Light

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Spirits – Made by God in Light

What is spirit?  Spirit is non-material essence.  Merriam-Webster Dictionary shows fourteen definitions for “spirit”.  The first two are: “An animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms; a supernatural being or essence.”  Scientific theories regarding aether, vacuum energy, neutrinos, which some relate to “spirit”, won’t be discussed here.  This topic mostly discusses supernatural spirit beings.

God is Spirit.  Holy.  Jesus said in Jn.4:24, “God is (a) spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth”.  Father God is Self-Existent spirit.  God isn’t physical matter.  No physical object or image can adequately depict God.  The Godhead or God Family is spirit essence…invisible (1Ti.1:17), ethereal.  2Co.3:17 “The Lord is that Spirit.”  The ascended Jesus is spirit at His Father’s right hand in heaven (He.1:3).  In Lk.24:39, Jesus said that a spirit being doesn’t have flesh and bones.

God is Light.  1Jn.1:5 “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”  Jesus said in Jn.8:12, ”I Am the Light of the world”.  cf. Jn.12:46.  The Old Testament (OT) prophecy quoted in the New Testament (NT) Mt.4:16 refers to Jesus. “The people who sat in darkness [in Galilee] saw a great light.”  1Ti.6:16 God dwells on His heavenly throne in brilliant light which physical human eyes cannot behold or approach.  (Also see the topics “Godhead in Prehistory” and “Jesus Is God…Jesus Has a God”.)

Psalm 104, written by David, is about God’s Creation.  Ps.104:1-3 Septúagint/LXX “Bless the Lord. You are very great. Who robes Thyself with Light [Ge.1:3] as with a garment; spreading out the heaven [Ge.1:8] as a curtain.”  Compare the Creation account sequence in Ge.1:1-8.  After Light was brought forth, lesser spirit beings were then made.

God makes His angels spirits.  After Light, continuing with Ps.104:4 LXX, “Who makes His angels spirits”.  The angelic order is composed of spirit beings.  Cambridge Bible “It is clear that the spiritual nature of angels isn’t in question here.”  He.1:7 of the NT quotes the Ps.104:4 LXX “angels”.

God’s heavenly host includes angels.  Ne.9:6 “You are the Lord, who has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host. The host of heaven worships You.”  Cambridge Bible Ne.9:6 “Most probably means the created spirits.”  Benson Commentary “All the inhabitants of heaven.”  Poole Commentary “The angels, who are so called.”  Ps.148:2-4 “Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens!”  Angelic voices on high praise the Lord.  At Jesus’ human birth, in Lk.2:13 the heavenly host was seen extolling God. “Suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.”

Angels serve as messengers, agents, and helpers. They can make themselves visible to man as need be, appearing as humans.  The writer to the Hebrews admonished in He.13:2, “Don’t neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for some have entertained angels without knowing it”.

The Hebrew term rendered angel in our OT is maláwk, Strongs h4397.  It means messenger.  The term malawk occurs over 200 times in the OT.  It also refers to human messengers and the Messenger of YHVH.  (see “Michael in the Bible”. The only archangel so-named in scripture is Michael, Jude 1:9.)

The Greek term for angel in the LXX and NT is aggelos g32 (pronounced ángelos).  It occurs 185 times in the NT.  It can also refer to human messengers. (e.g. Ge.32:3 LXX, and John the Baptizer in Mt.11:10.)

The Lord Christ shared in the Creation.  Col.1:16 “By Him [Christ the Son] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities.”  The Creation includes the heavenly host of beings, normally not visible to human eyes.  JFB Commentary “Invisible – the world of spirits.”  Barnes Notes “The angels we cannot see. Inhabitants of distant worlds we cannot see.”  Gill Exposition “Angels were made by him, Heb.1:7; and, as the Jewish writers say, on the 2nd day of the creation, though some say on the 5th.”  Benson Commentary Col.1:16 “The different orders of angels, both those that stood and those that afterward fell.”

According to Jn.1:1-14, Jesus was the primordial Word or Lógos (Greek) of God.  Jn.1:3-9 “The Word was God. All things came into being through Him [Christ the Word/Logos]…That Word was the true Light [g5457].”  “All things” included lesser spirit beings.  Bengel’s Gnomen Jn.1:3 “All things, which are outside of God, were made; and all things which were made, were made by the Logos [Jesus, v.14].”  Expositor’s Greek Testament Jn.1:3 “In 1Cor.8:6 Paul distinguishes between the Father as the primal source of all things and the Son as the actual Creator.”  Christ the Light was Executive Creator.

He.12:9 God is the “Father of spirits”.  Barnes Notes He.12:9 “God is Himself a Spirit [Jn.4:24]. Angels and human souls [or spirits] may be represented as especially His offspring.”  JFB Commentary “God is a spirit Himself, and the Creator of spirits like Himself, in contrast to men who are flesh.”  Meyer’s NT Commentary “God, who is Father in regard to the higher spiritual domain of life.”  Pulpit Commentary “It isn’t human spirits only that are here in view. God is the Father of all ‘the spirits.”

The cherubim (plural) or cherúbs were another class of spirit beings.  Telus.net: Cherubim “Cherubim are spiritual beings.”  They serve as God’s guardians.  The Hebrew term cherub (h3742) occurs 90 times in the OT.  Ge.3:24 God cast Adam & Eve from the garden of Eden, and then stationed cherubim on the east side to guard the way to the Tree of Life.  Scripture doesn’t depict cherubs as chubby human babies with wings flying around!

Ex.25:16-22 Moses was to construct the mercy-seat of God’s Tabernacle with two winged golden cherubs atop the Ark of the Testimony; there the Lord ‘dwelt’ with ancient Israel.  Ellicott Commentary Ge.3:24 “The office of the cherub here is to guard the Paradise [Garden], lest man should try to force an entrance back; and so too the office of the cherubs upon the mercy-seat was to protect it, lest anyone should impiously approach it, except the high-priest on the Day of Atonement.”  In 1Ki.6–8, figures of cherubim were later carved & embroidered (2Chr.3:14) in Solomon’s Temple.  (This wasn’t idolatry.)  In the Greek NT, cheroubim g5502 occurs only in He.9:5.

Ezk.10 is Ezekiel’s vision of cherubs at the Lord’s portable throne.  Ezekiel calls them “living beings”.  Ezk.10:20 LXX “This is the living being [g2226] that I saw below the God of Israel by the river Chobar, and I knew they were cherubs [g5502].”  How did they appear to Ezekiel?  Ezk.1:1, 5 “I was by the river Chebár among the exiles. There were figures resembling four living beings.”  Ezk.1:10 “The likeness of their faces was the face of a human…the face of a lion…an ox…and an eagle.”  Compare the appearance of the four living beings (g2226), but having six wings, that John envisioned at God’s throne in Re.4:6-9…lion, ox, man, flying eagle.  The Nature and Purpose of the Cherubim “These cherubic forms combine the excellencies of these four chiefs of God’s terrestrial creation.”

Winged sphinxes resembled cherubs.  Wikipedia: Sphinx Both the Egyptian and Greek sphinxes “were thought of as guardians, and often flank the entrances to temples.”  An ancient sphinx composite had the head of a human, the paws & tail of a lion, the hind body of an ox, and the wings of an eagle.  Dr. Raanan Eichler What Kind of Creatures Are the Cherubim? “The prevailing opinion is that the cherub is a winged sphinx…such as that depicted on the sarcophagus of the late 2nd-millennium BC Phoenician king Ahíram.”  William Finck Cherubs Are Sphinxes “A sphinx is a variation on a cherub.”

Fiery seraphim (plural), seráphs h8314, were another class of spirit beings.  They’re celestial attendant worshipers of God, having three pairs of wings.  In the OT, seraphs only appear in the vision of Is.6:1-7.

They were around the Lord’s throne, praising. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.”  Then with a glowing coal of fire from the altar, a seraph figuratively purged Isaiah’s unclean lips & iniquity.  Fire purifies.  Ellicott Commentary Is.6:2 “This is the only passage in which the seraphim are mentioned as part of the host of heaven. ‘Burning ones’…with six wings.”  cf. Rev.4–6.  Gill Exposition Re.4:8 “Cherubim…like the seraphim in Is.6:2.”  Nu.21:6-9 Moses made something like a bronze replica of a seraph, and set it on a pole to aid in healing Israelites bitten by serpents.

The watchers (Da.4:13-17, 23) were another group of spirit beings.  They are discussed in the two-part topic “Watchers and Gen. 6 ‘Sons of God”.

Also there were “24 elders” at God’s throne in heaven.  They are mentioned specifically in Re.4:4, 10; 5:8; 11:16; 19:4.  The apostle John envisioned them in Re.4–5.  Re.4:4 “Around the throne were 24 thrones. On the thrones were 24 elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads.”  Theologians and Bible commentators have put forth various explanations as to their identity.

The elders wear crowns of gold.  Barnes Notes Re.4:4 “These elders…are of a kingly order. They are human beings.”  In the Bible, elders refer to men.  Gill Exposition “In allusion to the 24 courses of the priests, into which they were divided by David [1Ch.24:4-19].”  Re.5:10 Young’s Literal Translation “And [the Lamb] did make us to our God kings and priests.”  They were as a royal priesthood (ref 1Pe.2:9).

Compellingtruth.com “Information in scripture most likely identifies these 24 elders as representatives of the church.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament Re.4:4 “Heavenly beings, angelic figures corresponding to the ‘thrones’ of Col.1:16. The significance of the doubled 12 has been found in the 12 patriarchs or tribes [of Israel] plus the 12 apostles, or in the 24 classes of the priests.”  Cambridge Bible Re.4:4 “They act as priests in Rev.5:8.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.4:8 lists possible interpretations, including…“The 24 elders represent the great and minor prophets; higher angels – the celestial priesthood”.

Could the 24 elders be redeemed humans who are spirit beings serving on God’s heavenly council or court?  I’ll leave the choice of interpretation to the reader.  (see “Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers”.)

[Aside: Hierarchical angelologies (and demonologies) developed over the centuries in the traditions of Judaism, kabbálah, and medieval Christianity.  That, and other ‘gods’, isn’t discussed here.]

God has given each of us humans our human spirit, the “breath of life” (Ge.2:7).  Is.42:5 God the Lord gives breath to people on earth, “and spirit to those who walk on it”.  Job’s countryman Elihú said in Jb.32:8, “There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding”.

The human spirit is a vital incorporeal component within our body which imparts consciousness and intellect to our brain.  We are a spirit, dwelling in a physical body on earth.  1Th.5:23 man is made up of “spirit, soul, and body”.

We communicate with God through our spirit.  At conversion, the Holy Spirit (HS) of God joins with our human spirit.  1Co.6:17 “The person who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”  Paul wrote to Timothy in 2Ti.4:22, “The Lord be with your spirit”.  The HS becomes part of our persona.  1Co.3:16 “The Spirit of God dwells in you.”

At physical death, our human spirit is to “return to God who gave it”, Ec.12:7.  The dying Stephen said in Ac.7:59, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”.  (Ja.2:26 “The body without the spirit is dead…our physical body is then a corpse. Also see the topic “Life and Death – for Saints”.)  Php.1:23 Paul said it was better to depart our physical body and “be with Christ” in heaven with a spiritual body (1Co.15:44, 50).

Jesus prepares our heavenly abode for us.  He said in Jn.14:2-3, “I go to prepare a place for you”.  He.12:22-24 dwelling in heaven are the spirits of men (righteous).  Lk.16:22 God’s holy angels will escort our spirit too, returning it to God who gave it…for His disposition and use.  Lk.16:8-9 as the “sons of light”, we’re welcomed into eternal dwellings.  Our spirit returns to the Light.  1Jn.1:5 God is Light [g5457].  Paul/Saul saw it from afar…Ac.9:3 “Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.”

Jn.3:20-21 those who do truth don’t fear the Light.  But the spirits of those who do evil or are unbelieving are afraid to go to the Light at death, to return to God (Ec.12:7).  They stumbled in darkness (Jn.11:10), not receiving the HS.  These may remain for a time as earthbound spirits (ghosts), stuck.

Those who believe in Jesus and repent of sin won’t abide in darkness (Jn.12:46)!  Ps.36:9 “In Thy Light, we shall see light.”  After death, we shouldn’t fear to return to God…going to the Light!  Trust in His destiny for our human spirit.  God is good (Lk.18:19)!  Medical personnel confirm numerous Near Death Experience (NDE) cases where patients saw the light.

Ja.1:17 God is the “Father of lights [g5457]”.  He made spirit beings, and human spirits (and stars too).  Bengel’s Gnomen Ja.1:17 “He is the Father even of the spiritual lights in the kingdom of grace and glory.”  Pr.20:27 LXX “The spirit of man is a light [g5457] of the Lord.”  Gill Exposition Pr.20:27 “The spirit of man…was a bright and burning light at first, but through sin is become a very feeble one.”

Yet Christians whose human spirit is joined to God’s HS are able to figuratively “shine as luminaries [g5458] in the world” (Php.2:15).  Jesus exhorted the disciples with Him in Jn.12:36, “While you have the Light [g5457], believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light”.  It’s our destiny too!

Re.22:5 “The Lord God has given them light, and they shall reign forever.”  Col.1:12 Father God “has enabled us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light [g5457].”  Prepared by God, it is the future for our spirits on into eternity…in His heavenly Light!

 

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Godhead in Prehistory

God is a uniplural Being, a compound unity…yet the Creator God-kind is One.  De.6:4 “Hear O Israel, YHVH our God is one [echád Strongs h259, Hebrew].”  But this term doesn’t mean numerically or solely ‘one’.  Ge.2:7, 24 Adam & Eve were echad/“one”, unified in togetherness…the two of them.  Ezr.2:64 the whole assemblage together was echad, as one, although it numbered 42,360 people!

The intertestamental Bible books were included in most canons until 200 years ago.  These apocryphal or deuterocanonical books were in the Septúagint/LXX, in the early KJV, and remain in the canons of the Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), and others.  Since the early Christians used these books, the Jews dropped them.  Because the books were used by the RCC, in 1534 AD Martin Luther placed the books after the canon, rather than keeping them interspersed within it.  (He began the Protestant Reformation.)  Around 200 years ago, Protestants dropped them from the Bible.

However, these intertestamental books were quoted or referenced by Jesus in the New Testament!  Compare: Mt.27:43 & Wisdom of Solomon (WSol) 2:13, 18; Lk.11:31 & WSol.8:1; Mt.6:14 & Wisdom of Sirach (WSir) 28:2.  WSol (written circa/c 20 BC) and WSir (written c 180 BC in Hebrew) will be quoted as we proceed with this topic.

In Ro.1:18-30, the apostle Paul paraphrased WSol.  Compare: Ro.1.21-22 & WSol.14:22; Ro.1:23-29 & WSol.14:29-30, 24-26.  In WSol.13:5, 8 & Ro.1:19-20 KJV, “The invisible things of Him from the creation are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…even His Godhead.”

The Creation evidences and reflects the Godhead, especially the family generative order of humans and animals.  Ep.3:14-15 Father God is the great prototype of all family relationships.  Orthodox Study Bible “God the Father is the ultimate Source of every living being.”

However, the expression ‘eternal Father’ doesn’t appear in scripture.  Although the Godhead is echad, one, uniplural…scripture indicates the Godhead wasn’t uniplural originally! 

Before God became the Father, God alone was the Self-Existent Being, Ancient of Days.  Not yet the Most High, since no one was below at that ‘time’.  The Being existed alone for an incalculable duration.

This great Omnipotent, Omniscient Being alone was the androgynous prototype or image of human male and female attributes & characteristics.  Were the theory of left-brain right-brain hemisphere dominance correct, the Being would’ve been both sides equally dominant.

But the great Being won’t remain alone!  As if to say (analogous to the later Ge.2:18)…‘It is not good for the androgynous Self-Existent Being to be alone (forever); I will make a Helper for The Being!’

Prehistory doesn’t begin with Ge.1:1!  Prior to Ge.1:1…Pr.8:1-2, 22-30 has a 1st Person quote from Wisdom. “Does not wisdom call. She stands in the top of high places. ‘YHVH possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works. From everlasting I was established, from the earliest times. When there were no depths I was brought forth. When He established the heavens, I was there. I was beside Him, and I was daily His delight.”  Wisdom, at the Being’s side…She has a beginning!

WSir, also called Ecclesiásticus, supports and expands Proverbs.  WSir.1:4, 7 “Wisdom was created before all things….The Lord Himself created wisdom. He poured her out on all His works.”  The Being brought forth Wisdom before all else, pouring her out.

WSir.24:3-6 is a 1st Person quote by Wisdom. “I came forth from the mouth of the Most High. My throne is in the pillar of a cloud.”  The Shekínah glory of YHVH is in the pillar of a cloud, and later led ancient Israel.  Ex.13:21 “YHVH went before them in the pillar of a cloud.”  cf. Ex.40:34-35.

He (now the Most High) and She (Wisdom) are both YHVH.  They are echad, one, uniplural.

WSol.7:22, 25 “In herself, wisdom is a spirit that is understanding, Holy. She is the breath of the power of God, and the emanation of the pure glory of the Almighty.”  Wisdom is the Holy Spirit, split-off or spirated or emanated through the Being’s breath/mouth.  WSol.8:3-4 “She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Master of all loves her.”

WSol and WSir reflect how Jews believed and interpreted Proverbs & Wisdom in latter BC times.  Wisdom is sophía (g4678) in Greek, and chokmáh (h2451) in Hebrew.  Orthodox Bible “The Holy Spirit receives eternal existence only from the Father.”  Wisdom says in Pr.8:25 LXX, “He begets [gennáo g1080] Me”.  Philo On Flight and Finding, p.325 “Wisdom, even if it be most ancient of all other things, still has only second place to that Omnipotent Being.”  He is the Most High.

Another 1st Person quote from Wisdom is Pr.1:20-23. “Wisdom shouts/sings in the street. ‘Turn to my reproof, Behold I will pour out my spirit upon you.”  She is poured out, wisdom the Spirit.  Note the word of YHVH that came to Joel in 2:28-29. “I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind.”  Wisdom is the Holy Spirit!  Compare Nu.27:18, “Joshua, a man in whom is the Spirit.”…with De.34:9, “Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom”.  The spirit of Wisdom in Joshua is the Holy Spirit!

Solomon’s prayer of WSol.9:4, 10, 17. “Give me the wisdom that sits by Your throne…Send her forth from Your holy heavens…Your Holy Spirit from on high.”  Wisdom the Holy Spirit sat beside God’s throne in the heavens, as a Queen beside the King’s throne.  The real “Queen of Heaven” (Je.44:17) isn’t Ashtóreth (e.g. 1Ki.11:5), other pagan goddesses, or Mary…rather, She’s the Holy Spirit (HS).

Returning to prehistory…The Being emanated the HS.  The Being is now become He, no longer an androgyne…the HS, She is with Him.  A later figure of this masculine and feminine is Is.42:13-14. “YHVH will go forth like a warrior. Like a woman in labor I will groan.”  YHVH is as warrior and pregnant woman both!  And Ps.123:2 “As servants look to their master, and a maid to her mistress, so our eyes look to YHVH.”  YHVH is both Master and Mistress!  He and She.  Yet they are one/echad.

Since the Godhead is divine ‘Persons’, we most often use personal pronouns to refer to Their reality.  In English, personal pronouns are masculine or feminine.  In the next scriptural revelation of prehistory, He will become Father too (but not Mother).  She will become Mother.

God made the family (father, mother, offspring) the foundational unit (Ro.1:19-20)!  The church ideal for children is two–parent families.  Yet are God’s born-again children, adopted into a single–parent family?  Can there be a Son of God without a Father God and a Mother God?  Was the Word or Logos begotten into a one-parent family?  Again, YHVH reflects both masculine and feminine (Ps.123:2)!

The Works of Philo, p.85, 331, 405 “The Word [Lógos g3056, Greek] has received wholly pure parents…God being the Father and husband of wisdom, the mother of the Word….the Divine Logos flows forth from Wisdom as a spring.”  (A spring of Living water poured-out, Jn.4:14.)  Creation of man/mammals reflects & teaches us that it’s impossible to have a father without having a mother!

When did the Word/Logos, the One who later became Jesus in the flesh, originate?

At Creation in Ge.1:1-2, “The Spirit of God was hovering [h7363]….”  JFB Commentary “The Holy Spirit was hovering as a mother bird, when hatching eggs.”  The Holy Spirit is the real Mother Nature, so to speak!  De.32:11 a mother eagle hovers (h7363) over her young.  Re.12:14 the Holy Spirit-filled church is metaphorically given the wings of a great she-eagle, “that she might fly”.

Jn.1:1-5, 14, 18 “In the beginning, the Word [Logos] was with God and the Word was God. All things came into being through Him. In Him was life and the life was the Light of men….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….the only-begotten God.”  The Word/Logos/Light became Jesus.  He.1:2-3 Jesus the Son is the radiance of God’s glory.

Ge.1:2-4 “God said, ‘Light…Be!”  A great cosmic Light was brought forth on the 1st day of Creation.  But no sun, moon, or stars luminaries appeared until the 4th day (v.14-19).  2Co.4:6 Jesus is a great primordial Light!  Jesus Himself said in Jn.8:12, “I AM the Light of the world”.  Jesus was begotten or emanated from His Father and Mother (who “hovers”).  And Jesus said in Jn.12:46, “I have come as Light”.  1Jn.1:5 “God is Light.”  This first Light has been described as ‘the ongoing and working reflection of His [the Father’s] Intelligence.’

Thus God became a Family.  (Other closely related topics are: “Tri-unity of God”, “Holy Spirit Personification”, “Holy Spirit’s Identity”, “Jesus Is God…Jesus has A God”.)

Jesus said of Himself in Lk.7:35, “Wisdom is justified by her children”.  Jesus acknowledged His Mother God, Wisdom!

Orthodox Study Bible “The Son is begotten before all time and ages from the essence of the Father. The Son…has the Father as His Source from eternity.”  The oldest manuscript of Jn.1:18 refers to Jesus as the “only begotten God”.  The Word (Jesus) was begotten or generated, “made” in that sense.  He.3:1-2 says Jesus “was faithful to Him who made [poiéo g4160] Him”.  Jn.17:24 the Father gave Jesus His glory.  Jn.6:57 the Word/Jesus’ very life is because of the Father!

Theophilus, the 6th bishop of Antioch (born approximately 20 years after the apostle John died), was the first to use the term trinity/triad.  In 175 AD he wrote To Autólycus, 2:10. “God, having His own Word internal within His own bosom, begat Him, emitting Him along with His own Wisdom before all things.”  2:15 Theophilus’ triad was, “The Trinity of [Father] God, His Word, and His Wisdom”.  To Autolycus is “the earliest extant Christian work to use the word ‘Trinity’ [trías Greek, triad].”

Christian historian Robert Grant’s Greek Apologists of the 2nd Century, p.169. “Theophilus and almost every early Christian theologian agreed the Logos (like Sophia/Wisdom) was originally in God.”

Irenaeus (130-200 AD) of Lyons, France wrote Against Heresies. “The Son is rightly and properly called Word, while the Spirit is called the Wisdom [Sophia] of God.”  Ibid 4.7.4 “The Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom [Sophia], whom all the angels serve.”

The Father, Holy Spirit (Wisdom), and Son comprise YHVH…the Godhead.  In those early writings, the Christian belief wasn’t the same tri-unity/trinity the RCC later promulgated.  As the RCC changed from the belief of the early church, in ensuing centuries much of Christianity has also adopted the position of the RCC.  (Additionally the RCC began to emphasize Mary…see the topic “Holy Spirit versus Mariolatry”.)

{Sidelight: Although the feminine HS was present (Ge.1:2, Pr.8:22) before the Word or Light (Ge.1:3), She isn’t a Son.  Only sons are firstborns in scripture (e.g. Ex.13:13-15 LXX, g4416 firstborn).  Therefore the Word/Christ the Son, not the HS, is “the firstborn [g4416] of all creation” in Col.1:15.}

Next, after the Word (who became Jesus) was begotten, came other days of Creation…see Ge.1:6-25.

Ps.33:6 “By the Word of YHVH the heavens were made, and by the Spirit of His mouth [cf. WSir.24:3] all their host.”  Creation was by the Word/Jesus and the HS.  WSol.9:1-2 “God, who made all things by Your Word and in Your Wisdom built a man.”  Col.1:16 “Through Him [Jesus the Word, the Son, v.13] were all things created.”  Ps.104:24, 30 “You send forth Thy Spirit, they are created.”  Pr.3:19 “The Lord by Wisdom founded the earth.”  Job.33:4 “The Spirit of God has made me.”

The above verses all reflect the Spirit/Wisdom and the Word active at Creation.  Also, Philo The Special Laws 1, p.541 “Now the image of God is the Word [Logos], by which all the world was made.”  Written in Aramaic pre-200 AD, the Targum Neofití Ge.1:1, “In the beginning, with Wisdom, the Memra of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth”.  The Memra is the Aramaic equivalent of the Word (English) and Logos (Greek).  Wisdom/HS and the Word were Creator(s).

Theophilus also wrote in Autolycus 1:3, 7, 2:10, 22 that God made all things (he quotes Ps.33:6) by the Logos/Son and Wisdom, His two offspring/hands (2:18).  They are the “Us” in Ge.1:26 (below).  1Clement 15:7-8 “He with His holy and pure hands formed man…‘Let Us make man in Our image.”

Ge.1:26-27 “Let Us make mankind [adám h120] in Our image, according to Our likeness…in the image of God.” (not in the image of non-reproductive angel-kind spirits).  The human (adam h120) was created by the Word and Wisdom/HS, the Us…who are God.  Humans, both male and female, are made in God’s image/pattern/attributes.  (cf. a later reference for “image” is Nebuchadnézzar’s statue, also an image.)  And humans are made in God’s likeness/shape/form.  The Hebrew term for image (h6754) is masculine, and the term for likeness (h1823) is feminine.  How did we imagine God, and what does God appear like?  ref the Ezk.1:26-28 vision, when God appeared in the likeness (h1823) of mankind!

In Jewish thought, the first human possibly was created androgynous, or a two-sided being, with male and female attributes.  Ge.5:1-2 “In the day when God created mankind [h120] in the likeness of God, He created them male and female.”  “Them” is a plural.  Dual gender indwelling the human, on the 6th day!?  Eve was then brought forth from Adam’s side (h6763).  Ge.2:21-23 “She shall be called woman [isháh h802], because she was taken out of man [ish h376].”  The human/adam (h120) wasn’t called ‘male human’ (ish h376) until Ge.2:23…when Eve is drawn out of Adam!  Not before then was the adam termed ish…male human.  1Co.11:12 “The woman came from the man.” (not from the ground.)

Within man was wo(mb)man, his ‘other half’.  John H. Walton Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, p.208 “All men and women are to be viewed as two sides of an original whole.”  The first human (adam h120), formed from the ground (adamáh h127, Ge.2:7) in The Being’s image, was perhaps a ‘quasi-androgynous’ (for lack of a better term) image of what God originally had been.  God then fashioned that human into two, Adam and Eve…as The Being had brought forth the feminine HS Wisdom from the “mouth” of The Being’s sole essence!  Husband and wife are to cling together as one/echad (flesh), Ge.2:24; as an androgynous first human was solely one flesh prior to the ish/male and ishah/female Eve.  And the Godhead is unified as One (De.6:4).

It takes both male and female humans, ish and ishah, to fully express the image and likeness of God!  Man and woman must both exist, or there would be no complete image and likeness of God (after The Being emanated the HS)!  Note: Though Paul did address female roles in the assembly, and the husband is the head of the wife (Ep.5:23), women were wrongly considered inferior by the institutional church.

In our various languages, we use terms which correspond to the ancient Hebrew & Greek terms chosen by the Bible writers to identify and describe the ‘Persons’ of the Godhead.  Jewish and Christian theology usually refers to God in male language and images, yet agrees it doesn’t adequately express all that the Divine is.  The Godhead possesses all the masculine and feminine attributes.  Words just cannot express how great God is!

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Fire From Heaven!

God’s Holy Spirit power is symbolized and manifested by natural phenomena such as: wind, water or rain, oil, the dove…fire.  As I was doing devotionals on the morning of 05/23/2006, I began to receive revelation about God’s holy fire!  While at work that day I began writing it down, as able.  Then on the evening of the day of Pentecost 06/03/2006, my son Timothy mentioned Holy Spirit (HS) fire.  And on 06/24/06, my 3-year-old grandson Gabriel even said, “Holy Spirit is fire”!

Fire and light are interrelated.  1Ti.6:16 God dwells in unapproachable light which physical eyes cannot see!  Ex.33:20-23 the Lord told Moses no man can see the glorious brightness of God’s face and live.

Fire was sometimes present while God interacted with the ancients.  In Ge.15:7-10, 17-18, the Lord had a flaming torch pass among the sacrificial pieces as He ‘cut a covenant’ with Abrám.  Ex.3:1-6 the Messenger of YHVH appeared to Moses in a burning bush which didn’t burn up.  Ex.13:21-22 the HS led ancient Israel in pillars of cloud and fire.  De.4:10-15, 24 Christ had spoken the Decalogue from the midst of fire atop the mountain or volcano.  He is awesome…the genuine fire-God of Light!

Remarkably, the Lord commanded Moses/Israel that the fire on the altar (for burnt offerings, etc.) in His central sanctuary complex was to never quit burning!  Le.6:8-13 “Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.”

What made this fire so significant, that it should never be extinguished?  That very fire supernaturally came forth from God!  Le.9:23-24 “The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings. The people saw it and fell on their faces.”  Fire from the Lord fell upon His altar…amazing!

The priest was to put wood to burn on the altar every morning, so that fire wouldn’t go out (Le.6:12).  That continual fire, originating from God, was to be used for their communal sacrifices.  No substitute fire was authorized!

Le.10:1-2 Nadáb & Abihú (sons of Aaron the priest, and nephews of Moses) were even supernaturally put to death for not using God’s holy fire (the flames on the altar) with their offering!

Tradition says a glowing, burning coal from God’s holy fire (Le.9:24) was carried in a special vessel all during their wilderness wanderings.  So that fire wouldn’t completely go out.  It was then rekindled on the altar, when the tabernacle was set up at the next encampment.

On the annual Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year, the high priest must take incense with coals of that fire into the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, lest he die!  Le.16:12-13 “He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar, and bring it inside the veil.”  (see “Day of Atonement”.)

God authorized His pilgrim feasts be kept only at the central sanctuary, where God’s fire burned on the altar.  This was where Christ the Lord ‘dwelt’ above the cherubim atop the ark! (ref De.12:11-12, 14:23, 16:11; 2Sm.6:2; 2Ch.6:38; Ps.80:1.)  Those feasts were to be kept at no other location or altar; only at the sole place where God’s Name and holy fire was.  (Eventually that place was Jerusalem.)

Jsh.22:10-34 although the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan River built a large monument of witness which resembled an altar, no national or festal sacrifices were done there.  It wasn’t rebellion or an alternative site.

Fire from God fell elsewhere in the Holy Land on occasion (but not for Day of Atonement or pilgrim feast purposes).  Individual common altars were allowed for the private worship of YHVH, if they weren’t made from cut stones (ref De.16:21 & Ex.20:25).  Jg.6:19-21 supernatural fire consumed Gideon’s offering in the presence of the Messenger of the Lord.  Jg.13:18-21 the messenger of YHVH ascended in the flame of Manóah’s offering.  God’s Messenger or Name was there for the above two offerings.  (Ge.4:4-5 possibly fire had fallen on Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s.)

1Ch.21:26 fire from heaven fell upon David’s burnt & peace offerings on Mt Moriáh (2Ch.3:1)!  In 1Ki.18:36-39, fire fell from heaven and consumed Elijah’s burnt offering at Mt Carmél!  (see the topic “Mountaintop Experiences With God”.)  In 2Ki.2:11-12, Elijah himself went up to heaven by fire.

But neither Gideon, nor Samson’s father Manoah, not even Elijah, nor anyone in the Old Testament or New Testament was authorized to keep pilgrim feasts away from the city of the national sanctuary altar!  see the topic “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.  Israelites brought their sin & guilt offerings to the sanctuary at pilgrim feast times.  All sin & guilt offerings…and most burnt, grain and peace offerings…must be sacrificed at that one altar of holy fire!  They were most holy (ref Ex.40:10; Le.2:10, 6:17, 14:13).  see “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.

However, at some point prior to King Solomon, the sacred fire from heaven on the central sanctuary altar was no longer kept burning by the priests.

So…heavenly fire fell again on the altar at Solomon’s dedication of God’s Temple (circa 990 BC)!  2Ch.7:1-3 “When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.”  Fresh fire from God!  The glory of the Lord was so great on this occasion, the priests couldn’t stand to minister (2Ch.5:13-14)!

After Solomon’s reign, King Jeroboám of the northern kingdom of Israel disobeyed God by wrongly setting up a false feast in Bethél…apart from the altar of holy fire in Jerusalem.  As Jeroboam attempted to offer other fire, his hand withered and his Bethel altar was supernaturally split apart!  (ref 1Ki.12:32-33, 13:1-5.)  1Ki.13:4-5 “His hand dried up so he could not draw it back to himself. The altar was split apart and the ashes poured out.”  The Lord didn’t authorize His feasts at any location separate from His sanctuary holy fire!

But when the temple was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnézzar, the holy fire on the altar was again extinguished.  The Jews were sent into captivity to Babylon.

Many decades after the captivity, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from Persia.  Miracle fire (from naphtha) once again burned sacrifices on the altar.  ref 2Mac.1:18-35.  A wood offering was mandated for Jews returning to Jerusalem, to keep that altar fire burning (cf. Ne.10:34 & Le.6:12).

The Orthodox Study Bible comments on 2Mac.1. “This is a letter from Jews in Jerusalem to Jews in Egypt concerning Hánukkah…which celebrates fire and light.”  Hanukkah is the annual 8-day feast in December which commemorates Judas Maccabéus’ rededication of the temple ca 165 BC.  Since it isn’t one of God’s pilgrim feasts, the man-ordained Hanukkah (also called the Feast of Lights) may be celebrated away from the city of the sanctuary altar (Jerusalem).  This December festival became a simulation of sorts or a substitute for the 8-day October pilgrim Feast of Booths/Feast of Tabernacles (FOT) for Jews living too far from Jerusalem…since keeping a FOT away from the central sanctuary/altar would violate God’s written word.  see “Feast of Booths”.

Le.23:39-42 native born Israelites in the Holy Land were required to dwell in booths at the FOT.  Some Jews in Egypt went up to Jerusalem for pilgrim feasts, e.g. Ac.2:10.  But many Jews in the diáspora never could afford the long journey.

Even Philo of Alexandria (in Egypt) went to Jerusalem only once in his entire life (ref On Providence 2.64, p.755)!  Jews aren’t allowed to keep a FOT in Alexandria or Cairo!  Zec.14:16-18 keeping an (October) FOT in Egypt would violate God’s written law…it must be kept in Jerusalem only.  The 2Mac.1 letter comforted & exhorted those Jews in Egypt to just rejoice in keeping Hanukkah, instead of bemoaning there’s no (authorized) FOT in Egypt!

{Sidelight: Interestingly, from 500–400 BC a Jewish temple for offerings stood at Elephántine in Egypt.  And from 170 BC a Jewish temple for offerings stood at Leontópolis/Heliópolis in Egypt, until the Romans destroyed it in 73 AD.  It is uncertain whether Is.19:19-20 pertains to one of these temples.  Perhaps both were the substitutionary works of religious men?}

Fire also purifies, and it symbolizes the HS.  Is.6:1-8 Isaiah’s lips were purified by a burning coal from the Lord’s heavenly altar.  Mal.3:1-3 prophesied the Lord (Jesus) would purify as the refiner’s fire.  In Jn.5:33-35, Jesus referred to John the Baptizer, a type of Elijah, as a “burning lamp”.  Mt.3:11-12 John the Baptizer said that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  The fire relates to purifying, anointing, and destroying.

Ac.2:1-4 the Holy Spirit anointing was given in Jerusalem on Pentecost as tongues of fire.  v.14-18 Spirit-filled believers would have dreams & visions and will prophesy!

Fire from heaven was also sent upon the ungodly.  e.g. Ge.19:24 fire was sent on wicked Sodom & Gomorrah.  2Ki.1:9-15 fire was sent upon the soldiers who were deployed to capture Elijah.

Ezk.22:20-31 prophesied the fire of God’s wrath upon greedy prophets & priests who are unfaithful to the Lord’s commands and who speak falsely.  He.12:29 “Our God is a consuming fire.”

I’ve seen Christian author Tommy Tenney speak a few times.  In The Godchasers, 1998, p.1-16, he related his 10/20/1996 experience of witnessing the acrylic pulpit in a Houston church be split in half by a lightning bolt from God!  (www.evanwiggs.com/revival/history/penpulp.html)   After reading Tenney’s description of the amazing incident, it brought to mind Jeroboam’s altar that split apart in ancient Bethel/Israel (1Ki.13:5)!  The split altar of Jeroboam was a powerful sign of God’s disapproval.

Was the split pulpit in that Houston church a sign of God’s disapproval of some people present?  Was God’s presence there a sign of His approval of others present?  Both?  Tommy Tenney indicated that he himself wasn’t as affected physically as some others were.  It seems the Houston manifestation caused awe & reverence in the hearts of Tenney and ones close to God…but terrified those who desperately needed to repent.  The Lord wants His people to repent of all sin, and to seek His face!

My father told the story of a big tornado which hit eastern Illinois in 1917, shortly before he was born.  Some of the cattle were even picked up by the winds and set down in Indiana across the nearby Wabash River!  The local rural church was completely demolished by the tornado, all walls blown away.  Except…only the pulpit remained intact.  It was standing there with the Bible still open to the same page where the preacher had left it the previous Sunday!  The word of the Lord endures forever.

Returning to my initial remarks…After I’d arrived to work that morning of 05/23/2006, the annual fire drill was unexpectedly sounded throughout the building a few hours later!  It seemed fitting.

May the Lord purify our hearts, and empower us with burning zeal from the Holy Spirit!  And the day will come…when we will be able to see His face and His glory in eternity!

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Jesus Is God…Jesus Has a God

Different views are extant among Christians about the Godhead, the Deity.  Such as, the Unitarian view; but is it scriptural?  How about the purported Oneness doctrine; is it scriptural?  Also, does scripture indicate there’s complete equality in the Godhead; Deity in all respects?

John wrote this about Jesus/Yeshúa.  Jn.1:1-4, 9, 14 “In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God…The true Light…The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  This reflects a high Christology.  The Word/Light, who also was God, was made flesh.  John identifies Him as Jesus.

Targum Neofití Ge.1:1, written in Aramaic pre-200 AD, “In the beginning, with Wisdom the Mémra (the Word) of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth”.  The Memra (Aramaic), the Word (English), the Lógos (Greek)…are equivalent terms.  Then Ge.1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image.”  In the Old Testament text, when YHVH was anthropomorphized (appeared as human) or there were plural YHVHs…the second YHVH was called the Memra (Word) in Aramaic Targums.

Ancient writings such as: the Aramaic Targum paraphrases (written when most Jews no longer knew Hebrew), the intertestamental Apocrypha, Philo and Josephus of the 1st century AD, other non-canonical literature…has much historical value, and some of it may be inspired.

The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was born around 20 BC (prior to John).  Philo referred to the Word (logos Strongs g3056) as involved in the Creation, and as the second God.  The Works of Philo: p.541, The Special Laws 1 “Now the image of God is the Logos, by which all the world was made.”  p.747, On Providence 1 “The second God, who is the Word.”  p.293, Who Is the Heir of Divine Things “The Logos is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race.”  Philo exemplifies a more ancient path of Hebrew thought than the rabbinics of the Middle Ages!

John 1 regarding the Word, quoted above, resembles somewhat the writing of Philo (who wrote in Greek) and the Targum Neofiti Ge.1:1 (written in Aramaic).

Jeremiah had prophesied in Je.23:5-6. “I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch. This is His Name [shem Strongs h8034, Hebrew] by which He will be called, YHVH our righteousness.”  He will become the God-man.  He will be YHVH and the Son of David…both!  Philo On the Unchangeableness of God, p.162 “God is not as a man…God is as a man.”  The Targum Jonathan and the Talmud Lam Rab 1:51 also agree that the Branch in Je.23:6 refers to the Messiah.  Fulfilling v.5-6 via the virgin birth, Jesus is both…Son of God and Son of Man!  Mt.1:20 Jesus as Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit…God.  (see the topic “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

{Sidelight: Je.33:15-16 the English word “name” in v.16 is in italics, meaning that word wasn’t in the actual Hebrew text of the verse.  It was added by translators.  Furthermore, the Cháldee, Syriac and Vulgar Latin all render Je.33:16 without the “she”…rather, “whereby they shall call Him.”}

Jesus is God!  Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  (see “Jesus Is the Messiah”.)  He said in Jn.10:30, “I and My Father are One”.  Father and Son are both of the same essence and God-kind.  Kind begets kind.  Ge.1:11, 21, 25-26 reflect this biogenesis.

De.6:4 “The Lord is one”, echád (h259) in Hebrew.  God is unified, but not numerically or solely, one.  e.g. in Ge.2:22-24 Adam & Eve also were one/echad…the two of them!  Ezr.2:64 an assembly of 42,360 was as one/echad! 

Following are several New Testament (NT) verses which confirm Jesus is God.

Again, Jn.1:1, 14 the Word who became flesh “was God”.  Mt.1:23 Jesus is “Emmanuel, God (is) with us”.  Jn.20:28 Thomas called Jesus, “My Lord and my God”.  Php.2:5-7 the apostle Paul said Jesus had “existed in the form of God” (not in the form of angels, but as the Word/Logos of God) prior to His human birth.  Col.2:9 in Jesus Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”.  He.1:3 Jesus the Son is “The radiance of His (Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature”.  He.1:6-8 “Let all the angels of God worship Him. Of the Son He says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever.”

In Re.1:8 Jesus calls Himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty”.  Jesus says in v.17-18, “I AM the first and the last, the living One, and I was dead”.  Re.22:13 “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.”  In v.16 He specifically identifies Himself by Name, “I, Jesus”.  Jesus Himself says He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty (God)!

Again, in Je.23:6 the Messiah would also be YHVH.  Re.5:11-14 “Worthy is the Lamb! And they fell down and worshiped.”  In Re.5, all those angels, living creatures and elders seen around the heavenly Throne are worshiping the sacrificial Lamb Jesus…they aren’t idolators!  They’re worshiping Jesus because He also is very God!  It’s plain that the many above verses show…Jesus is God/YHVH too!

Compare Jn.8:57-59 & 18:5-6, where Jesus calls Himself “I AM”, with…Ex.3:14 “I AM” in the LXX/Septúagint.  Again, Jesus is of the God-kind.  Jn.6:62 Jesus refers to Himself as “ascending where He was before [His human birth]”.  Also Jn.6:51 “I AM the living bread.”  And v.54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.”  These astounding words of Jesus aren’t the words of some deranged human martyr!

Even the opposing Jewish leaders understood Jesus as saying He’s more than a mere man.  Jn.10:33 “You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”  And Jn.19:7 “He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”  They understood Jesus was indicating He is God!

Unitarianism ignores some of the NT scriptures.  It’s the belief that Jesus is the Son of God but isn’t God the Son; that Jesus isn’t divine, isn’t Deity.

Jesus declared in Mt.28:18, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”.  In Ac.7:56, 59 the dying Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven, and said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”.  (Ec.12:7 “The spirit returns to God who gave it.”)  Ruling at God’s very throne, Jesus is more than a good man! 

Yet Jesus indicated in Mt.28:18 that Someone else gave Jesus His power.

Jesus has a God!  Following are several verses which attest to this.

Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”.  His Father is God Most High!  The angel Gabriel spoke of the unborn Jesus to the virgin Mary in Lk.1:32. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.”  Jesus the Son isn’t the Most High God…His Father is.

Jesus cried out while on the cross in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  The human Jesus at that time called upon His God.  Soon afterwards, Jn.20:17 “I ascend to My God and your God”.  Here the resurrected Jesus spoke of ascending to His God.  He.1:9 also refers to Jesus’ God. “God, Your God.”  Paul wrote in 1Co.3:23, “Christ belongs to God”.  And, “God is the head of Christ.” (1Co.11:3)  Paul indicates in 1Co.15:27-28 that at the end Jesus will still be in subjection to His Father God!  Finally, in Re.3:12 Jesus refers to “My God”…four times!  Here in Re.3:12, even the glorified Jesus (ref Re.1:13-15) affirms that He still has a God!  

So from the preceding passages, it is also plain that God the Father and Jesus are both God…but not equal in authority or position.

Jesus has been given all authority (Mt.28:18), except…the Father’s authority is greater.  Again, Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”.  The Father, God Most High, is Jesus’ God.

Mt.20:23 Jesus said in regards to ruling with Him in the Kingdom,“To sit on My right and My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father”.  God’s Word Translation paraphrase “I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at My right or left.”  Pulpit Commentary Mt.20:23 “The boon was solely at His Father’s disposal.”  The Father has greater authority than Jesus.

Jesus isn’t His Father!  When Jesus was only a few weeks old, in Lk.2:21-24 Joseph & Mary brought Him up to Jerusalem to “present Him to the Lord”.  To presume they presented baby Jesus to Himself would be nonsensical!  Here “the Lord” referred to His Father God.

At Jesus’ water baptism in Lk.3:21-22, “The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in a bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, with You I Am well-pleased”.  That wasn’t Jesus on earth saying He loved Himself; nor was that Jesus speaking in heaven above!  And a being in the order of heavenly angels didn’t lie and call Jesus “My beloved Son”.  Again, in Lk.1:32 the angel Gabriel as God’s agent told Mary that Jesus is the “Son of the Most High”; not even Gabriel referred to Jesus as ‘my Son’!  Lk.3:21-22 indicates the voice from above belonged to Father God, not an angel.  Jesus heard Father God’s voice.  The Two exist simultaneously.

Before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus fell face-down on the ground in Mt.26:39 and supplicated in prayer. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will”.  No need for Jesus to lay prostrate if He was just talking to Himself!  Rather, He entreated Someone else.

Again, while hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Jesus wasn’t crying out to Himself!  He was addressing His Father as His God.

In Jn.8:17-18, Jesus cites God’s law about plural witnesses (cf. De.19:15), indicating His Father is a second witness. “I AM He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”  According to Jesus, He and the Father comprise two witnesses (not one).  They’re not the same entity or ‘Person’ or hypostasis.  They’re echad (h259), of the one essence or God Family, yet distinct.

Furthermore, Re.3:12 precludes us from assuming that after Jesus’ ascension His Person assimilated or melded into the Father’s Person.  Again, in that verse even the glorified Jesus says He still has a God!

Oneness ignores some of the NT revelation, as seen in the preceding verses.  It’s a form of Modalism belief that God is no distinction of Persons, that God is only one ‘Person’ or entity, that Jesus is also His/the Father, that there’s no ‘Trinity’.  Wikipedia: Oneness Pentecostalism “It first emerged in America around 1914. Oneness believers state that Jesus is the one name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  But the NT doesn’t specifically name the Father and/or the Holy Spirit…‘Yeshua/Jesus’.

Is.9:6 is in regards to Jesus the Messiah.  Is.9:6 the child/Son will be called the “Father of eternity” (Hebrew).  Is.9:6 Alexandrian LXX “The Father of the age to come.”  To Jews, the Messiah is the father of the Messianic age.  Benson Commentary Is.9:6 “Christ, the father of the new and eternal age.”  Barnes Notes “The Chaldee renders this expression, ‘The man abiding forever’. The Vulgate, ‘The Father of the future age’. The Hebrews used the term ‘father’ in a great variety of senses.”  Is.9:6 LXX “His name is called the Messenger of great counsel.”  This verse didn’t mean Jesus is Father God.

Some try to make a case for either Oneness or Unitarianism, based on part of the scriptural evidence.  But as we examine & compare more of the whole of the Bible…we see both of those views are lacking.

{{Sidelight: God said in Ge.2:18-20, it isn’t good for the human (LXX ánthropos) to be alone.  There was then no one else, no other person, of the human-kind with Adam.  How lonely Adam must have been!  Adam’s singularity was not good, according to God!  All the other creatures had another of its kind (Ge.1:24-25), except for Adam.  Imagine you being on the proverbial deserted island for your lifetime with no one else, no other person, of your kind in existence…only creatures of a different kind than you.  Loneliness personified!  But have we ever thought it is somehow good for God to be alone (for eternity!), with none other Person of His God-kind in existence?}}

Father God is the Source of all Life!  In Jn.17:24, Jesus said that the Father gave Jesus His glory!  “My Glory, which You gave Me.”  Jesus didn’t have glory of Himself.  And Jesus said in Jn.6:57, “I live because of the Father”.  Also Jn.5:26 “the Father…gave to the Son to have life in Himself.”  Jesus attributed His own Existence to the Father!  Jesus said in Jn.5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself”.  Furthermore Jn.5:30, “I can do nothing on My own initiative”.  Jesus only did the will of the Father who sent Him!  Jn.14:10 “The Father abiding in Me does the works.”  Jesus so subjugated His own will to His Father’s will!  The Father did the miraculous works through Jesus, we may say.

How is it that Father God has more authority, and Jesus only did that which His Father willed for Him?  First, we understand that fathers precede their sons.  Orthodox Study Bible “The Son is begotten before all time and ages from the essence of the Father. The Son (has no beginning but) has the Father as His Source from eternity.”  The oldest manuscripts of Jn.1:18 render Jesus as the “only begotten God”.  Begotten, not created.  Philo On Flight and Finding, p.331 “The Word of God…God being His Father, who is also the Father of all things.”  The Father had generated or emanated the Word in prehistory.  (see “Godhead in Prehistory”.)  Again Jn.17:24, the Father had given Jesus His glory…and Jn.6:57, Jesus lives because of the Father.  The Father has precedence and is greater (than all).

Where in scripture might we see the Word/Jesus originating from eternity?  Ge.1:2-4 on the 1st day God brought forth cosmic Light!  Yet no sun, moon, stars (luminaries) were visible until the 4th day (v.14-19).  In v.3, both the Hebrew and the Greek LXX terms for “light” differ from their terms for “light” in v.14.  The Light in the beginning was different.  In 2Co.4:6, Paul said that God caused “Light to shine out of darkness in the face of Christ”.  Jesus as the great primordial Light!  (In analogy, at the least.)  Jn.1:5 the Light of the Word (Logos) shined!  Jn.1:9, 14 identifies Jesus as that true Light.  In Jn.8:12, Jesus Himself said, “I AM the Light of the world”!  Jesus/the Word was Light and came as Light.  (Moses’ face even shined after speaking with Him, Ex.34:29.  see “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.  (Also ref Mt.4:16, Ac.9:3.)  He/Jesus is the emanating radiance of His Father’s glory (He.1:3).  The Father gave Jesus His glory (Jn.17:24).

Jesus is subordinate to His Father because…the Father preceded Jesus, and the Father has greater authority!  Anciently God and the Word didn’t flip a heavenly coin to determine Who would serve as Father and Who would become Son Jesus on earth.  No, the Father always had precedence.  Fathers precede their sons. 

The form of Trinitarian belief that thinks Father God and the glorified Jesus are completely co-equal in all respects is not in agreement with the entirety of the scriptural evidence.  Again, 1Co.11:3 “God is the head of Christ.”

And yet, a person who doesn’t honor the Son of God doesn’t really honor Father God either.  Jesus said in Jn.5:23, “He who does not honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent Him”.  Father and Son are One, unified in purpose and as the God-kind (Jn.10:30)…both are God.  Praise God!