A "Bible Revelations" Presentation                        Created ?,  updated Aug. 13, 2006 -

Index

• A lesser degree of Deity?

• Echad Vs. Yachid

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Color Code for this page.

Red - for direct Scriptures proving that Messiah is YHVH Eternal God Himself 

Green - for correspondents, Forum members and readers who oppose the Oneness theology.

Blue - for BIBLE REVELATIONS' Response to prove there is ONE True God only.

BACKGROUND TO THIS CORRESPONDENCE

The Web master of BIBLE REVELATIONS,  in a letter to Don, had quoted John 17:3 in support of the Oneness Truth.

John 17:3  "This is Eternal Life, that they KNOW Thee, the Only True God and Messiah Whom Thou has sent."

Don, in his reply to  BIBLE REVELATIONS,  states:

"The Messiah is not and never has been THE ONLY TRUE ELOHIM (God) - YHVH! (John 17:3) You had better read and understand it"!

Strange how 2 totally opposing views can be attained from one single verse.  Don. This particular Scripture has been used by me for many years as a 'Key Text' for  my Oneness proclamations!  I used it on my letterheads below the heading.  You however, seem to read and understand exactly the opposite from it.  Reminds me of the flower - the bee extracts lifegiving honey, the spider extracts deadly poison from the same flower!

How shall we ever reach agreement?  It must be very disconcerting for those who are not yet well founded in the Scriptures - as it also is for us who differ so widely on the same Source material!

You ask my views on certain other Scriptures.  We can quote Scriptures left  right and center - and we shall get nowhere in the process.  Allow me therefore to suggest the following:

I am going to answer you by way of summarising or concluding the matter for which we are all well versed in the various 'flower' Scriptures,  that is, the 'Honey and Poison' interpretations - referring to the fact that honey and poison can come from the same flower, extracted by the bee and the spider.   For that reason I am, for the moment,  not going to quote Scripture here - because the opponents of the Oneness and full Deity of Messiah interpretation,  will simply reply with the 'poison' variety!  I do so also because I am not under-estimating the knowledge of those who partake in this forum - I respect their knowledge.  For anyone who may claim that I am dodging the Scriptures,  let me remind them, that my Web Site is sufficient testimony to the heavy Scriptural support which normally underscores my reasoning.  Passing alternative texts back and forth in this discussion,  poison versus honey, will merely result in sidetracking from the issue, by jumping from conclusion to conclusion without committing to anything.  I shall happily supply any specifics to anyone who may wish to take me up on it.

Scripture clearly presents Messiah as 'Intermediary between God and humanity', Himself representing both sides as well as all inbetween.  His own Identity simulates a Ladder between God and humanity - bottom end is perfect Humanity,  top end is fully God Almighty;  inbetween, on various 'levels' of Representation,  we find His different Designations of,  for example,  Advocate, Shepherd, Healer, Guardian, Judge, Comforter, etc.   He Himself is all in all, the entire ladder - by virtue of His various manifestations, attributes or designations.

Now then - I conclude from your statements that you believe that Messiah, at the top end,  is NOT Elohim - i.e. YHVH the Father.  What you believe 'at the bottom end',  is not very clear,  viz. whether you regard Him as Divine at all; whether merely as a man (as JW's do) - or whether above the angels but 'below the Father', etc etc etc.

I do not believe that there are any grounds for any well scholared believer to maintain that Messiah, at the 'top end',  is "NOT God at all".  It seems that our differences (especially in this specific discussion) pertain to the DEGREE of His Deity - if, for starters, that is not a ridiculous statement to make!  'Degrees of Deity'?  It is like claiming degrees of pregnancy.  Either she is pregnant or she is not.  The actual pregnancy, while it may be at various stages or health forms, is still pregnancy.  I think to talk of 'degrees of Deity' is a contradiction of terms!  Either He is God, or He is not God.  Either He is Divine, or He is not Divine!  Are there degrees of Holiness for the One Supreme Deity?

How then can we classify Messiah as 'a Lesser God" as all the non-Oneness theories intimate - like the Trinity (the topic of this discussion);  as also the 'Compound Unity' teaching,  and the latest version:  the 'Two YHVH's"  theory - where one of the YHVH's is said to be a "lesser" YHVH,  which position obviously is reserved for Messiah!  (For my own soul's sake, I shall publicly pray "YHVH forgive me for allowing my fingers to even type this sacrilege!")

If some of us then agree that He can not be a 'lesser God', then the next argument will be, that He is on "Equal ground with YHVH, the Father".  This brings us right back to the Trinity theory, which I notice most serious Hebraic Roots Restorers and members of this Forum discard, correctly, as 'pagan'.  It is for THIS obvious reason that the Trinity was devised, i.e. to make Him 'equal' with the Father,  thereby admitting that He IS God, as Scripture teaches, but yet denying Him full Deity (if ever there were 'less than 100% Deity'!).  Fact is, as much as Trinity teaches that He IS God (so as not to be totally unscriptural by even modest standards!), as much it rushes in to correct the believer that Messiah is NOT God - or, "the Son is NOT the Father",  refer to our Web Page:
"What is  w-r-o-n-g  with a Trinity?"

It is for the very same reason that the 'Compound Unity' theory has been devised, i.e. to make Him God, but not the God - as also the 2 YHVH's theory!  Messiah is 'only'  that  'other'  YHVH - not the YHVH to Whom all Glory, Deity and Honour belongs!

Scripture is emphatic that YHVH "knows NO other God" or Saviour but Himself and He is emphatic that no other God than YHVH shall be worshipped - and He guards that Honour with a Divine 'Jealousy'!

It therefore should not require much intelligence or ingenuity, to arrive at the Scriptural Conclusion that

if Messiah is Divine;

if He has purported 'Equality" with YHVH the Father;

if He is God indeed, as Scripture claims -

then He must be that One True YHVH Himself!

And this is where the subject becomes explosive for 3 reasons:

- the existence of contrary traditional teaching and understanding

- seeming contradictory Scriptural statements, and, most of all:

- the spirit of rebellion against His Supremacy, as revealed by Lucifer in his rebellion against YHVH, when he dragged many heavenly beings into his quarter, and having fought for millennia, infiltrating the thinking of mankind on the subject in his endeavors to overthrow John 17:3  (Don's first quoted Scripture and my selected emblem for the Oneness!)  "And THIS is Life Everlasting, that you shall know ... (the Father)  and  (the Son)."  -  i.e. the ONLY conclusive deduction, as discussed above,  namely that Messiah IS YHVH.

In conclusion - If you still insist, Don,  that He is not the Supreme One YHVH,  then what do you do with the following 3 Scriptural tenets:

1. Messiah's verbal claims, as recorded in Scripture, to be God, the Great I AM, the FATHER? - claims for which He was stoned and eventually crucified!  His contemporaries did NOT misunderstand Him.

2. The cross-reference statements between Old and New Testament which explicitly and almost mathematically prove that Messiah of the 'New Testament'  is YHVH of the 'Old' Testament.  And here I must quote 1 Cor 10:4 and verse 9 and John 1:1 and others (No erudite scholar will today deny the existence of the "pre-incarnated' YAHU'SHUAH").

3. The fact that Messiah accepted worship from man and angels and that He will be worshipped at His Coming and thereafter.

I put it to you, that either

• He was an Impostor

• or, He really is the Father.

To accept the latter, obviously requires bridging many difficult questions:

• "Did He pray to Himself?"

• "How can He sit at His Own Right Hand?"

• etc.

The Key to unlocking the answers to these questions lies in understanding Divine OMNIPRESENCE and the Power of Divine Manifestability.

Here is this Key, in short:

This is the Truth that Lucifer hates and opposes with all sorts of reasoning's of a 'multiplicity' God, while his sole purpose is to deny Messiah His Supreme Throne.  Prophecy tells us that Satan expressed the challenge to exalt his own throne above that of YHVH.

Any serious striving Messianic believer should therefore realise the danger of placing or proclaiming another 'father' above the True Father - namely YHVH of Israel, Who manifested Himself as YAHU'SHUAH the Messiah!

That is all I have to say here.  The rest of this Proclamation is fully backed by Scripture and is contained in my Web Site at: http://www.revelations.org.za/Lib.htm   (Refer Section 1)

You choose which Father you wish to have ON the Throne - my choice is YAHU'SHUAH, the Eternal Creator God of Israel Himself!

Respectfully,

Webmaster, Bible Revelations

Echad v. yachid

BACKGROUND TO THIS CORRESPONDENCE

A Messianic Rabbi's views add to the confusion re. the Oneness of God.  In contradiction of his own Hebrew Faith, the greatest monotheistic Faith of all (as Islam also is), he concludes that "God is a Plurality" and "God Is At Least Two".  He bases his understanding, amongst other, on the use of the word 'echad' versus 'yachid' (one v, only) in the Tanach ('Old' Testament).  He refers to the Shemah,  the  'Greatest Commandment' in Judaism.

Deuteronomy 6:4:  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one ('echad')"

The Messianic Rabbi claims:

Deuteronomy 6:4, known as the Shema, has always been Israel's great confession. It is this verse more than any other that is used to affirm the fact that God is one and is often used to contradict the concept of plurality in the Godhead.  But is it a valid use of this verse?

The main argument lies in the word "one," which is a Hebrew word, "echad". A glance through the Hebrew text where the word is used elsewhere can quickly show that the word echad does not mean an absolute "one" but a compound "one." For instance, in Genesis 1:5, the combination of evening and morning comprise one (echad) day. In Genesis 2:24, a man and a woman come together in marriage and the two "shall become one (echad) flesh." In Ezra 2:64, we are told that the whole assembly was as one (echad), though of course, it was composed of numerous people. Ezekiel 37:17 provides a rather striking example where two sticks are combined to become one (echad). The use of the word echad in Scripture shows it to be a compound and not an absolute unity.

There is a Hebrew word that does mean an absolute unity and that is "yachid", which is found in many Scripture passages,  the emphasis being on the meaning of "only." If Moses intended to teach God's absolute oneness as over against a compound unity, this would have been a far more appropriate word. In fact, Maimonides noted the strength of "yachid" and chose to use that word in his "Thirteen Articles of Faith" in place of echad. However, Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema) does not use "yachid" in reference to God.

BIBLE REVELATIONS Responds:

Denying mankind has made a mind-boggling controversy based on the otherwise elementary concept of the elementary term 'one' - echad.

My response?  Ask any 3 year old Israeli who has barely started talking. 'Echad' is one of the first words of vocabulary in the Hebrew language!   It stands for 'one finger pointed up',  in response to an almost silly question.  Ask the learned theologians and some interpreters amongst the Hebrew Roots Restorers which is fast flooding the world, and they will write chapters of 'Hebraic' wisdom on why 'one' is not one but a multiplicity.  "Compound unity" is the magic buzz word.  Does not this entire phrase (which professes to denote oneness) convey multiplicity?  Deceit upon deceit!

The 'Rabbi' claims:  "A glance through the Hebrew text where the word is used ...  show that the word echad does not mean an absolute "one" but a compound "one."

He then uses the Scriptural 'proof' which refers to a married couple as 'echad' - one, and invents a multiplicity in the definition of the word which implies: 'single, unique, integral and particular', by naming this reference to a married couple as a 'compound union'.  Does not the specifying word used here, i.e. 'echad' (one) refer to an 'absolute one' (to use the Rabbi's own terminology) - i.e. one single unique 'couple' as to differentiate it from two couples?

The same applies to his reference to 'one' day (dark and light), and 'one' assembly (many members).  The word echad refers to the 'absolute one day' and 'one' assembly.  The 'Rabbi's' deceiving reasoning wants the believer to envisage a 'multiplicity of Divine Beings' which he/she can then term a 'trinity' or 'compound unity'.  Scripture records the One Only True God YHVH's explicit Proclamations repeatedly, that He knows no other Saviour or god next to Him!

Isa. 43:10,11  "No god was formed before Me, nor will be after Me, I, I am YHVH.  There is no other Saviour but Me?"  The above 'Rabbi', trinitarians, compound unitists, and 2-Yahvists all declare differently, making YHVH a liar!

Isa. 43:6 "Thus says Israel's King and his Redeemer, YHVH Sabaoth, 'I am the First and the Last, there is no other God besides Me.'"  Isa. 45:5 "I am YHVH unrivalled.   There is no other god besides Me!" Rev. 1:7 declares the 'pierced One' to be the 'Alpha and Omega' (first and last) and verse 13 read with verse 17 defines 'the Son of Man' as the First and Last'.  Thus, Mesiah is that 'First and Last'.  Zech. 12:10 confirms that YHVH Himself is the 'Pierced One' Whom Judah will only recognize at His Return!  Only inner rebellion against the Supremacy of Messiah, can cause a professing believer not to accept this Revelation that "YHVH = the Messiah = YHVH Himself"!  But the 'Rabbi' and other learned teachers claim that Messiah is the 2nd (or lesser) 'besides' YHVH, the 'separate from the Father'-Son, the 2nd in the 'God-family' and what have you, idolatrous and blasphemous interpretation against the Most Holy YHVH.

Notwithstanding these explicit claims of YHVH in Scripture to be uniquely one,  another promoter of the echad v yachid theory claims that if God was truly an absolute 'One',  Scripture would have applied the Hebrew word 'yachid' to His denote such Oneness.  He then proceeds to give Scriptural references of the use of 'yachid', eg.

Genesis 22:2  "And (God) said, 'Take now your son, your only [yachid] son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

Psalms 22:20  "Deliver my soul from the sword, My only [yachid] life from the power of the dog".

Zechariah 12:10  "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only [yachid] son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born".

He then concludes:  "However, the word yachid is never used in reference to God!"

This man's theory is turned upside down by the very Oneness Truth which he denies!  He fails to see the Revelation of the Oneness of YHVH and Messiah in this very Scriptural quote which he uses:

'Yachid' in his quoted passage from Zech. 12:10,  refers to the 'spokesman' in this verse, viz.

"I shall pour out ... and they will look upon Me .... and they will mourn for Him ...  as they mourn for a yachid son."

Now Who is the Spokesman or Orator in this verse?   The context proves (from preceding verses and further succeeding verses) that it is YHVH God Who is speaking in this quoted passage. Thus:

YHVH shall pour out ... and they will look upon YHVH Whom they have pierced! and they will mourn for Him ...  as they mourn for a yachid son.

How then can he say that 'yachid' never refers to God?  He also fails to see the sublime Revelation in this Scripture that YHVH is the 'One Who was pierced'!  This conforms to the Scriptures whyich we have quoted above to confirm that YHVH Himself became the Messiah!

We must be so careful not to fall in this trap.  It is not strange to hear many 'compound unity' statements by believers who profess to believe in  'One'  God.  What is the use of 'acknowledging' the Oneness,  while proclaiming, in effect, a multiplicity or plurality theory, covered under the high feluton interpretation of a 'compound unity'?

The most popular plurality teaching of  'a Trinity'  or  'triune'  God,  does not for one moment profess to disclaim the 'oneness'?   No!  They profess to proclaim the Oneness - yet sow the seeds of pagan multiplicity of gods!

JAMES 2:19 "You believe in the one God; you do well: the devils have the same belief and they tremble with fear".

A TV broadcast quoted the Pope during his April 2000 visit to Israel,  when he confirmed internationally that  "the RC Church believes in the Triune One God who became man".  But, do they teach a pure oneness?  No - emphatically and clearly not!  They teach 'confusion'.  One moment, or sentence,  claims 'one',  the next claims 'tri-unity' and specifies that "the Father is not the Son", "The Holy Spirit is not the Father neither the Son", thus a plurality of Gods.

Clearly, Satan,  the Opposer of the Most High,  is not so blatant to deny Truth.  Untruth is presented under the disguise of Truth!   It requires great alertness.  The Oneness is always acknowledged (in order, obviously, to conform with Scripture),  but with the sole intent to confuse and to present a  'close as possible'  plurality,  which is called  'tri-unity',  'compound unity',  or '2 YHVH's in one'!

When confronted with opposing thoughts,  many believers revert to the statement that "it is a Mystery not destined for us to understand clearly".  Would God want us to be confused about His True Identity,  after He is so insistent upon the prohibition to serve false gods?

It is true - Scripture does confirm it as 'a Mystery' - but it also is very clear that God is eager to reveal the Truth regarding His Identity to those who earnestly and sincerely seek after this Truth.

The barometer in this matter seems to be, whether the believer is prepared to exalt the Messiah to the ultimate position of "God on His Throne" or not.  The reactions to this idea by professing believers in the Messiah,  will simply reveal the potential rebellion against this exaltation of Messiah - and against elevating Him to Divine Supremacy.

May we offer the ultimate test of Truth on this subject.  Pin these professing believers down to the true essence of the matter:  Ask them:  "Will you rejoice to see Messiah on the Throne as YHVH God - Yes or no?"

They will immediately show their True colours!  The Response generally will be a vehement denial!  One Christian Pastor once said to me:  "If this Jesus of yours (I was then still unaware of His True Hebrew Name) must be on the Throne in the Kingdom, then I do not want to be there!"  I do not believe that this is a secluded viewpoint.  Problem is, they are never brought directly to such a clear statement.  They always drag you into obscurities, like compound unities etc.- confusion!  And then, when cornered, they revert to "It is not for us to know" etc  I believe that when you bring them to such a clear decision as putting YAHU'SHUAH on the Throne or not - then only will they show their true colours.  I believe that there are two distinct separate spirits - one that wishes to exalt Him to the uppermost position, and the other which denies Him that Honour -  as if saying, or accusing you of blasphemy of YHVH,  by claiming that YAHU'SHUAH is on the Throne and not next to it!

Now, let me hasten to clarify.  Yes, Scripturally, YAHU'SHUAH is next to the Throne "until His enemies are made His Footstool" (Ps 110).  After which He will Come as God, Judge and King on the Throne.

Some believers will rebel against the thought (thereby unwittingly revealing the 'spirit of Lucifer's rebellion') while others will be thrilled and exalted in spirit by the idea.

But yes, there is the clear Scriptural directive that Messiah is "sitting at the Right Hand of God" until He will appear as Judge of all the earth.  Only when one understands the essence of Deity fully, will this concept become clear.  Rather than discuss this vital concept in summary here, you are invited to study the full and enlightening explanation at the following Web Page of BIBLE REVELATIONS: "Sitting at the Right Hand of God" 

We must remember, that the teaching of a Trinity was not known at the time of the writing of the NewTestament.  The authors of these  NT books did not have to oppose this heresy.  Of course, there was much confusion re His True Identity.  But the heresies were only well formulated centuries later (in the Athanasian Creed, etc).  That is why, today, we have to be careful in our use of the term 'Son of God' for instance.  That usage, while Scripturally correct,  normally implies Trinitarian thinking,  Multiplicity theories however, (trinity, compound unity, etc) use these terms to define and 'prove' the non-Oneness of God.  The study on  "The Right Hand of God"  is most explicit on this subject and the Scriptural Truth behind it.

The use of the word 'echad' falls in this same category.  When the Shema was written,  'one' was still  'one' in the understanding of believers.  Some may contend today, that religious and Scriptural evolution has now developed and revealed the deeper meaning of 'echad' as really not being one but more than one!   We merely have to test these contenders with:  "How do you react to the idea of Messiah  sitting on the Throne as opposed to next to it?"  Their response will tell you who's side they are on - and you will be surprised at the responders and their responses!

So now,  someone may say,  "Yes, but 'couple' is compound in itself,"   So is the One True God, without being a plurality of 'gods', or one Manifestation being superior or inferior to the Other.  It is His omnipresence which man cannot comprehend,  as we are tied to one body echad.  YHVH is not limited in that way.  The One YHVH can manifest Himself as one, two, three or an army of men, if He so wishes.  With respect, if He wishes, YHVH can manifest Himself as a traffic 3-colour traffic light, planted instantaneously on the next street corner - and cars will stop at the red light!  That does not make the Holy One a technological gadget!   YHVH uses His manifest Powers for His required Purposes only (as in manifesting Himself as the Sacrificial Lamb or Saviour) and afterwards returning to Himself (albeit, in His Messianic Designation, this Manifestation 'develops' over a span of 2000 years!). Please refer to the study on  "Sitting at the Right Hand of God".  Other such manifestations are clearly recorded in Scripture and reviewed in the 4-lesson Bible Study at http://www.revelations.org.za/BRCLesson1.htm

I trust that this may serve as a guideline to Truth seekers.  However, it still requires the sublime Divine Revelation which only He can give - Matt 11:27  "No one knows the Son except the Father ... and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." You can be sure that He shall wantonly reveal Himself to the honest seeker who urges to exalt Him to the Uppermost!

The sincere seeker after Truth has to realise,  that many advanced Hebraic Restorers acknowledge that Messiah is YHVH - but, they will claim, "He is the 'other' YHVH" - whom they have deliberately created in order to withhold Him from receiving the Supreme Right to Sole Deity as YHVH the Almighty.  This 'other YHVH', they say, is not fully God!   This is an unscriptural and absurdly blasphemous statement!

We have emphasised, in this discussion, the example of the 2-YHVH teaching (the latest in this  innovative chain of pluralistic deceit).  There are many others - commonly referred to as 'dualistic' teachings and concepts.  They always come cloaked as 'Oneness', starting right from the Mother of them all, i.e. the Trinity.  Do not be deceived!

We have posed the acid-test question.  Perhaps you want to try it on some professing monotheistic believers who claim the Deity of Messiah and His  'God' Image.

In closing, just in case anyone has some confusing doubts, the position that the publisher of this Web Site holds in this vital tenet of Truth, is as follows: