David Pawson - Understanding the Trinity

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THOUGHTFUL THOUGHTS 17.7.26  BY JOHN DUNNING.

THE HOLY TRINITY.

INTRODUCTION

This study is for those who are serious about Bible study, because it requires us to think. So you may need to return to it multiple times during the week…

The two books Satan hates the most are Genesis and Revelation… Genesis tells us how the evil one got into the world, and Revelation explains how he will be evicted.

So, having finished Revelation, we will be coming onto Genesis, but before that, we are coming onto a study of the Holy Trinity. Genesis begins by stating our Three-in-One God. The message of Genesis 1 in the Hebrew language has been lost in translation. Genesis 1:1 begins with the Holy Trinity which continues throughout the “Old Testament”, which we look at now.

The Bible is a unit, and so we will show how the “Old Testament” does not contradict the “New Testament”.  Messianic Jews agree with Gentile Christians on this. Why? Well, let’s look at that next…

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A).  THE “TRINITY” IN THE OLD TESTAMENT…

Jews who are NOT Messianic think Christians blaspheme because they believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is part of a Three-in-One Godhead. We will look at what the “Old Testament” actually says so that we can share the Hebrew words God uses, with anyone who will listen. 

Messianic Jews are those who do believe that Yeshua is part of the Godhead, and understand that there is no contradiction between the Old and New Testaments. Why? Let’s look at the Hebrew next…

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a). Plurals used for God in the Old Testament…

i). Genesis 1.1 says, “In the beginning God…”. The Hebrew word used for God here is ELOHIM, which is a PLURAL word. It is not just a plural of two, but the ending means more than two.

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ii). In Genesis 1.26 we find this verse; “Let US make man in OUR own image, according to OUR likeness”.

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iii). Genesis 11.7 – “Come, let US go down…”.

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iv). Isaiah 6.8 tells us that God says, “…who shall go for us?”

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b). “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God ECHAD”...

Orthodox Jews repeatedly quote Deut. 6.4 (“The LORD our God the LORD is One”), to support their argument that God is only one person and not three. The word translated “One” comes from the Hebrew word “ECHAD”. So what does the word actually mean? This is important as it has two meanings…

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i). What Orthodox Jews won’t tell you is that in Hebrew the word “ECHAD” can just as easily mean ‘one in unity’, or ‘one in harmony’, and that simply depends on how ECHAD is pronounced by the speaker, to give one or other of the meanings. 

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ii). Jewish Orthodox Rabbis use ECHAD with the singular pronunciation of “one”, as in one individual person;- and they get away with doing that because Jewish Rabbis have decided in advance to pronounce “ECHAD” with that pronunciation, as they want to make sure the congregation only hears the translation meaning one person. 

I am saying that in context, it has the meaning of “one in unity”. The context must be taken into account… 

As further evidence, I point out that God could have used another Hebrew word, “YACHID”, if He had wanted to clearly state one person, as in one individual ‘singular” person. 

But instead, God chose to use “ECHAD”, which has the meaning of “One in Unity”. 

God chose His words very carefully. God is One in 3 persons, (being One God), which is the reason why we need to look at actual Hebrew words used by God.

Another difference of the Hebrews alphabet is that letters double-up as a number. (There are other differences too, in that they do not use “vowels”.) Translators have to cope with differences when translating. 

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c). References to the “Son” in the Old Testament…

i). In Proverbs 30.4 we find this rhetorical question;- “Who established all the ends of the earth? What is His name and what is His Son’s name? Surely you know!” 

So, hidden away we find the rhetorical question about the One who established all the ends of the earth, also has “His Son”...

ii). Also see Psalm 2:12…

iii). Then there is a reference to “God’s Prince” in Ezekiel 26:8, 44:1 & 43:1-6, who walks through a gate reserved solely for God alone…

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d). References to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament…

In Psalms 51.11 David begs God, “Do not take your Holy Spirit from me”. This is also important to mention, because there has been a false teaching that the Holy Spirit is a force of God and not a Person. 

(There are far too many references in the “Old Testament” to the Holy Spirit, to mention them all here, but you can easily Google them all if you want more study.)

B).  THE “TRINITY” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 

Introduction

Because some are childish enough to try to score a point by saying that the word Trinity is not in the Bible, I will answer that too… The term “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible because it is a word created to explain a truth about God revealed throughout the Bible. 

The serious debate from Jews has been whether it is Yeshua, (Jesus) who is part of the “Godhead”, so we will focus on that next... 

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1). Jesus being part of the “Godhead”.

a) To show the unity of all the Scriptures, we’ll start with Acts 13:33, which quotes Psalms 2:7; “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” 

The Apostles used the Old Testament to teach, as there was no ‘New Testament’ at that time. There is no contradiction between the “Old” and “New” Testaments. The Old Testament is in the New revealed. The New Testament is in the Old, concealed.

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b) In John 1:1 St. John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God.” (Read the next few verses too.)

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c) Jews asked Jesus, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (John 10:24).

Jesus said, “I and the Father are One”, John 10:30. (So Jesus teaches that He is the second person of the ONE God). So when pressed, we have Jesus explaining His place in the Godhead. (Notice the use Jesus made of the word “One”, here.)

St John the Apostle wrote that if anyone doesn’t believe that Jesus came in the flesh, he is not a believer. (Note John 1:2, that, “He was with God in the beginning”, from eternity.)

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2). References to the Holy Spirit being part of the Godhead.

Jesus said;

a). “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”

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b) “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you”. (John 16.7)

(The Holy Spirit is mentioned too many times to reference them all here, but you can do that homework.)

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EPILOGUE

Paul led “tens of thousands” of Jews to the Lord, (Acts 21.20). That boldness cost Paul dearly, yet in Jerusalem I saw a Messianic Jewish congregation worshiping in Christchurch church, by the Jaffa Gate. Decades ago, David Pawson said that there were at least 50,000 Messianic Jews worshiping Jesus as their Messiah, worldwide – so that number will be much higher now.

We are told to give an account of our faith when challenged. We must pass the baton on to others, that was passed on down to us. Regarding talking about Jesus, we are told to be ready to give an answer to those who ask… To help with that, keep watching these David Pawson’s teaching videos and reading these homilies…

Do share this study with your friends…

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

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PS. To help pray for the ‘suffering church’ see;- https://barnabasfund.org/nz/pray/daily-prayer/#previous-dates

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If you would like to know how to find peace with God, listen to the podcasts at this link…

https://www.inspirational.org.nz/pages/johns-devotionals-podcast

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For a message on Hearing God, called “The Cost of Discipleship”, visit this podcast link, https://share.transistor.fm/s/1263bbab

Click the link below to Subscribe to John’s Bible Study.

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