Why We Believe
2a. Is There a God? - The Trinity of God in the Old Testament
2a. Is There a God? - The Trinity of God in the Old Testament
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity, that three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit share the same essence, is unknown in the Old Testament. Or is it? The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that there are several instances in which God is portrayed as being in two places at the same time (in the heavens and in a body) suggesting a plurality within the Godhead (one God) or that there is a plurality of at least two amongst the Godhead in dialogue.
The phrase wayērāɔ yěhwěh (וַיֵּרָ֤א יְהוָה ) “the LORD appeared” in the passive (niphal of rāɔāh (רָאָה ) manifested”1 , was perceived, was gazed upon, made himself aware”) appears to signal a physical appearance of the Lord. This is significant because God, seen always as in the heavens (Psalm 2:4), can also appear in physical form. In Genesis 12:7, God appears to Abraham and converses with him. God appeared to him again in Genesis 17:1 reminding him of who He is.
In Genesis 18:1, God appears as a man to Abraham at the trees of Mamre with the same appearance language as is used in Genesis 17. This time the physical manifestation of God is even clearer because the next verse says that of the three men appearing to Abram, at least one of them is the LORD. In 18.13f, the conversation among the three makes this clear.
In 19:1, two “messengers” or angels, presumably two of the three men in the previous chapter, appear to Abraham. However, the two messengers are not mere men. We know that they are angels of God because of their actions against potential abusers. The appearance language of 12:7 is used again in 26:2, 24; Leviticus 9:6, 23 (appearance of the glory of the LORD); Numbers 20:6 (an appearance of the glory of the LORD); and 2 Chronicles 7:12. In another use of the phrase wayērāɔ ( וַיֵּרָ֤א) , God appears to Isaac in Genesis 26:2 with a command not to go down into Egypt.
We have an unusual appearance of God in Genesis 14:18-20. Melchizedek (righteous king) is an apparent theophany or Christophany (appearance of Jesus before the Incarnation). At first, this is not readily apparent in the text. In fact, the word “righteousness” şĕdĕqĕh (צְדָקָה ) was part of the title of Salem’s (Jerusalem) kings, as we find another şĕdĕqĕh, named Adoni-zedek (righteous lord) in Joshua’s time (Joshua 10:1). This later king was not so righteous as he conspired with others to attack Israel. It appears that at this time, Salem was an Amorite city that took the term şĕdĕqĕh as part of their title.
When Melchizedek pronounces a blessing upon Abraham “according to the Highest” lěɔēl celĕyôn (לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן), this king is seen as a representative of the God of Abraham, to whom he gives a tenth of his property. The giving of a tithe, or tenth, to Melchizedek can be understood by comparing to the gift giving to the prince of Israel in Ezekiel 45:11-17,2 which also included sheep for sacrifice. The tenth of Abram given to Melchizedek was from a spoil of war which included animals that could be sacrificed for atonement (satisfaction from a blood sacrifice for the remission of sin).
In Psalm 110:1-4, a future ruler understood in the New Testament as Jesus the Messiah (Hebrews 5:10; 6:20; 7:1f), is proclaimed and is declared as an eternal priest in the same order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a higher order of priesthood than the Levites because the Levites paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham! In Hebrews, Melchizedek, the eternal priest, is seen as a type of Christ, or perhaps a Christophany. Jesus, as king and priest, was to provide the ultimate sacrifice for our sin and provides a fuller picture of who Melchizedek is and what he represents as both king and priest providing sacrifice for sin.
In Genesis 31:11, God appears to Jacob in a dream. This is a real appearance of God to Jacob, not just a vision. In 31:13 God in the vision refers to a time when Jacob dreamed the same promise that He had made to Abraham that he would multiply his descendants. Jacob marked the spot and called it “the House of God” or Bethel by pouring oil on the stone he had placed under his head before he slept (Genesis 28:16-19). Jacob did this again in Genesis 35:14-15. In 35:9, God appeared to Jacob in the same way He had appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12, 17 and 18. Later, the prophets would condemn worship at these places where stones were marked with oil (stele) in, for example, Hosea 3 and 10, but not because there was anything inherently wrong with the marked stones. As Sommer points out, Hosea was upset because unworthy people were making use of them.3 By Hosea’s time, these stele, sacred stones often called “high places” (bema in LXX), became associated with idolatrous practices such as Baal worship (cf., https://eugenej2014-commits.github.io/jcai/EIdolatry1.html).
In Genesis 32:24-30, we have another appearance of the LORD with Jacob. At first, God was seen as a man. We learn, however, that this was a theophany because Jacob came to this realization with his declaration that he “had seen God face to face and lived.” However, the use of the word elohim can mean “god” or a lessor being such as an angel. Hosea 12:4-5 says that Jacob had wrestled an angel/messenger malĕɔ
Again, in Exodus 3:2 an angel of the LORD (malĕɔĕk yěhwěh) appeared to Moses. Here, the angel “manifested” using the passive of rāɔāh as in Genesis 12 and 17 within the fire (בְּ “in, at” is locative and instrumental) “and the bush” wĕhasĕneh (וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה ). In Genesis 3:7, this angel of the Lord identifies as the LORD himself. Sommer sees this as a small-scale manifestation of God which mirrors the larger manifestation of God at the same location when Moses returns following the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.4
At the time of the large-scale manifestation in Exodus 33:1-3 following the golden-calf incident, the LORD refuses to go with the people because of their rebelliousness, but will send His Presence (literally “face” pĕneh (פָּנֶה ) translated “surface” in Genesis1 and 2) with them. When God is referenced, pĕneh is translated “face” (Genesis 4:14) or “presence” (Genesis19:27; Exodus 33:14). Pĕneh appears to reference a first appearance of a larger manifestation. In Exodus 23:20, we learn that God will send his angel (malĕɔĕk) to guide them. This angel appears to be identical to God’s presence. In fact, in 23:21 the LORD says that His name šēm (שֵׁם ) ,5 the ultimate identifier of God’s Presence, is within the inward part bĕqirĕbô (בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ ) of this angel.
So, this angel will accompany Israel, but the LORD himself will not lest he destroy them. How can the angel, identified as the Presence of God in Exodus 33 be different from the LORD? As Sommer points out, this angel is not entirely separate from the LORD as the first person is used to describe the angel’s activities and not the third person.6 The angel is My Angel, not “an angel.” This is critical because it is indicative that there are separate parts within the essence of God which we know in the New Testament as three persons or Trinity of the Godhead.
In Judges, we have the story of Gideon (Judges 6:11f). An angel of the LORD (wayěrăɔ yěhwěh) appears in passive voice (niphal of rāɔāh “was manifested”) to Gideon, but Gideon does not immediately understand that this angel is the LORD himself (6:14). Sommer tells us that while some might say that this angel is an emissary of the LORD who is actually in heaven, this turning of the head is indicative that this angel was “a small-scale manifestation of God or even as a being with whom Yhwh’s [yěhwěh] self overlaps.”7
There are occasions in Genesis where, under linguistic examination, we find the LORD in conversation with Himself: (1) Genesis 1:26, “Let us make” cāsāh (עָשָׂה cohortative plural) man in our image şelem (צֶלֶם first person plural “our”). He is not talking to angelic beings because in 1:27 “our image” is identified as the “image of God,” (2) Genesis 3:22, following the sin of Adam and Eve, God appears to be talking to Himself (!) saying that Mankind has become like (resembling) “one” (אֶחָד ɔeḥod “a unity, or a part of a group”) “of us” (מִן suffix 1st person common plural “from/of us”). Mankind knows good and evil resembling the knowledge that the plurality within the Godhead has, and (3) Genesis 11:7, the LORD says “Let us go down” (cohortative 1st person plural “us”) and confuse the language. 11:9 confirms that the LORD was the only one involved in the conversation. God is not talking with Himself, but amongst Himself—there are more than one “manifestation” of the one God the LORD.
This confirmation of the plurality within the Godhead is discovered in Deuteronomy 6:4— “Here O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Again, we have the use here of ɔeḥod for “one,” or “a unity within a group.” This understanding of “a unity” of several, rather than one as solitary, is consistent elsewhere in the usage of ɔeḥod in scripture: Genesis 11:6 “one person among many,” Genesis 26:10 “one person among several,” Exodus 37:19 “three cups as a unity on one branch,” Numbers 1:44 “one person representing several in a family,” Joshua 23:14 “one of several good promises,” Judges 17:5 “one out of several sons,” to name a few.
Finally, we have an allusion to the Trinity beyond this confirmed plurality. In the Old Testament we have mentions of the Trinity, not entirely clear in the context, but clear with the backdrop of this linguistic study. In the Old Testament, God is referred to as Father in Isaiah 64:8 “LORD, you are our Father” yěhwěh ɔěbȋnȋȋ ( יְהוָ֖ה אָבִ֣ינוּ ), cf. Psalm 68:5, 103:13, and Proverbs 3:12. God is a Son in Psalm 2. Here, the Father has a Son 2:7, and we must kiss nšq (נשׁק) “accommodate” the Son because failure to do so will lead to destruction. How does the son have such power?8 The Spirit is referred to in Genesis 1:2 “the spirit of God” rȋȋḥ elohȋm (ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים ) moves upon the waters during the creation. and in Isaiah 42:1 “I will put my Spirit (רוּחִי ) upon him,” cf. Isaiah 59:19, 61:1, 63:10, 11, (“his Holy Spirit” אֶת־ר֣וּחַ קָדְשׁ֑ו ), 63:14 (“the Spirit of the Lord” ר֥וּחַ יְהוָ֖ ה cf. Judges 11, 13, 14 and 15, 1 Samuel 10:6, 16:13, and more). The offerings may be meager, but they are there.