Is the Trinity in the Old Testament? 30 Passages for Consideration
MIND-BLOWING evidence for a multi-personal God in the Old Testament
Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other Unitarians commonly allege the concept of a multi-personal God is absent in the New Testament and early Christian writings until Constantine changed everything.
Elsewhere, we have shown the New Testament and early Christian writings taught God is a multi-personal Being (aka Trinity) who is One.
Today, we will go one step further and show the origins of this belief go back to the Old Testament itself.
Progressive revelation
While things may not be spelled out as clearly in the Old Testament compared to the New, due to progressive revelation, there is strong evidence the God of the Old Testament is one, yet multi-personal.
Did any Jews during the time of Jesus believe in a multi-personal God?
In fact, it was not uncommon for Jews during the time of Jesus to believe in a multi-personal God. It was not until after the rise of Christianity that Jews broadly and consistently rejected this idea.
Evidence for Jewish binitarianism during the time of Jesus
“In the first and second centuries, there were Jewish non-Christians who firmly held theological doctrines of a second God, variously called Logos, Memra, Sophia, Metatron, or Yahoel; indeed, perhaps most of the Jews did so at the time.” Historian Dr. Daniel Boyarin, Borderlines, pg. 92.
Visible and invisible YHWH
The ancient Israelite knew two Yahwehs—one invisible, a spirit, the other visible, often in human form. The two Yahwehs at times appear together in the text, at times being distinguished, at other times not. Early Judaism understood this portrayal and its rationale. There was no sense of a violation of monotheism since either figure was indeed Yahweh. There was no second distinct god running the affairs of the cosmos.- Two Powers in Heaven, Dr. Michael Heiser
Two Powers in Heaven
Alan Segal, the scholar of ancient religion covers this concept in his book, Two Powers in Heaven.
Segal looks at Old Testament passages including some of the ones we looked at, Jewish Rabbinic literature etc. to show there clearly was a view during second temple Judaism which thought God reveals himself through two persons.
Philo
Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria taught that the Logos, somewhat of a “second God”, proceeded from God as an intermediary between God and the cosmos and was a separate person.
Babylonian Talmud
The Babylonian Talmud in a legendary account refers to the famous Rabbi Akiva (who lived in the 1st and 2nd century) in Chagigah 14a as taking on a binitarian view of the two thrones in Daniel 7 which would seem to suggest it was known he held such a view in real life.
Why Jews charged Jesus with blasphemy
It is important to note the Daniel 7 reference Akiva refers to is what Jesus referred to when He called Himself the Son of Man coming in the clouds and Jesus was charged with blasphemy for it in Mark 14:60–64.
“Trinity” doesn’t appear in the Bible?
The word “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible. Neither does the term omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, objectively moral etc etc.
That does not mean it cannot be used to describe God for the word Trinity describes the biblical evidence on the Godhead.
What is the Trinity?
The Trinity concept defines God as One in Being and three in Person. Three whos one what. One in essence or nature (truly divine nature, united) three in person (centres of consciousness).
It is not a belief in three gods.
Each person has the character of God in and of themselves, yet they are in perfect unity. Different roles yes but the same nature.
It is not contradictory to have one in being, three in person although we are used to only seeing one and one.
Difficult to grasp yes but so is the 11th dimension, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
The question before us is if the Old Testament evidence is best explained by a multi-personal God who is “One” or a Unitarian God.
Do we know what energy is?
Richard Feynman argued as quoted in Atoms in Motion, “it is important to realise that in physics today, we have no knowledge of what is energy.”
Physicists refer to energy regularly, that does not mean they fully understand it. Just because they do not fully understand it does not mean it is logically incoherent.
Here we will argue a multi-personal Godhead best explains the biblical evidence.
Professor Richard Swinburne in Was Jesus God? goes one step further and argues for God to be all-loving there must be persons who can show love to one another before creation or creatures exist, yet are united, and a Trinitarian concept fits this requirement.
ISLAM
There are not three gods
Please note Christians do not believe there are three gods although Surah 5:73 in the Quran reads, “Those who said: ‘Allah is one of the Three’, certainly they disbelieved, for there is no god save the One God. And if they do not give up this claim, all who have disbelieved among them shall be subjected to painful chastisement.”
Mary is not a deity nor part of the Trinity
Christians also do not believe Mary is part of the Trinity or a deity. Surah 5:116 reads, “And imagine when thereafter Allah will say: ‘Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to people: “Take me and my mother for gods beside Allah?” and he will answer: “Glory to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right to. Had I said so, You would surely have known it. You know all what is within my mind whereas I do not know what is within Yours. You, indeed You, know fully all that is beyond the reach of human perception.”
But... isn't God One?
Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” Does this contradict a Trinity?
Echad v yachid
The word for one in Deut. 6:4, echad, is also used to describe two humans as one flesh Gen 2:25, many people using one language Genesis 11:6, one cluster of grapes Numbers 13:23, groups of people speaking with one accord in Josh 9:2 meaning there can be compound unity within the word echad.
This is different from the word yachid that implies absolute singularity.
Plural suffix
“Our God” eloheinu has a plural suffix. The same suffix is used in Numbers 20:15 to describe our fathers, Isaiah 53:5 to describe our iniquities and 1 Sam 12:19 to describe our sins.
This has led some to translate the verse the “LORD, our Gods, is One” but this is hotly disputed as even a king or lord was described in plural to denote importance (eg. 1 Kings 1:11).
At the very least, however, this shows a Trinitarian view cannot be strictly ruled out.
Three names called one?
Interestingly some Jewish Mystics had an almost Trinitarian view of God from this passage as outlined in Zohar 2:43b:
“Hear oh Israel, YHWH, our Lord, YHWH [is one]” (Deut. 6-4), thus, all is one. On this He is called One. These are three names. How can they be called one? Even though we call them one, how can they be one? Rather, in the vision of the holy spirit it is known, and these in the vision of the closed eye, to know that these three are one.
THE OLD TESTAMENT EVIDENCE
With this historical context in mind, let’s have a look at the Old Testament to see if there were any good reasons for Jews to believe in a multi-personal God.
OLD TESTAMENT
Given this was not written by “Christians” living after Jesus this will form an interesting part of our discussion.
These texts provide cumulative evidence of a multi-personal Godhead in the Old Testament, they need to be viewed in combination with each other for a clearer picture.
In the New Testament we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all described as God while in the Old Testament we have the LORD, the angel/ word of the LORD and the Spirit of the LORD all described as LORD.
All quotations are from the ESV unless stated otherwise.
Note: LORD and YHWH are used interchangeably below. Lord is normally a reference to Adonai while LORD is a reference to YHWH.
Angel meaning
Note the Hebrew word here for angel is mal’ak which simply means messenger, not angel in the sense we would think of it or the Hebrews 1 sense which compares Jesus to angelic beings saying He is on a different level so there is nothing contradictory here on that front.
Other “angels” or messengers in the Old Testament are not spoken of as being divine.
Angel of YHWH is YHWH, yet distinct
Genesis 16, Genesis 22, Exodus 3, Exodus 14, Numbers 22, Judges 2, Judges 6, Judges 13, Zechariah 3, Zechariah 12 all show the Angel of YHWH is a divine figure.
Genesis 21, Judges 5, 2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21, 2 Kings 1, 2 Kings 19, Isaiah 37, and Zechariah 1 all distinguish between the LORD and the angel of the LORD.
1. God said “Let us.. After our”- Genesis 1:26
Gen 1:26: God (elohim) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
God assigns a functional form to man, making humankind his representatives on earth.
Who is “us” speaking as God and who is the “our”? It is also interesting to note the word elohim is grammatically plural although this is by no means exhaustive evidence of the Trinity.
Interestingly, Isaiah 44:24 refers to YHWH alone as creating the heavens and earth.
2. The angel of the LORD speaks to Hagar yet is also called the LORD- Genesis 16:9–10, 13
Gen. 16:9-10,13: The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”.. So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.
Why does the angel of the LORD say He will multiply her descendants? Why say the LORD spoke when the angel did?
3. YHWH appears to Abraham as 1 of 3 men and then leaves the two behind - Genesis 18
Gen. 18:1-2, 33: And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him… And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Gen. 19:1: The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth.
First there were three men appearing to Abraham, YHWH leaves and now there’s two angels (not three!). Angels are often described as men in the Bible.
Walter Martin in Kingdom of the Cults notes (p.303): We could mention Genesis 18 where Abraham addresses God personally as Lord (Jehovah) over ten times.
4. YHWH rains sulphur and fire from YHWH- Gen. 19:24
Continuing with the context of point 3, Lot in Gen. 19:14 says, “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” This is when Lot is with the two men after the third man he saw in Gen 18 “went his way” (Gen 18:33).
Genesis 19:24 reads: Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.
5. God tests Abraham and speaks to him, yet the angel of the LORD does - Genesis 22:1–2, 10–19
God tests Abraham in v.1, yet in verse 11 the angel of the LORD calls to Abraham from heaven.
Verse 12 says Abraham did not withhold his son from him (the angel of the LORD) though this was a test from God.
Gen 22:11-12: But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
In verse 15–16 the angel of the LORD makes a declaration for the LORD as if Abraham did not withhold his son from the LORD, rather than from the angel of the LORD.
Gen. 22:15-16: And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son.
Thus, there seems to be an alternation from the LORD to the angel of the LORD to describe the same Being.
6. The angel of God calls Himself the God of Bethel who is YHWH in Genesis 28:13- Genesis 31:11–13
Gen. 31:11-13: Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that mate with the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”
Why would the angel of God call himself the God of Bethel? Who is the God of Bethel?
Reading Gen. 28:13, YHWH is the God of Bethel (LORD) who appeared to Jacob at Bethel, “And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.”
Why is the angel of God calling himself YHWH, the one who holds the unique name of God?
7. God is a man who wrestles Jacob- Gen. 32:24-30
How did Jacob see God “face to face” if God is an immaterial mind who never takes on a human form and no one has ever seen God (John 1:18)?
Genesis 32:24, 30: So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
God is Spirit in John 4:24 so did he add humanity to his Spirit in this case?
Hosea 12
Hosea describes this event in Hosea 12:2–4 saying Jacob “strove with the angel and prevailed” and “He met God at Bethel.”
Hosea 12:2-4: The LORD has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds.
In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God.
He strove with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought his favour. He met God at Bethel, and there God spoke with us.
Yet, as mentioned in Genesis 32 Jacob says he fought God, not the angel and in Genesis 31, the angel of the LORD calls Himself the God of Bethel.
Again, the angel of the LORD and the LORD are referred to interchangeably.
It is clear from the broader Old Testament in passages such as Genesis 21, Judges 5, 2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21, 2 Kings 1, 2 Kings 19, Isaiah 37 and Zechariah 1 that the LORD and the angel of the LORD are distinct.
Why is Hosea confusing God with an angel or messenger? Perhaps because God appeared as one?
8. God is called the angel via parallelism- Gen. 48:14-16
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
There is a clear parallel here between God and the angel as Jacob recalls the events outlined in points 6 and 7.
Notice, this is Jacob speaking! The same person as points 6 and 7.
9. The angel of the LORD is the I AM which is the name of YHWH and what Jesus calls himself in Matt. 14:27 (Greek) and John 8:58- Exodus 3:1–4, 13–15
Why is the angel of God in the bush but then the LORD said it was him in the bush?
In verse 2 the angel of the LORD appears, in verse 4 God says it is him in the bush.
In verse 14 it is the angel of the LORD who is in the bush in v.2 who calls himself the I AM.
Exodus 3:1-6, 13-16b: Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.…Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me.
10. YHWH sent by YHWH- Zechariah 2:10-11
Zech 2:8-11: For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
How can YHWH who is one send YHWH, unless of course YHWH is one yet multi-personal?
11. Why does the angel of the LORD say the LORD rebuke you as if he was the LORD ? - Zechariah 3:1–2
Zech. 3:1-2: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”
Why does the angel of the LORD speak as the LORD to Satan and yet speak as if the LORD is someone else? Why not say I rebuke you?
12. How does God, the eternal King, have a God? – Psalm 45:6-7
Psalm 45:6-7: Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
Notice here God gives God an eternal kingdom by anointing him! Yet in Daniel 4:34, the Most High God has an everlasting dominion.
13. YHWH co-rules with another Lord – Psalm 110:1
Psalm 110:1: The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Sitting at the right hand of implies co-rulership.
14. The Holy Spirit is distinct from God, yet called YHWH elsewhere – Isaiah 63:11-12
The Holy Spirit is put by God in the “midst of them” the Israelites.
Given the Holy Spirit is put there he cannot be the same person as God and cannot be an impersonal force either as per the next point.
Isaiah 63:11-12: Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses.
15. The Spirit speaks so cannot be an impersonal force – Ezek. 11:5
Ezek. 11:5: “And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the LORD: So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.”
The Spirit thus speaks and is also distinct from the LORD.
Does this mean the Spirit of the LORD is not the LORD? No as per the next point.
16. When the Spirit speaks God is speaking – 2 Sam 23:2-3
2 Sam. 23:2-3: “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God.”
Hence, when the Spirit of the LORD speaks God speaks, the Spirit is God!
17. The Spirit rushes upon Saul when God is said to send the Spirit - 1 Samuel 10:10 compared to Acts 2:17–21
In 1 Sam 10:10 the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied which is similar to how Acts 2:17–21 quotes Joel 2:28–32 except in that case LORD sends out his Spirit and people prophesy.
1 Samuel 10:10: When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.
Acts 2:17: God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Thus the Spirit of God is said to do what God does.
18. Numbers 24:2 and Judges 3:10 describe the Spirit of God being upon people similar to how the New Testament describes the Holy Spirit
Numbers 24:2: And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him.
Judges 3:10: The Spirit of the LORD was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the LORD gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim.
John 14:17 speaks of the Holy Spirit dwelling in and being with the disciples while Romans 8:9 echoes these words. Hence, this view of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament has parallels in the Old.
19. Isaiah 9:6 refers to the Messiah as "Mighty God" which is a title given to YHWH in the very next chapter
Is. 9:6: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon[d] his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In the very next chapter in Isaiah 10:21, the exact same term, El-Gibbor, is used to describe YHWH (10:20)!
20. Sent by YHWH and his Spirit – Isaiah 48:12-16
Isaiah 48:12-13, 16: “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 call to them, they stand forth together...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.
In Ancient Hebrew, there were no quotation marks so the question is who was sent by the LORD and his Spirit?
Is YHWH, the first and the last, sent by YHWH and his Spirit?
One could argue there is no change in speaker and, hence, YHWH is speaking. As such, YHWH, the first and the last, who laid the foundations of the world was sent by the LORD and his Spirit.
YHWH has been speaking for the last few chapters with the exception of "thus says the LORD" interjections.
Some take the one speaking to be the Suffering Servant of chapters 49-53.
Scholars such as Gill, Jamieson, and Fausset as well as church fathers such as Origen of Alexandria (though a controversial figure), Jerome and Augustine take this passage as a Trinitarian reference.
Nonetheless, there is some ambiguity to it, with scholars such as Calvin and Whybray holding that either part or all of Isaiah 48:16 referred to Isaiah.
At the very least, this passage demonstrates YHWH and his Spirit are separate persons. At best, it shows YHWH is sent by YHWH and his Spirit, or the Messiah is sent by YHWH and his Spirit.
Interestingly, Jesus calls himself the first and last in Revelation 1:17 which is what YHWH calls himself in Isaiah 48:12. It is arguably this same person who is sent by YHWH and his Spirit. YHWH also calls himself the first and the last in Isaiah 44:6.
21. The highly exalted and lifted up (like God) Suffering Servant- Isaiah 52:13
Is. 52:13: Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
Cambridge scholar Peter Williams, highlights in this passage the Suffering Servant is "spoken of in terms only ever applied to God" (Can We Trust the Gospels, p.110).
Some also contend from Micah 5:2 where the ruler from Bethlehem is described as having a coming forth from “of old” that the Old Testament taught the Messiah is uncreated from eternity past as the same Hebrew word is used to describe God from eternity to eternity in Psalm 90.
22. YHWH who sends his Spirit out is pierced and mourned over like a firstborn- Zech. 12:10
Zech. 12:10: And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Contextually, YHWH is speaking (eg. Zech. 12:1,4).
23. The Son of Man comes in the clouds and has eternal dominion when only God does that in the OT- Daniel 7:13-14
Daniel 7:13-14: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Who is served by the nations (Is. 45:23), rides in the clouds (Deut. 33:26) and has eternal dominion (Dan. 4:34) and honour?
God alone! Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man in Mark 14:60–64 and is charged with blasphemy.
Even highly critical agnostic and atheist scholars of the New Testament acknowledge Jesus called himself the Son of Man due to enemy attestation (statement recorded as being made before enemies) and multiple attestation etc.
24. The Holy Commander of the Lord's Army- Joshua 5:13-16
Joshua 5:13-16: When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
This encounter is similar to when YHWH appears to Moses and the ground Moses is standing on is holy (Ex. 3:5).
Interestingly, YHWH is said to go before his people and fight for them (Deut. 1:30) and one could argue in Joshua 6:2, the Commander is referred to as YHWH giving instructions to Joshua.
As John Calvin comments, “By asking, What command does my Lord give to his servant? [Joshua] attributes to him a power and authority which belong to God alone.”
25. YHWH speaks to Moses face to face as with a friend, yet no one can see God's face and live in the same chapter- Exodus 33:11,20
Exodus 33:11: Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
Exodus 33:20: But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."
How is this possible? Remember the quote from Heiser about the visible and invisible YHWH in the Old Testament.
Remember our earlier quote from Michael Heiser?
I suggest that the “original model” for the two powers idea was the role of the vice-regent of the divine council. The paradigm of a high sovereign God (El) who rules heaven and earth through the agency of a second, appointed god (Baal) became part of Israelite religion, albeit with some modification. For the orthodox Israelite, Yahweh was both sovereign and vice regent—occupying both “slots” as it were at the head of the divine council. The binitarian portrayal of Yahweh in the Hebrew Bible was motivated by this belief. The ancient Israelite knew two Yahwehs—one invisible, a spirit, the other visible, often in human form.
26. YHWH says God overthrew Sodom when Genesis says YHWH did it from YHWH in heaven- Amos 4:11
Amos 4:11: “I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the LORD.
Remember earlier Genesis 19:24 where YHWH rains fire and sulphur from YHWH out of heaven! In Amos, however, YHWH speaks as if another person overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
27. God, the angel of his presence and his Spirit are described as separate persons when elsewhere all are described as YHWH (previous points)- Isaiah 63:8-10
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
How about the word of the LORD?
What about the Word of God that Jesus is referred to in John 1 and ties with the idea of the Logos Philo of Alexandria wrote about?
Dr. Michael Brown in Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus points out that the angel (messenger) or the Lord and word of the Lord are synonymous. With that in mind, we consider the next 3 points.
Moreover, as Ronning notes in his book, Jewish Targums and John’s Logos Theology:
In hundreds of cases in the Targums [Aramaic translations of the OT with comments and paraphrasing] where the Masoretic text refers to God, the corresponding Targum passage refers to the Word [MEMRA].
Ronning adds:
Considered against this background, calling Jesus “the Word” is a way of identifying him with the God of Israel.
28. The word of the LORD comes to Abram yet is called the LORD by Abram (v2) and himself (v.7)- Genesis 15:1–2, 7
Gen. 15:1-2,7: After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”.. And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.
How does the word of the LORD speak (not an impersonal force), seem distinct from the LORD, yet is also the LORD?
29. The LORD reveals himself by the word of the LORD- 1 Sam 3:19-21
Thus, again the word of the LORD is distinct from the LORD yet is a revelation of the LORD himself.
1 Samuel 3:21: And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
30. Jeremiah calls the word of the LORD the LORD- Jeremiah 1:4–7
Jer. 1:4-7: Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me..
Again, much like the angel of the LORD, the word of the LORD is also called the LORD yet is distinct.
What more could be added?
Notice here we have not used New Testament passages to support the Trinity.
There is also much in the Old Testament we haven’t touched.
We also have not talked about how Jesus used Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 8:13–15 and Psalm 8:2 in Luke 20:18 and Matthew 21:16 which refer to YHWH to refer to Himself.
In light of the historical information and the Old Testament passages presented let alone the New Testament and early church evidence, it is quite clear that the idea that a multi-personal Godhead in Christian or Jewish circles was an invention of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD by political oppressors is complete nonsense.
CLOSING
Isaiah 43:25 reminds us only God can blot out our transgressions.
You are not perfect and have fallen short of God’s standards. What is the way forward?
The word of the Lord as revealed in Jesus suffered and died for your sins. Isaiah 53:1–12 speaks of the suffering servant Christians believe was Jesus who was pierced for our iniquities and bruised for our transgressions.
Loving God is not distant
A loving God isn’t detached from human pain, He experiences it. An imperfect human cannot bridge the gap to a perfect God only the sacrifice of a perfect human can. How do we bridge these two ideas of a loving God and a perfect human? How can God be loving by necessity if He has no one to show love to before creation?
Under the Trinitarian view, God is love by necessity as the members of the Godhead exhibit love and unity without any need for humans.
Yet, God created humans and shows love to them not out of necessity but by His will. In the person of Christ truly human and truly man similar to the man who wrestled Jacob in Genesis 32 who along with being a man was also described as the angel of the Lord and God as per Hosea 12.
As an old gospel tract notes in a hypothetical scenario, all the world gathered together to kill God in anger for all the evil in the world, only to realise he had already paid the price.
As Peter Williams sums up prophecies concerning Jesus in Can We Trust the Gospels? p.109-110:
A culture in which there is only one God speaks boldly through its prophets of a "mighty God" being born (Isaiah 9:6; compare 10:21), of God being pierced and mourned for (Zechariah 12:10), of One spoken of in terms only ever applied to God (Isaiah 52:13) as dying and yet thereafter living (Isaiah 53:11-12).
That the Old Testament teaches the Trinity was the dominant view from the early church to the Reformation. If we take this view, it raises some important methodological issues for theology and biblical studies, and points to some issues in the current resurgence of classical theism. Some of the texts you cite could use some nuancing, but your definitely on the right track. You may be interested in a book I wrote on this topic, The Trinity and the Bible. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=OEeMEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Trinity+and+the+Bible+rutherford&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false