GOD REVEALED
I think it would be everyone’s desire to know God! In fact, it should
be more important to know God than anything else! Because a correct
understanding can lead to eternal life! John 17:3; 8:24; It should be
more important than to defend a particular view of God, even when
that view is proven inconsistent with the Bible! It is my prayer that
God will speak through His Word as I have provided here for you. And
in so doing, you would have a new understanding, a new revelation of
who God really is as expressed in the Scriptures.
When was the Trinity revealed? This is no doubt the biggest question
in my mind! In a search to find out who God is, this is the top
question I am confronted with. The answer should be quite revealing!
While we walk by faith and not by sight, there is still a large part
of our faith that is based upon history! I believe the Bible is true,
not because YOU say it is, but because I can read it, and find things
that have been proven true with history! Yes, there are a people on
this earth called Jews who have a father named Abraham! Faith (in
part) is based upon history! Yes, there are thousands of prophecies
that have been made in the Scriptures, many have already come to
pass! Thus, because of this historical record, I place my faith in
the prophecies that have not been fulfilled as yet! Faith (in part)
is based on history. So what is the “History of God?”
PART I
In Part I there are basically three areas we will look at:
1. The Historical Record (Old Testament)
2. The Historical Interpretation (Jews)
3. The Historical Revelations (Old Testament Dreams, Visions &
Appearances)
The Historical Record reveals to us that for the first 4,000 years of
man, The True God was viewed as absolutely ONE! There is almost
10,000 times in the Old Testament that we read of God as absolutely
ONE!
There are some 7,742 times where God’s name is used with singular
verbs and pronouns! 1.)
Some 2,000 times where Elohim (Heb. plural word meaning God) is used
with singular verbs and pronouns! 2.)
There is 40 times where God is called the “Holy One.” 3.)
There is 13 times where God is said to be “alone.”4. )
There are 12 times where the term “None else” is used to describe
God. 5.)
That’s right, there are over 9,807 times where God is spoken of in
The Old Testament as being absolutely ONE! The words “Father”
and “Spirit” are found in the Old Testament in reference to God.
6.) Not once does it indicate a “person” separate from God, in, or
with God! Nor did the Jews believe it to indicate divisions of parts
or persons in their One God!
Within the Historical record there are also a few verses that seem to
raise some questions. Trinitarians of our day point to verses such
as: Genesis 1:26; 7.) 3:22; 11:7; 19:24; Psalms 2:7; 45:6,7; 110:1,4;
Isaiah 6:8; 44:6; 48:16; And while at a glance they may seem
confusing, in light of what has been pointed out above, they are
rather easily explained.
Essentially there are some 12 verses that seem to indicate some
plurality in God in the Old Testament. That is twelve verses with
plurals or seemingly two or more “persons” (in only 3 of the 39
books!) mentioned against over 9,807 verses as singular!
The “us” found in Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; and Isa. 6:8; have two
basic views. Many view them as God speaking to the heavenly courts,
the angels. Gen. 3:24 and then Isa. 6:1-8, both indicate angelic
activity within the context. Gen. 1:26 and 11:7 also have historical
Jewish record of this also as God addressing angels. 8.) Also the
Torah (See footnote 7.), views Gen. 1:26 as simply a “plurality of
majesty.” This by the people who wrote it. I would think that ought
to carry some weight when you view the way a few of our words have
changed in the past few years. “Bad” can mean “good” or “cool.” “Gay”
which used to mean “happy” or “fun,” now generally is interpreted as
meaning an alternate life style (though NOT in the eyes of God!). So
should we view “us” in these instances to mean a “plurality of
persons” when the original writers did not see it that way?
Then in Genesis 19:24, we find, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD in heaven.” Do we have
two LORD’s here? Absolutely NOT! This would go against the teaching
of the entire Bible! De. 6:4; Eph. 4:5 tells us explicitly, “ONE
Lord!” Even the Trinitarian Creed’s say “Not three LORD’s but One
LORD.” So why the confusing wording? The LORD who is a Spirit that is
everywhere, Psalms 139:7-12; was just moments before revealed in
angelic form to Abraham, Genesis 18:1-33; Heb. 1:1; 2:16; and very
possibly as he left Abraham, he rained down the fire and brimstone
from heaven. Heaven is generally viewed as being the “location” of
God. Even though, we know He cannot be “contained” to one location in
that He is a Spirit that is everywhere! 1 Kg 8:27; Jer. 23:24;
The passages in Psalms are prophecies that were not as yet fulfilled
at their writing, as we shall see in our third inquiry. And the two
passages in Isaiah are easily explained. Isaiah 6 has been mentioned
with angelic activity above. In Isaiah 44:6, IF there are two here,
which one is speaking? Remember One LORD! Thirteen times Isaiah
refers to the “Redeemer” 9.) and it is understood this is ONE person,
even their ONE God! In fact, Isaiah 63:16 indicates the Redeemer is
also their father, their ONE God! Isaiah 64:8, Malachi 2:10, Jeremiah
31:1,9.
Something that I feel is very important to look at is the way these
verses were historically interpreted by the Jews.
The Historical Interpretation of these passages is consistent with
the majority of the passages. Surprise! That is the 9,807 or more
passages rather than the twelve passages that are only found in 3 of
39 books! We will review a few quotes to establish this.
“The Torah starts with the proclamation of the Only One, and later
Judaism marches through the nations and ages of history with a never-
silent protest against polytheism of every kind, against every
division of the Godhead into parts, powers, or persons.”
“The first pages of Genesis, the opening of the Torah, as well as the
exilic portions of Isaiah which form the culmination of the prophets,
and the Psalms also, prove sufficiently that at their time monotheism
was an axiom of Judaism.”
“The churchmen have attempted often enough to harmonize the dualism
or trinitarianism of Christianity with the monotheism of the Bible.
Still Judaism persist in considering such an infringement upon the
belief in Israel’s one and only God as really a compromise with
heathenism. ‘A Jew is he who opposes every sort of polytheism,’ says
the Talmud.”
“The Jewish martyrs likewise cheerfully offered up their lives in His
honor; and thus all hearts echoed the battle-cry of the
centuries, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One,’ and
all minds were illuminated by the radiant hope, ‘The Lord will be
King of the earth; on that day the Lord shall be One, and His name
One.'” 10.)
We will also look at some statements by a Jew regarding Deuteronomy
6:4-9.
“These verses are learned by Jewish children when they begin to
speak; they are uttered by Jews with their last breath before they
die. They accompany Jews through life, giving form and unity to their
existence. They are known by every Jew in every land, have been
spoken aloud by untold generations, and have accompanied thousands of
martyrs into death. They give unity to the generations.”
“The first verse expresses our ‘acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom
of Heaven’ God is One and unique. His oneness transcends all other
forms of oneness. God’s oneness is absolute. He is not composed of
parts. There is no other oneness like His, and human beings cannot
fathom it” 11.)
When we read just a little bit about the customs of the Jews
concerning this passage from Deuteronomy 6 we begin to realize why it
is so difficult for them to convert to Trinitarianism. There was no
division in their God. And not only was there no division of parts,
powers, or persons, this was a thought that was reaffirmed to them
constantly! They were to wear the Tefillin upon their foreheads and
on their non-dominate arm, (also known as phylacteries). They were to
place this passage (along with a few others) upon their doors, this
being called the mezuzah. They were to touch it, and then kiss the
fingers that did so, and think of their God and his commandments each
time they went through the door. That ought to keep it pretty fresh
in your memory! And it did so even in the face of death.
The Jewish writers understanding of God as being absolutely one has
not escaped the attention of Trinitarians.
“What does the Old Testament tell us of God? It tells us there is
one God, a wonderful God of life and love and righteousness and power
and glory and mystery, who is the creator and lord of the whole
universe, who is intensely concerned with the tiny people of Israel.
It tells us of His Word, Wisdom, Spirit, of the Messiah He will send,
of a Son of Man, and a Suffering Servant to come. But it tells us
nothing explicitly or by necessary implication of a Triune God who is
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” 12.)
“We do not intend to seek in the Old Testament and in the New
Testament what is not there, a formal statement of Trinitarian
doctrine.” 13.)
“More recent scholars find no evidence in the Old Testament that any
sacred writer believed in or suspected the existence of a divine
paternity and filiation within the Godhead itself.” 14.)
“Thus the Old Testament writings about God neither express nor imply
any idea of or belief in a plurality or trinity of persons within the
one Godhead. Even to see in them suggestions or foreshadowings
or ‘veiled signs’ of the trinity of persons, is to go beyond the
words and intent of the sacred writers.” 15.)
So even today, Trinitarians admit that the Jew’s who wrote the Old
Testament, did not see themselves writing about a God who was in any
way more than One!
And the Jews still today view God as absolutely One, with no
divisions into persons, parts, or powers. This now takes us to the
Historical Revelations.
The Historical Revelations are the way that God revealed Himself in
the Old Testament.
There are several references in the Old Testament of God revealing
and or speaking to man. In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews
1:1 wrote, “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” In other words, God
spoke at various times and in various ways unto the fathers,
including and primarily by the prophets. We will examine some of
these various ways.
In Genesis 3:8 we find that “they (Adam & Eve) heard the voice of the
LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” The Bible is
not clear just what took place here. We do know that there was some
form of communication between God and man. Whither God appeared as a
theophanie [angelic form (Heb. 2:16)], or simply spoke to Adam and
Eve, the Bible is not clear. But we do know that in some way or form
God talked with man before the fall.
In Genesis 12 we find that God spoke to Abraham in verses 1-3. God
then appeared to him in vs 7. It is believed that all appearances by
God in the Old Testament were by theophanie. (Heb. 2:16) This was a
common occurrence for Abraham. That is, God either speaking or
appearing to him. This is repeated several times in the next 14
chapters, including God speaking to Hagar. In some of these instances
it says specifically that it was the angel of the LORD. 16.) As
stated above, this would have been God as a theophanie.
With the exception of chapter 18, these all appear to have been
single angelic representation. Genesis 18 also appears that only One
of the angles was actually a manifestation of God, although two other
angels were also initially there, they continued on down to rescue
Lot. There is absolutely NOTHING in this account to indicate that
these other two angels were anything more than angelic messengers for
Lot (Gen. 19:15)!
In Genesis 28:13-16 we have our first recorded heavenly vision,
Jacob’s ladder. And at the top stood “the” LORD! And he said, “I am
the LORD God…” And in this heavenly vision there is absolutely NO
mention of any second or third persons being seen!
In Genesis 32 Jacob wrestles with an angel. Jacob claimed to have
seen “God face to face.” Once again , only ONE. And wasn’t Jacob
glad! Think what kind of shape his thigh would have been in if he
would have had to take “three” wrestlers on! Heb. 2:16
Next the angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in the burning bush in
Exodus 3:2. This being one of the “divers manners.”
In Exodus 13:21 “the LORD went before the children of Israel by day
in a pillar of cloud… and by night in a pillar of fire” And spoke to
them from the cloud. Exodus 19:9,19; 20:21; 23:20-23; 24:15-18;
33:10; 40:34-38; Psalms 99:7.
In Exodus 24:10-11; the Bible tells us that Moses, Aaron, Nadab,
Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel “saw the God of Israel…”
In light of verses such as John 1:18; 5:37; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; Col.
1:15; 1 John 4:12; I believe this to be a theophanie. God revealed
in an angel form.
In Exodus 33:11 we have much the same situation, most likely a
theophaine. Verses 20-23 reiterates that God’s face cannot be seen!
In Numbers 22:22-35, the angel of the LORD appeared first to Balaam’s
donkey. The LORD then spoke through the donkey! This being one of the
most unique of the “divers manners” in which God spoke.
The angel of the LORD is said to have spoken numerous times in the
Old Testament. In that they were always with a single voice, they
offer little other evidence compared to the visual appearances. Thus
we will focus on the appearances. See Chart 1
A single angel of the LORD appeared to Joshua, Joshua 5:13-15;
Gideon, Judges 6:11-25; Manoah and his wife, Judges 13:3-5,9-21;
David, 2 Samuel 24:16-17; 1 Chronicles 21:15-16,18,27; Elijah, 2
Kings 1:3; & killed the Assyrian’s, 2 Kings 19:35; Isaiah 37;
The prophet Micaiah saw “the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the
host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” 1
Kings 22:19; 2 Chronicles 18:18; No mention of co-eternal, co-equal,
persons with him! In spite of him clearly seeing both the right and
left hand sides!
In Job 1:6 and 2:1 we find the “sons of God.” 17.) But NOT “God the
Son” or “God the Holy Ghost!” There is only mention of the LORD as a
single deity.
In Isaiah’s vision recorded in his 6th chapter, we only find “the
LORD” high and lifted up. Still no sightings of the other persons!
In Ezekiel 1:26-28, and again in 2:1, he saw “the appearance of the
glory of the LORD.” And only one spake.
What is most significant about these past two visions is they
occurred AFTER Psalms 2:7; 45:6-8; 110:1,4; These Psalms are believed
to have been written between 1014-985 BC. Isaiah is believed to have
written this passage in 748 BC and Ezekiel is believed to have
written his in 593 BC. 18.) In other words almost 400 years AFTER
David wrote about the “Son” there was still NO “Son” seen in heaven!
This proving these Psalms to have been prophesies!
One of the most unique visions in the Old Testament is in Daniel 7.
This vision does speak of “one like the Son of man” who then comes
before the “Ancient of days.” The vision is told some four times. In
the retelling the “Son of man” is not mentioned? This vision is one
of future relevance! See Chart 2 This is all prophetic! What is
most incredible is the description given to the Ancient of days here
in Daniel is almost word for word exactly as the description given to
Jesus in Revelation 1. The reason for this time period of seeming
separation would be during the time when Jesus, in the days of his
flesh, is our High Priest, Advocate, Mediator, etc. There is coming a
time when all the mediator roles of Christ will be done away with and
then “God shall be all in all!” When the Son of man shall come in his
glory… THEN shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” Matthew
25:31. The greatest significance to this vision as relating to God,
the “Son” is NOT called “God the Son!” But is seen as a man! He was
Not viewed as an equal “being” with God in this vision!
So after having reviewed the Historical Record, Interpretation, and
Revelation in the Old Testament we find that IF God is a Trinity He
has done everything in His power to conceal this “doctrine.” Thus for
the first 4,000 years of mankind, God revealed Himself as absolutely
ONE!
There is one more verse that is significant to look at before we go
to the New Testament.
In the writings of the last prophet before the 400 years of silence,
we find the following statement about God.
“For I am the LORD, I change not;” Malachi 3:6
So for these 4,000 years we find that God revealed Himself as
absolutely ONE! This being consistent in the Historical Record, in
the way His people interpreted it, and God’s manner of Revelations!
This now brings us to the New Testament. We have the various ways God
revealed himself in the Old Testament fresh in our minds. What will
God do next?
Part II
Now in the New Testament we find that is God speaking to His people
in a different way. We can look again to Hebrews 1:1-2. “God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the
fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his Son…”
In this Part we are going to look at:
1. What was said about Jesus
2. What is learned from Jesus Baptism
3. What is said about His flesh
4. What Jesus said about Who He was
5. What Jesus said about the supposed other “Persons”
6. Concluding Thoughts
What was said about Jesus as was prophesied in Isaiah
7:14. “Emmanuel, God with us.” Now is fulfilled in Matthew 1:23! Some
more History to base faith upon! But what does the verse say? “God
the Son” with us? NO! The “Second Person” of the Trinity with us? NO!
That isn’t said at all! But God with us! No qualification as to it
just being a part of God! This would of course go against the way The
True God was Historically interpreted for the past 4,000 years. In
fact, Colossians 2:9 speaking of Jesus says, “For in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Notice the Godhead was IN Him!
Not Him IN the Godhead as the Trinity relegates Him! This was all the
fullness of God dwelling in a body among men. 1 Timothy 3:16
Let us look back to the writings of Isaiah again to see just who this
baby born is going to be. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
Think about that! The Jews believe in absolutely One God. This God is
at times called their Father, Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 63:16; 64:8;
Jeremiah 31:1,9; Malachi 2:10. And this “Son” will be called
the “Eternal Father!” 19.) Or “Father Forever!” 20.)
And yet he is called a Son? Why would this be? In that God is who He
is, what ever He does is usually just a little bit different than how
we do it. God, who is a single (Eph. 4:4, 1 Cor. 12:13) invisible
(Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17) Spirit (John 4:24) caused a child
to be born. In that he fathered this child, it is fitting that he be
called “Father.” And in that He had procreated this body it was
fittingly called “Son.” Heb. 1:5, Psalms 2:7. Both of these verses
speak of this Father-Son relationship as beginning on a day in time!
I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son.
We find a couple of terms regarding this. Jesus is called the “Son of
man” eighty-eight times in the New Testament, all the way to
Revelation 14:14. And He is called the “Son of God” 46 times all the
way to Revelation 2:18. These two terms are probably best able to
describe the dual nature of Jesus. Jesus was of a genre all His own!
He is the “Only begotten.” God never has or will cause another Son to
be born! Thus Jesus possessed a dual nature. He was both God and
man!
What is learned from Jesus Baptism. This being a favorite passage
often used to “prove” the Trinity?
“And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17And lo
a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.” Mt 3:16-17
“And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.” Jn 1:32
Any good Trinitarian can tell you that the voice was the Father and
the Dove represents the Holy Spirit, and of course Jesus is the Son.
Thus there you have the “three persons” of the Trinity! Just pretty
simple, right?
Lets inquire just a little bit further. In John 5:37, Jesus said that
no man has heard the voice or seen the shape of the Father! So right
away, that means it wasn’t the Father that was heard at the baptism!
But there is even additional proof! The Father (as in the
supposed “first person” of the Trinity) wasn’t really the Father of
Jesus! The doctrine of the Trinity maintains that there are
the “Three distinct persons” in the Godhead. These of course being
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We read in Matt. 1:18,20; and Lk
1:35; that it was the Holy Spirit that performed the act of
paternity! Thus, all we have is two representatives present at the
baptism. The Spirit and the Son!
A closer look reveals that a voice does NOT a “Person” make! In other
words, just because we have a voice does not mean we have a “separate
person!” God spoke through a Donkey, Numbers 22:28, and Jesus said he
could make the stones cry out praise to him! Luke 19:40.
Also, the “dove” floating down and “abiding” on him! There are
several possibilities here! Isa. 46:11, tells us God can call a
ravenous bird to go anywhere he wants! Also, it is doubtful John
truly saw a dove. This is most likely a simile! “Like a dove.” I
doubt Jesus had a dove on his shoulder throughout his ministry!
What we have to remember here is that God is GOD! He can do what he
wants with anything He wants! If he wants you to hear a voice, you
are going to hear a voice even if you are deaf! He can make you hear
it if he has to stir up the molecules to create the sound! If he
wants you to see a dove, you will see a dove even if you are the only
one in a crowd who does!
The voice and dove were simply signs given by God, so John would know
that Jesus was the Lamb of God! And thus no real proof of a Trinity!
What is said about His flesh. Because Jesus was both God and man, (He
had a dual nature) He was unique in several ways! But he also was a
man just like you and I in ALL THINGS! Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15; This is
critical to understand! Considering the following:
Do (or did) you grow physically? So did Jesus. Luke 2:40, 52;
Do you know joy? So did Jesus. Luke 10:21;
Do you feel sorrow? So did Jesus. Matthew 26:37;
Do you ever weep? So did Jesus. John 11:35;
Do you ever get weary? So did Jesus. John 4:6;
Do you ever sleep? So did Jesus. Luke 8:23;
Do you ever get thirsty? So did Jesus. John 4:7;
Do you ever get hungry? So did Jesus. Luke 4:2;
Have you ever been tempted? So was Jesus. Luke 4:2;
Do you have to work? So did Jesus. Mark 6:3;
Can you know poverty? So did Jesus. Luke 9:58;
Have you ever been spit upon? Jesus was. Mark 14:65;
Have you ever been rejected? Jesus was. Luke 9:22;
Have you ever been mocked, or been made fun of? Jesus was. Matthew
27:29;
Has a friend ever betrayed you? Jesus was betrayed. Matthew 26:47-50;
Have you ever been deserted by all of your friends? So was Jesus.
Matthew 26:31;
Do you sometimes bleed? So did Jesus. John 19:34;
Will you someday die? So did the man Christ Jesus. John 19:30;
Do you ever pray? So did Jesus. Mark 1:35; John 11:41-42;
Do you ever feel God forsaken? So did Jesus. Matthew 27:46;
Do you have a God? So did the man Jesus! John 20:17; Eph. 1:17;
While it was true that He was a genre unlike any other, He also was
quite a bit like us also! In fact, the Bible says “…in all things it
behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.” And so as a man there
were the same “human” constraints, constrictors, limitations, etc.
that you and I face.
The last three items in this list are often the most shocking to
people. Jesus was God manifest in the flesh and He prayed? Sure did!
More than once in fact! How much more should we pray!
Consider this. Do you have God’s Spirit inside of you? Why do you
pray? Because “mankind” is supposed to pray! The Bible commands us to
pray. So what kind of example (1 Peter 2:21) would Jesus have been
had He not prayed? Colossians 2:9 tells us that “all the fullness of
the Godhead was in him bodily.” Yet He prayed. The Spirit was given
not by measure unto him, John 3:34. Yet He prayed.
He felt God forsaken because we feel God forsaken sometimes! All
things and all points he was a man like us!
And to really experience what it was like to be a man, He also had a
God! Philippians 2:8 tells that because He was “…in fashion as a man
he humbled himself…” He knows what its like. He has walked a mile in
our moccasins, thus He is a righteous Judge!
One last point relating to Jesus as a man. Although He was God
manifest in the flesh, as already stated there were human
restrictions he had to endure. One area of limitation was His
knowledge. That is, at least His knowledge of one event (possibly
others as well). Matthew 24:36, and Mark 13:32 both tell us that “no
man knoweth” the day and the hour of the end of the world, but the
Father only. These readings are particularly interesting IF God were
a Trinity. It is as if Jesus goes through the list of those who might
should know. The Son, the angels, they don’t know. Only the Father.
Interesting that the Holy Spirit was NOT included in the list? In
that the supposed “third person” was NOT a man, “He” would not have
had the same constrictors that Jesus did as a man. Thus “He”
(the “third person”) should have qualified to know and should have
been included in the list of dwellers in Heaven privy to information.
That is of course, IF God were a Trinity!
What Jesus said about Who He was. He never came right out and said I
am God! He came close a few times! In John 10:30-33 and they almost
stoned him, because “being a man, makest thyself God.” In John 6:15,
after the miracle of the loaves and fishes they were going to take
Him by force and make Him King! And in John 8:58-59; 5:17-18; (Isa.
40:25;) were other occasions in which He was nearly stoned for the
way He spoke of himself!
But Jesus couldn’t allow such. He couldn’t say it openly and plainly.
For His plan to be fulfilled He had to be crucified! And that would
not have happened had they realized who He was. “Which none of the
princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not
have crucified the Lord of Glory.” 1 Corinthians 2:8
And so Jesus spoke about who He was in parables. John 16:25 Jesus
says, “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time
cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall
shew you plainly of the Father.” The word “proverbs,” is defined
as: “Or in parables, or metaphors,” p a r o i m i a i V
(paroimiais) “There is some difficulty in defining this
word precisely: a translation like “parables” does not convey
accurately the meaning. BAGD 629 s.v. p a r o i m i a suggest in
general “proverb, “maxim,” but for Johannine usage “dark saying,”
figure of speech, in which especially lofty ideas are concealed. In
the preceding context of the Farewell Discourse Jesus has certainly
used obscure language and imagery at times: In the LXX this word is
used to translate the Hebrew mashal which covers a wide range of
figurative speech, often containing obscure or enigmatic elements.”
21.) This verse is remarkable in that IF God were a Trinity, as yet
unrevealed, why wouldn’t He show plainly of the “third person” also?
The reason? There is but One God who is a Spirit!
Lets look at how Jesus “concealed” and yet “revealed” who He was.
The “enigmatic manner” He spoke as John primarily wrote.
I AM not doing the things you see me do! John 5:17, 19, 30, 36, 8:28,
29, 9:4, 10:25, 32, 37, 14:10, 11, 31, 17:4
I AM not saying the things you hear me say! John 7:16-18, 8:28, 29,
38, 12:49, 50, 14:24, 31, 16:15
I AM not the one you see when you look at me! John 12:45, 14:7, 9
I AM not the one you know when you know me! John 8:19, 14:7, 9, 16:3
I AM not the one you receive when you receive me! John 13:20
I AM not who you acknowledge when you acknowledge me! 1 John 2:23
I AM not the one you deny when you deny me! 1 John 2:22, 23
I AM not the one you love when you love me! 1 John 5:1
I AM not the one you believe in when you believe in me! John 12:44
I AM come in someone else’s name! John 5:43, 12:28, 17:6
I AM the image of that someone else! Colossians 1:15, 19, Heb. 1:3
Except ye believe that I AM ye shall die in your sins! John 8:24-27
JESUS IS JEHOVAH of the Old Testament, The ONE GOD, the Father,
Revealed in flesh! Exodus 3:14; 1 Timothy 3:16
One of the most significant things this above list reveals is that
Jesus was NOT “God the Son!” IF He would have been, then He would
have done all of the above things by the power of the co-equal, co-
eternal “second person!” This was not the case! He was God the Father
manifest in flesh! 1 Tim. 3:16.
Instead, this proves right along with the prophesies of the Old
Testament that He was “Emmanuel,” and “his name shall be called… the
everlasting Father.”
What Jesus said about the supposed other “Persons” this being one
of the most revealing things about who God is.
During the three and a half years of His ministry, He would have the
greatest opportunity to clearly reveal, at least in parable form
(just as we have seen above how He revealed He was the Father) that
God was a Trinity. Here was His opportunity to introduce
the “others,” and to set the Jews straight! Instead He reaffirmed
their belief in One God! John 4:22, Mark 12:29-30. So we will look at
some of the things Jesus said about His “co-equal-persons.”
It is an amazing fact that Jesus only specifically mentioned the
supposed “third-person” thirty-five times.
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