Issued: 08/15/21 Revised: 12/4/23

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

 BASICS OF JUDEO-CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL EDUCATION

   Judeo-Christian understanding of Father is found only in Scripture, but it requires constant study and perseverance (Joshua 1:8-10; Psalms 1:1-2).  To master it, we need to enroll in spiritual ‘college.’  Since “in the Gospel God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith” (Romans 1:17), faith pre-qualifies us for ‘registration.’  If we wish to engage His Holy Spirit to ‘tutor’ us, faith is also the only ‘tuition fee’ we need and must pay (Hebrews 11:6; James 1:5-7).

   Father’s dismal regard for spiritual leaders is a matter of record:  Those tasked with teaching His word corrupted it (Jeremiah 8:8; Zephaniah 3:4; Malachi 2:7-8); consequently, they were booted from their teaching posts (Luke 16:16; 1Corinthians 1:20-21; 1John 2:27).  A new ‘faculty’ consisting on only three ‘instructors’ replaced them (1John 5:7-8):  Father, Who designed the ‘curriculum’ (2Timothy 3:16-17; 1John 5:9); Son, ‘Dean’ over His Church (John 1:8, 7:16, 14:6; Ephesians 5:23; 1Timothy 2:5); and the Holy Spirit as Son‘s teaching ‘Aide’ (John 15:26, 16:13; 1Corinthians 2:10; 1John 5:7).

   In terms of teaching techniques, Father’s involve “perceiving” things in a way that is both counter-empirical (2Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:1) and counter-intuitive (Mark 4:11-12; 1Corithians 2:14-15; 2Corinthians 5:7).  ‘Understanding’ is achieved through a “hidden wisdom” pre-destined for us and imparted by the Holy Spirit Son “pours” over the faithful (Deuteronomy 29:29; Jeremiah 33:3; John 15:26, 16:13; 1Corinthians 2:7-13).  This “anointment” frees us from human teachers (1John 2:27); and it alone is responsible for our spiritual progress from rudimentary faith [“milk”] to the “solid food” of higher truths (Hebrews 5:12-14).

   To mankind’s detriment, social norms ‘encode’ human brains with a herd mentality that makes people uncomfortable with freedom—the very subject Jesus wanted us to master (John 8:31-32).  Though he spoke of Christians as “sheep” (Ezekiel 34:11; John 10:11), Jesus was highlighting his followers’ critical ability to discern his voice from the Babel [↔Genesis 11:9] of false shepherds (John 10:14-16;27) exhorting audiences to join their pastures.  Most people prefer being told what to believe and do in order ‘to join the crowd’. In Jesus’ syllabus, this is tantamount to flunking his course (Matthew 12:30, 16:25; Hebrews 13:12-13).

   If the reader is wondering where we are going with this, it is to show that despite teachings easily demonstrable and following Scriptures’ rules of corroboration (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2Corinthians 13:1), foundational doctrines remain largely misunderstood.  For example, there is no Holy Trinity; if anything, a Holy Dyad consisting of Father and Spirit Who are not consubstantial with Son, the first creature called into being (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14).  Blasphemy?  Not according to the above verses; only that men came up with Trinitarian dogma; enshrined in; and taught the rank and file to regurgitate it. Never forget Isaiah 8:20’s golden standard.

To ‘graduate’ from lower to higher levels of spiritual knowledge, “spirits must be tested “(1John 4:1); simply put, the credentials of ‘human faculties‘ must be checked against the Bible.    Those claiming to serve Jesus and his God (Revelation 3:12) by ‘doing the talk but not the walk’ are spiritually bankrupt (Matthew 7:15-17, 23:3,13; Luke 6:45; Titus 1:16; 1John 2:4-6).  Those who cause divisions in order to advance personal agendas are condemned (Proverbs 11:29; Titus 3:10-11).  Those boasting of large followings as proof of Jesus’ endorsement cannot be the real McCoy:  True disciples are in the minority (Matthew 22:14); rejected rather than embraced by the world at large (John 15:18-19; 2Timothy 3:12; 1John 4:5-6).  And practitioners of ‘free-for-all’ deviations from, additions to, and subtractions from Scripture stink of mendacity, fire, and brimstone (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:5; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Matthew 5:18; Acts 26:22; Revelation 22:18-19).

   As to putting theory into practice, what may appear confusing or contradictory in the Bible may be a device to cull the ‘student body’ (Isaiah 28:13; Mark 4:11-12).  The faithful are assured of always ‘acing’ subject matters incomprehensible to the unfaithful (Daniel 12:10; 1Corinthians 11:19; 2Corinthians 4:3-4).  Since one way of knowing Father is to identify Him properly, let us apply Jesus’ prompt:  “Seek and you shall find” (Luke 11:9).

ONE NAME, TWO GODS ¹

   To this day both mainstream Judaism and Christianity fail to recognize that Yahweh Father and His Redeemer, Yahweh Son, are two different beings.  This is the primary Judeo-Christian failing regarding divine worship—as evinced by Hosea 7:13 regarding Son and by Hosea 11:7 with respect to Father.

   And easily demonstrable. If Father will not live in man-made temples (Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:48), He could not have been the indwelling Deity in either the desert Tabernacle’s or the Jerusalem Temple’s Holy of Holies (Exodus 40:34; 1Kings 8:11).  If no human being has heard Father‘s voice (John 5:37), He could not have been the God speaking to Moses from Mount Horeb (Exodus 20:22; Deuteronomy 5:2), or over the Ark of the Covenant face to face as if with a friend (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8).  If no human being has seen the Invisible Father (John 1:18, 5:37; Colossians 1:15; 1Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:27), He could not have been the God seen by Moses and the seventy Israelite elders on Mount Horeb (Exodus 24:9-11), nor the Yahweh whose back Moses saw (Exodus 33:23, 34:5-10).  If Father judges no one but has delegated all judging to Son (John 5:22; Acts 17:31), He could not have been the “Judge of all flesh” who Abraham saw and talked with at Mamre (Genesis 18:25).

   All these ‘contradictions’ are easily resolved by concluding that two Gods are being spoken of: Father and the Son He has empowered to rule in His stead.  This does not violate Father‘s declaration that there are no gods other than Him (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2Samuel 7:22; 2Kings 19:15; Isaiah 44:8, 46:9); anymore than when Pharaoh made Joseph [an early symbol for Jesus] his proxy ruler, Joseph became Pharaoh’s factual equal (Genesis 41:40).  This arrangement is commonplace amongst secular and religious rulers:  The highest up in a chain of command calls the shots and his/her appointed stewards implement them; but the stewards in no wise ever become their higher ups’ equals.

In point of fact Genesis 41:40 is there to tell us that Father‘s relationship with Son is patterned after Pharaoh’s/Joseph’s co-ruling synergy.  Father created Son² and entrusted him with duties and responsibilities Father would not undertake at the human level stained by sin. Therefore beginning with “Darkness” ³ and from Genesis 1:4 to Genesis 2:3, Son was Father‘s appointed, proxy Creator.  This is why both Paul (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:2-3) and John (John 1:3) identified Jesus as the Creator of everything on heaven and earth.  Yahweh Son was Father‘s only personal creation.

   This in turn answers the ambiguity in Genesis 1 regarding a ‘plurality’ of gods involved in Creation—the “Elohim” dispute we will not be mired in.  The God Who said, “Let there be Light,” was Father, the One and Only God (Genesis 1:3-4); but the God who in Genesis 1:26 said, “Let us make man in our own image,” was the proxy Creator Son pointedly remarking that Man’s features would resemble his Father‘s and his own—down to gender (Colossians 1:15).  This helps us understand John 1:1 in its intended perspective:  “In the beginning was the Word [Son], and the Word was with God [Father], and the Word was God” [Son in his capacity as Father‘s proxy God↔Isaiah 54:5].

   Thus we have a Lawmaking Father plus a Law Enforcing Son, inferior to the former in every respect; whether in establishing rules and regulations (Daniel 4:35; John 5:19, 7:16); in divine rank (John 14:28; Revelation 3:12); in reverence (Matthew 12:31-32; Revelation 5:13-14, 19:10); in prophetic knowledge (Matthew 24:36; Acts 1:7; Revelation 1:1); in assigning posts (Daniel 5:21; Matthew 20:23); as owner of everything (Job 41:11; Psalm 24:1; John 14:2) Jesus stands to inherit (Leviticus 25:23; Job 41:11; Psalms 2:8); and as rewarder of those who seek Him (1Samuel 2:30; Hebrews 11:6).  Jesus is the means to an end: Father (John 14:16; Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1Timothy 2:5); as well as the path to life everlasting bestowed by Father (John 6:37,39, 10:9-10,29; 1John 5:11).

   Furthermore while Father remains Deity for eternity, there will come a time when Jesus⁴ will abdicate his proxy Godship to become Father‘s earth-bound subject as both King (John 18:36) and High Priest (Hebrews 5:6) in Father‘s Kingdom.  This will come to pass once Satan and his minions are burned at Armageddon (1Corinthians 15:24-28).  Within a ‘human-bricked’ Temple (Matthew 16:18↔Ephesians 2:20-22; Hebrews 3:6; 1Peter 2:5) made immortal, Father will dwell in the hearts of the redeemed; the reason why there is no external Temple in the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:22)—the place where Exodus 20:3 will be truly fulfilled: “You shall not worship any other gods but Me.”

   In the New Testament, Father = the Most High God, and Son = Jesus.  But whenever Scripture uses the noun “God” to mean either one of them [as in John 1:1], we encounter the ambiguity so prevalent in the Old Testament.  Paul, who was a stickler for precision, methodically differentiated between his “Gods”:  There was Jesus resembling God (Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-6), and there was the Invisible, Sovereign, Living Divinity (Colossians 1:15; Ephesians 4:6; 1Timothy 6:15-16; Hebrews 2:12, 10:31, 11:27).  And as 1Corinthians 15:24-28 show, Paul knew Jesus was beholden to a higher Master.

   As stated in Acts 22:26, Paul was getting his cues from the Old Testament, some of them very obvious ones like Psalms 45:7 [↔Hebrews 1:6-9], where it is openly acknowledged that there are two Gods, one serving a higher Deity—confirmed by Jesus in Revelation 3:12.  Jesus’ God is Father, the Most High God acknowledging no gods higher than Himself (Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 44:8, 46:9).  Psalms 2:7 states that Father “engendered” [i.e., called into being] Son in the context of time—“today”; and that there is indeed a created God is casually revealed in Isaiah 43:10:  “You are my witnesses,” declares Yahweh, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and trust me and understand that I AM he [↔Exodus 3:14; Judges 13:11; Matthew 14:27; John 18:6]. Before me no God was formed nor will there be one after me.”  And who is the speaker here?  Yahweh Son, the proxy Creator, Redeemer, King and Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 43:1, 14-15, 47:4)—in short, the pre-existent Jesus (Isaiah 9:6; Ephesians 1:6-7; Revelation 3:7, 19:16).

   When “God” appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb and called himself “I AM” (Exodus 3:14)⁵, the fact that he was speaking to Moses tells us this was not the never heard Father (John 5:37).  Also Exodus 3:2-4 tells us that the divine being inside the burning bush was Yahweh Son Angel proxy God.  The fact that Yahweh Son came down on a cloud to meet Moses (Exodus 34:5) reminds us of the many times Son uses that mode of transportation (Ezekiel 1:4; Daniel 7:13; Luke 21:27; Revelation 10:1↔Revelation 1:15). Nor could Father have been the Yahweh who would physically visit his earthly flock (Isaiah 52:6; Ezekiel 34:11), which Yahweh Son did as Jesus of Nazareth.  Just as the divine and the mortal cannot co-exist in the same plane (1Corinthians 15:50), the world has always been out-of-bounds to Father.

So in Exodus 3 we have an “Angel” proclaiming to be God and conveying to Moses Father‘s instructions:  The mediating role exclusive to Jesus (John 14:6; 1Timothy 2:5).  And if an “Angel God,” therefore a created being sharing Father’s name:  “Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for My name is in him” (Exodus 23:21).  What have been just told?  That the “Angel of Yahweh” was Yahweh Son; so there is a Yahweh Father entirely different from Yahweh Son, a distinction Isaiah 44:6 makes abundantly clear.

   Now before parsing Isaiah, we must recall the stipulation that in Biblical matters, the testimony of two or three witnesses settles all disputes (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19).  Consequently, there are Biblical passages—especially where personal declarations are being made—in which one of three Divine Persons either states His intentions [Father]; confirms what another has said [Holy Spirit]; or is the spokesperson for his God [Son].  Yahweh Son may use first-person pronouns to convey verbatim Father‘s instructions or to voice his own thoughts; Father is always quoted in first-person; and Holy Spirit in no person at all but as a genderless, disembodied Witness/Participant. This poses a challenge for Biblical ‘alumni’—surpassed with the Holy Spirit‘s assistance (John 16:13)—of identifying Who is being quoted [Father]; who is speaking for Father or himself [Son]; or Who is offering commentary [Holy Spirit].  This tri-partite synergy is what 1John 5:7 is about: Agreement amongst the three must be absolute and unimpeachable. 

Going back to Isaiah 44:6, we will agree that Isaiah the man had no possible way of knowing first-hand what he was revealing; so that as Peter argued in 2Peter 1:20-21, the Holy Spirit was ‘coaching’ Isaiah in what to say.  Thus, we can attribute Isaiah’s 44:6 opening statement to the Holy Spirit:  “This is what Yahweh says.”  What then follows is the joint declaration attested to by the Holy Spirit:   “The King of Israel [Father] and His Redeemer [Son], Yahweh of hosts…[have said]:  ‘I am the first and I am the last, and apart from Me there is no God.”  Note that Jesus repeats this statement in Revelation 1:8; true of himself in terms of ‘almightiness’ as Father‘s co-ruler (Matthew 28:18) but not in terms of ‘all-knowingness,’ as Mark 13:32 and Acts 1:7 attest.  In point of fact, Revelation opens with the declaration that though Jesus unveils it, it was Father Who gave it to him (Revelation 1:1)—which only the Holy Spirit ‘inspiring’ John’s writing is in a position to affirm it was so.

We need not belabor the point that Jesus is Isaiah’s Redeemer (Ephesians 1:6-7; 1Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9-10); nor the very obvious distinction between Israel’s Heavenly King [Father] and Heavenly Jerusalem’s earthly one [Son↔Revelation 19:16]. Once again, we are giving intimations of dealing with two Yahwehs: One wielding supreme authority and another subject to it.  But why is the Redeemer Yahweh identified by the epithet “of hosts”?  Because he is the commander-in-chief of Father’s angelic and human armies, waging the Divinity’s battles against His enemies (Daniel 10:13,20; Luke 4:6; Revelation 19:11-16).⁶

Having gotten here, other Scriptures now fall into place.  Yahweh Son was the Angel God who struggled with Jacob, blessed him (Genesis 36:24-30; Hosea 12:4), and liberated Jacob from all his ordeals (Genesis 48:16).  He was the Angel God inside the pillar of cloud guiding Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 13:21-22, 14:19:20); later manifesting himself to Joshua on the road to Jericho [Joshua 5:13-15↔Exodus 3:5].  He was Father‘s “beloved” planter of Israel and Judah (Isaiah 5:1-5); their advocate before Father (Isaiah 51:15,22); their savior in their vicissitudes (Isaiah 63:9, 64:4); their “husband” (Jeremiah 31:32-35↔see Matthew 9:15); their giver of Father’s Spirit (Zechariah 4:5-6↔John 15:26). 

   Yahweh Son is the subject of Isaiah 64:4:  “Since ancient times no one has heard, and no ear has perceived, and no eye has seen any God [Father] besides you [Son], who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him [Father].”  During his earthly ministry, Jesus is not shown speaking face-to-face with Father; he could not, living as all men did except by praying to Him.  Yet as the pre-existent Yahweh Son, as man he could claim to repeat what Father had told him and act as he had seen Father do in Heaven (John 5:19, 6:46, 8:26)—the only realm where he had shared with Father the glory of Creation before the world was (John 17:5).

But Malachi 3:1 settles the issue of Jesus’ angelic provenance:  “Behold, I [Yahweh Son] send my messenger [John the Baptist↔Matthew 11:10-11], and he will prepare the way before me (Matthew 3:11; John 3:28-30); and the Lord [the incarnate Jesus of Nazareth], whom you seek [as Messiah], will suddenly come to his temple [the Church]; and the Angel of the [new] covenant, whom you desire (Haggai 2:7), behold, he comes!”  Even as late as Acts 27:23 Paul, who understood very well that angels were men’s helpers [Hebrews 1:14↔Revelation 19:10], spoke of Jesus as “the Angel of God“ to whom he belonged and served.⁷ We hardly need argue that no persons dead or living have ever been the property of any angel but Angel Son, because Father gave them to him (John 6:39; Hebrews 2:3).

Having laid this groundwork, let us proceed.

¹ For a more in-depth discussion on this vital issue, please refer to our series On the Divinity of Jesus.

² At the beginning of time (Genesis 1:3↔Psalms 2:7; Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14), “Light” being a symbol for Son; confirmed by the Holy Spirit (John 1:9, 8:12; Colossians 1:15) and by Jesus himself (Revelation 3:14).

³ A possible reference to the creation of Lucifer/Satan. Please note that “Light” is deemed “good,” but no value judgment is made regarding “Darkness.”  This omission is the more significant given that everything else that followed was categorized as “good.”  Also Satan’s human ‘offspring’ are identified as “sons of darkness” (1Thessalonians 5:5↔John 8:44).

⁴ Now immortal flesh (Luke 24:39; Colossians 1:18) and yet again non-consubstantial with Father.

⁵ From where “Yahweh” is derived; a Hebrew, verbal name meaning “He is.” 

⁶ Not to be confused with the Archangel Michael, Jesus’ second-in-command (Daniel 10:21) who booted Satan and his angels out of Heaven (Revelation 12:7-9)—an event witnessed by Jesus while on earth (Luke 10:18; John 12:31).

⁷ King James Version.  The fact that most translations of this verse change “the” for “an” only goes to show their failure to grasp the angelic nature of Jesus’ pre-existence.