The Old Testament Background

For Trinitarian Thinking

Nepean Seventh-day Adventist Church
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

©Jiří Moskala, Th.D., Ph.D.

Dean, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary
Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Theology
Andrews University
 www.atsjats.org
• Moskala, Jiří. “Toward Trinitarian Thinking in the Hebrew
Scriptures.” Journal of Adventist Theological Society 21, no.
1 and 2 (2010): 245-275.

• Moskala, Jiří. “The Holy Spirit in the Hebrew Scriptures.”

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, 24/2 (2013):
18-58.
 The Trinity in Revelation 14:6-13
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those
who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice,
"Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who
made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." 8 A second angel followed
and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening
wine of her adulteries." 9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone
worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he,
too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of
his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of
the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or
night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of
his name." 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write:
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest
from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."
The Triune God
• Our God is an awesome and beautiful God.
• He is holy and good.
• He is gracious, compassionate, forgiving.
• He is God of love, truth and justice.

• Our first task as pastors, teachers, and preachers of the

Word of God is to present correctly our God, His
character, who is He!
• Naturally, people are scared of God!
Deut 29:29
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the
words of this law.”
We Know God Because He Made Known Himself
to Us!
• God revealed Himself to us through His Scriptures
(Deut 29:29; Exod 34:6–7).
• God’s majesty and power can be seen also in nature
(Psalm 19:1–2; Rom 1:19–20).
• God’s existence is assumed in the Bible, not proven.
Majesty of God
• Before God we are like small children.
• Augustin’s experience—a small boy playing at the
seashore:
“What are you doing?”
“I am trying to pour all the ocean into my hole!”
• This is what I am trying to do—put an infinite God into
my small brain.
Majesty of God
• People like to put an infinite God into the box of their
thinking.
• Our God is a transcendent God who surpasses all, even
our best categories. We need to know our limits.
• We are using a limited human language to describe an
infinite God! Impossible task!
Majesty of God
Let’s be humble and very reverant!
Let’s bow down before God
and His revelation!

• Experience of Moses: Exod 3:5 is a model!

“Take off your shoes,
because the place you are standing is
a holy place.”
 Shema: There is Only One God
Deut 6:5:
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the
LORD is one (dx;a,).”
`dx'a, hw"hy> Wnyhel{a/ hw"hy>
laer'f.yI [m;v.
Statement on monotheism in the polytheistic society
(see also Deut 4:35, 39; Isa 45:21). Israelites were not
henotheists (belief in many gods, but above them was the
true God of Israel).
We believe in one God manifested in three different
persons: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One
God in three persons!
Mathematical Illustration
1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (it seems illogical mathematical formula).
Why?
Because for us in normal life 1 + 1+ 1 = 3.
Mathematical Illustration
1 + 1 + 1 = 1 (it seems illogical).
Why?
Because for us in normal life 1 + 1+ 1 = 3.

Better example:
1 x 1 x 1 = 1 (it is mathematically correct!)
13

13 = 1x1x1 = 1
One squared to the third power!
 God Surpasses All Mathematical Categories

Similar definition is about marriage (Gen 2:24):

1 x 1 = 1 (correct mathematical formula)
• When I was 14/15 years old, I had my first debate with
Jehovah Witnesses about the Trinity.

• They refuted all my “arguments.”

• I felt miserable.

• I had to study the Scriptures… It was a great lesson for

me!
Texts About the Trinity
in the New Testament
Matt 3:16-17; 28:19; John 3:34; 14:16-17; Acts 2:38-39; 5:29-
32; 19:5-8; Rom 5:1-5; 8:9-11; 1 Cor 12:3-6; 2 Cor 13:14; Gal
4:6; Eph 1:13-14; 2:19-22; 3:1-7; 14-19; 4:4-6; 5:18-20; 1
Thess 1:2-5; 5:18-19; 2 Thes 2:13; 2 Tim 1:3-14; Heb 2:3-4;
6:4-6; 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2; 4:14; 1 John 4:2; 4:13-14; 5:5-9;
Jude 20-21; Rev 1:4-5; 5:6-7; 14:9-13; 22:16-18.

See also texts on the divinity of Jesus:

Especially John 1:1-3; 8:58; 20:28.

On the divinity of the Holy Spirit:

Especially Acts 5:3-4, 9.
Acts 5:3-4
• Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart
that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some
of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn't it belong to you
before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your
disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not
lied to men but to God."
Zechariah 4:6
• So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by
might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
• Does this OT statement on monotheism allow for the
Trinity or is it excluded by definition?
• The New Testament confirms the monotheistic belief
that God is one: Mark 12:29; 1 Cor 8:5-6; Eph 4:6; 1
Titus 2:5; James 2:19.
• The NT authors did not see this proclamation as a
contradiction to the Trinitarian thinking (Matt 28:19; 1
Cor 13:14; etc.).
• I will limit my study to only the Old Testament (making it
more difficult for myself!), the Scriptures of Jesus Christ
and the Apostles.
• People think that the Trinitarian teaching can be seen
only in the New Testament.
• Is there room for Trinitarian thinking in the Old
Testament or is it categorically excluded?
Arguments in Favor of the
Trinity in the Old Testament
• Do we have any hints, glimpses, allusions, traces,
footprints, or explicit statements for the doctrine of
the Trinity in the Old Testament?
A. What about the term
~yhil{a/ ’ELOHIM = GOD
• There are different titles, designations, and names for our
living God: Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonay, etc. However,
ELOHIM is grammatically speaking in a plural form (also
Adonay, but never used for designating pagan gods).

~yhil{a/ ’ELOHIM is a plural form of “EL”

or ELOAH.”

• Is it an argument in favor of Trinity?

 Unfortunately Not. Why not?
• For a simple reason: the term ’ELOHIM is used in the
Hebrew Bible for a designation of a true God but also for
false (pagan) gods.
Ruth 1:15–16:
“‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to
her people and her gods [’ELOHIM]. Go back with her.’ But
Ruth replied, ‘Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back
from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will
stay. Your people will be my people and your God [’ELOHIM]
my God [’ELOHIM].’”
Thus the term ’ELOHIM is rather a neutral expression. It
is not per se evidence for the Trinity.
 It is significant that the name ELOHIM is mainly used with a verb
in the singular, which is a grammatical contradiction and thus is an
indication for the true God.
Two Examples:
Gen 1:1: “In the beginning God [grammatical plural] created
[singular] the heaven and the earth.”
“And God [plural] said [singular]” — A key phrase used 10
times in Gen 1.
 ‫( אֲ ד ָ ֹ֣ני‬Psa 16:2)
• ADONAY – the Lord

• Grammatically it is a plural form (literally: MY LORDS)

• Reminiscence from the original knowledge

B. What about Five Divine Plural Expressions of
“US” ?
(In Four Passages)

1. Gen 1:26
“Then God said, ‘Let us make (hf,[]n:) man in our
image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of
the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over
all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along
the ground.’”
2. Genesis 3:22

“And the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the humanity was like one of us
(WNM,mi dx;a;K.), knowing good and evil. Now they must not be
allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and
live forever.’” (translation is mine)

“And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become [was] like one of us
(WNM,mi dx;a;K.), knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to
reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
forever.’” (NIV)
3. Genesis 11:7 (twice)

“Come, let us go down and confuse

(hl'b.n"w> hd'r>nE) their language so they will not
understand each other.”
4. Isaiah 6:8
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I
send? And who will go for us (Wnl'-%l,yE ymiW)?’
And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
 Five Divine Plural Expressions
In the Hebrew Bible
• Three times stated in cohortative forms (“let us make”; “let
us go down”; “let us confuse”) and twice with prepositions
(“of us”; “for us”).
• What is their meaning?
• Are they an indication for monotheism (one God),
polytheism (many gods), tritheism (three gods), or the
Trinity (one God but three persons)?
• What can we safely say about these biblical texts? How to
understand them?
Different Possibilities of How to Understand the
“Let Us” Formula
• 1. Overlook them (as if they did not exist).
• 2. Alter them like in the Targum of Isaiah
(the “we” formula is eliminated).
• 3. To interpret them. How?
Seven Main Interpretative Proposals
1. The Mythological Reminiscence
Reminiscence of pagan origin: one god is addressing
another god (or pantheon of gods) in planning to create
humans (like in mythological texts of Emuna elish or
Athrahasis creation epic).
Gabler already in 1795 proposed the theory that in Gen
1:26 one has “remnants of Semitic polytheism.”
These mythological fragments would have surprisingly survived
within the monotheistic belief.
The Pentateuch and particularly the book of Genesis is anti-
mythological! There is also no room in Genesis for evolutionary
thinking—from polytheism (first belief) to monotheism (later belief).
2. The Divine Plural is a Reference to Christ

God the Father spoke to Jesus Christ.

Attested already in the Epistle of Barnabas and in
Justin Martyr.
The first Council of Sirmium in A.D. 351 not only
affirmed that Gen 1:26 was addressed by the Father to the
Son as a distinct person, but also excommunicated those
who denied it!
2. The Divine Plural is a Reference to Christ

No tenable interpretation.

Why not?
The text itself does not state who spoke to whom, and
this theory imposes one’s own ideas on the biblical text,
putting the New Testament understanding into the
reading of this expressions!
3. Addressing Earthly Elements
• God spoke to the earth.
• Some Jewish scholars in the past like Joseph Kimchi or
Maimonides were suggesting this hypothesis.

• Why would the earth be a partner to God in creation,

when according to Gen 2:7, He took the ground of the
earth and from it created humans?
 4. Plural of Majesty
• Pluralis majestaticus
• According to this theory, God spoke in a solemn way about
Himself like a king in a plural form.
• It is a young interpretation.
• The proponents of this explanation: Keil, Dillmann, Driver,
Martin Buber, etc.
• It is proposed in correspondence to the medieval speeches
of European kings (they spoke about themselves in plural
forms): “We, the king of England/Bohemia/Russia” or “we
are not amused” (the queen of England).
No Case in the Bible
• Jouon correctly observed that “we” as a plural of majesty is never
used in the Bible!

• There is no evidence that any king of Israel or Judah, or any other

ancient ruler around Israel spoke in this way.
 5. God Addresses His Heavenly Court,
He speaks to His angels
God speaks to His officials in heaven, and together they are
going to act in creating life and humans.
• Very popular interpretation.
• Many Christian and Jewish scholars defend this position:
Philo of Alexandria, Skinner, Gerhard von Rad, John N.
Oswalt, Walter Zimmerli, Kline, Gispen, Nahum Sarna,
Childs, etc.
• Walter Brueggemann uses expressions of “the plural of
government” or “government of Yahweh.”
• In the Hebrew Scriptures one can detect God
speaking to His officials, court, or angels.
• See 1 Kgs 22:19–22; Job 1:6–9; 2:1; Dan 4:14.
• However, it is highly improbable that this would be
the case in our “let us” or “we” formulas.
• Why?
God is Not Addressing His Heavenly Court
Two main arguments against:
• 1. Exegetical syntactical argument:
Parallelism between verses 26 and 27.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man IN OUR IMAGE, in
our likeness …’
So God created man in his own image, in IN THE
IMAGE OF GOD he created him; male and female he
created them.”
— We were created solely to the image of God, and not to
the image of God and His angels/court.
God is Not Speaking to His Angels
• 2. Theological argument:

God is the only Creator; there is no one in the entire

Universe who can be designed as co-creator with Him.
Created beings cannot be co-creators!

The biblical message is unanimous, unequivocal, and

consistent: God alone created humans in His own
image!
 6. Plural of Self-exhortation of God

God spoke to Himself (viewed as being one person).

• He is addressing Himself as we sometimes do by saying:
“Let’s see; let’s do it.”
• God is contemplating aloud what He is going to do.
• Plural of self-exhortation, self-deliberation, or self-
encouragement.
• Defenders of this position: Humberto Cassuto, Jouon, Claus
Westermann, Steck, Gross, Dion, Currid, etc.
Our God is not a solitary Being who speaks aloud
to Himself in order to exhort Himself for His
activity!
• The plural of God’s self-exhortation, according to scholars, is never
found in the biblical material.
7. Plural of Fullness
God spoke within the Godhead; He is in dialogue
between the different members/persons of the Deity.
The term “plural of fullness” was coined by Kidner in his
1967 Genesis commentary.
• Other scholars support this view: Gerhard F. Hasel, Kenneth
A. Mathews, and others.
• Clines argues for the deliberation between God (the Father)
and the Holy Spirit (Gen 1:2) on the basis of the context in
Genesis 1. He points to Gen 1:2 as a background text to Gen
1:26.
• This view is also called “intra-divine deliberation.”
Who is Right?
• It must be determined by the context and rooted in the text.
• Built on a solid exegesis.
Very Crucial Observation
According to these biblical texts,
God is presented as “We” and not
as “I.”

God speaks as “We.”

He is the divine We.

How to understand these plurals in their immediate

context?
 Back to Genesis 1:26
• God the Creator deliberately presents Himself as “We” and
not as “I” when He creates humans.
• The divine We creates people to His image, it means that
this divine “We” makes humans as “we” also (as husband
and wife), not as isolated individuals, but persons in
relationship to Him and to each other.
• God creates humans into a close fellowship and creates
them as male and female.
God’s “We” Creates Humans as “We”
• Humans created in God’s image must also be a plurality as
He is We, and as there is a unity within God Himself so the
two human persons, distinct and different, should become
intimately one.
• Thus, the whole human being is “we” and not “I”; and if
they live in that fellowship, they will maintain his or her
humaneness.
• God creates into fellowship, creates the human “we.”
• God creates male and female in His image, to a mutual
relationship, and these two persons become intimately one.
Plural of Fellowship
• On the background of the Creation story, I propose that this
divine plural is
a plural of fellowship or plural of
community within the Godhead (view
#7 expanded).

This will be confirmed by three additional texts.

 Back to Genesis 3:22
• Described is the result of the Fall—de-creation.
• Sin broke the relationship of humanity with God, the We.
• Humanity’s “we” is broken, i.e., the relationship between
humans, their “we,” is wrecked.
• When the “we” of humanity is degraded, then God speaks
in plural, and confronts “we.”
• All is ruined, only the grace of God’s We can bring the
needed solution and healing.
 Back to Genesis 11:7
Gen 11:1–9 is written in a chiastic structure:
a. vv. 1–2 — narrative: humanity’s one
language and their settling
b. vv. 3–4 — speech of people: “Let us
reach heaven.”
c. v. 5 — narrative: JUDGMENT —
God’s investigation
b’. v. 6–7 — divine speech: “Let us go
down.”
c’. v. 8–9 — narrative: many languages and
scattering of people
• God’s “let us” is a direct reaction to the arrogant speech and proud
attitude of human’s “let us.”
• When humans rebel and build their “we” against God, He reveals His
We.
• Humans need to submit under We and live in close fellowship with
Him and with each other, in order to fulfill the meaning of life.
 Back to Isaiah 6:8
The divine plural statement refers to God
Himself for at least two reasons:
1. Hebrew parallelism is strong :
a. “Whom shall I send?”
b. “Who shall go for us?”
The Lord speaks and He is identified as the Lord
Almighty and the King in the context.

2. God Himself and only He commissions Isaiah to go

and preach. The prophet is accountable to God, and
not to God and to the heavenly court.
Plural of Fellowship Within the Deity
• Plural of Fellowship.
• Plural of Community.
• The We of God.
• Intra-divine Communication within the Godhead.

Conclusion:
The “Us” expression does not contradict (!) but allows
for Trinitarian thinking in the Old Testament even though it
does not proclaim the Trinity plainly (yet).
Proper Understanding of the dx;a, “ONENESS”
of God (Deut 6:4)
• Compare with Gen 2:24 (the same vocabulary used):
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and they will become one (dx;a,)
flesh.”
Two distinct persons (husband and
wife) are UNITED, and are ONE! Stress is
on the oneness and unity, and not on
numbers!
dx;a, (’echad)
1. The Lord is unique.
• God is holy.
• God is utterly different.
• He is the Other One.
• One can speak about the otherness of God.
• One is not so much a numerical value as a description of
the quality of relationship!
dx;a, (’echad)
2. The Lord is exclusive.
• He only is worthy of our praises.
• He is above all, the Sovereign God.
dx;a, (’echad)
3. The Lord is UNITY.
• He is UNITED, He is Oneness.
• The unity in diversity.
• God is a union rather than aloneness.
• The basic constituency of a society.
 In Deuteronomy 6:4
• The word used is dx;a, (’echad), and not

dyxiy" (yachíd).
• Meaning of dyxiy" (yachíd) (in m. [9x] and f. [3x] forms is
used 12 times in the Old Testament): “only,” “only one,”
“lonely,” “solitary,” “single,” “precious life.” (It occurs in Gen
22:2, 12, 16; Judg 11:24; Psalm 22:21; 25:16; 35:17; 68:7;
Prov 4:3; Jer 6:26; Amos 8:10; Zec 12:10)
• God is one (’echad) – text does not speak of singularness,
singleness, or solicitude of God!
God is Love
• It implies unselfishness (He is not self-centered!)
• It implies community
• It implies fellowship
 Hints of a plurality of God in the Old
Testament
1. God speaks of Himself as “us” or “We” (four texts)
--- Within the divine Being there is distinction of
persons/personalities, and it points to a plurality within
the Godhead.
 Hints of a Plurality of God
In the Old Testament
2. Someone coming from God is God:
Isa 7:14:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and
will call him Immanuel.”

Isa 9:6:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace.”
 3. “The Angel of the Lord” Passages

• The Angel of the Lord speaks and acts as God!

• Many biblical texts — Gen 16:7–11; 21:17; 22:11, 15; 24:7,
40; 28:12–15; 31:3, 11, 13; 32:22–30 (Hos 12:3–4); 48:15;
Exod 3:2, 4, 7; 3:16–4:17; 14:19; 15:11; 23:20–21; 32:34;
Num 22:22–36; Joshua 6:1–4; Judg 2:1–2; 6:11, 14, 22; 13:3,
13, 22; 2 Kgs 1:3–6; 1 Chr 21:16; Zech 3:1, 2; etc.
• Compare with 1 Cor 10:1–4.
• Some of these passages distinguish between the Angel (messenger)
who is sent [pre-incarnate Christ] and the One who sends [the Father]
as Yahweh or Elohim. Angel/Messenger is sent by Yahweh, and the
one who is sent is Yahweh!
 How Can We Identify the Angel of The
Lord as God (Jesus Christ)
• He speaks in the first person singular (“I”) as if he himself
were God when he brings a message (Gen 16:10; 22:16–17;
31:13; Exod 3:6; Judg 6:14).
• The biblical text uses in parallel terms “the angel of the
Lord” and “the Lord” or “God,” and thus identifies them as
one Being (Gen 22:11, 15; 31:3, 11, 13; Exod 3:2, 4, 7; Judg
2:1–2; 6:11, 14, 22; 13:3, 13, 22; Zech 3:1–2).
• He describes himself as holy (Exod 3:2,5).
• He carries out God’s judgment (2 Sam 24:16; 2 Kgs 19:35).
• God’s name is in Him (Exod 23:20–23).
• He takes on a human appearance (Josh 5:13–15; Judg 13:6, 10, 21).
Cases of theophany (=God’s pre-incarnate appearances).
4. Biblical Text Distinguishes Between
Two or Even Three Divine Persons!
Two Sets of Biblical Texts
• One list: two different divine persons

• Second list: three different divine persons

The First List:
Two Different Divine Persons
1. Gen 1:1–3
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God
was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there
be light,’ and there was light.”
2. Genesis 19:24
“Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on
Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the
heavens.”
3. Exodus 23:23
“My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into
the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe
them out.”
4. Psalm 45:6–7
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a
scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your
companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
5. Psalm 110:1
“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”
6. Proverbs 8:22–31
Wisdom is a hypostatization of God Himself.

Represents the second person of the Godhead.

 7. Proverbs 30:4
A possible understanding:
Father–Son relationship in the role of Co-Creators.

Thus NKJV:
“Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has
gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a
garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His
name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?”

NIV:
“Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered
up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the
waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know!”
 8. Daniel 7:9–10, 13–14
• As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of
Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the
hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming
with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was
flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon
thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand
stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were
opened.…In my vision at night I looked, and there before me
was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of
heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into
his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign
power; all peoples, nations and men of every language
worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that
will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be
destroyed.
9. Hosea 1:7
“Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will
save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses
and horsemen, but by the LORD their God.”
10. Zechariah 3:2
“The LORD [Yahweh] said to Satan, ‘The LORD
[Yahweh] rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen
Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick
snatched from the fire?’”
11. Zechariah 10:12
“I will strengthen them in the LORD and in his name
they will walk," declares the LORD.”
12. Malachi 3:1
“‘See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the
way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking
will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant,
whom you desire, will come,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
The Second List:
Three Different Divine Persons
Texts only in Isaiah:

• 1. Isa 42:1
• 2. Isa 48:16
• 3. Isa 61:1–2
• 4. Isa 63:8–11

The proper interpretation depends on the identification of the

EBED YAHWEH = the Servant of the Lord, the Suffering Servant (Isa
42–53, 61).
1. Isaiah 42:1
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I
delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the
nations.”
2. Isaiah 48:16
“Come near me and listen to this: ‘From the first announcement I
have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.’ And
now the Sovereign LORD has sent me, with his Spirit.”
3. Isaiah 61:1–2
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because
the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the
poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim freedom for the captives and release from
darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the
LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to
comfort all who mourn.”
 4. Isaiah 63:8–11
“He said, ‘Surely they are my people, sons who will not
be false to me’; and so he became their Savior. In all their
distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his
presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed
them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of
old. Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he
turned and became their enemy and he himself fought
against them. Then his people recalled the days of old, the
days of Moses and his people—where is he who brought
them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them.”
 FINAL CONCLUSION:
Old Testament Teaching Does Not Contradict the
Biblical Monotheism or the Trinitarian Thinking
We have discovered beautiful Old Testament hints of the Trinitarian
thinking! It demonstrates a consistent picture of the whole Bible in
relationship between Old and New Testaments.

What is latent (hidden like a treasure) in the Old Testament is clearly

revealed (made plain) in the New Testament!

The New Testament is not presenting something which is entirely

new or foreign to the Hebrew thinking!
 Thinking About God
• Let’s ask God for a WONDER, for a glimpse to see Him and then to
admire and worship Him!
• God is beyond our understanding. Instead of trying to explain
details of His Godhead, let us relate to Him personally who is One,
Unique, United, Unity, and Plurality of fellowship at the same
time.
• The fellowship with Him enables us to understand the beauty of
the plan of salvation and build a true community with one
another!
Thinking About God
John 17:3:
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

This is an existential and experiential knowledge!

Praise the Lord for His love, grace, goodness, and

faithfulness towards us!