The great majority of believers in Yeshua as the Messiah come from Christianity. They carry with them many of the Christian beliefs and dogmas that are deeply rooted in popular culture.
One of these beliefs is the so called ‘divine trinity’ which affirms that Yeshua is Yahweh. Both concepts are non-existent in Scripture.
HEBREW THOUGHT AND WRITINGS
When evaluating and comparing the Renewed Covenant with the Hebrew writings we have to be sufficiently honest as to use equal measures, in other words, fair weighing scales.
Many say that Yeshua is the manifestation of the Eternal in the flesh. To back this belief they use the following verse
Matthew 1:23 [The Scriptures - TS]
...and they shall call His Name Immanu’el,” which translated, means, “El{the Eternal} with us.”
However, to claim lightly that Yeshua is the Eternal because of this verse is to disregard Hebrew thought. All Hebrew names have a meaning and to extrapolate this to theology is a serious error and contrary to Scripture.
Another text they use is
Isaiah 9:6 [Hebraic Roots Bible - HRB]
For unto us a Child is born; to us a Son is given; and the government is on His shoulder; and His name is called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty El, The Prince of Peace, The one who Fathered Everlasting life.
This Hebrew verse has been translated in diverse ways and due to the fact that it is a Messianic prophecy, many conclude that it proves the doctrine of the trinity, in other words , that Yeshua is the Almighty. The Messiah became divine after his resurrection in a new body. But to claim that the divinity of Messiah is equivalent to saying that Messiah is the Almighty is again a grave error.
Does Isaiah 9:6 really say that Yeshua is the Eternal Yahweh?
First, let us bear in mind that this text was proclaimed and studied by Hebrew scholars many years before the birth of Yeshua. If it is so obvious that this verse means that the Messiah would be the Almighty Yahweh, why did they not proclaim it or write about it?
In the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Scriptures called Targums and in the Targums of Isaiah it says
Targums of Isaiah 9:6
The prophet said to the house of David, For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and He has taken the Torah upon Himself to keep it. His Name is called from eternity. Wonderful, The Mighty Alahim{Elohim}, who lives to eternity, The Messiah, whose peace shall be great upon us in His days.
(TheTargums of Isaiah Restored Names Edition - Edited by Josh Truex)
This Targum of the first century represents the interpretation of the Hebrew scholars at the beginning of our era. Clearly the Messiah in this interpretation is not called Mighty El or Elohim, The Eternal is called this way.
We can say that from the beginning of our era the translations of Scripture done for and by Hebrew scholars have not applied the title of Powerful El to the Messiah. When the text says Eternal Father it is referring to Messiah’s reign that is why further on it says Prince of Peace.
In Hebrew thought, kings were considered fathers of their people.
We find proof of this in
Isaiah 22:20-21 [TS]
20 ‘And it shall be in that day, that I shall call My servant Elyaqim son of Ḥilqiyahu.
21 ‘And I shall put your robe on him, and strengthen him with your girdle, and give your authority into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and to the house of Yehudah.
This does not mean that Elyaqim is the Eternal. The same is true in Isaiah 9:6, to indicate that Yeshua is the Eternal Father is a great error. That is simply taking a text out of context, not more not less.
The Septuagint (First Greek translation from the Hebrew Texts) does not call Messiah the Eternal either
Isaiah 9:6 [Brenton's English Septuagint - 1851]
For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called the Messenger of great counsel: for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him.
Here, the Messiah is called the ‘Messenger of Great Council’. The Septuagint, translated from Hebrew manuscripts much older than the Masoretic Text, presents a shorter verse than the Hebrew Masoretic Text. This version represents a much older original and if it is correct all the debates about Yeshua being the Eternal Yahweh come to no effect. It proves that the rest of verse has been added at a later date.
Those who maintain that Yeshua is the Eternal Yahweh use a variety of verses to back their claim, some of which are the following:
Isaiah 43:10-11; Revelation 1:17-18; 2:8; Isaiah 44:6; 1 Peter 1:1
THE MEANING OF ELOHIM
First we have to establish the meaning of the title Elohim.
The word Elohim is in the plural form but it is not a numerical plural rather,it is a ‘Majestic plural’ also known as the ‘royal we’. This term refers to the use of a plural pronoun when speaking of oneself. It can mean Power or Authority.
In the same way that ‘God’ is a title, Elohim is a title of the Eternal. The Hebrew Scriptures or Tanach, wrongly called Old Testament by Christianity, applies the title Elohim to the Almighty Yahweh of Yisra’el, but they also apply it to angels and even to human beings such as judges and rulers. If we apply the title Elohim with a strict meaning of greatness, the only Elohim is יהוה, the Father, the Eternal of Yisra’el; neither created nor begotten, the One that has never been seen by human beings.
THE ETERNAL CANNOT BE TEMPTED
No one can deny that Yeshua was tempted. We must remember that temptation does not imply sin, it implies human nature. If he was tempted as we are tempted in everything, how can he be the Eternal Yahweh when Scripture tells us that he cannot be tempted?
James 1:13 [HRB]
Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from YAHWEH. For Elohim is not tempted by evil, and He tempts no one.
How can the Almighty Yahweh be tempted? It wouldn’t make sense because His nature and character are perfect.
It becomes even clearer when on an occasion a certain person came to Yeshua addressing him as ‘good teacher’
Matthew 19:16-17 [TS]
16 And see, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good shall I do to have everlasting life?”
17 And He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One – Elohim.
[Yeshua's words in purple]
We see that Yeshua did not allow this person to call him ‘good’ as only the Eternal Yahweh is Good and immediately reprimanded him. Furthermore, here Yeshua establishes a difference between the Eternal Yahweh and himself. The truth is undeniable, The Eternal Yahweh is Good, that is His nature and He cannot be tempted. Only the Eternal Yahweh is Good and Yeshua is not the Eternal Yahweh.
YESHUA CONSTANTLY PRAYED TO THE FATHER
Another reason why Yeshua is not the Eternal is that it was Yeshua’s nature to pray constantly to his Father, the Eternal Yahweh. It would make no sense for an Almighty Elohim to plead, request and pray to Himself , it would not be rational.
Some of the occasions when Yeshua prayed are listed below:
- Thanksgiving – Matthew 11:25-26; Luke 10:21
- At Lazarus’ Grave – John 11:41-42
- When Troubled – John 12:27-28
- Yeshua’s High Priestly Prayer – John 17:1-26
- Messiah’s Agony in the Garden – Matthew 26:36–46; Luke 22:39–46
- First word from the Cross – Luke 23:34
- Agonising Cry from the Cross – Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34
- Last word from the Cross – Luke 23:46
‘MY ELOHIM AND YOUR ELOHIM’
After resurrecting, Yeshua told his disciple Miryam that he was going up to his Father and his Elohim
John 20:17 [HRB]
...I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim{God} and your Elohim{God}.
In the book of Revelation Yeshua calls the Eternal ‘my Elohim’ four times
Revelation 3:12 [TS] (Yeshua is speaking to John) He who overcomes, I shall make him a supporting post in the Dwelling Place of My Elohim, and he shall by no means go out. And I shall write on him the Name of My Elohim and the name of the city of My Elohim, the renewed Yerushalayim, which comes down out of the heaven from My Elohim, and My renewed Name.
It is clear that Yeshua considered the Father, the Eternal Yahweh, his Elohim.
NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL BE DONE
If Yeshua had his own will, separately from the Father, how can they be the same person. This is undeniable and tangible proof that Yeshua is not Yahweh.
In his last few hours on this earth Yeshua is recorded as saying
Luke 22:42 [HRB]
...Father, if You purpose it, take away this cup from Me; but not My will be done, but let Yours be done.
As a man, like us, Yeshua did not want to die. However, he submitted to the perfect will of his Father the Eternal his Elohim and our Elohim. He was not sinning by not wanting to die, he was only making it evident that the will of the flesh rejects divine will. Yeshua never obeyed the flesh, he only obeyed the Eternal.
The will of the Father is clearly not the same as the will of Yeshua as the following verses show
John 6:40 - And this is the will of him that sent me...[the Eth Cepher] ... Matthew 7:21 - ...he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven [the Eth Cepher] ... John 5:30 - ...I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father... [the Eth Cepher] ... John 6:38 - ...not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent [the Eth Cepher] ... Mark 14:36 - not what I will, but what you will. [the Eth Cepher]
The will of the Eternal is unique to the Creator and it is not transferable.
NO ONE HAS SEEN THE ETERNAL
We know that the Eternal has always revealed Himself to human beings through angels or visions because He cannot be seen by men due to His glory and power.
John 1:18 [TS]
No one has ever seen Elohim
This truth is repeated in
1 John 4:12 [TS]
No one has seen Elohim at any time.
However, many continue to claim that Yeshua is Elohim the Eternal Yahweh. This is a great contradiction because who would deny that Yeshua was seen by many men and women. If supposedly the Eternal became flesh and was seen by many it is contrary to what the whole Scriptures say including the so called New Testament that no one has ever seen the Eternal.
THE ETERNAL IS THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY
If Yeshua was the Eternal he would not have to submit to anyone else’s authority. However Scripture tells us from beginning to end about the one and unique authority of the Eternal of Yisra’el. Yeshua submitted to the authority of the Eternal and always obeyed His will. But people continue to claim that the son and the Father are equal in authority and power and this is not so.
Yeshua always stated that he came to obey the Father Yahweh and that he was subject the will of the Elohim of Yisra’el. Yeshua, like all of us, is under the authority of a superior being, the Elohim of Yisra’el. To prove this the Renewed Testament records the following words of Yeshua:
John 5:19 - Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do none at all by Himself, but only that which He sees the Father doing, John 5:30 - “Of Myself I am unable to do any matter...I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father who sent Me. John 8:28 - “When you lift up the Son of Adam, then you shall know that I am He, and that I do none at all of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, these words I speak. John 9:4 - “It is necessary for Me to work the works of Him who sent Me John 14:28 - ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.
Would these words make any sense if Yeshua were the Eternal Himself? Are these the words of an all-knowing Elohim? These are the words of the man, Yeshua, the anointed of the Eternal, the son of the Eternal, who was sent to obey the will of the Eternal.
1 Corinthians 15:27-28 [TS]
27 For “He has put all under His feet.” But when He says “all are put under Him,” it is clear that He who put all under Him is excepted.
28 And when all are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself shall also be subject to Him who put all under Him, in order that Elohim be all in all.
At the end of time, Yeshua will be subjected to the Eternal, the Elohim who put everything under the Messiah’s feet. After Yeshua resurrected the Eternal gave him authority over all things when the Father when the Eternal puts everything at his feet, Yeshua himself submit to the Eternal Yahweh, the Father. Note that the phrase ‘God the Son’ never appears in Scripture; however phrases like Elohim the Father, Elohim our Father, Elohim my Father etc., appear frequently. We can say that in Scripture to talk about the Almighty Elohim and to talk about the Father is the same thing.
THE ETERNAL IS NOT A MAN
Many forget what Scripture states now and again, it is very clear when it tells us that Yahweh is not a man
Hosea 11:9 [TS] I shall not let the heat of My wrath burn, I shall not turn to destroy Ephrayim. For I am El, and not man
and also in
Numbers 23:19 [TS] El is not a man, to lie; nor a son of man, to repent!
Confusion stems from the fact that Yeshua, being the Son of the Eternal and also His Anointed one, has similarities with the Eternal because the Eternal has given him that power. However, a first century Jew or Hebrew who saw and spoke with him, would not confuse the Father with his messenger (Yeshua) no matter how many signs and wonders he performed.
When Nakdimon (Nicodemus) approached Yeshua to speak with him he declares
John 3:2 [TS]
we know that You are a teacher come from Elohim, for no one is able to do these signs You do if Elohim is not with him.”
Yeshua was metaphorically described as the cornerstone of the Temple of the Eternal, however, if Yeshua is the Eternal would He be part of the building? Is not the Temple for the Eternal?
Ephesians 2:20-22 [HRB] 20 being built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yahshua Messiah Himself being the cornerstone of the building, 21 in whom all the building being fitted together grows into a holy sanctuary in YAHWEH, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of YAHWEH in the Spirit.
GO TELL MY BRETHREN…
Yeshua referred to his disciples as his brothers
Matthew 28:10
...Go, report to My brothers, to go to Galil [Galilee]
If he were the Eternal does this mean that we are the brothers of the Creator? Scripture says that we are His children. How can the Father and the son be the same person?
This is one of the characteristics of apostasy, the most simple and understandable things become mysterious and without sense.
ONE MAN INTRODUCED DEATH…ANOTHER MAN INTRODUCED THE RESURRECTION
Romans 5:12-15 [HRB] 12 Even as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, inasmuch as all sinned. 13 For sin was in the world until the Torah, but sin is not charged where there is no instruction; 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of the transgression of the Torah by Adam, who was a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not also like the offence. For if by the offence of the one the many died how much more the grace and gift of YAHWEH, because of one Man, Yahshua Messiah, be increased for many.
In other words, the Eternal corrected the transgression of the first Adam through the sacrifice of the second Adam, Yeshua.
THE WISDOM OF THE ETERNAL
Regarding the wisdom of the Eternal, without a doubt, we would all agree that He is all knowing and infinitely wise.
Here are some of the many verses that speak of His wisdom:
Job 12:13 - With Him are wisdom and might
Isaiah 40:28 - His understanding is unsearchable
Romans 11:33 - Oh, the depth of riches, and wisdom and knowledge of Elohim!
Psalms 147:5 - There is no limit to His understanding
For more see: Job 36:5, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 16:25-27, Proverbs 2:6 and many more.
But what do the Scriptures say about Yeshua?
Luke 2:40 [TS]
40 And the Child{Yeshua} grew and became strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom. And the favour of Elohim was upon Him.
...
52 And יהושע{Yeshua} increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with Elohim and men.
In other words he acquired wisdom as he grew, it is the Eternal that gives wisdom
(Proverbs 2:6). Yeshua, as anybody begotten by man and woman, was born without knowledge of and by himself and learned as time went on like any other human being.
What is the meaning of «grew» in this context? It simply means he was acquiring wisdom that he did not possess when he was born. Therefore, if there was a moment in his life in which he did not have wisdom, how can it be said that Yeshua was all knowing? Could the Eternal forget all His knowledge and wisdom to learn everything again later?
But the Oneness doctrine (the Eternal and Yeshua are supposedly the same person) and the Trinity doctrine maintain that Yeshua never stopped being the Eternal at any moment.
Yeshua was a man and he learned as we all do through study, meditation and experience. And, as it is written of him he was obedient to his biological parents and to his heavenly Father. Without any doubt, he was the wisest man to ever live but he was not that way since he was born, he ‘grew’ in wisdom.
THE ETERNAL IS ONE
Yeshua declared
John 8:17-18 [Eth Cepher]
17 It is also written in the statutes, describing that the testimony of two men is true.
18 I am one that bears witness of myself, and the Father that sent me bears witness of me.
That is to say, for something to be true, the law of Moshe (Moises) requires the testimony of two witnesses. If Yeshua is the Eternal then the Eternal has to be two. However, Scripture tells us
Deuteronomy 6:4 [TS]
“Hear, O Yisra’el: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
Yeshua confirms this in
Mark 12:29 [TS]
...The first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O Yisra’el, יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one.
Yeshua’s biological brother, James, reiterates it
James 2:19 [HRB]
You believe that Elohim is one. You do well. The demons also believe – and shudder!
When Stephen was executed by stoning, before he died he exclaimed
Acts 7:56 [WOY] ... Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of Elohim.
How are we to understand this verse? Was the Eternal standing beside Himself? This does not make any sense however, Shaul (Paul) of Tarsus clearly establishes that Yeshua, the Anointed and Chosen of the Eternal, is the Mediator between men and the Eternal
2 Timothy 2:5 [WOY]
For there is one Yahweh, and one mediator between Yahweh and men, the man Messiah Yahshua;
The mediator between an inferior being and a Superior Being is someone who has been elevated by the Superior Being. The mediator between sinful humans and a sinless Elohim is a sinless man, our Saviour Yeshua the son of the Eternal.
However, many see the Eternal Himself in the Christianised Yeshua and insist that Scripture speaks of the ‘trinity’. The truth is that the Scriptures never talk of ‘god the son’ or ‘god the holy spirit’, it only talks about the Father.
The Eternal sent Yeshua ,His son, to be humanity’s mediator. He is the son of the Eternal and not the Eternal Himself. (See WAS THE WORD IN JOHN 1 MADE FLESH?)
CONCLUSION: There are many more points that we could take up but the above are the main ones. As we can see, the traditional idea that says that Yeshua is the Eternal is absolutely impossible and cannot be found in the Hebrew Scriptures.
But let each one examine the Scriptures and see for himself if the traditional Christian concepts are truly biblical.
Source: Arístides Moreno
Translated by Nazarene Notes