#echad

The last post envisioned future warfare and Christ’s fearsome appearance, This week looks at a possible view of the Millennium, and restored creation. #Revelation22 #Zechariah14 #Millennium #EgoSumLuxMundi

Zechariah’s final oracle is among the most prophetic and profound (and for many scholars, puzzling) of the prophet’s visions because of its eschatological and apocalyptic tenor. For those who subscribe to either an amillennial or postmillennial view of the end of time, this final, dramatic vision will seem largely allegorical, or perhaps metaphorical, rather than a more concrete telling of what…

By Author Eli Kittim

Despite the misleading objections of Judaism and Islam to the Christian concept of the Trinity, there is compelling evidence that a multiplicity of divine persons exists in the Hebrew Bible, as we find in Prov. 30.3-4, Gen. 35.1-7, as well as in Gen. 31.10-13, in which the Angel of the Lord is identified as God, no less! Note also the multi-personal God in Eccles. 12:1 (YLT):

“Remember also thy Creators in days of thy youth.”

Similarly, there are 2 YHWHs in Genesis 19.24 in the Hebrew text:

“Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.”

There are actually 2 persons called YHWH in the above verse. One YHWH is on the earth, standing nearby Sodom and Gomorrah. The other YHWH is in the heavens. It is reminiscent of the two Lords in Psalm 110.1:

“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.' “

In another mysterious passage, the creator of heaven and earth is speaking and surprisingly ends his speech by saying, “the Lord God has sent me." Isaiah 48.12--16 reads:

“Listen to me, O Jacob,  and Israel, whom I called: I am He; I am the first,  and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth,  and my right hand spread out the heavens;

when I summon them,  they stand at attention.

Assemble, all of you, and hear!  Who among them has declared these things?

The Lord loves him;  he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,  and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.

I, even I, have spoken and called him,  I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way.

Draw near to me, hear this!  From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,  from the time it came to be I have been there.

And now the Lord God has sent me and his spirit.”

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While critics of the Triune God use Deut. 6:4 (The Shema) as a declaration of monotheism, this verse may also refer to a plurality of divine persons within the singular Godhead. The verse essentially reads:

Hear Israel, Yahweh Elohenu Yahweh is one.

It Mentions God 3 times and then declares that he [is] one (echad). Besides mentioning God 3 times, the verse also uses the plural form ĕ·lō·hê·nū to suggest numerically more than one person. It’s tantamount to saying, Israel, pay attention to my declaration about our God: one plus one plus one equals one (or 3 in 1)! Or, Yahweh, Elohenu, Yahweh = One (monotheism)! Elohenu is a noun - masculine plural construct - first person common plural.

Moreover, notice that Yahweh is not called qadosh (singular for ‘holy’) but qə·ḏō·šîm (plural) in Joshua 24.19 as well as in Prov. 9.10:

“The commencement of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah, And a knowledge of the Holy Ones is understanding.”

Hence the plurality in the meaning of the Hebrew term for God, which is “Elohim" (Gen. 1.1), not to mention the multiplicity of divine persons in Gen. 1.26, "Let US make man in OUR image" (emphasis added).

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As for the distinction of the third person of the Trinity, namely, the Holy Spirit, besides 2 Sam. 23.2-3, read Isaiah 63.10-11:

“But they rebelled and grieved his holy spirit; therefore he became their enemy; he himself fought against them. Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them his Holy Spirit . . . ?”

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Conclusion

Thus, the above-mentioned verses in the Hebrew Scriptures clearly support the theological concept of a multi-personal God——that is to say, a plurality of persons within the singular Godhead, otherwise known as the Trinity, which comprises three persons but one being: One God, yet three coeternal, consubstantial persons (hypostases). These three persons are said to be distinct, yet are nevertheless one "substance, essence or nature" (homoousios).

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה’ אֱלֹקֵינוּ ה’ אֶחָד (דברים ו, ד)HEAR, O ISRAEL: HASHEM IS OUR G-D, HASHEM IS ONE. (DEVARIM 6:4) 

This verse expresses Judaism’s cardinal principle: belief in the singular existence of G-d. The deeper meaning of this “oneness” is that not only is there no deity other than G-d, but G-d is the one and only true existence. I.e., nothing exists outside of Him. Since G-d’s will is the cause of any and all existence, the true identity of every being is the will of G-d that is continuously causing it to exist (see Tanya, Shaar HaYichud V’HaEmunah, at length.)

This idea is hinted to by the Hebrew word echad, “one,” spelled אחד. The numerical values of its three letters are one, eight and four, respectively. The ח, equaling eight, is symbolic of the seven skies and one earth (see Sefer Mitzvos Katan #2). The ד, equaling four, represents the four directions—north, south, east and west. The א, which equals one, represents our singular G-d, Who is Master over all that exists in heaven and earth and in all four directions (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 61:6).

This demonstrates the difference between Lashon Hakodesh—the sacred language of the Torah, and all other languages. The ten utterances with which G-d created the world (see Mishnah, Avos 5:1), were stated in Lashon Hakodesh (Rashi, Bereishis 2:23). Hence, words in Lashon Hakodesh are not arbitrary; each word reflects the Divine energy animating the particular object it refers to, and captures the essential character of that object. In contrast, all other languages form by human consensus; the words do not reflect the essential nature of the articles or ideas to which they refer (see Shnei Luchos Habris 3a).

This is evident in the Aramaic translation of the word one,chad, as rendered by Targum Onkelos on this verse. The word chad contains a ח and a ד, representing all of creation, as explained above, but it is missing the א, which represents G-d. Though the meaning of the word chad is “one,” and in this context expresses the idea of G-d’s singular existence (just as the word echad does), the truth of this oneness is not as obvious and revealed in the Aramaic word as it is in Lashon Hakodesh.