Biblical Logos Blog

Earlier, I wrote a post about the Shema in the Bible which is often quoted as the basis of monotheistic understanding of God in the Old Testament. Looking carefully the words used in those verses however “The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut 6:4), can equally be understood not as the numerical one, but a “united / unity” of beings that represent as one.

Today’s post is another reference that confirms that understanding also from the Old Testament. Consider these verses:

Isa 48:15-17 I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit. Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.

In this passage, in context, the Lord was speaking about how Israel was called for his purpose. The him in the first verse is a reference back to Jacob / Israel. Then the one who is speaking (God), says he was there already there in the beginning when Jacob was called. Next the speaker says “the Lord GOD has sent me”. Here the Hebrew is the Lord (Adonai), GOD (Jehovah) sent me. So in just this statement we have God saying he was there from the beginning of Jacob / Israel being called, and that Adonai / Jehovah sent me. In one statement we obviously have two beings being referenced as God!

Next, the speaker (God) in this set of verses goes on. He says “Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.”. So the Spirit (ruach) was also sent by God. This is the third part of the Trinity all in one verse! Finally in the passages above, the speaker identifies himself “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.” So the speaker in this verse is saying He is the LORD (Jehovah) your God (elohim). Now if it wasn’t clear already, the speaker is saying he is Jehovah and he was also sent by Jehovah (in the prior verses). He is further clarifying the he is the “Redeemer” (ga’al) for Jacob / Israel.

I believe if you are a Jewish person seeking the truth about what Christians are saying about Jesus, you can verify the notion of the Trinity for yourself using only the Old Testament. You can also see in just these verses, that the Old Testament Messiah is actually God himself and he is the Redeemer / ga’al of Israel.

Now let’s look at some verses from the New Testament where Jesus seems to be referring back to these Isaiah statements.

Joh 8:39-52 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” Before Abraham Was, I Am
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees. Let’s summarize some of Jesus points he is making.

• “I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.” So just like in Isaiah 48:16, Jesus is saying he was sent by God
• “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.” Jesus is saying he speaks the words of God when he speaks. In Isaiah, it is the speaker of the verses Isaiah records which are the actual words of God.
• “Before Abraham Was, I Am”. Just like in the Isaiah verses, Jesus is saying he was pre-existent even before Abraham. We also see here in John, his identification of how he could say this, Jesus is claiming to be the “I AM”, God himself.
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Here is the final point that we also saw in Isaiah, here Jesus is saying he is the “Redeemer” for Israel, offering eternal life for anyone who “keeps my word”.

I hope you can see that even in the Old Testament, the concept of the Trinity was present in these verses from Isaiah. There are multiple passages we could have looked at that point this way, but this is a very concise set of verses that leave little room for another interpretation. In Isaiah, you can see the Father God saying he’s sending the speaker of Isaiah’s verses in 48:16. So you have the Father and the speaker of the verses as separate persons. The speaker is saying he is sent along with the Holy Spirit (ruach), which is then the third person of this Trinity. Just like Jesus claims in John chapter 8, he is God the I AM as well he is also Jehovah. Many of the Jewish non-Messianic believers today are looking for a man to save them. Not God incarnate as a man which is what Isaiah is saying. In the Old Testament the Messiah is God and yet was with God from the beginning.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.