A Glimpse of the Trinity in the Old Testament

  Critics of Biblical Christianity who are confounded by the teaching of the Trinity are always quick to claim that the Complex Unity of God is a new doctrine that would have been unknown to Moses and the Old Testament prophets and scribes. Evidence is now readily available to anyone who is willing to do the research that this is true neither for the text of the Bible itself nor for the pre-Christian Jewish sources. 

  In this blog post, we take a look at a few evidences of the Triune Godhead in the Old Testament. Once again the Word of God will show that "the New Testament reveals what the Old Testament had concealed."

Zechariah 2

 8 For the Lord of Hosts says this: “He has sent Me for His glory against the nations who are plundering you, for anyone who touches you touches the pupil of His eye. 

 9 I will move against them with My power, and they will become plunder for their own servants. Then you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me.

10 “Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you”—this is the Lord’s declaration."

  In the passage above, God, the Lord of Hosts is speaking, yet He says He is being sent in v. 9. In verse 10, God also says that He, the Lord, will dwell among the Israelites. That we get from the prophet Zechariah. 

  It was the prophet Isaiah who saw The Lord seated on His throne in heaven (see Isaiah 6:1, 8 and John 12:41) more than 700 years before the Logos would take on a human body. And so it makes sense that it would be Isaiah who recorded these verses in which the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob once again displays His complex unity:

  “This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, this is My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations." Isaiah 42:1

  "Approach Me and listen to this. From the beginning I have not spoken in secret; from the time anything existed, I was there.” And now the Lord God has sent Me and His Spirit." Isaiah 48:16

  "He said, “They are indeed My people, children who will not be disloyal,” and He became their Savior. In all their suffering, He suffered, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. He redeemed them because of His love and compassion; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of the past. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit." Isaiah 63:8-10

  In Isaiah 42:1, the Father speaks of the Son and the Spirit as separate Persons.

  In Isaiah 48:16, God is speaking (note the reference to eternal existence), and yet again He says He and the Spirit are being sent.

  In Isaiah 63:8, God says He is the Savior of His people. In the New Testament, the Messiah and Savior is One Whose name is Yeshua, which means "YHWH saves." In the rest of the passage, mention is again made of "the Angel of His Presence," and the Holy Spirit, both distinct Persons Who are themselves divine, and yet still One God. Father, Son and Spirit always, always act as One, always in perfect unity.

  In Isaiah 60-61, YHWH says from heaven:

22 "The least will become a thousand,
      the smallest a mighty nation.
      I am Yahweh;
      I will accomplish it quickly in its time.

 1  The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me,
     because the Lord has anointed Me
     to bring good news to the poor.
     He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
     to proclaim liberty to the captives
     and freedom to the prisoners;

 2  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor..."

  Then, more than 700 years later, the Messiah has come down to earth, and He says in the New Testament Gospel of Luke:

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
      because He has anointed Me
      to preach good news to the poor.
      He has sent Me
      to proclaim freedom to the captives
      and recovery of sight to the blind,
      to set free the oppressed,

19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."

20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” Luke 4

  "Immanu El," God is with us. The Lord God made good on His promise to dwell among His people. An unbiased reading of these and many more passages from the Old Testament show how God came to earth to physically walk among men while remaining in heaven and in total control of the universe. How was this possible? 

  The Bible tells us that this was possible because the One True God is complex in His divine nature: Father, Son and Spirit working flawlessly together to accomplish Their goals as one. Saving, redeeming, restoring but in all things and at all times, loving. 

  In the words of L.T. Jeyachandran,  

  "Love is the epitome of all virtue and the highest expression of holiness. And God should not have to depend upon His creation to actualize His capacity to love, for that would make creation as important as the Creator because the Creator would be incomplete without His creation. 

  But the Bible introduces love as an interpersonal quality requiring a subject-object relationship that is available in the Trinity because of the Father-Son relationship through the Holy Spirit. The trinitarian God is complete in His love relationship without reference to His creation. The Father loves the Son before the creation of the world (John 17:24). The infinite personal medium through whom this love is communicated is the Holy Spirit, and He is the one who pours the love of God in our hearts as well (Romans 5:5)." 

Jesus is Lord!

   See also:

  The Lord Our God is One!

  http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-lord-our-god-is-one.html

  The Jewish Concept of the Complex Unity of God

  http://apologika.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-jewish-concept-of-complex-unity-of.html