To have faith in God or the Bible, it must prove itself to be sure and certain. Can we prove God and the Bible to be sure and certain? YES! Let us start with God.
Who is the God of the Old Testament?
Who is the God of the New Testament?
Who or what is “GOD”?
I needed to understand the concept of God. Understanding God was fundamental to my being set free. If I believed that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament were two different individuals it would be easy to change “truth” from Old to New. This, I learned, was part of the confusion in today’s worldly churches and organizations.
“GOD”, I learned, was not a person. The letters “G” “O” “D” are not the name of a person, entity or spirit. They are just letters. These letters represent a “title”. A friend of mine in the California Prison System is called an “inmate”. That is his “title”. “Inmate” is not a person; it is not his name. “Inmate” simply is a “title”, a label for easy identification of the over 200,000 inmates in the California prison system.
When the California Department of Corrections wants to inform all prisoners of rules or changes that will affect them, it does not notify all of them by name. It uses the label, title, “inmate”. That way, all inmates know that the rules apply to them, all 200,000 individuals. Even though the one title applies to all 200,000 inmates, all 200,000 inmates are not one. All are locked up and receive pretty much as each and every other “inmate” does. All have one “title” and yet each of them are individuals.
If the prison wants to contact my friend, it uses his name and personal designation number. The same is true for “God”. The Bible uses the title “God” when it speaks in general terms about those who have the “God” title. When it wants to get personal and identify which person with the “God” title it is talking about, then it names that specific individual. Three distinct individuals have the “God” title. This is what confused the Jews. Yet, if they had been true students of the Old Testament they would have understood that there were at least three individuals with the God-title.
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God…”. In the Hebrew language, the word we translate as God in this text is written in the plural form. It should be translated, “In the beginning (the) Gods…”. The Gods: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were all involved in planning and creating the world. They also became involved in a very personal way in making man. “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness.” Gen. 1:26. “The man has now become like one of Us.” Genesis 3:22
“Us” and “Our” are key words. They are plural, as is “God”. They worked as a team in building our planet. The Father acted like the Architect. Jesus was the Builder and the Holy Spirit was the Inspector.
At this point in a study, a Rabbi would know there were more than just one individual with the God-title. How many more were there? The Jews might not know the answer to that question. How many was not important. Only that there were more than one entity holding the God-title.
The problem that arises is when people misquote the Bible. How many times have you heard the phrase, “the Lord our God is one God”? The sad fact is, this is a misquote. The truth is found in Deuteronomy 6:4. “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” This does not say that there is one God, but that the LORD is one. You see, the individual with the God-title who is called “LORD” is only one person. He is not many. Only one Person of the three God-title holders can be called “Lord”. That Person is Jesus Christ.
In studying the book of Daniel, the Jews would have gained further understanding into this truth. In Daniel 7:13, 14, Daniel shows us the “Son of man” approaching the Ancient of Days. The Son of man (Jesus) was given authority, sovereign power, dominion and most importantly, worship.
The Ten Commandments strictly forbids the worship of any other person or thing. Therefore the Jews would have known that these two individuals had the God-title. They also knew from scripture that the Holy Spirit was a holder of the God-title. Put it all together and you have One, Two, Three individuals with the one God-title.
So what was the problem with the Jews? Why did they have such a problem with Jesus being their God? To understand their thinking you need to put yourself into their shoes. In 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonian Empire, attacked Jerusalem. In three successive campaigns he wiped out Jerusalem and destroyed the temple of God. 2 Kings 21:1-18; 24:2-4; 25:1-21.
These calamities happened because the Jews were unfaithful to the God of heaven. They worshiped many “gods” including the god of Baal (the god of the sun: Sun-day worship), Asherah and Molech. When they returned from captivity to rebuild their nation, they learned their lesson: worship only the “one” God of heaven. But they made up their own “one-god” and again refused to listen to the truth of the Bible.
Are you as guilty of believing what you or your denomination want you to believe instead of believing what the Bible says?
The Jews worshiped the “one” god they made up. They became obsessed with the thought of “one”. From the Old Testament they knew the many names and designations of the God of the Old Testament. Some of these names were:
TITLES OF GOD
YAHWEH (translated LORD in NIV): Genesis 2:4, 5, 7-9, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22
The ROCK (Jesus, not Peter) was the foundation of the Jewish nation and religion. This Person claimed to be that Rock. Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 2:5-8.
Their SHEPHERD was the One who led them into the land of Canaan. This Person claimed to be the true Shepherd. John 10:11, 14.
The “I AM” split the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through. This Jesus claimed to be the “I AM”. John 8:12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 24, 28, 38, 46, 49, 50, 58.
The WAY AND THE LIFE were references to the Ten Commandments and the Yahweh God who gave them. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” John 14:6.
The “son of man” of Daniel was given worship. Jesus claimed to be the son of man – Matthew 8:20.
Yahweh was Israel’s King. Jesus let the people call Him King – John 12:12-15. Then He took the title Himself – John 18:37.
Now let’s take a look at Jesus and why He was such a problem to the Jews. Their God, Yahweh, lived in heaven. Jesus (means “Yahweh saves”) was walking among them. Jesus was allowing people to call Him LORD and worship Him as only a person with the “God-title” could be worshiped.
The Jews were not ignorant of this. They knew that He was their Yahweh God of the Old Testament. Zechariah, one of their own priests, had been told by the angel that his son, John the Baptist, would prepare the way for their “Yahweh” God. Luke 1:17, 76. The Jews tried to kill Jesus because “He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” John 5:18. Months later they changed from “being equal” to “You a mere man, claim to be God.” John 10:33. In fact, Micah 5:2 of the Old Testament told the Jews that the Yahweh of the Old Testament would be born.
If the Jews, who were well acquainted with the Old Testament, recognized that Jesus claimed to be the God of the Old Testament, then I needed to recognize the claim of Jesus as the Yahweh God of the Old Testament.
This understanding of Jesus, as One with the God-title of the Old Testament, helped me to trust Jesus as God. When He spoke in the Old Testament as LORD I knew that He, as Lord in the New Testament, would not change. My Jesus was the same in both Old Testament and New Testament and today. My faith now had a Rock, a firm foundation I could put my faith (trust) in. I knew that the Lord Almighty of the Old Testament was the same Lord Almighty who died on the cross for me. Isaiah 44:6, 8; 45:5, 18, 22; Revelation 1:8, 17, 18.
Now that I knew who Jesus was, I could worship Him. Thomas did. He said, “My Lord and my God.” John 20:28. All the disciples worshiped Him. Matthew 28:17. Jesus accepted their worship without breaking the Ten Commandments. Why? He was a holder of the God-title. Since He is a holder of the God-title, I knew He would not lie to me. Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; Titus 1:2.
Not only was Jesus a Holder of the God-title, Paul tells us Jesus was the Creator Himself. “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16 Now I was ready to listen to what He had to say. Are you?
Related Texts
PSALM 27:1 LIGHT JOHN 8:12
ISAIAH 55:1 WATER JOHN 7:37
PSALM 23:1 SHEPHERD JOHN 10:11,14
PSALM 18:2 ROCK 1 COR. 10:4
PSALM 86:11 WAY & TRUTH JOHN 14:6
PSALM 71:22 HOLY ONE JOHN 6:69
PSALM 98:6 KING JOHN 1:49
ISAIAH 44:6 FIRST & LAST REV. 22:13
EXODUS 3:14 I AM JOHN 8:58
Ezekiel 28:1,11, 20 WORD JOHN 1:1, 14
Ezekiel 37:5, 12 RESURRECTION JOHN 11:25
DANIEL 7:13 SON OF MAN LUKE 18:31
PSALM 100:3 CREATOR JOHN 1:3
ISAIAH 43:11 SAVIOR MATT. 1:21
DEUT. 30:20 LIFE JOHN 1:4