Taken from: www.JOHN17-3.ORG - Some editing has been done
God in the Old
Testament
If God were 3 persons then we would expect to find God speaking to his creation as such. Rather simple logic here. Does the bible portray God as speaking to his creation as a multi person being? Yes or No? Let’s have a look…
God’s first words to mankind were…
Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
God says to Adam and Eve, “I have given you” he didn't say “we have given you”. This is the first of a continuous line of communication with his creation where God speaks of himself as a singular personal entity.
God speaking to Cain
Gen 4:10 And YAHWEH said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
Notice God says his blood is crying to ME from the ground, he didn’t say to US.
God speaking to Noah
Gen 6:13 And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
This is getting redundant, but sometimes it needs to be laid on nice and thick for some people to get it. God seems to be constantly portraying himself as a singular personal entity… hmmm that is odd. Notice the missing WE in those sentences.
God speaking to Abraham
- Gen 12:1 Now YAHWEH said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
- Gen 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Now raise your hand if you think Abraham believed God was 3 persons…. What? Nobody? Abraham was a Unitarian like Noah, Like Cain and Abel and like Adam and Eve.
God calling Moses from the burning Bush
- Exo 3:4 When YAHWEH saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am.
- Exo 3:5 Then he said, Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
- Exo 3:6 And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
We are the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Nope, I AM. The Absence of the trinity couldn’t be more obvious.
- Exo 3:13 Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?
- Exo 3:14 God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'
The famous “I AM WHO I AM” statement. Notice he didn’t say “we are who we are”!
The 10 Commandments
- Exo 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
- Exo 20:2 I am THE LORD [YAHWEH] your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Exo 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
Wow this is a pretty important moment in history. God speaks to the entire
nation of Israel and apparently deceives them into thinking he is a
singular personal being. Well actually he didn’t deceive them at all,
HE REALLY IS A SINGULAR PERSONAL BEING! Notice the “I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD... NO
OTHER GODS BEFORE ME”. Notice he didn’t say “we are the lord your god...no other
gods before us”. Why does the Trinitarian god constantly drop the ball every
time he has an opportunity to represent his “compound unity” to his people?
Answer… Because he isn’t a compound unity he is a single person. Trinitarians
constantly undermine their own beliefs when they speak of their triune, 3 person
God as HE.
Even in their hymns, like “Our God is an Awesome God, HE reigns
from heaven above” what about the other 2 persons?
A few more notable examples …
- Hos 11:9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
- Deu 32:39 'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
- Isa 43:10 You are my witnesses, declares YAHWEH, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
- Isa 44:24 Thus says YAHWEH, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: I am YAHWEH, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
Now I could fill this website with every time God says “I, Me, My, Myself” but you get the point. The Old Testament clearly and constantly portrays God identifying himself as a singular personal entity and to suggest otherwise is to be in denial. Also the people of God always referred to him with singular pronouns “he, him, himself” never did they refer to God saying “they, them, themselves.” The SHEMA is the greatest statement of faith amongst the Jewish people (and Christians). Jesus cited it as the greatest of all commandments and it directly declares that YHWH is ONE.
- Deu 6:4 Hear, O Israel:YAHWEH our God is one YAHWEH:
- Deu 6:5 And thou shalt love YAHWEH thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Note the stark contrast between this and the trinity. The word trinity comes from the Latin word trinitas which means THREENESS! Wow threeness? Trinitarians have to make up their own words and creeds to support their unbiblical doctrines. Now compare that threeness with statements like this.
Mal 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
We have One Father whom is our One God. This will be clearly shown throughout the New Testament as well.
The Exceptions
Trinitarians often will point to a handful of exceptions in the Old Testament where God is said to speak in the plural form. In light of the fact that God constantly speaks of himself in the first person singular I, ME, MY, MYSELF do these scriptures warrant a redefining of God to multiple persons? Let us take a look (no I am not multiple persons I am simply including you in my plans).
Gen 1:26 Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
When God was about to create mankind he said “let us”. Was this intended to communicate to us that God is a compound unity of multiple persons? The author of Genesis saves us the trouble and interprets this for us in the next verse!
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
The author records God saying “let us” but when the author describes what happened he refers to God as a singular personal entity. The author says “So God created man in HIS own image, in the image of God HE created him; male and female HE created them.” Clearly the author didn’t intend to communicate to us God is multiple persons since he assigns these singular personal pronouns to God three times in the very next verse. As mentioned previously, just two verses later God speaks his first words to Adam saying…
Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
God certainly didn’t communicate to mankind that he is multiple persons. Saying to Adam “I have given you” not “we have given you.” So clearly there is no reason to deduce from this passage that God is multiple persons. So then what did God mean by saying “let us make man in our image”?
God was speaking to an angelic audience and including them in his plans and intentions. ... Angels share the image of God in that they have rule and dominion over things as man does. Angels have personality, intelligence and reasoning capabilities like man does also. Angels’ responsibility is to watch over man (Heb 1:14), so it would make sense that God included them in this aspect of the creation story. God would have continuously spoke in such terms if his intent was to be known as multiple persons.
- Gen 11:6 And YAHWEH said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
- Gen 11:7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.
Again we have God speaking to an angelic audience. God tells the angels, look at what man is doing, let us go confuse their language. Is one person of the trinity telling the other two persons to look at what man is doing? That is ridiculous, but if God is showing non-omnipresent and non-omniscient angels something, that is perfectly reasonable. Later God sent three angels to Sodom to destroy it. It was typical for God to include angels in his plans and have them carry out actions on his behalf.
- Isa 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
- Isa 6:2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
- Isa 6:3 And one called to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is YAHWEH of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
- Isa 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me.
Again this is God including an angelic audience. Isaiah’s vision places him in a heavenly throne room where God is accompanied by some seraphim. One of the seraphim approaches Isaiah and touches his lips with a burning coal. After this God says “Whom shall I sent, and who will go for us?” Isaiah does not see a three person trinity in this heavenly, vision rather he sees a single person on a throne accompanied by some seraphim. Why isn’t there three thrones with each member of the trinity on their own throne?
Clearly nothing in these examples warrants ignoring the preponderance of evidence that shows the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is a singular personal entity and speaks to his creation and is spoken of by his creation as such.
Messianic Prophecies
If God was 3 persons and 1 of them was planning to be the Messiah on earth then we would expect to find this referred to throughout the messianic prophecies. Do they support such a view? Let’s have a look at the most famous messianic passages that are directly applied to Jesus in the New Testament.
Psalms 2
Psa 2:7 I will tell of the decree: YAHWEH said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
The Messiah was God’s Son and begotten at a specific point in time (today). Trinitarians believe in some ridiculous “eternally begotten Son” idea that is no more biblical than the word “trinity” is. Trinitarians have no rational way of explaining how exactly Jesus and God have a Father and Son relationship if they are co-equal and co-eternal partners. This nonsense completely obliterates the Father/Son relationship. Jesus is the Son of God precisely because of God uniquely bringing him into existence (Luke 1:35). The fact that he is the Son of God clearly shows he is not God. Just as the first Adam was called son of God due to his supernatural creation by God (Luke 3:38), so also the second Adam (Jesus) is the Son of God due to his supernatural creation in Mary’s womb. The Messiah is plainly distinguished from YHWH in this prophecy.
Psalms 22
Psa 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
In this famous psalm applied to Jesus in the New Testament, the speaker is undergoing terrible distress and anguish and calls upon God for help and strength. Clearly the speaker in this psalm is not God. Jesus fulfills this through the suffering he underwent during his crucifixion. Jesus cried out to his God and Father on the cross.
Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?
that is, My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Trinitarians are in the uncomfortable position of trying to explain why Jesus not only addresses someone else as God (when he is supposed to be God himself), and also explaining how he was forsaken by this God. One member of God forsaking the other member? Notice Jesus didn’t say “Father, Father why have you forsaken me” simply referring to one of his co-equal members. Jesus speaks to God outright, distinguishing himself from God like the rest of the bible continuously does. Jesus has the very same God we do as he himself says both before and after his resurrection (john 17:3, 20:17).
Psalms 110
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD
[YAHWEH] says to my lord [adoni]:
Sit at
my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
This is the most quoted messianic prophecy in the New Testament. Unfortunately for Trinitarians it plainly distinguishes Jesus from God. God is speaking to the Messiah, and each is designated with a different Hebrew word. The word translated LORD in capitals is YHWH, the word translated as “Lord” in lower case is Adon. The word “adon” has different vowel points with different meanings, when used for God is pronounced “I” [i.e. Adonai] when the other pointing is used for humans, it is pronounced “E” [i.e. adoni, pronounced adonee]. The usage in this passage is the “E” pronunciation designating a human being and not God. The verse plainly shows God seating the Messiah to his right hand, which shows they aren’t equals since one is elevating the other to a higher position than he previously held. Secondly, sitting at someone’s right hand is only significant if that person is greater than you are. When Peter quotes this passage on Pentecost (Acts 2:34-36) he plainly shows Jesus is not God (verse 22) and was “made both Lord and Christ” by God (verse 36).
Isaiah 42
Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This passage is applied to Jesus in Matt 12:18. The Messiah is described as the servant chosen by God whom God places his spirit upon. An honest reader can see that the Messiah is not God, The Messiah is distinct from YHWH the creator in v5.
Isaiah 53
- Isa 53:4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted...
- Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and YAHWEH has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This famous messianic passage plainly distinguishes the Messiah from God. The Messiah is “smitten by God” and
“YAHWEH has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” There isn't even a whiff of Trinitarian theology in any of these prophecies. The Messiah is explicitly and repeatedly distinguished from God every time.
Isaiah 61
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord YAHWEH is upon me, because YAHWEH has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Jesus actually applies this passage to himself at the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4:17-21). What a reoccurring theme, God places his spirit upon the Messiah, which anoints him to go about his work. Clearly the Messiah is not God. A total absence of anything close to what Trinitarians want to teach about the Messiah.
Daniel 7
- Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
- Dan 7:14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed
Here we see the Son of Man presented before the Ancient of Days (God) and receiving a kingdom. Showing obviously the Son of Man is not God but rather is anointed and appointed by God to be King of the Kingdom of God. Where is all the God adding a human nature to himself talk? It’s certainly not found in the bible.
Deuteronomy 18
- Deu 18:15 YAHWEH your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers--it is to him you shall listen--
- Deu 18:16 just as you desired of YAHWEH your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let me not hear again the voice of YAHWEH my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.'
- Deu 18:17 And YAHWEH said to me, 'They are right in what they have spoken.'
- Deu 18:18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
Here Moses declares that because the Israelites were fearful of hearing directly from God, God would honor that by raising up a prophet like Moses they can listen to. Proof positive the Messiah isn’t God. I repeat, this Prophet is in response to their request to not hear directly from God. God respects their request and their fear and says he will raise up a prophet so they won’t have to hear directly from himself! Secondly how could they possibly say the Messiah would be a prophet like Moses if he was an all-powerful, eternal, all-knowing being in a human body? Moses wasn’t a god-man and Jesus wasn’t either.
After examining these famous messianic prophecies it is clear that
none of them even remotely indicate that the Messiah would be God, or more
specifically one of the three persons of God adding a human nature onto himself
while the other two do not.
In fact these all teach the exact
opposite, the Messiah is not God but is a man like Moses from among the people,
who is anointed with God’s spirit and empowered to go about his ministry and
afterwards exalted before God and given a kingdom as his reward. This plain
reading of the text is supported throughout the New Testament as well.
Some Exceptions?
Some Trinitarians point to Isa 7:14 and Isa 9:6 as indicating the Messiah would be God.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This passage is quoted by Matthew
- Mat 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of YAHWEH appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
- Mat 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
- Mat 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what YAHWEH had spoken by the prophet:
- Mat 1:23 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).
Notice the fulfillment wasn’t in a literal wooden sense. Jesus wasn’t literally named Immanuel, nor was he literally God in a body. The significance of Jesus name wasn't “God became a human” but simply “he will save his people from their sins.” God is with us, in the sense that God has showed his love and mercy to mankind by sending his Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:10). Incidentally Jesus had the same name as Joshua (English bibles simply give them different English names), it was a common name. If simply having the name means he is God, then you better make room in the trinity for a lot more people.
Luk 7:16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us! and God has visited his people!
When Jesus raised a dead child the people acknowledged Jesus as a
prophet and said God has visited his people!
They didn’t believe
Jesus was God they were expressing God visiting/showing favor by raising a
prophet to do miracles. Zachariah (John the Baptist's Father) said this after he
named his boy John.
Luk 1:68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
Did he believe God came down as a man and paid a visit? This is before
Jesus' birth! God showing his favor to them =
God visiting his
people. God's favor and mercy = God with us or God is with us to be more
precise. It doesn't mean literally God is standing next to you. Look
what Gabriel the Angel says to Mary…
Luk 1:28 And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the
Lord is with you!
Gabriel says the Lord is with you, was the Lord actually standing next to her? No, and Jesus hadn’t been created in her womb yet either. He was saying God’s favor was with her. So clearly the idea of “God with us” or “God is with us” from a biblical stand point does not support a literal interpretation that God became a human and is standing next to you.
The next exception
- Isa 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of YAHWEH of hosts will do this.
A few points to consider
1. This passage is never directly applied to Jesus in the New Testament.
2. Assuming this translation is correct, it says simply “his name shall be called” and Jesus said he came in the Father’s name (John 5:43). It does not say “he is”.
3. This passage isn’t compatible with the trinity because it says “everlasting Father” and Trinitarians do not believe the Messiah was the Father.
4. This passage reads completely differently in the Septuagint which is what the Jews relied upon back then.
Here is the passage in the Septuagint.
Isa 9:6 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.
Clearly nothing in this translation indicates the Messiah would be God.
Isa 40:3 A voice cries: In the wilderness prepare the way of YAHWEH; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
This passage refers to John the Baptist and has no connection to Jesus. John the Baptist turned the hearts of the people to God which prepared them for the Messiah. Gabriel told John’s Father this…
- Luk 1:13 But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
- Luk 1:14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
- Luk 1:15 for he will be great before YAHWEH. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
- Luk 1:16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to YAHWEH their God,
- Luk 1:17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for YAHWEH a people prepared.
This prophecy simply has no connection to Jesus in the New Testament. John's Father Zachariah prophesied over his Son and praised God saying John would turn people to God and made no connection to the Messiah (Luke 1:67-79).
Next a look at the Gospels.
