“THE PLURAL FOR GOD” IS A MYSTERY
THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW OLD TESTAMENT
HINTS FOR THE TRINITY
Only
the New Testament solves it!
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The people and the prophets not only applied the plural to the true God but used it for any “deity” in the Old Testament. Literally, Genesis 1:1 is “In the beginning Gods (Elohim) created the heaven and the earth.” Verse 26, “Let us make man in our image.” By what authority do the modern English translators use the English singular God to only translate the Hebrew plural “gods” for Jehovah??
THE JEWS OBVIOUSLY UNDERSTOOD THAT FOR ANY KIND OF DEITY THE PLURAL WAS TO BE USED. E.g., THE GOLDEN CALF REPRESENTED A PLURAL GOD "ELOHIM". Exodus 32:1, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us.” It is remarkable that the term “gods” is in the English version referring to Jehovah. But the fact is Jehovah is referred consistently by the plural THROUGHOUT THE HEBREW TEXT BIBLE version.
A single idol (image) is referred to WITH a plural: i.e., “Gods” H430 ('e?lo^hi^ym) to lead them. Only a single golden calf is fashioned but it is referred to as plural “gods” (Exodus 32:4). The plural therefore had to have been understood by the people as an appellation of their deity (?) The cause for the plural is never specifically explained to the people from an inspired prophet in the entire Old Testament (even such quoted statements as “let us make” in Genesis 1:26 and Genesis 3:22).
THE THREE VISITORS TO ABRAHAM. Genesis 18. Did Abraham really identify the strangers as divinity? “Those who regard Abraham as unconscious of the Divinity of him to whom he spake see in his language nothing but the customary formula of Oriental address (Rosenm?ller; cf. Genesis 30:27; 1 Samuel 20:29; Esther 7:3).” i There is no reason to assume from Abraham’s treatment of the men that he understood initially the three as being Elohim. In fact, Hebrews 13:2 refer to ones entertaining angels “unaware.” Is this not the only record of anyone entertaining heavenly beings? Is the passage indicating that Abraham had entertained these three without being aware of who they were initially? At least two of the three were definitely angels since only two show up at Sodom afterwards (Genesis 19). There’s every reason to think that all three were angels sent from and represented “the Gods (Elohim).”
THE ANGEL AND THE BURNING BUSH. Exodus 3:2, “And the angel of the Lord [Jehovah] appeared unto (Moses) in a flame of fire.” But the same passage in verse 4, “And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God [Elohim] called unto him out of the midst of the bush.” The word “angel” is mal’ak H4397 and means “messenger; representative.” ii Who would angels represent and speak for? The Holy Spirit in Acts 7:30 refers to the occasion strictly as “an angel speaking for God: “This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush” (Acts 7:35). The angel spoke for Jehovah, the Lord, the “I am”, as the one who is sending Moses (Exodus 3:14) to rescue the slaves.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR DID NOT SEE JESUS. Jesus as “the Son of God” is a mystery in the Old Testament. Nebuchadnezzar was a heathen Babylonian who demanded worship from his subjects. He has the three Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego cast into the burning fiery furnace for refusing to worship him as a god. He sees four individuals unharmed in the furnace. When he identifies the fourth form walking in the furnace, he says the “form of the fourth is like the son of God.”
First, he is not morally one to identify the Son of God. Second, he only says that “the fourth is like.’ Like the Son of God, not “is the.” There is no revelation at this time of there being a “Son of God.” Remember, Jesus does not take on flesh until as a child in Matthew (centuries later). Jesus is equal to God at this time (John 1:1; Philippians 2:3f). Third, “son of God” in his mouth meant only possibly an “angelic being” from heaven, as Daniel 3:28 proves. Fourth, Nebuchadnezza uses only “god” (a form of “el” but not the plural Elohim) “to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” in that passage. Finally, Nebuchadnezzar was still a pagan who believed in a plurality of gods. God will humble him later.
THE TRINITY REMAINS A MYSTERY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH 48:16 might not be a clear prophecy of the Trinity (i.e.,3 deities) as some suppose. Isaish 48:16, “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” A television preacher insisted that this was a clear reference to the trinity. However, even a literary commentator suggests that the prophet Isaiah has possibly included himself into the declaration. Plus, I would point out that “the Lord God” is plural. That would make more than a trinity (FOUR) if the prophet is not including himself. No, I would say that the TRINITY is a secret even in prophecies in the Old Testament. No one could known what the plan of God was. Not man; not even Satan. “THE TRINITY”, A MYSTERY to be revealed in the New Testament. Ephesians 1:9,10: "Having made known unto us [that is, the apostles and their audiences] the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."
A prophecy of the divine child hints at its eventual revelation. Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
DEITY’S NAME IS PROPHETIC: EMMANUEL or IMMANUEL. The Greek New Testament quotes the Hebrew name for Jesus. “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:20, 22, 23, quoting Isaiah 7:14). El is Hebrew for “God.” EMMAN, apparently is for “with us.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROPHECY OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH. When was the last time you heard anyone refer to Jesus as Emmanuel? Unless you are conversant in Hebrew you might not readily see the implication of this title.
“Emmanuel” or “Immanuel” is in both the Old and New passages and is a Hebrew word for “God with Us”; i.e., “El” is singular for God. Only one of the plural Elohim was to come and did come. It is to be noted that the word is not plural; i.e., “Gods with us.” This would in and of itself indicate that at least “another” God would be still in Heaven since “Immanuel” doesn’t match the plural. This taken with John 1:1 confirms the divinity of Jesus who saves His people and is compatible with the teaching of a Trinity Godhead. Jesus fulfils the label of being with His people and a later passage in Matthew 18:20 promises His accessibility even today. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The promise exists in an authorized (in His name --authority) assembly “God is still with us.” If Jesus is not God then the prophecy is falsely assigned to the child Jesus! EMMANUEL PREDICTS THE DIVINE PRESENCE. Jesus in Matthew 28:19, 20 includes the promise of “being with us” in connection with His commands to His apostles, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” EMMANUEL, God remains with us. CONCLUSION: The use of the plural ending for God is a mystery in the Old Testament. There is never an explanation for it contrary to speculation by the religious Jewish leaders. There are only hints which will be fully realized when we turn to the New Testament! Meanwhile there is no Scriptural authority for the Jewish hierarchy iii to interpret what inspiration has only revealed to us. Continue to part 4 with link under the top image or the one below. - - GAYLON WEST "THROW OUT THE LIFELINE" WEBSITE iPulpit Commentary. ii (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions) iii During the era of the Tanakh, various forms of leadership developed. There were the heads of the original Hebrew tribes, and then also prophets such as Moses, Jeremiah and Samuel and whose words inspire people to this day, judges such as Samson, kings such as David and Solomon, priests of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Sanhedrin which was the judiciary. --https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_leadership |
