Elohim - a journey of discoveries
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The title or name Elohim is the plural form of the word “El or Elohah” and is the first name given for GOD in the Tanakh.
It is unique to Hebraic thinking and occurs only in Hebrew and in no other ancient semetic language.
The masculine plural ending does not mean “GODS” when referring to the true God of Israel however, as the name is mainly used with singular verb forms and with adjectives and pronouns in the singular. Considering trinity though, the form indeed allows for the plurality within the godhead.
In the traditional jewish view Elohim is the name of God as creator and judge of the universe. (Gen1:1-2:4)
In the second creation story, the name YHVH is given as the semetic root name for god that demonstrates Gods closeness to mankind.
Elohim is combined with other words to provide additional descriptions about god. These other names or titles for god are sometimes called “construct forms” indicating that they are constructed from the base name Elohei
Elohim = The plural form of EL, meaning “Strong One”
Elohei = a “construct form” that never appears without a qualifying descriptor.
Ben Elohim = The Son of God
a. Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. – spoken by peter
b. Matthew 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Question by the court.
c. John 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God –spoken by peter
A challenge had been issued to any adherent of the oneness doctrine by another website I found. It read:
“I challenge any Oneness adherent to find otherwise ! How can all three be attributed to being the creator if there is only one existing at a time?”
Hmm, one existing at a time? Interesting observation isn’t it? So lets look at this particular position, Is there ever an instance in which the spirit and the father exist in the same space at the same time, as I clarify the challenge a bit.
The father in creation as the bible reference the person who does the creating as “Lord God”
A Son of god is any person indwelled with the power of god in order to perform the desire of god. So a son of god only existed as long as humans existed? No angels are the sons of god as well as men who’s initial law was to perform the will of god in procreation prior to the flood. Remember the statement god made that “My spirit shall not always strive with man”? Genesis 6:3
That was god recalling his power making men sons of god, and beginning to remove the old law and form a new one that would make men sons of god. Before that statement, men were called “sons of god” after that statement they were never called that again. So we seem to have a validation of the thought that the father and the son never existed together, or do he? The Christ is called the “anointed one”(messiah) in Isaiah he is called “immanu – El” or “with us-God” so let us look at the “son of god reference in practical terms.
The son of God is anyone indwelled with the power of god to perform the will of god, there are many sons of god some are angels and others are the fathers of Israel, anyone who had a name changed by god is considered a son of god for instance. Does this mean that that Jesus existed with God since his name was declared before his birth? No, no one else existed with god until he created a son of God a star. The first son of God created was Lucifer was it not? Before him no other thing was created, he was the son of the morning, the first star now the question becomes, if jesus was considered the “bright and morning star (revelation 22:16) and Lucifer the son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12) then Lucifer prior to the fall was a son of god as well. This is a significant development because the argument is that how can the son of god be present with the father if at no instance does it show that they existed together. And As I have shown, Sons of god did exist with the father, maybe not in the capacity that one would have us to believe, but in the truth I have shown it.
The Holy spirit as the indwelling presence in a location has always been with god because where god dwells is him. So if the holy-ghost is the presence of god in heaven then the holy ghost is God.
But it says in Matthew 1:18 that the woman was found with child of the holy ghost” does it not? So then is the holy ghost something altogether different? Did Mary speak in tongues when the holy ghost inhabited her womb? It does say that Elisabeth spoke words or made a proclaimed Mary as the vessel of God’s choosing.
But once again did they speak in tongues?
The answer is yes and no, you see, the old testament has three reference in which the holy spirit was placed in man, Psalm 51:11 in which David testified of his indwelling by the holy spirit, Isaiah 63:10 and 11 in which Isaiah detail the working of God with the children of Israel and how he dealt with Moses by placing his spirit in him.
The Tanaukh references an activity that accompanies the placing of the holy spirit in men as shekinah, this is witnessed by the person receiving the “holy-spirit” speaking or uttering the things of god, and being presented with the law of God directly from God in a finite human frame.
So if Elisabeth received the holy ghost, she had to have displayed on some level the activity which is identified as being synonymous with shakan or shekinah, both her and Mary.
As he states that all three (father, son and Holy-ghost) were responsible for creation.
- I agree that all three titles were present in the one god as God is only one. Not in the sense that the Godhead is three individual persons agreeing in which manner creation is to be presented at any time, for In job God plainly states the question, “who stands in counsel with him? (Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.) It is not when we..but when I singular.
- Throughout Jobs interaction with God’s declaring himself who he was, God never said “ we did this or we did that, ” it was always I, or Who as in “who do you think did this or that”. There is a reference however in which god in creation dealing with Adam twice spoke as though he were speaking to more than one being. Genesis 1:26, this seems however to be more akin to God speaking to all that he had created up to that point as though they heard and agreed with God’s proclamation. So if we look back at what he had already created, we see he was speaking to every living creature on the land and sea, the day and night, both the earth and heaven birds and herbs.
- And In Genesis 3:22 in which God stated that man had gained knowledge of himself and his abilities just as they had. He had obtained awareness of his actions as being good or evil.
- Isaiah 43:11 states that I, even I am the lord; and beside me there is no other (saviour) while
- Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am] the first, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God.
- 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, [there is] no God; I know not [any].
- Isaiah 45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
- 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.
- 45:21 Tell ye, and bring [them] near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? [who] hath told it from that time? [have] not I the LORD? and [there is] no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; [there is] none beside me.
- Hosea13:4 Yet I [am] the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for [there is] no saviour beside me.
Now I recognize the immediate criticism will be that I am using the scriptures incorrectly, that he’s saying there is no other “way” available but besides his way, or that no other manner is available for assistance but God himself, not that he is saying there is only one God.
But he is saying exactly that there is no other being in heaven that provides salvation in anyway shape or form other than HIM.
Creation existed because of HIM. The functions that work through him are his functions of work, this includes indwelling himself with the power to perform the work of creation, placing the spirit of creation into this creation and coming up with the thought to create this thing or that.
So in all this the very activity of creation consists of three parts, Defining what is to be created, creating that thing which is to be and providing for that thing that is created, Father in design, son of god as the title calls for in implementation, and the spirit of god in defining the abilities of the creation.
All things that exist are of these three facets of creation.
So the question is answered, The one God creates alone and that work is done in three steps or functions as planning, creation and instruction, or father, son and holy-ghost. This is also synonymous with:
- Repentance in planning, establishing your walk with Christ.
- Baptism in creation as being newly born in the water by the spirit.
- Receiving the holy ghost as instruction in the Shekinah, or utterances of the law.
There is also the position in I john 5:7-8 in which the three bear witness, yet this is a reference to the law of bearing witness in regards to “confirming” a position of presentation. In that 3 witnesses are required to bring forth the sentence of death upon an individual while one witness is able to remove the same sentence of death. (Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15)
Deut 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Deut 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.
From the above verses you will see that the idea of two or three bearing witness is originated from the law and it confirms an accusation unto ones guilt. If I use this statement correctly in I John 5:7-8 it would read as though john is saying that the three that bear record in heaven which account for the sins we perform against the law of God and that the “one” that these three are is Jesus.
Now how do I make that claim?
Deuteronomy states that by one witness the thing which stands as “convicted” by three witnesses will be spared from death. The passage above is not saying that the father son and holy-ghost are one or are in agreement, but that the three convict and the one acquits.
I fault “oneness” doctrinal interpretations for not presenting the doctrine well enough for the major errors in the interpretation of the doctrine even though the revelation is given only unto those called out of sin by God as it always has been. Not explaining it well or trying to use Trinitarian logic to explain the Apostles doctrine is destined to fail. You must use the approaches which exist in the biblical tomes as the whole. If you just use the bible and discount all other tomes of reference you are shorting yourself in reliable information, even as the holy-ghost must lead you through the scriptures it will be consistent with all other sources of itself.
The Trinitarian explanation to the creativity that sustains mankind on this earth provided for us is that:
- The father was the source in the creation ( I state that this is planning in the thought of what was to be that is to be)
- The Son was involved in the creation as everything was made through him (Yet sons of god perform the work of god upon command or by divine understanding, yet as Jesus was the “son of god” being indwelled with the power of god, It is right to say that God created man through the word being spoken which became flesh unto our salvation)
- The holy ghost was involved in the creation as “by his spirit made he the heavens” (which is to say that by his command which is the word of god or “the law of god” the heavens exist for he separated the heavens from the earth by his law, he created them then told them what they were to do.)
I hope this explains things a bit better.
If not then maybe this simple illustration god just dropped into my head helps:
One day in Sunday school a child asked a teacher a question “ what is the difference between oneness and trinitarianism”. Wondering where the question was coming from at first the teacher being wise and patient looked at the child and said, ok let me explain…”Class we are going to make some pottery” and taking out a hand full of clay, the teacher gave the child a lump of clay. “Now everyone come here”, as the teacher called everyone over to two desks, at one desk she gave the one child that asked the question a lump, and at the other she called out three kids and gave them one lump of clay between them. The teacher said “make an animal or human character and tell me what job is after you finish it”.The one single child made a simple dog out of his clay, and the three kids together after a few moments taken to decide on whether they would break the clay apart and make one thing each, or work together and make only one thing, finally decided upon what that thing would be began to work together.After an a few minutes, the two groups presented their work to the teacher, and the teacher asked the child who worked alone, what it was he created. The reply was “a dog and he will be my pet”, “ohh” and what will the pet do? Asked the teacher “he will do what all pets do, love me and play with me and be my pet”, ok said the teacher then the other group said “we made a clown and it will play in a circus”. The teacher then asked the three children one by what the clown would do in the circus and the first said, “he will play with a puppy and be very funny”, the other said,” he will ride in a red fire engine and make everyone laugh” and the third said, “he will do flips and jump high in the air and play with a puppy”. The teacher looked at the one child who asked the question earlier and asked “now do you see the difference between trinity and oneness”?No the child answered, the teacher said…In trinity three must agree to do one thing, while in oneness only one person is responsible for everything, So if our father is our father, then the son of god cannot love you like a father can, only like a brother, and the holy ghost cannot love you like a father or brother more like a friend. Even as they all agree and fashion one thing they still maintain a different perspective of the one agreed upon workThis is how we ultimately view the relationship with limited understanding of aspects. Yet we leave it to mysteries to show the relationship of how the three exist one to another. It does not matter how many theologians maintained the correctness of Trinitarian doctrine. The bottom line is that there can be no continuity among three separate perspectives until the very end of the directive is attained and even then the course is distinct. there are no three heads and one body, nor three bodies with the same face. these are gnostic depictions. there is only ONE being, and the one being does all the work
The three in heaven which bare witness, give three separate accounts of which the accused has performed spirit for the he unrepentant nature of the sins, word as for the sins unto the inappropriate nature of the flesh, and blood as unrighteous desires of our heart,but the one who stands in as the “propitiation” for us and takes over as the accused on our behalf, becomes the sacrifice and unto the spirit it is repentance, unto the flesh it is cleanliness, and unto the blood it is righteousness.
These are contrary to the work of both the son and the holy ghost, if indeed the father loves us like a father, and the son loves us like a father, and the holy ghost loves us like a father, and we know we have only one father, how can we have three which cannot?
Then the son cannot be as loving as the father towards us, does he lest resent in some way the work placed before him in our salvation? The scriptures do not say so. Is the holy-ghost completely neutral in its work unto mankind…No the holy-ghost is dispensed out of love for the “creation”, It would be safe to say that God does not employ the opinion of anyone else in his decisions. Yet he dispenses his gift as he sees fit, not as we request it, even though we can. Did not even at some point those lost to perdition requested forgiveness yet none was found, and therefore resolved themselves unto their station.
Therefore these three must be the one god in completeness. Not in the sense that they share functionality or prestige or power, for the son has no more power than that which is given him, and the spirit has no more power than that which it is guided by, the father contains all power to be both son and spirit, to think of the work, to do the work and give the work meaning.
Now with this said, I dare not say that I don’t recognize that the doctrine of trinity has come upon as such compromise unto its validity as this before, it has and then some and has proven it’s strength to this day.
Yet there are serious flaws in the manner of which interpretation has been upheld even as those who uphold the doctrine, after serious study” doubt the validity to some extent. Resting upon the proposal to “just believe in faith” is to say, take my word for it because I am a greater theologian than you on these matters”, my friends that is nico-laiten doctrine. Many people always speak the 2 timothy verse, study to show thyself approved, but they refuse to accept what they study. And that studying is not done by your own unction, but given direction through the “holy-ghost.
So if you don’t have the “holy-ghost” to lead you through the studying how can you show approval of the gospel? What, did you think that was written to “toot you own horn”? I told you people aren’t reading the gospel right.
2 timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
It says the word of truth, not the interpretations of the words written.
-Peace be unto him who reads and hears.