The Billion Question

In this installment of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections we will begin tackling one of the biggest and most frequently posed questions by members of our Faith Community: Is the Creator—God—Yahovah/Yahweh/Yahuah and the Son—Jesus—Yeshua/Yahoshua/Yahusha—one and the same person? In other words: Are the Father and the Son the Same Person?

A Question of Great Importance

Let me start out by recognizing that this is probably one of the most important questions ever posed by men that begs a true answer. Master Himself tackled this question when He asked His disciples:

Whom do men say that I the Son of man am (Mat. 16:13)

We all know this story. The disciples recited for Master the various identities that the people of the region had assigned to Him. Yet it was Peter who spoke from the depths of His soul and heart that which the Holy Spirit had revealed to him about His Master. Simon Peter stated in response to this question:

Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living Elohim (Mat. 16:16).

Master in heartfelt acknowledgment of Peter’s spot-on accurate response to Master’s question in turn responded:

Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven (Mat. 16:17).

This is the foundation upon which we must all find the answer to this vital question. Like Peter, Father must reveal to each of us who Yeshua Messiah truly was and is today.

We Must Get this Right

It behooves every Torah Observant Believer in Yahoshua Messiah to acquire a true understanding of who the Creator and the Messiah are. In so doing, believer should not be afraid to tackle this question head on.

So many teachers, preachers and leaders in our Hebrew Roots/Messianic Faith Community are hesitant to take on this foundational question. Why? Many times the hesitancy comes from a fear of alienating their base and suffering losses from those who then elect to take their offerings and tithes elsewhere. However, Fear of alienating one’s base and the loss of income should never inhibit one addressing Truth.

The Question is Rife with Tradition

Those who do choose to tackle this question, often do so based upon the traditions and doctrines they dragged over with them from their years in Churchianity. Few will crack open the pages of their bibles and allow the Word of Truth to speak to this foundational issue. Instead, they will default to a handful of bible sound-bites (isolated scriptural verses without context) to support their pro-trinitarian/binarian claims without benefit of examining the entire record. I contend that It is criminal to create doctrine and preach as salvational truths things that are plucked from isolated verses of the bible.

Far too many well-meaning—well intentioned souls have been led down paths of destruction because they elected to adopt as truth the teachings and doctrines of such preachers and teachers.

The writer of Proverbs aptly counseled:

Trust in Yahovah with all thy heart, and lean not upon thine own understanding (i.e., bee-naw=discernment). In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear Yahovah and depart from evil (Prov. 3:5-7; ASV).

A Salvation Issue?

I previously said that it behooves every Torah Observant Believer in Yahoshua Messiah to get this thing right and not be afraid to tackle this question head on. I say this because, depending on which side of the question you or I fall out on, will determine:

• How we approach our walk with Messiah.
• How we approach Father in prayer.
• How we view our salvation and our purpose.
• How we deal with others both within and outside our Faith Community.

Some contend that one’s salvation is dependent upon the position one takes on this issue. I recall reading a book on this subject a couple years ago. The writer declared himself a Hebrew Roots teacher. He boldly asserted that if the reader did not agree with his claim that Yahusha was Yahuah—one and the same Person—then that reader was destined for hell fire.

Fear and intimidation has been a weapon of choice by bible teachers and preachers over the centuries. It is, however, not the method of discipleship that Master modeled for us. Love must drive all that we do when it comes to the work of the Gospel.

Is this a salvation issue? I do not know. What I do know is that Yeshua is Messiah; He is the Son of the Living Elohim. His coming was foretold by the prophets of old. He came and delivered the Word of Life that is contained in the Gospel of the Kingdom to a dying world. Master bled, suffered and died in our stead and re-established the path by which we can have a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe. He was resurrected and ascended on high to be seated at the right-hand of our Heavenly Father.

I believe that if one can be wholly convinced of these foundational truths (all of which are fully supported by scripture), then we will have established a firm foundation upon which to build our understanding of who the Father and the Son are.

The Question Persists

Does this simple understanding that I just put forth to you, answer the question of the day: That being Yeshua and Yahovah are one and the same Person? No.

Thus, I will do my best to answer this question based upon the information that which is contained in the bible and through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Now, because this question cannot be properly addressed with a simple yes or no answer, and given the importance of the question to so many who have asked it of me over the years, I will not attempt to answer it today in one fell swoop. Today, permit me to simply lay out for you a premise (if you will). Then in succeeding installments of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, we will explore specific scriptural proofs that will support my contention that Yeshua and Yahovah are two separate Beings.

Fair enough? Excellent. Well, let’s get started.

Let’s Not Mince Words

Let me not mince words or play around with this: Yeshua and Yahovah; the Son and the Father; the Messiah and the Creator are not the same Person.

Many may part company with me over making such a claim. Indeed, many have gone to extremes to push the trinitarian and binarian doctrines, which is simply another product of “replacement theology.”

Many have been excommunicated from congregations for opposing the trinitarian/binarian doctrine. Friendships and fellowships have been broken over this issue as well. An entire religion and splinter religions have been created and currently operate on the trinitarian (God in three-persons—Father-Son-Holy Ghost—the Father-Son-Holy Ghost consisting as one but having three, so-called harmonious offices and functions in the grand plan of salvation–blessed trinity) and variations on a binarian theme doctrines whereby it is taught that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament; or that there have for all eternity been two Gods operating and co-existing in heaven—God the Father and God the Son—God of the Old Testament being Jehovah and God of the New Testament being Jesus Christ.

Yahovah is Not a God of Confusion and Chaos!

The Trinity is the Church’s answer to the question: Are the Father and the Son the same person?

What a mess! I do not believe for one minute that our Creator would involve Himself in such chaotic mumbo jumbo.

It was in his addressing the issue of orderly worship in the Messianic Assembly of Believers in Corinth that Paul wrote of our Creator:

For Yahovah is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all assemblies of the saints (I Cor. 14:33; KJV).

The Origin of the Creeds and Traditions

So huge was this debate over the Persons of the Godhead that the Church Triumphant (The Holy Roman Catholic Church) convened a number of Ecumenical Councils and produced a number of doctrinal creeds addressing this issue. These councils were convened and their resulting creeds were developed for purposes of addressing perceived heresies in the Church. At first, the Church Triumphant had not settled upon a definitive position on the divinity of the persons of the Godhead and were essentially left flatfooted when various factions in the Church developed and spread their own understanding of the persons of the Godhead. Needless to say, this creating quite a bit of confusion and chaos within the Body of Christ.

The Church finally settled upon an understanding of the Godhead that best fit her pagan-infused brand of Christianity at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 C.E. The findings of this council was codified in the Nicene Creed of 381. Among several issues and topics, the Nicene Creed of 381 defined in a general sense the Trinity as the principle doctrine for understanding the Godhead.

I have always wondered why it took the Church 4-centuries to arrive at an understanding (albeit a skewed one) of the Persons of the Godhead, when the teachings of the Apostles and the Prophets contained all we need to know about the Father and the Son? The Church’s position on this question is that her understanding of the Persons of the Godhead required “progressive revelation.” In other words, the writings and teachings of the prophets and the apostles were insufficient to provide the answers to our questions on this and other subjects. Thus, the answer to the question of the Persons of the Godhead required God’s timing and the revealing of His truth to those who were supposedly given the keys to the kingdom and who stood in the place of Christ here on earth.

The Trinitarian Concept Takes Center Stage

Ultimately the Trinitarian Concept triumphed over the competing divinity concepts. The force by which the Trinitarian concept emerged and drove much of the doctrinal workings of the Catholic and succeeding Protestant Churches is something to take into consideration when weighing for ourselves whether the Creator and the Son are one and the same person.

Who Is the Messiah to the People of the Bible?

Clearly, the Jews of Yeshua’s day did not expect their messiah to be Yahovah, the Creator of the Universe, wrapped in flesh. And this thinking remains unchanged even to this day throughout much, if not all, of Judaism. This remains embodied in their steadfast reverence for the Shema that is recited in synagogues around the world on Sabbaths and Holy Days (Deut. 6:4,5).

Shi’ma, Yisra’el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, O Israel: Yahovah our Elohim is one Yahovah; and thou shalt love Yahovah thy Elohim with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (ASV; adjusted).

What of Messiah? Scripturally, what form did the Hebrew nation believe their Messiah would take? As recorded in Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses revealed the following:

Yahovah thy Elohim will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of they brethren, like unto me (i.e., someone who would be a fellow countryman; a Hebrew brother; a fellow Israelite); unto him you shall hearken (ASV; adjusted).

The apostles and the Messianic Assembly of Believers of the first century did not see their redeemer as the One True God or God of the Old Testament. None of the apostolic writings lend any support to the Trinitarian and Binarian Concepts of the Persons of the Godhead.

Pagan Influences?

History strongly suggests that the Trinity and the Binarian Concepts of the Godhead did not originate with the first century church, but developed over the course of succeeding centuries. Much of the credit for the development of these concepts rest with the Roman Emperor Constantine.

By all indications, Constantine remained a devotee to the cult of Mithra, which has throw-backs to the Greek and Babylonian mystery religions—Nimrod/Tammuz/Semiramus/Moloch/Ba’al/Mitrha/Zeus worship. Is it no wonder then why such a absurd thinking as the Trinitarian Concept was so craftily infused into the Body of Christ? For in all these and other pagan religions of antiquity, it was not uncommon for the gods to embody themselves in flesh (or flesh-like substances) and walk among men.

The Cepher Bible and the Godhead

The Cepher Bible supports a Binarian view of the Godhead.

The creators and producers of the Cepher Bible, much to my chagrin I should add, stand by the belief that Yahuah and Yahusha (their preferred Hebrew names for the Father and the Son respectively), are one and the same. The well read and schooled Cepher organization makes no apologies for their stand on this issue, even to the point of their taking liberties with certain parts of the holy writ to advance their binarian Godhead doctrine. Case in point, Philippians 2:11, which reads:

And that every tongue should confess that Yahuah is Yahusha Hamashiach to the glory of Yah the Father (Cepher rendering).

The point of contention in this key passage is “Lord” which is recorded in most every authorized translation of the Bible:

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (KJV).

Lord, with the “L” capitalized and the “ord” in lower caps, in the Greek is “kurios,” translates more accurately in the English as “master.” When this verse is read within context of the entire 2nd chapter—not isolated as most tend to do—”master” makes the best sense.

So if the term “Lord” does not designate Yahovah/Yahuah, what Greek term does? Well, simply going down two verses, we see the term God mentioned in virtually every authorized translation, which in the Greek is “Theos.” Theos is a common Greek title in New Testament translations to describe the Creator of the Universe and Father of our Master and Savior, Yeshua Messiah.

Funny thing though (and this is where one can clearly see the bias of the Cepher translators in terms of their contention that Yeshua/Yahusha being Yahovah/Yahuah—the same Person): the Cepher’s rendering of verse 13 is as follows (bear in mind the Greek term for Yahovah/Yahuah should be Theos):

For it is Yahuah which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Now, if we were to simply back-up and employ some of those pure, contextual examination skills we should all have as Messianics/Hebrew Rooters, and read the preceeding verses of the 2nd-chapter of Philippians, we will clearly see a delineation between the Son of Yahovah and our heavenly Father. This chapter highlights how our Master came to us in the image and likeness of His Father (recall that Adam was made in Father’s image), yet willingly and lovingly chose to not exist as an equal or replacement to  Yahovah (verse 6)–which is diametrically opposite to what Lucifer attempted to do.

No man who has ever lived possessed such power and authority as our Master held during the time He walked this earth. Yet our Master chose to live as a servant, changing not his servant ways despite His immense popularity toward the end of His earthly ministry. He remained true to His calling to the very end (verse 7). And because Master remained true to His calling, our Heavenly Father exalted Him and bestowed upon Him a name:

• A name that is used for everything which the name covers.
• Every thought or feeling which derives from the mention of His name.
• The hearing, the remembering, the very name itself.
• A name indicating unparalleled rank, authority, excellence and deed.
• A name that is above every name (verse 9).

And it will be that at every mention of His Name, every knee should bow, whether here on earth or in heaven, along with every tongue confessing that Yeshua Messiah is Master to the glory of Almighty Elohim (verse 10, 11).

This is speaking directly to the exaltation of our Master to the right hand of our Creator in heaven for His obedience and faithfulness during His time on earth. We see this exaltation vividly played out in Psalm 110, whereby David envisioned the Master’s exaltation, just after Master’s ascension to heaven. Here Father beckons Master to sit at His right hand until Father makes Yeshua’s enemies His footstool (verse 1). It is here that Master is given an eternal pedigree as a priest after the order of the Melek’zedek that was foretold through Abraham’s giving tithes of all he owned to the King of Salem (Gen. 14:18); and the transfiguration whereby Peter, James and John witnessed Master being anointed High Priest by Moses and Elijah (Mat. 17:1-13).

Needless to say, I not only take issue with the Cepher in terms of the liberties it has taken with the bible, I also take exception with the translators’ questionable transparency when rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

Meddling with the Bible

However, the Cepher is by far not the only Bible version/translation that has played jiggery-pokerry with the Word of Truth. In fact, virtually every English Bible translation known to man that has been translated from Greek and Hebrew manuscripts to English, to a lesser or greater extent, has some pre-existent biases of its translators woven into the final English translation. That is why it is critically important for us Torah Observant Believers in Yahoshua not to be swayed by the teachings of men at the expense of what is contained in our bibles. Furthermore, it is equally crucial that we be students of the Word—better that we be nothing less than Bereans–not just passive readers.

Becoming Berean

How did Luke describe the Bereans? He wrote:

These (speaking of the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things (those things being the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom that was brought to them by Paul and Silas) were so (Acts 17:11; KJV).

If we utilize the vast amount of resources we have at our disposal here in the 21st century, and not cut corners by hanging our individual and collective spiritual hats on the coat racks of Constantinian Christianity, we will have no difficulty finding the Truth about any spiritual matter that comes our way.

Paul wrote to the Messianic Assembly of Believers in Ephesus when addressing the issue of the Body of Messiah being unified in understanding and purpose:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Messiah. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love (Eph. 4:14-16; KJV).

The Question that Keeps Being Asked

I have attempted to tackle this question a handful of times in past installments of this program. Each time I found the issue to be so daunting and massive that I cut short my thoughts and reflections on it. We could spend countless installments on this issue and still never fully clarify for all concerned, this most controversial question. So for us to fully give this question the attention it deserves, it would be a fool’s errand at best to limit the discourse to just this session.

I Still Have Questions

I will concede that I still wrestle with the thought that our Master may have existed in one form or another before His advent. There are scriptural passages that strongly hint at our Master existing, and maybe co-habiting with Father in heaven, prior to His birth. Not saying at all that Master was a second God, but simply that He may have been a created being who existed in one form or another before the first Adam was created.

This pre-existent aspect of Messiah that the bible seems to hint at, I believe, plays heavily in to the whole trinitarian/binarian mindset that is prompting this discussion.

The most referenced passage of scripture that the pro-trinitarians/binarians use, is of course, the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Indeed, some of the most brilliant prose ever penned; yet some of the most unclear description related to the persons of the Godhead ever penned.

Questions in Preparation for Next Installment

In bringing this premise to a close for this installment, I would ask you to consider, in anticipation of the next installments of this program where we will examine specific biblical proofs on the Persons of Yahovah and Yahoshua, the following questions:

1. How does the Bible describe both Yahovah and Yahoshua?
2. Does the Bible truly record Yeshua stating that He and His Father were one and the same Person?
3. How did Master’s handpicked disciples see Him?
4. How did the prophets depict Yahoshua Messiah?
5. What was Yahoshua’s assigned purpose here on earth?
6. Did Father explicitly proclaim that He was the only Being who could atone for the sins of man?
7. Does Catholic Church history bear any responsibility for the development and enforcement of the trinitarian and binarian concepts?
8. Does it make sense to you, given all that is recorded in the bible about our heavenly Father and our Master, that they are one and the same person?
9. Can you be true to yourself and base whatever stand you ultimately take on this subject, on the whole of God’s Word?