If your life is not in jeopardy for what you
believe, you’re probably on the wrong side!
“Indeed, all who want
to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
It is what you actually believe that determines how you walk out your faith,
“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies,
quarrels and fights about the Torah; because they are worthless and
futile.” (Titus 3:9)
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Please Note: Nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church. I am not anti-anything or anyone. I am only pro-Torah, pro-Truth, and pro-Grace. Sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. Why isn’t my theology consistent throughout this website?
[Explanations of rabbinic citations are HERE]
Developing a
Systematic Messianic Theology
“The purpose of careful theological formulations is not to put barriers in the way of people who are seeking salvation, but to define clearly the truths upon which genuine [Biblical] faith rests, so that people will not be misled by false doctrines.” [Bowman]
What the Torah Says About
God
(A Short Summary)
“Shema Yisrael, ADONAI Eloheinu,
ADONAI echad …
Hear, O Israel,
ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one.”
Please note: If we were somehow able to clearly and definitively define “God” in terms we could actually understand, He couldn't possibly be the God of the Bible. If HaShem (literally “The Name”) can crate the entire universe from nothing by simply speaking it into existence, He can do anything He wants to, and He can appear in any form that He chooses, and we are forever unable to comprehend the Infinite. Over the span of recorded history, He has appeared to mankind in many forms: as the Angel of ADONAI, as the Captain of ADONAI’s armies, as a burning bush, as smoke, as cloud, as lightening, as thunder, as a pillar of fire, as a Man in a furnace (and others), as a dove, and finally as the Man Yeshua (see “Theophany”). When we discuss the “Persons” of the “Trinity,” it is important to understand that we aren’t even close to the Reality that is HaShem. We are only attaching convenient “handles” to see if we can somehow begin to grasp His glory and His functions as related to humankind.
There is one, and only one, true and living God as declared in the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4), Who is Echad (one, a compound unity), an indivisible, infinite, and intelligent Spirit Who is the source of all being and meaning, and Who eternally, simultaneously, and distinctly exists as God the Father (HaAv or Abba), God the Son (HaBen Yeshua), and God the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), indivisibly one in essence and attributes, yet three in distinct “Person,” work, and purpose; each of Whom possess all the attributes of absolute Deity and is indivisible, infinite, eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, personal, and perfect in wisdom, power, holiness, righteousness, justice, goodness, truth, mercy, and love (Isa. 43:10-11; Isa. 48:16-17, Gen. 1:1-2, Exod. 3:6, Prov. 30:4, Eph. 4:4-6).
He is the Creator of heaven and earth, of all living beings, and of everything both visible and invisible (Gen. 1:1-31, Col. 1:15-17). He exists outside of the physical universe that He created and is thus not bound by any of the physical laws of time and space that He created; thus there is nothing within His creation to which He may be accurately compared. His true nature is thus far beyond the ability of the mind of man to adequately or accurately comprehend. Although He is limitless in power, authority, time, matter, and space, He has chosen, in His infinite wisdom, to reveal His nature to humanity in perceivable and comprehensible manners.
Scripture records HaShem as revealing Himself in the following physical manifestations, as well as others:
• He walked with our first parents in Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8);
• as fire He declared the covenant with Avraham when He passed between the two halves of the sacrifice (Gen. 15:17);
• as the form of a man not born of a woman He approached Avraham with the two angels (Gen. 18);
• as a burning bush He spoke to Moshe (Exod. 3:2);
• as the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire He led the children of Israel through the wilderness (Exod. 13:21-22, el al);
• as the Sh'khinah He inhabited the Tabernacle and the Temple (Exod. 40:34-35, 2Chron. 5:11-14);
• He appeared in Babylon as the fourth Man in the furnace (Dan. 3:25);
• as the promised Messiah He became a Man made of flesh and born of a woman (Isa. 7:14, Gal. 4:4; John 1:1-3,14).
Although there are numerous examples of HaShem revealing Himself to humanity in various ways and forms, of all those many ways and forms, He has chosen to refer to Himself in the following primary contexts: as the Father (HaAv), as the Son (HaBen) Yeshua, and as Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit/Breath). What makes these primary contexts important is not only the fact that HaShem used these forms to reveal Himself to humanity, but in doing so, He refers to Himself in these primary contexts as the one and only true and living God.
We therefore believe and teach that Abba is all the fullness of HaShem invisible (John 1:18); that HaBen is all the fullness of HaShem manifested (John 1:14-18)[1]; and that Ruach HaKodesh is all the fullness of HaShem acting immediately upon the creature (Gen. 1:2, 1 Cor. 2:9-10).[2]
That HaShem refers to Himself in these three primary contexts can in no way can be said to imply that there are three separate and distinct Gods, as Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is but one, and only one, true and living HaShem.
HaShem and His Word are eternal and unchangeable. That is to say that He, His Will, and His Word have always been, and will always be, the same (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8; Matt. 5:18; Matt. 24:35; John 1:1-3,14). By referring to HaShem as three Divine “Persons” we are better able to understand the various ways that the Scriptures describe His working out His plan for His creation, and to understand the relationships within HaShem Himself as HaAv, HaBen, and Ruach HaKodesh. For example: Yeshua declared that no man has seen HaShem at any time except as the Son has revealed Him; Yeshua declared that He always did the work of His Father; Yeshua declared that only the Father knows the time of the Son’s return to earth; Yeshua said that after His departure He would send Ruach HaKodesh as the Comforter; in another place Yeshua said that after His departure His Father would send Ruach HaKodesh; the Son is said to be seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father; in preparation for His earthly priesthood, Yeshua was immersed while the Father declared Him to be the Son and Ruach HaKodesh descended upon Him in the form of a dove. (Other examples will be provided in our in-depth discussions to follow).
As to the “office work” of HaShem, HaAv decrees the will of HaShem, HaBen declares the will of HaShem, and Ruach HaKodesh implements the will of HaShem.
The Scriptures plainly teach that HaShem is an indivisible compound unity:
Sh'ma, Yisra'el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra'el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one]; (Deut. 6:4)
Yeshua confirmed (Mark 12:28-31) that this is the most important mitzvah (comnmandment) in the Torah. The Hebrew word echad (one) denotes a compound unity, such as one bunch of grapes, one congregation of Believers, or that a man and woman shall become one flesh. Had HaShem chosen to delare himself a singularity, He would have used the Hebrew word yachiyd, [“Take your son Isac, your yachiyd son ...” (Gen. 22:2)] One of the most common designations in the Tanakh for HaShem is Elohim, a singular noun that always takes a plural verb when referring to Deity.
At the moment of creation we find HaShem operating and interacting “within” and “among” Himself. God (Elohim), the Spirit of God, and the Word/Yeshua all participated in the creation of the universe. Yet “ADONAI is one (echad).”
In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth. The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. (Gen. 1:1-3) … Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; …” (Gen 1:26) … In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being. (John 1:13) For by Him [Yeshua] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Col. 1:16, NAS)
HaShem is invisible, no one has seen God at any time, yet He manifests Himself in many physical forms.
- For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20)
- Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1Tim. 1:17)
- No one has seen God at any time; (John 1:18)
Yet He has manifested in many physical forms:
-
He walked in Eden with Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8)
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He had lunch with Avram at Mamre (Gen 18:1)
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As the Angel of the LORD He comforted Hagar in the wilderness (Gen. 16:7-13)
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He appeared to Moshe as a burning bush (Exod. 3:1-4)
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He led Israel through the wilderness for 40 years as a column of smoke (cloud) and fire (Exod. 13:21)
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He appeared to Joshua as the Commander of the army of ADONAI (Josh. 5:13-15)
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He walked with three young men in the flaming furnace in Babylon. (Dan. 3:23-25)
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He lived among men for about 31 years as Yeshua the Messiah
But He has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures in three primary manifestations: there are within the one [Heb. echad] God of the Bible three distinct yet indivisible Persons[3] Who are eternally the same in substance and equal in power, yet eternally distinct in Person and work: God the Father (HaAv), God the Son (HaBen), and God the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), each of Whom is infinite, eternal, indivisible, unchangeable, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, personal, and perfect in wisdom, power, holiness, righteousness, justice, goodness, truth, mercy, and love.
God the Father decrees, God the Son declares, God the Holy Spirit enacts.
Why we refer to God as HaShem • Wikipedia: “Names of God in Judaism”
____________
1. That is, HaBen is HaShem made physically manifest in any form. Thus, any and all physical manifestations of HaShem are in the “Person” of HaBen, with the exceptions of the dove form in which Ruach HaKodesh was manifest at Yeshua’s immersion (Luke 3:22, et al) and the tongues of fire at Pentecost (Acts 2:3). [BACK]
2. Paraphrased from Boardman, cited in The Great Doctrines of the Bible, by William Evans. Chicago: Moody Press, 1912, 1949, p. 28. [BACK]
3. I use the word “Person” when referring to the Godhead simply because there is no other appropriate English word with which to do so. While some may object, I have no problem referring to God as a “Person” because throughout the Sacred Text He is described as having all of the attributes of personhood, that is, a self-aware entity that possesses mind, volition, and emotion. Each “Person” of the Godhead is described throughout the entirety of Scripture as being in possession of these characteristics. Go HERE for brief discussion of the “the Tri-Unity” of God. [BACK]
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
