A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek
The Shema is the foundational proclamation of Judeo-Christian faith and is found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” In this verse, Lord is translated from the Hebrew Yahweh which is singular and means I AM. God is translated from the Hebrew Elohim which is both singular and plural all at once. The word one is from the Hebrew ehad which means both one and unity; a plurality within unity. Ehad is used in 2:24 when the holy covenant of marriage is described as two persons as one. Often in a marriage ceremony, Ecclesiastes 4:12 is quoted, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” This is given as an illustration that a marriage is to be triune between husband, wife and God; three in one.
From the very beginning when He created man, He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”[1] When we couple this with John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”[2] we know that God is Spirit who transcends gender and is revealed as having diversity within His unity. Adonai is a name translated as Lord and is found around 300 times in the Old Testament, nearly always is the plural possessive. From our New Covenant vantage point, we see Psalm 110:1, “The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” as the Father speaking to the Son. This is confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 22:41-46. God uses both singular and plural pronouns about Himself throughout the Old Testament.
The Old Testament presents God as the Father of His people. In a rebuke to the children of Israel, Moses said, “Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people?
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?”[3] Elohim has creative authority and tender, compassionate care for His children, of whom the nation of Israel was His firstborn of His eternal family gathered from the Earth.[4] Psalm 103:13 comforts those who have been adopted into His family, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”
Often in the Old Testament narratives, people encounter someone called the Angel of the Lord. In the story of Hagar, the angel said, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count”[5] The angel speaks as though He is God and we know that it is God Himself who keeps the promise by blessing Ishmael and his descendants. Later in Abraham and Sarah’s life when God told the patriarch to sacrifice his son Isaac, the Angel of the Lord speaks to Abraham as God. Those who interact with the Angel of the Lord are afraid because they have, “seen the Lord.” From further revelation and clarification in the New Testament regarding God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as Three Persons in One God, it is not too far of a leap to view the appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament as pre-incarnate, earthly visitations of God the Son.
God the Holy Spirit makes His first biblical appearance hovering over the waters of the deep before the creative process began in Genesis 1. Later in Isaiah 48:16 a distinction is made between who we would assume to be the Father and the Spirit, “Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.’ And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit.”[6] The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, but a spiritual personage who can be grieved, “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”[7] In Nehemiah 9:20 and verse 30, it is made known that God speaks to His children personally and through His prophets by the Holy Spirit, “You gave your good Spirit to instruct them…For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you warned them through your prophets.”
Another beautiful clue to God being triune is found in Numbers 6:24 in the Aaronic Blessing, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” The phrase “The Lord” is repeated three times which some see as a trinitarian pattern. The same thread follows in Isaiah 6 which describes the throne of God and the seraphim call out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The word “holy” is applied in worship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine said that the new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed. The doctrine of the Trinity is alluded to in the Old Testament and more fully revealed in the New Testament.[8]
[1] Excerpts from Genesis 1:26-27 KJV
[2] John 4:24 NKJV
[3] Deuteronomy 32:6
[4] Exodus 4:22-23
[5] Gensis 16:10 NIV
[6] Isaiah 48:16 ESV
[7] Isaiah 63:10 ESV
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