of persons in the Godhead. In Exodus 3 Moses meets the God of Israel at the burning bush. Notice in verse 2 that it is the Angel of the LORD who appeared to Moses. Then verse 4 equates the Angel of the LORD as the LORD and Elohim [God] called to him out of the midst of the bush. Notice that these three words are used interchangeably of the same person who is God. Now look at verse 6 where He identifies Himself as the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the speaker is the LORD. Then notice in verse 14 that God answers Moses as to His Name by saying I AM THAT I AM have sent you. What the Second Person of the Elohim is saying is that He is forever present: I AM! Do not miss the connection that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John with His usage of the phrase I AM: John 6:35; 8:12, 58; 10:9, 11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1; and lastly in 18:6 – In the garden He says, I AM and all 600 roman soldiers fall backwards. Jesus is referencing His deity through the use of the I AM passages. Also observe in Exodus 23:20-23 the angel God is sending with Israel to guide them through the wilderness bears His Name as verse 21 states. The Scriptures are clear; the LORD does not share His Name or glory with anyone (Isaiah 48:11). This same angel is called by Isaiah (63:9) the angel of His presence, or the angel of His face.
Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4
The next item is a passage that Judaism holds to as their proof texts for the absolute oneness of God and the impossibility of His plurality or tri-unity. The passage is called the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4 which says, Hear O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD. First of all LORD is a singular word for God, but the phrase our God is plural. God keeps coupling the plural and singular aspects of His being together. The point of discussion is the word one which is the Hebrew word echad. However, echad in the writings of Moses occurs 382 times and each time it is used as a one in plurality and not an absolute one. Let me illustrate. Note in this first set of illustrations you have two things becoming one. The word is used as a plural compound unity as in Genesis 1:5, the evening and the morning were the first [echad] day. Genesis 2:24 stated that man and woman shall be one flesh, two persons becoming one. Another verse stated in Exodus 24:3 that when Israel as a nation heard all the words of the Law they said with one voice, echad voice that they would obey. Secondly in Exodus 17:12 when the Amalekites attacked Israel Aaron held up echad arm of Moses and Hur held up the other [echad] arm. Moses has two arms showing again that echad is used in a plural context. Thirdly many times in the books of Leviticus and Numbers Israel was to take a lamb and offer it before the LORD as a sacrifice. Where do you go to get a lamb? You go to a flock and select one [echad] out of many and offer that one. Again you go into a plural context to select one, echad. By investigating its usage it clear that echad is never used as an absolute one but one in plurality. That is exactly what Deuteronomy 6:4 is teaching, God is a plurality, a tri-unity in one [echad]. The Hebrew language does have a word for an absolute one which is yachid. It is used in Genesis 22:2, 12 when Elohim tells Abraham to take his only [yachid] son Isaac, the son of promise. Abraham had two sons, but only one of them was called Isaac. This shows that even the great Shema of Israel shows the plurality, tri-unity of the LORD.
LORD – The Second Person of the Godhead
There are several places where the LORD is the Second Person of Elohim. First, in Isaiah 50:1-6 the LORD spoke in verse 1, and then in verse 4 He stated that the Lord God gives me something. Who is me in the text? It is the LORD of verse 1. That is a plural reference to God. In verse 6 you have the LORD saying something happened to Him that could only happen if He had a body of flesh. But God is Spirit, so how do you scourge a spirit? How do you have the beard torn out of the cheeks? How do you spit on a spirit? You can’t unless the LORD has taken on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) and that is exactly what happened at Jesus trial when He, God became flesh. Second reference is Zechariah 12:1, 10 where again the LORD spoke as the creator. Then in verse 10 He stated that Israel had pierced Him and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. In these two passages you have the Second Person of the God-head describing something that happened to Him when He became flesh and dwelt among us. Thirdly, you are all familiar with Jesus at His second coming placing His feet on the Mt of Olives. Look at Zechariah 14:3-4 where the LORD specifically stated that His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives. Not only is there a plurality or tri-unity in the Hebrew Scriptures, but God the Son in these passages is the LORD. Look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:37 where He spoke as the God of Israel saying that He would have gathered Israel under His wings but they would not. Jesus is speaking as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Trinity
There are many passages in the Hebrew Scriptures that show the plurality of God. The best passage in all of the Hebrew Scriptures to show the Tri-unity of God is found in Isaiah 48:12-16. In verses 12-13 God stated that He called Israel; that He is the first and the last and He is the creator of universe. As He continues to speak down through the passage He identifies Himself with the following statement: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. In this verse you have all three members of the Tri-unity in view, the Lord God as the Father, the Spirit as the Holy Spirit, and the Son who is the sent one, Me. The Second Person of Elohim is always the sent one and never the sender. This is clearly seen in the Gospel of John, observe how many times Jesus stated that the Father sent Him.
The richness of the Hebrew Scriptures in showing the plurality, the tri-unity of God, is in a multitude of places. For a full study of the Tri-unity of God in the Hebrew Scriptures I recommend my book called Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God published by Ariel Ministries.