IS THE MESSIAH GOD?
The Messiah is ‘God’, but not as the Christians interpreted it, and much less as it was interpreted at the Council of Nicaea in the year 325. Rather, as it was believed by the Hebrew prophets, that as Moses was sent in the form of ‘God’ before Pharaoh, so too was Yeshua the Nazarene, son of Joseph and Mary. He was sent in the form of ‘God’ to the people of Yisrael for the good of its people and the good of the whole world. Moses was not proud of being placed in a position of ‘godhood’, but was obedient and a servant in the exercise of his redemptive functions. In the same way, Yeshua was not proud of having been placed in the dignity of the position of ‘God’. He emptied himself of all pride, denied himself, and although he performed a function worthy of God, he was happy to do exactly what the Father asked him to do with such a magnificent task. It must be said within the context of ‘God’ (Elohim) that exists in Biblical Judaism, not within the concept of ‘god’ that exists in paganism. They are two separate and opposite worlds. This also applies to the concept of pre-existence. So, just as Moses was sent in the form of ‘God’, Yeshua too was sent in the form of ‘God’, and this is a Hebraism. Now it is easier to understand these verses in Philippians:
Philippians 2:5-11 [The Scriptures 2009 - TS 2009]
5 For, let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah יהושע,
6 who, being in the form of Elohim, did not regard equality with Elohim a matter to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and came to be in the likeness of men.
8 And having been found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, death even of a stake.
9 Elohim, therefore, has highly exalted Him and given Him the Name which is above every name,
10 that at the Name of יהושע every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess that יהושע Messiah is Master, to the esteem of Elohim the Father
IS THE MESSIAH PRE-EXISTENT?
Most Believers, when they read that body of literature known as the New Testament, do so possibly without realizing, they read through the lens of the tradition received from Nicaea. That is, the tradition from the mother Catholic Church, and from the tradition of other Christian Councils that came after Nicaea. And this is so specially regarding the matter of pre-existence. It is not the same to say pre-existence in the minds and thoughts of the Hebrew prophets as it was in Greek philosophy that dominated the thought of Nicaea. From Nicaea arises the theology of historical Christianity as we know it today.
The prophets, filled with that revelation of prophetic word, came to the conclusion that the Eternal calls things that are not yet as if they already were. Furthermore, the Hebrew prophets developed what is academically known as the prophetic past. It is an event that has not occurred yet but is recorded as completed. For example, the prophet Isaiah shows the suffering servant not as one who is going to be wounded, not as one who is going to be broken, but as one who was already wounded and already broken. Not as a sheep that is going to be led to the slaughter, but as one that has already been slaughtered. And anyone can see this in the texts. For the prophet, the mattered has already happened, it has already occurred, even though the event has not yet taken place. Because it certainly exists in the eternal divine purpose, not in a physical and personal form, but for the Eternal the event has already occurred. The Eternal knows the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning.
The Council of Nicaea 325 and the other subsequent councils differ from the teachings of the prophets and of Yeshua, particularly in the issue of the pre-existence. The Christian church did not inherit a Hebrew mentality, that is the point.
THE PREEXISTENCE OF THE MESSIAH
| HEBREW INTERPRETATION | CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION |
| The Messiah pre-exists in the mind of the One and Only ‘God’. | The Messiah pre-exists from eternity. |
In the Hebrew mind, pre-existence means predestination, that is, prior to a project’s completion it has been thought over thoroughly. In the Hebrew mind, the concept of something arising and appearing at the appropriate time signifies the pre-existence, the ordering prior to a project’s completion. In the non-Hebrew world (Greek mind-set), however, pre-existence refers to the existence of something before the creation of the world, a real and tangible existence. Because of this, the Greek concepts that emerged after Yeshua, interpreted it according to their own Hellenistic mindset.
THERE IS ONE ELOHIM: THE FATHER (YAHWEH) AND THERE IS ONE MASTER: YESHUA
The apostle Shaul (Paul) predicted all of this and makes two impressive statements in:
1 Corinthians 8:6 [HRB]
for us there is one Elohim, the Father, from whom all came and for whom we live, and one Master יהושע Messiah, through whom all came and through whom we live.
(See Timothy 2:5)
Note that <for us> refers to Shaul’s lineage, that is, to the Jews/Hebrews.
Ultimately, he says:
• there is only One God, the Father, (not two or three, only One).
• there is only one mediator between the Father and men, Yeshua.
Yeshua is not a pre-existing physically tangible ‘Logos’ in the style of Greek philosophy. He was a man born of a woman, inseminated by a man (through the Holy Spirit).
We must recognize that the teachings and theology of Yeshua come from a Jewish/Hebrew mindset, and that the origins of what are known as the New Testament come from Jewish/Hebrew writers. As long as we ignore that Yeshua was Jewish with a Jewish/Hebrew mindset and a Jewish/Hebrew message on his lips, we will always run the risk of misinterpreting his words. The rejection of Yeshua’s Jewish/Hebrew mindset created Christian anti-Semitism on the one hand, and the imposition Hellenistic mentality on the other when interpreting his words. The result was a corruption of Yeshua’s message. For this reason, a huge intellectual effort must be made to understand the idea that Yeshua was actually alive and conscious before his birth in the land of Yisrael. This is not a true Jewish idea, but one with Greek influence (Hellenistic).
The pre-existence of souls is a pagan concept, and does not come from the Hebrew prophets. Humans did not exist consciously before the creation of the world. We come into existence at the moment of being conceived in the time and space we are destined to be.
What use is it to humanity that a ‘god’ incarnates and spends his entire life without fault or sin? The extraordinary thing about the real life Yeshua or the historical Jesus is that, being a man like us and not an incarnate divine being, he overcame everything, and as a reward the Eternal raised him from the dead and proclaimed him Lord and Messiah.
YESHUA OF NAZARETH
• A man attached to the Torah
• Fulfilled the whole law
• Was a teacher, a prophet, an exorcist and a healer
• Proclaimed the Kingdom of the Eternal
• After his resurrection, the Eternal proclaimed him Master and Messiah
Yeshua was Jewish and a human being with a navel, not an angel. The birth of Yeshua was not a new existence for him, but his first existence without self awareness. The existence of Yeshua was the entry into existence of that which was in the Eternal’s mind before the creation of the world. We too were in the mind of the Eternal before the foundation of the world, but after the Messiah.
We must be very careful that what came rom Nicaea, does not become part of our thinking because the language used by the Church Fathers the Catholic creeds, does not come from the Scriptures or the Hebrew mindset; it comes, above all from Greek philosophy.
Yehua’s interpretation of first century Judaism (also known as Second Temple Judaism) has nothing to do with the Rabbinic Judaism of today, which arose after the destruction of the Second Temple. In the Hebrew mindset, ‘pre-existence’, means that it has been well thought out, well analyzed, well established in the thought that we want to carry forward. For example, in the letter attributed to the apostle Kepha (Peter), this form of Hebrew thought is retained:
1 Peter 1:1-2 [The Scriptures 2009- TS 2009] 1 Kepha, an emissary of יהושע Messiah, to the chosen, strangers of the dispersion in Pontos, Galatia, Kappadokia, Asia, and Bithunia, 2 chosen according to the foreknowledge of Elohim the Father, set apart by the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of יהושע Messiah: Favour and peace be increased to you
<Pontos, Galatia, Kappadokia, Asia, and Bithunia>: were regions of the Roman Empire of the first century.
In other words, all of *Yisrael was known beforehand by the Eternal.
*With the term Yisrael we refer to the ancient land and to the people of the Eternal in the past, present, and future. It also has a spiritual connotation and does not refer to the modern nation of Israel.
Everything is orderly in the mind of the Eternal. Everything that was going to exist, everything that will exist and that is existing now was in the mind of the Eternal because He calls things that are not yet as if they already were. Pre-existence, therefore, is that which was in the plan, in the mind of the Eternal. Once the time for its fulfillment arrives, it will surely be realized, will come to light, will come into the flesh, will be done for which the Eternal planned it.
1 Peter 1:18-20 [TS]
18 knowing that you were redeemed from your futile behaviour inherited from your fathers, not with what is corruptible, silver or gold,
19 but with the precious blood of Messiah, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless,
20 foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, but manifested in these last times for your sakes
We see how in Kepha’s mind, the Messiah is something well calculated, well thought out, and well known beforehand, pre-existing in the mind of the Eternal, as His master plan. This is the thinking of the prophets, not only of Yeshua, but of other Jewish/Hebrew prophets before him as well.
Jeremiah 1:5 [TS 2009]
“Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I did set you apart – I appointed you a prophet to nations.”
The prophet Jeremiah was not something that occurred to the Eternal in the spur of the moment, but rather something that was in His mind before the prophet was born. And when the time came, a child named Jeremiah would be born, and that child had already been consecrated as a prophet to the nations. However, this does not mean that he already existed physically before the Eternal waiting for his birth. He pre-existed in the mind of the Eternal, in the Eternal’s plan and design. According to the Jewish theology of Yeshua, each of us comes into this world and leaves it according to the plan established by the Eternal.
In the same the same way, the Messiah was foretold by the Eternal and came at the fulness of time. The Hebrew prophets saw things before their actual existence, not because they truly existed, but because they were part of the divine design by which all things were later created. In other words, when interpreting Hebrew thought, Christians have gone overboard, and it is time to help them see this with different eyes and help Believers return to their Hebrew roots. In the Hebrew mindset, our resurrection and final union with the Messiah is something that has not happened yet, but it is in the plan and the project. And as the Hebrew mind calls things that are not, as though they were. The apostle Shaul does not hesitate to affirm that our resurrection has already taken place. He wrote:
Romans 8:29-30 [TS] 29 Because those whom He knew beforehand, He also ordained beforehand to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, for Him to be the first-born among many brothers. 30 And whom He ordained beforehand, these He also called, and whom He called, these He also declared right. And whom He declared right, these He also esteemed.
We do not have a glorified body, yet, but the Eternal calls things that are not yet as though they already were. In the mind of the Eternal, whoever believes and follows His commandments is glorified. That is to say, the day will come when, through the resurrection, persons will become immortal beings, and death will no longer have dominion over them. Shaul’s thinking is in line with this, he even affirms that you are already seated in the heavenly places:
Ephesians 2:6 [TS] . . . raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Messiah יהושע
(Continued in THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF THE MESSIAH PART 2)
Source:
Aristides Moreno, Daniel Hernandez
¿Cristo es Dios? La pre-existencia de Yeshua. Steadycamline