Issued: 10/28/23

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.

   For the sake of clarity, our discussion begins with an overview of Yahweh Son’s angelic nature.  Given that the Old Testament all too often jumps from one to the other, it must be understood that who we call Yahweh Son Angel God or Yahweh Son proxy God was the same Being.  It is our purpose here to show that this Being became incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth.

Short Review

   In Part I we argued that Yahweh Son/Jesus, the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14), was the “Light” created on First Day (John 1:9-10, 3:19, 8:12, 9:5) within the dimension science calls ‘time,’ as corroborated by Psalms 2:7 (↔Hebrews 1:1-5):* “You are My [Yahweh Father’s] Son. Today I have become your Father.”  It follows that before this “today,” there was non-time or eternity, where the only living Beings were the Most High God [Yahweh Father] and the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2-3)—no third person and therefore proof of a Dyadic and not a Trinitarian Deity.  Yahweh Son, therefore, was not consubstantial with Them.

   That Psalms 2:7 is not referring to the ‘divine/human implant’ in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:31-36) is equally clear from Jesus exulting in the “glory [as proxy Creator] I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5); and from his claim that the Abraham he had interacted with during his preexistence (Genesis18:22-33, 22:11-18), had “seen” his day and rejoiced (John 8:56-57).  Consequently, the baby Jesus born around the beginning of the Common Era was but a mortal shell for a Being who had existed prior to the foundation of the world.  Therefore Joseph and Mary had nothing to do with Jesus’ religious education as it is piously preached:  As suggested by Luke 2:46-51, the young Jesus was fully versed in the Law and driven by a strong sense of mission his parents did not share.

   Yahweh Son  was called into being as an Angel—and we capitalize the word to differentiate him from the other angels he in turn created after Yahweh Father endowed him with powers to complete Creation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17).  For this reason, Yahweh Son Angel God was given highest ranking amongst the heavenly host—hence his Scriptural epithet, “Yahweh of hosts/armies.”  Unlike all other angels “sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14), and who classify themselves as bondservants with the faithful (Revelation 19:9-10), Yahweh Father commanded angels to worship Yahweh Son (Deuteronomy 32:43↔Hebrews 1:6) and to regard him as Yahweh Father’s proxy God (Psalms 45:6↔Hebrews 1:8; Psalms 45:7↔Revelation 3:12).¹

Yahweh Son Angel God

   From Genesis 1 to Genesis 15, no obvious distinctions were made between Yahweh Father and Yahweh Son; though “Yahweh God’s” verbal exchanges with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:9-13,16-19; Cain (Genesis 4:6-15); Noah (Genesis 6:13, 7:1, 8:15) and his sons (Genesis 9:1,8); and Abraham [Genesis 12:7, 13:4—especially Genesis 17:22 indicative of Yahweh Son’s physical presence], point not to the never seen, never heard Yahweh Father (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18, 5:37; 1Timothy 6:16 1John 4:12), but to the always seen and heard Yahweh Son.  The verbal exchanges mentioned above were factual ones; for when divine communications occur in visions or dreams, Scripture tells us so (Genesis 15:1; Daniel 8:2 as opposed to Daniel 9:20-22; Matthew 1:20-24; Acts 9:10, 16:9).  As we have discussed repeatedly, this is one of the many ways Scripture teaches us how to differentiate between the One and Only True God, Yahweh Father, and His appointed proxy God, Yahweh Son.

   It is Genesis 16:7-13 that Yahweh Son is partially—his proper name is not given—introduced in his angelic form and in a verbal exchange with Agar.  We must always keep in mind that Son’s/Jesus’ is the sole Spokesperson for Yahweh Father (1Timothy 2:5↔Hebrews 13:8) and implementer of Yahweh Father’s will.  From Genesis 16:11, “Yahweh [Father] has heard your affliction,” we get the sense that while Yahweh Son is doing the talking, he is telling Agar how Yahweh Father plans to address Agar’s suffering:  By giving her as yet unborn son offspring too numerous to count.²   Yahweh Son Angel God then performs his name-giving task [see Part II] by naming Agar’s son, Ishmael [Heb., “God will hear”].

   But pay attention to Agar’s response:  She calls the Yahweh who spoke to her “the God who sees me” [to differentiate between him and the God Who heard her?]; for she said, ‘Here I have seen one who sees me!’”  Who did Agar see:  The Invisible Yahweh Father (Colossians 1:15; 1Timothy 1:17, 6:14-16) or His visible proxy God Yahweh Son?  Obviously, Yahweh Son; and we find the same dynamic repeated, as well as the fulfillment of the former promise, in Genesis 21:16-20:  Yahweh Father heard Ishmael’s pleas and sent Yahweh Son Angel God to give mother and son water to drink; after which they both figuratively [Yahweh Father] and literally [Yahweh Son] kept caring for Ishmael.³

   A similar encounter between Yahweh Son Angel God and Jacob is recorded in Genesis 32:24-30↔35:7.  Jacob wrestled with “a man” until daybreak,⁴ or rather an Angel empowered to bless him [Hosea 12:4; do not overlook the admission that in petitioning the Angel for his blessing, Jacob was in fact petitioning both Yahweh Father and Yahweh Son:  “He spoke with us”].⁵ Then Yahweh Son Angel God performs his customary name-giving task by changing Jacob’s name to “Israel”; and Jacob goes on to admit he has seen God “face to face.”  And not only seen him, but heard him and touched him.  So once more, who did Jacob see:  The Invisible Yahweh Father or His visible proxy Angel God Yahweh Son?

   And as it to drill things down into our heads, further connections are made in Genesis 32:29, Judges 13:7-8 [involving a dialogue with Yahweh Son Angel God in response to Yahweh Father hearing Manoah’s plea (Judges 13:8-9)] and Isaiah 9:6—all referencing Yahweh Son.  Also note Manoah’s response to the encounter:  “We shall surely die, because we have seen God” (Judges 13:22); plus the “I AM” (Judges 13:11) linking Yahweh Son Angel God with Jesus in Matthew 14:27 and John 18:5-6.  The latter are rooted in Yahweh Son Angel God’s proclamation in Exodus 3:14:  “Thus say to the sons of Israel: I AM[Heb., Yahweh] has sent me to you.”

   But before getting to Moses, let us wrap up things with Jacob.  Jacob was very much aware that the God of his forebears was an Angel:  “May the God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked faithfully; the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day; the Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless [my children and their descendants]” (Genesis 48:15-16).  But as can be seen, Jacob did not mention the Angel’s name because it had not been revealed to him; yet in his ‘wrestling’ episode he understood his opponent to be Yahweh Son Angel proxy God, the God he had seen face to face.

   In the New Testament we find two persons confirming Son’s preexistence as either Yahweh Son proxy God or Yahweh Son Angel God: Thomas and Paul.  In the first instance, we have Thomas’ acknowledgment of the resurrected Jesus as the Yahweh Son proxy God of the Old Testament (John 20:29)—eight days after Jesus’ first ascent into Heaven (John 20:19,24,26,29), but before Jesus confirmed that Yahweh Father had reinstated him as Interim God [another messianic role we will discuss later] over all things until end-times (Matthew 28:16-18; 1Corinthians 15:24-28).  How did Thomas know about Jesus’ Old Testament Godship?  Perhaps Jesus had made that clear to all the Apostles; but it was not until Jesus’ resurrection that Thomas was fully convinced. 

   In terms of Jesus’ preexistence as Yahweh Son Angel God, we have Paul’s testimony in Acts 27:23:  The Angel who appeared to him and to whom Paul “belonged”⁶—both as a creature of proxy Creator Son and having been “bought” at the cost of Jesus’ blood (1Corinthians 6:20).  Obviously, Paul was not referring to ordinary angels who like men obey higher authorities (Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 19:9-10) and like Angel Son have no power to redeem any souls (Revelation 5:2-3,9-13).

Moses:  Yahweh Son’s True Vicar on Earth

   The word ‘vicar’ essentially means someone acting as an agent or deputy of a superior.  As applied to the Bishop of Rome, it is intended to mean Son’s substitute on earth; but this is a Roman Catholic fabrication with no Scriptural basis.  The church which later made it a sport to persecute Jews for having crucified Jewish Jesus originally traced its papal lineage back to Jewish Peter; though Jewish Paul made it quite clear that he was entrusted with evangelizing the Gentiles while Peter focused on the Jews (Galatians 2:7-8).  Since Paul was not one Jesus’ original Apostles, the con was on to use Peter as confirmation of papal lineage.

   But Moses was Yahweh Son proxy God’s ‘vicar’ in the full extent of the word:  As Yahweh Son’s deputized “god” to Pharaoh and prophetic source to high priest Aaron (Exodus 7:1); as lawgiving mediator between Yahweh Son and Israel (↔John 7:16; 1Timothy 2:5); and as judge over his nation—one of Son’s messianic attributes that does not involve the Father (John 5:22).  Thus it is with Moses that the most complete and blatantly obvious merging of Yahweh Son proxy God and Yahweh Son Angel God persons is made (Exodus 3:2-6):

   “The Angel of Yahweh [Father] appeared to [Moses] in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and [Moses] looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.  So Moses said, ‘I must go over and see…why the bush is not burning up.’   When Yahweh [Son Angel God] saw that [Moses] turned aside to look, God [Son proxy God] called to [Moses] from the midst of the bush [where only one being was present] and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And [Moses, hearing him] said, ‘Here I am.’  Then [Yahweh Son Angel proxy God] said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’  [Yahweh Son Angel proxy God] said also, ‘I am the [proxy] God of your father [Amram (↔Exodus 6:20)], the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (↔Genesis 48:15-16).’   Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at [Yahweh Son Angel proxy God].”

   Who do we have here?  An Angel speaking to Moses who identifies himself as the proxy God of the Patriarchs:  A Yahweh whose voice is heard, unlike the never heard Yahweh Father. We have underlined the ‘sandal’ bit to reference Joshua 5:13-15:

“It came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and [saw a] man [↔Genesis 32:23] standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our adversaries?’ [The man] said, ‘No; I have come now as Prince of [the heavenly] host.’  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, ‘What has my Lord to say to his servant?’ The Prince of [the heavenly]host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.’”

   What made the ground ‘holy’ for both Moses and Joshua?  The fact that Yahweh Son proxy God was physically standing on it, not Yahweh Father Who has never come down to earth.  Why does Joshua call him “my Lord”?  In the same sense that David identified Jesus as his Lord, who in turn served a higher Lord at Whose right David’s Lord was instructed to sit (Psalms 110:1↔Mark 16:19; Acts 7:56; Romans 8:34; 1Peter 3:22):  We know these Two Lords to be Yahweh Father and higher than any angel Yahweh Son (Hebrews 1:13).  Furthermore, Yahweh Son proxy God appears to Joshua wielding the symbolic weapon Jesus claimed was bringing to men:  The sword of God (Matthew 10:34↔Ephesians 6:17); so that it becomes evident that Joshua was Yahweh of hosts’/Jesus’ earthly ‘shadow’ in the battle to establish the Kingdom of God.  It was to draw that parallel that Joshua’s real name, Hoshea, was changed to match Jesus’ Hebrew name, Yeshua (Numbers 13:16).

  Moving along, it was Yahweh Son Angel God who Yahweh Father sent to liberate Israel from Egypt, Moses being the former’s stand-in (Acts 7:35-36↔Exodus 23:20; Numbers 20:16).  It was Yahweh Son Angel God who as a column of smoke moved in front and behind the Israelites (Exodus 14:19).  It was Yahweh Son Angel God who led Israel into enemy territories and vanquished them (Exodus 23:23, 33:2).  And it was Yahweh Son Angel God who spoke with Israel from atop Sinai and was seen by them (Acts 7:38↔Exodus 24:9-11; Deuteronomy 4:33).

   We need not further belabor the point of Yahweh Son’s angelic nature; and though oblique references are made to his presence throughout the Old Testament, as for example, when he entered Moses’ Tabernacle or Solomon’s Temple (Exodus 40:34-35; 1Kings 8:10-11),⁷ the emphasis shifts to his other identifier, Yahweh Son proxy God, the God continually at loggerheads with Israel.  However Isaiah 63:9 is worth mentioning:  “In all their distress [Israel’s] He too [Yahweh Father] was distressed, and the Angel of His presence saved them…[whose] love and mercy redeemed them [and] lifted them up and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 46:3-4; Lamentations 3:32-33).

Yahweh Son proxy God

   A crucial piece of evidence is given us in Exodus 6:3:  “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.”  In terms of appearing and speaking directly to Moses, we know this Yahweh to have been Yahweh Son proxy God and not the never seen, never heard Yahweh Father.  The adjective ‘Almighty’ applies to both, since Yahweh Father has empowered Yahweh Son to do everything in His stead; and we find corroboration for this in Isaiah 14:27 [referring to Son as Yahweh of hosts/armies]; Daniel 4:35↔John 19:11 [referring to Father as the giver of power]; and in Revelation 1:7-8 [referring to the resurrected Jesus given control over all things (↔Matthew 28:18).  What Father and Son do not share is omniscience:  Father chooses what to reveal or not to Son (Mark 13:24; Acts 1:7; Revelation 1:1)—another way Scripture differentiates between Them.

   Tradition holds that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses; both Moses was not alive during Genesis and he could not logically have recorded events surrounding his death and burial in Deuteronomy 34.  While not doubting even for an instant that the Holy Spirit might have inspired Moses to pen those works, what should matter to us is not who wrote them but if they agree in terms of doctrine.  And in this sense, Exodus 6:3 agrees with events in Genesis.

   For example, the name Yahweh in reference to the Most High God is widely used throughout Genesis.  Genesis 4:26 pinpoints the time when men began invoking Yahweh Father’s name; in Genesis 14:22 Abram—later Abraham—makes an oath to the king of Sodom in the name of Yahweh the Most High; and even Agar in Genesis 16:5 knows Yahweh Father’s name.  But when Yahweh Son Angel God appears to Agar, Scripture identifies him as “the Angel of Yahweh” (Genesis 16:7); and thus Scripture keeps naming him in Genesis 21:17 [again involving Agar]; Genesis 22:11-12,15 [involving Abraham’s call to sacrifice Isaac]; and Genesis 48:15-16 [where Jacob acknowledges the unnamed Angel who was God to his forebears].⁸

   These examples corroborate Exodus 6:3:  While interacting with Agar and Abraham, neither one knows Yahweh Son Angel God’s name, though they are much aware of his messianic roles as proxy God [Agar↔Genesis 16:13)] and Judge of all flesh [Abraham↔Genesis 18:25)].  So that now it is possible to discern each God’s role in the matter of Isaac’s sacrifice and its overall objective:

Yahweh Father resolves to test Abraham’s faith and sends Yahweh Son proxy God to tell Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1).  At the moment Abraham rises the knife to do the deed, Yahweh Son Angel God verbally stays his hand (Genesis 22:11); and tells Abraham that the Patriarch has proved fearing not him but Yahweh Father (Genesis 22:12); whereupon Yahweh Son Angel God repeats verbatim the promise Yahweh Father had made to Abraham (Genesis 22:15-18).

   How do we know this is the right interpretation?  In the first place, the familiar issue of the speaking Yahweh Son versus the silent Yahweh Father (↔Isaiah 42:14).  Secondly, “fear” only applies to the Father (Matthew 10:28); it being a prerequisite for learning His “hidden wisdom” (Deuteronomy 29:29; Proverbs 1:7) and to be heard by Him (Proverbs 28:9; John 9:31):  He must be obeyed or else!  And finally the matter of the promise made to Abraham.  Who made it?  The Most High Yahweh:  “For when [He] made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater [Deuteronomy 32:39↔unlike Son (Revelation 3:12)], He swore by Himself saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’”…[doing as men do by interposing with an oath] the promise of His unchangeable purpose (Hebrews 6:13-18↔Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17).⁹

   Now, let us go back to Yahweh Son proxy God’s meeting with Abraham at Mamre (Genesis 18:1-33).  Abraham sees three men coming towards him, one of whom is familiar to him [the Almighty Yahweh he saw in Genesis 17:1], and before whom he kneels (Genesis 18:2-3↔Genesis 17:3).  We know this Yahweh to have been Yahweh Son proxy God, the Name Giver who changed Abram’s name to Abraham (Genesis 17:5).  As per Exodus 6:3, Abraham does not address him by his proper name, but as “Lord.”  All three divine visitors then proceed to have their feet washed and to eat (Genesis 18:5,8)—none of which activities are done with Yahweh Father.  Abraham, however, is aware of Yahweh Son’s messianic role as Judge of all flesh (Genesis 18:25).  So here is another example of the clever way in which Scripture differentiates between Yahweh Father and Yahweh Son; and of how later teachings (Exodus 6:3) throw light on former ones.

   One other narrative involving Moses which differentiates between the Yahwehs takes place in Exodus 33:17-23, 34:1-16:  Moses wants to see Yahweh Son’s form; Yahweh Son agrees but warns Moses his face will not be seen.  Moses then hides behind some rock and Yahweh Son parades himself exalting not himself, but Yahweh Father, repeating verbatim the First Commandment Yahweh Father gave him to relay to Moses atop Sinai.

What is the purpose for all of this?

   Technically speaking, the divine plan of redemption began with Abraham.  Prior to him, Enoch had preached about the second coming of Christ (Jude 14-15); but the sketchy (?) wisdom imparted to and preached by Enoch, though orally passed on to subsequent generations, never fully and explicitly revealed Yahweh Son’s identity in the Old Testament.  It fell to New Testament Apostles to lay the foundations in order to get all Christian converts ‘on the same page’ (1Peter 1:10-12↔John 16:23; 1Corinthians 2:10; 1John 2:27).

   Because Abraham believed Yahweh Father’s promise and his faith was credited as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), Abraham became the father of faith [shadow] as Son was the Author and Perfecter [substance] of faith (Romans 4:11, 16; Hebrews 12:2).  The events involving Isaac’s ‘sacrifice’ on a mountain in the region of Moriah (Genesis 22:2)—where David’s altar was later erected (2Samuel 24:18; 1Chronicles 21:18-26) and where Solomon built his Temple (2Chronicles 3:1)—foreshadowed Jesus’ crucifixion on Golgotha outside Jerusalem:  The equivalent drama of a father sacrificing his son for a greater good, as Jesus understood his own sacrifice to be with respect to His Father’s designs (Matthew 26:39; John 18:11, 19:11).¹⁰

   Paul—or  rather the Holy Spirit through him (2Peter 1:20-21)—makes the case that Sarah and Agar allegorize God’s two covenants (Galatians 4:22-26), Agar symbolizing the Mosaic Covenant, where salvation was predicated on obedience to written rituals, and Sarah symbolizing salvation predicated on faith, the covenant mediated through Jesus.  As such Agar is likened to the earthly Jerusalem, ensnared under the bondage of “statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live” (Ezekiel 20:25), “for the law made nothing perfect” (Hebrews 7:19), being ^“a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear” (Acts 15:10); whereas Sarah is likened to the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is free and mother of all the faithful (Galatians 4:26).

   A final Pauline argument related to Abraham is presented as follows: “One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Hebrews 7:9-10), a valid assertion given that Abraham was Levi’s great-grandfather, meaning that Levi was ‘potentially’ present in Abraham and suggesting that the Levitical priesthood, the Mosaic recipients of tithes, was symbolically paying tithes to “another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron” (Hebrews 7:11), who had been identified by David centuries before:  “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 8:1).

   It is this sense of ‘potentiality’ that was operant when the Mosaic Covenant was renewed (Deuteronomy 29:14-15), meaning subsequent generations of Jews “in the loins” of those who were present.  Or as in Adam’s case, who having humankind ‘potentially’ in his loins, passed on his curse to all men.  Or as in the case of Jesus himself, he being the intended seed (substance—Galatians 3:16) whose spiritual descendants would be as countless as the stars in the sky (Genesis 15:5) and in whom all the nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18).  Obviously, Isaac was shadow in the context of that promise (Genesis 21:12); as he and Abraham had only two sons each, and even counting all men and women born from Isaac and Jacob to this day, that progeny has not been “as countless as the stars,” nor has any single one of them had the power to bless anybody.

   Deuteronomy 29 is in itself representative of the switcheroo between divine beings and men.  Deuteronomy 29:2-6 starts ostensibly with Moses as the speaker listing his accomplishments; but in Deuteronomy 29:6 the speaker abruptly identifies himself as “Yahweh your God.”  What is happening here?  All along Moses has been saying words Yahweh Son proxy God put in his mouth; thus his speech, though in first person, is in reality recounting Yahweh Son Angel God’s doings during the desert crossing (Deuteronomy 29:5-6).  Then back to Moses in Deuteronomy 29:7-12; then recognition of Yahweh Father as the giver of Patriarchal promises (Deuteronomy 29:13) and back to Yahweh Son proxy God as ratifying Yahweh Father’s covenant (Deuteronomy 29:14-16).

   The Mosaic Covenant with its expiration date upon Jesus’ death on the cross was shadow to the substance of Jesus’ faith covenant (Romans 3:10-18; Galatians 3:24-26; Hebrews 9:15-17).  In reality Mosaic rites and injunctions later to be rescinded lay on foundations of Christian morality, something that Jesus pointed out in his criticism of letter-obsessed Jewish priests (Matthew 23:16-28).  So in a very real sense, the pact Moses was renewing in Deuteronomy 29:14-15 ‘potentially’ included generations of as yet unborn Christians, but making Jesus, not Moses, the mediator of what Isaiah 24:5↔Hebrews 13:20 called the “everlasting covenant”—by definition neither conditional like Yahweh Son’s pact with Noah (Genesis 9:11-15) nor redemptive like Moses’ (Ezekiel 20:25; Acts 15:10↔Galatians 3:10; Hebrews 7:18-19; James 2:10).

   It goes without saying that if God had decided to give us Scripture in a straightforward manner, all of the above oblique allusions and convolutions would have been avoided.  Yet He has done so for several reasons:  1) So that only those of faith are privy to His “hidden wisdom” while non-believers are condemned (Deuteronomy 29:29↔1Corinthians 2:7,12; Isaiah 28:13↔Mark 4:11-12); 2) so that on our own we establish truth from error (Deuteronomy 19:15↔Matthew 18:16; 2Corinthians 13:1) by dismissing human interpreters/religious leaders who teach otherwise (Isaiah 29:13-14↔1Corinthians 1:20-21, 2:13-14); and 3) so that by discerning what others do not, we know that we are getting doctrine straight from Father’s mouth through the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; 1John 2:27, 3:24).

   As best as we have been able to, we have made our case following the Bible’s rules of interpretation; reaffirming that our duty is to comment on what is written (Ezekiel 3:16-21↔2Timothy 2:24-26; Acts 26:22), not trying to convince anybody or to preempt Jesus’ role as Teacher through whom Father’s and Holy Spirit’s accomplish that task.

   The ball, as the saying goes, is now in your court. 

¹ As explained previously, Yahweh Father and Yahweh Son share the same name (Exodus 23:20-21; Isaiah 44:6).

² The Arab nation; which may be the reason why when the Apostles tried to preach Christianity in what became Muslim enclaves, they were told to steer towards Europe (Acts 16:6-10).  It was through European nations that Christianity spread throughout the world.

³ Possibly until the Koran was revealed to Mohammed.  Until that point in time, Arabs had relied for spiritual guidance on the Old Testament and regarded Jerusalem as their holy city.  The Koran placed an emphasis on a fatherless Allah; demoted Jesus to a herald for Mohammed and denied his death on the cross; all the while regarding both Jews and Christians as enemies to their faith.  As to the switch in holiest city from Jerusalem to Mecca, there is a lively debate as to whether Petra was the original Mecca.  For those interested, see YouTube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0wzFgGAnKs.

   In terms of Judeo-Christian teaching, Islam’s split from Judeo-Christianity may be the implied meaning of Genesis 21:10↔Galatians 4:29-30; and the millenary conflict between Jews and Arabs is the manifestation of that prophecy.  Also, centuries before the Koran had been written, the Holy Spirit was warning us through Paul that Scriptures like it contradicting the Gospel were to be anathematized (Galatians 1:8-9)—which tells us there can be no fellowship between Judeo-Christians and adherents of Islam [i.e., no interfaith dialogues of any kind (Galatians 1:10↔2Corinthians 6:14).

⁴ Allegorizing the spiritual struggle between Yahweh Father and men in terms of the harsh discipline Yahweh Father imposes to establish spiritual legitimacy and holiness (Hebrews 12:5-8,10).  This discipline constitutes the ordeals and persecutions pious Christians are subjected to, both of which are cast in terms of transitioning from darkness into light—i.e., sons of day and not of night (1Thessalonians 5:5); those in darkness seeing great light (Matthew 4:16↔Acts 26:18); and Peter’s pointed remark in 2Peter 1:19 to view the Gospel as “a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star [Jesus↔Revelation 22:16] rises in your hearts.”  Jacob’s struggle could have taken place anytime during the day, but the reason that it took place from night to dawn, was to provide the basis for latter Christian imagery.

⁵ Go to www.biblehub.com and compare how some translations mangle the intended message.

⁶ Another example of a mangled translation. Refer to www.biblehub.com for comparisons between versions.

⁷ The Most High does not inhabit temples built by human hands (Acts 7:47-50, 17:24); another way Scripture differentiates between Yahweh Father and Yahweh Son proxy God.

⁸ If he had been referring to the Most High God, Jacob could have called him Yahweh, since as we have seen, the identity of Yahweh Father was known from antiquity.  But he did not know the Angel’s name because the Angel had never revealed it to him; yet Jacob understood that this Angel had been the deity interacting with Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 48:15-16).  Thus we see that the purpose behind Exodus 6:3 was to highlight not only that Moses was speaking to Yahweh Son Angel God, unnamed in Genesis, but that there had been Two Gods at work throughout Genesis:  the Most High Yahweh dictating terms, and Yahweh Son Angel proxy God communicating/implementing them at the human level.

⁹ This immutability of purpose is yet another way in which Scripture differentiates between Yahweh Father Who never changes His mind once He has spoken, and Yahweh Son who having spoken rashly goes on to change his mind (Genesis 6:7 vs. 19-20; 2Samuel 24:1,15 vs. 1Chronicles 21:15; Jonah 3:1-4 vs. 3:10, 4:11).  Another Biblical ‘contradiction’ bites the dust.

¹⁰ A case has been made that this is all too contrived; and that the fact that Abraham “raised his eyes” to see a low-lying prominence like Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:4) suggests at the very least some higher prominence prompting Abraham’s upward gaze.  Instead, Scripture is suggesting that Abraham was more than likely looking down to avert solar glare as most desert travelers do, and raised his eyes to their level position when nearing the place.  The same verb is used in Genesis 33:1, when Jacob “raised” his eyes and saw Esau from afar, who is not portrayed as approaching from some mountainous region.

   The Moriah narrative may sound ‘too pat’ [as it should to detractors (1Corinthians 2:14)] but wonderfully apt to the faithful, who know full well that every human action [shadow] has a deeper meaning [substance] at a spiritual level; as for example, the parting of the waters for Israel to cross the Red Sea dry-shod on their way to the Promised Land.  After their 40-year sojourn in the desert, Israelites entered the area not from the south, the straightest route, but veered to the east and crossed the parted waters of the Jordan dry-shod on their way to Jericho (Joshua 3:13-17).  When the Prophet Elisha crossed the Jordan from the east side near Jericho, after Elijah had pointedly done the same to cross from the west side, both prophets parted the waters and crossed dry-shod (2Kings 2:7-8, 13-15).

   It is understood, and this is why the Eastern Gate in Jerusalem remains completely sealed shut to this day, that the Messiah will return to Jerusalem from the east (Ezekiel 43:2, 44:1-2).  From Genesis 2:14 we know that the Euphrates River is one of the boundaries of the Garden of Eden; so it is to be expected that the factual entrance into the Promised Land by all the redeemed will be from the east (see Isaiah 41:2) and dry-shod:

“Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; with His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River…and make men cross over dry-shod… as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt” (Isaiah 11:15-16).  For “[Yahweh Son proxy God] himself will come and save you…Only the redeemed will walk there…and enter Zion singing” (Isaiah 35:4, 8-10). “For he shall go up to open the way before them: they shall divide, and pass through the gate, and shall come in by it: and their King [Yahweh Son] shall pass before them at [their] head” (Micah 2:13).

In preparation for which,

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings (Revelation 5:10) from the east might be prepared [to cross dry-shod]” (Revelation 16:12).

   Oftentimes, Biblical historical events serve as “dress rehearsals” referencing higher spiritual truths. Thus, it is not fanciful to imagine that Abraham’s trip to the future site of Jerusalem prefigured Jesus’ sacrifice in that city, Jesus [substance] and not Isaac [shadow] being that “seed” in whom all the chosen among the nations of the world would be blessed (Galatians 3:16).  And while we are at it, the animal that Abraham chose for the three-day trip to Mount Moriah was a donkey—not a camel admirably suited for extended desert travel, of which Abraham had many (Genesis 12:16, 24:19)—but the very animal Jesus rode to enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:5-11).  Coincidence or design?