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Trinity. Is the
Triune God taught in the OT?
YES!
OK, maybe not exactly the trinity. But that God is ONE
God and that God is made up of at least 2 "persons" is taught for sure, the
trinity is either taught or hinted at.
Genesis 1: "God said let US make
man in OUR image"
According to a friend of mine, a
Jewish Rabbi, The word God in the Hebrew text is singular, the words US and OUR
are plural.
So, though my Rabbi friend says
"Yeah, but we reject the idea that God has multiple persons, we think that God
was simply speaking metaphorically when he said let us make man in our image" he
DOES agree that IF God has multiple persons and IF Jesus is part of God, then
this verse in Genesis would have to be interpreted literally rather than
figuratively.
Gen 3:23 "as one of us"
re-emphasizes
Deut 6:4 "Hear, O Isreal! The Lord
is our God, the Lord is One." I'm still thinking about this one, clearly it
tells us that there is only one God, but it may imply that hes parts are bound
as one.
Isaiah 6:8 "who will go for us"
Since we started with "Jesus is
God" in our first lesson, we can clearly see that the Old Testament started
right off the bat with the assumption that God had multiple persons. That Moses
understood that and simply accepted it. It is men who have chosen to change the
meaning.
Psalm (110 I think) "The Lord said
to my lord". Two different Hebrew words for lord here. The Jew accept that the
first is God (Yaweh) what we call God the Father, and that the second one was
the Messiah. The second two parts of the trinity.
Is the Messiah
God? Yes. Only God
can give life:
Deut 32: 15,18 He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his
Savior....You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave
you birth. (Savior = Messiah).
Jesus asked how can David say
this. Because it suggests that the Messiah - which the Jews understood
would be a descendant of David WAS ALREADY ALIVE and God was talking to him.
This verse tells us that the Messiah was(is) alive before he was(will be) born.
He would have to be God for this to be true AND God would have to have multiple
persons since "God the father SAID TO God the Messiah." Note that Jesus teaches
here that we should treat the scriptures literally.
Is the Holy Spirit part of the
trinity?
Gen 1:2 "Spirit of God" hints at
the third member of the trinity. However, it is fair to say that this might not
have been an "obvious" translation until later.
The following don't "prove" the Holy Spirit is part of God, rather they show
the work of the Holy Spirit prior to the time of Christ:
Isaiah 11: 1-2 (to be fair, this may be talking about what the Spirit will do
in our future still)
Jeremiah 31:33-34 - I will write my law on their heart
Ezekiel 36:26-27 - I will give them a new spirit. I will put my spirit
within them.
But is God
one?
Yes that is very clear too. Deut
6:4- 6.
Isn't this a hard concept? One God
but multiple persons?
Yup. That's why so many people
reject the teaching of the trinity (or at least duality) in the Old Testament,
but it doesn't change the fact that the OT teaches that God had multiple
persons, 2 and possibly 3.
End of Lesson.
OK, but let me give an
illustration.
What is Water? Is there more than
one element "Water?" No. H2O is H2O is H2O. If it isn't H2O it isn't water!
But Water can be a solid, liquid
or Gas.
Here is where it becomes
fun.
What do we call the three
parts?
Solid, we call "ICE" or "Solid
Water" or "Snow"
Gas, we call "Steam" or "Vapor" or
"Clouds" or "Fog" or "Water Vapor"
Liquid we call "Water" or Liquid
Water.
If someone says to you "Water"
without any qualifications. They are either talking about all three states
(where the state is irrelevant) as in "there is lots of water on earth. It is in
the oceans, in icebergs and in the air" OR they are talking about the liquid
specifically.
In the same way, when we say "God"
we are either talking about God in any of his three persons, or we are talking
about God the Father.
Consider this Chart:
"Water" is equivalent to "God".
"God" = "God the Father" or "God in general"
"Ice" is equivalent to "Jesus".
"Jesus" = "God the Son"
"Steam" is equivalent to "Holy
Sprit". "Holy Spirit" = "God the Hold Spirit/Ghost"
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