Trinity. Now there is a word that seems to cause all sorts of discussion within Torah Observant circles. Sadly, for all the wrong reasons. It's far to common these days for people to throw the baby out with the bathwater and fall into heresies regarding what scripture tells us of Elohim. Now, I am not pretending to understand the intricacies of the Living God, He's far to large for my mind to wrap around. But we can know some things and many descriptors are given to us in scripture to lay out a basic concept. This concept is then described in a word as Trinity.
Some are saying today that trinity is a pagan concept, however this claim can not be more false. The Trinity is unique among religions. While there are many triads, to link them to the Trinity is only to show a poor understanding of what the Trinity is and compare it to polytheism more than classify it within monotheism. No other faith is composed of one God who is plural in essence.
Even with Judaism the concept of plurality to God is not foreign, as much as most resources would tell you. Rabbi Eliezer Hakkilir in his Sefer Yetsira says, 'When God created the world He created it through the three sephiroth[countings]—sepher, sapher and sipper—by which three beings are meant. The rabbi, my lord and my teacher of blessed memory, explained that sepher, sapher and sipper are synonymous with Jah, Jehovah and Elohim, meaning to say that the world was created by these three names.' Rabbi Aben Ezra also supported plurality to Elohim based upon the grammar in the Torah and Tanakh in reference to Him. What grammar would this be? Why, how the very words used for God are plural within Hebrew, such as Elohim and Adonai. Or how even the word we use as One in English is plural in its source, Echad, which is better translated as united.
Ultimately though we must look to what the scripture clearly shows us, and so without further ado we will go through a portion of scripture which shows all aspects of the Trinity and rules out modalism, bi-nitarianism, the Messiah not being Deity and other offshoots which arise. There have been whole books written on this topic, so I won't pretend that this blog post is all encompassing but that it is simply to give you a brief introduction to what scripture fully says on the topic of defining Elohim.
First and foremost we can see that Elohim is one God, that we believe in monotheism and not polytheism. The Shema is always first and foremost in mind for this; Deuteronomy 6:4 says Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one]. A verse which both shows us the singularity of Elohim as well as His plurality as I've already commented. So then let us then look at verses which do specify that is indeed singular as a God. Deuteronomy 4:35 says This was shown to you, so that you would know that Adonai is God, and there is no other beside him. 1 Kings 8:60 says, Then all the peoples of the earth will know that Adonai is God; there is no other. Or 2 Samuel 7:22, Therefore, you are great, Adonai, God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you — everything we have heard confirms that. There are many more like it in 1 Chronicles, Isaiah, Nehemiah, Psalm, Hosea, Joel and Zekariah. This doesn't change when we move from the Tanakh to the Brit Hadasha. Romans 3:30 says, because, as you will admit, God is one. Therefore, he will consider righteous the circumcised on the ground of trusting and the uncircumcised through that same trusting. Galatians 3:20 tells us, Now a mediator implies more than one, but God is one, and what of 1 Timothy 1:17? So to the King — eternal, imperishable and invisible, the only God there is — let there be honor and glory for ever and ever! Amen.
There is God the Father. Deuteronomy 32:6 shows us that God is the Father of all of us, You foolish people, so lacking in wisdom, is this how you repay Adonai? He is your father, who made you his! It was he who formed and prepared you! This is supported by Psalm 103:13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, Adonai has compassion on those who fear him, and Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, don’t despise Adonai’s discipline or resent his reproof; for Adonai corrects those he loves like a father who delights in his son. Or Isaiah 64:7(8) But now, Adonai, you are our father; we are the clay, you are our potter; and we are all the work of your hands. A theme which continues within the Brit Hadasha as 1 John 3:1 shows us, See what love the Father has lavished on us in letting us be called God’s children! For that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it has not known him, and Ephesians 4:6, and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all.
Yet Elohim is also specified as the Father of the Messiah specifically. Psalm 2 shows us this, which is easier to understand when we apply Hebrews 1:5 which refers to it and shows it as being spoken to the Messiah, referred to as an Angel of the Lord. Acts 13:33 also confirms this.
There is God the Son, The Angel of Adonai. We can begin this segment in seeing the unity of these two 'persons' of God. This is visibly largely from the Tanakh. While a case can be made that it is Yeshua walking in the garden when Adam and Havah hide themselves from Elohim the first truly indisputable case is found in Genesis 16 where we see Hagar who has run away from Sarai. Verses 7-14 says, The angel of Adonai found her by a spring in the desert, the spring on the road to Shur, 8 and said, “Hagar! Sarai’s slave-girl! Where have you come from, and where are you going?” She answered, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of Adonai said to her, “Go back to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” 10 The angel of Adonai said to her, “I will greatly increase your descendants; there will be so many that it will be impossible to count them.” 11 The angel of Adonai said to her, “Look, you are pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You are to call him Yishma‘el [God pays attention] because Adonaihas paid attention to your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man, with his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, living his life at odds with all his kinsmen.”
13 So she named Adonai who had spoken with her El Ro’i [God of seeing], because she said, “Have I really seen the One who sees me [and stayed alive]?” 14 This is why the well has been called Be’er-Lachai-Ro’i [well of the one who lives and sees]; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. Showing us that this Angel of Adonai has the authority to speak for Elohim and is indeed Elohim himself while not the Father. Genesis 32 shows us Jacob wrestling with Elohim in bodily form, yet also called an Angel of Adonai. And what of the burning bush in Exodus 3? We again see the Angel of Adonai speaking yet it is accredited as also being Elohim speaking. They are indeed united as one.
Isaiah 9:5(6) says For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace] Showing us in another way that the Messiah is also Divine. Yeshua, God in the flesh. Matthew 1:23 confirms this in saying, The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ‘Immanu El. Colossians drives this point home. 1:15-17 says He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together and 2:9 says, For in him, bodily, lives the fullness of all that God is.
Yeshua is not only Elohim in entirety but also came and lived as human in fullness as well. John 1:14 tells us, The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah, the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. And 1 John 5:1-2 says, Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah has God as his father, and everyone who loves a father loves his offspring too. 2 Here is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God, we also do what he commands. John has many, many things to say on the subject of Yeshua being the Son of Elohim.
The Son is not the Father. While we can see that Father and Son are united as one we can also see scripture which shows they are separate. Romans 8:32 shows us that Yeshua is subject to the authority of the Father, He who did not spare even his own Son, but gave him up on behalf of us all — is it possible that, having given us his Son, he would not give us everything else too? A statement repeated in John 20:21, “Shalom aleikhem!” Yeshua repeated. “Just as the Father sent me, I myself am also sending you.” Or let us look to the three separate entities of the Trinity together in separate forms at the immersion of Yeshua in Matthew 3:16-17, As soon as Yeshua had been immersed, he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, he saw the Spirit of God coming down upon him like a dove, 17 and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him.” We also confirm this when Exodus 33:20 says, But my face,” he continued, “you cannot see, because a human being cannot look at me and remain alive. and yet we've already seen that Elohim was visible to Adam, Havah, Hagar and Jacob and earlier in the same chapter even Moses saw Elohim. This is clarified to the difference in seeing the Angel of Adonai as separate from the Father while united. John 1:18 makes this very clear in saying, No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father’s side — he has made him known.
There is God the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit). We can see that the Spirit of God is as much God as Yeshua and the Father in verses like Luke 1:35 which says, The angel answered her, “The Ruach HaKodesh will come over you, the power of Ha‘Elyon will cover you. Therefore the holy child born to you will be called the Son of God. Showing us that the actions of the Ruach are the actions of Elohim. The Ruach could be upon people in the time of the Tanakh, before the coming of the Spirit in fullness at the Shavuot after the Resurrection. We see this in Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me, because Adonai has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark, and Judges 6:34, But the Spirit of Adonai covered Gid‘on. He sounded the call on the shofar, and Avi‘ezer rallied behind him. His ultimate role however is stated nowhere clearer than in Ezekiel 36:27, I will put my Spirit inside you and cause you to live by my laws, respect my rulings and obey them.
The Ruach is not the Father or the Son. Like we saw in Matthew 3:16-17, the Ruach is also separate from the Father and the Son, shown there as separate bodily. We can also know that He is separate from the Father and Son because he is referred to as sent by their authority to do the bidding of God, while being Divine Himself. Ezekiel 36:27 is vague on this, in that the Father who is peaking says He will put the Spirit inside believers, but this is very clearly stated within John 14:16, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever. As well as Luke 11:13, So if you, even though you are bad, know how to give your children gifts that are good, how much more will the Father keep giving the Ruach HaKodesh from heaven to those who keep asking him!”
I hope that with this I have been able to show you the Trinity in scripture. The Deity of the Father, the Messiah, and the Ruach; and that while they are together One God they are also wholly God in their singularity and yet not the same entity with different faces as they are each a separate entity while Echad, united, as one Elohim. We can look to the blessing then in 1 Corinthians 13:14, The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the love of God and the fellowship of the Ruach HaKodesh be with you all; and the instruction in Matthew 28:19, Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach HaKodesh. In closing I leave you with the words of Peter, who says in 1 Peter 1:2, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obeying Yeshua the Messiah and for sprinkling with his blood:
Grace and shalom be yours in full measure.
