Theophanies

YHWH Eloheinu

The Trinity, Christology and Pneumology summarized

God

Scripture teaches that “in the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth.” He brought light into existence by speech and by his word all things are held together and find their existence. His word framed the universe. From eternity to Eternity He alone is LORD. In six days he made all things and on the seventh He rested. He made angels, men and every creature that exists. All creation belongs to Him, blessed is He.

The Trinity with Focus on Christ

Exodus 3:2-4:17 reveal Moses’ first encounter with The Almighty. “And the Angel of The LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Exodus 3:2). The text continues telling of how God spoke to Moses from the fire burning but not consuming the bush in whose midst it (the fire) burned. The Angel who appears to Moses is thus identified by the text (which is authored by Moses by inspiration of God) as God himself. Moses and God continue to speak as God prepares Moses for a mission to the people called the children of Israel. It is in this encounter that God reveals to Moses His Name and a great manner the text also shows that God in this encounter reveals the plurality in which he exists as one. “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’” (Exodus 3:13-14).

The Name of God, YHWH. Which means “I AM WHO I AM” has a shortened form revealed to Moses also, Yah which means I AM. The Angel of YHWH bears this very name also. The word angel means messenger. In the texts of the Torah we come to learn that a particular person revealed to us as being the messenger of YHWH bears the very Name of YHWH himself and speaks in the complete authority of YHWH. This messenger is referred to as God himself though He is also The Messenger of God. Other angels are regarded as simply being ministers of God who are employed as messengers, however through out the texts of scripture like Exodus for example One messenger alone bears the very Name and authority of God. We know God is jealous for His Glory and will share his Glory with no one. This creates a paradox here for how can God be One Being and yet reveal in Scripture that He exists in more than one person, specifically 3 persons who are eternally one in being and essence. Take Exodus 13:21-22 and Exodus 14:19-20

Exodus 13:21-22

“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

Exodus 14:19-20

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was cloud and darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
The two passages above are especially important to understanding the christian doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is a term used to explain how God is One and yet at the same time exists as three distinct persons in His unity or oness. We are told in Exodus 13:21-22 that God himself led the people of Israel by pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Exodus 14:19-20 then further tells us that the when the angel who was going before Israel moved from in front of them to behind them, the pillar moved. Exodus 24 then tells us that from the very pillar of fire “The LORD looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptians forces into a panic. It seems that the the Angel who moved from before Israel to behind their host is The LORD himself which supports what Exodus 3 and 4 tell us about the LORD.

The Old Testament tells us very little about the nature of the Trinity. This mystery is only truly expounded on at great length in the New Testament. However it does explain many of the difficult passages of scripture that reveal God as being One and yet three distinct persons. For example when God created man He said “Let us make man in our own image.” Yet singular terms for God are used in the same passages in Genesis such as “He” for example. God alone creates all things and is solely responsible for man’s creation. Yet he speaks in the plural form when regarding to himself creating man. It is only in the New Testament and a few scant passages in the Old Testament when we see God speaking like this. Isaiah 63 has a similar feel where The LORD, The Angel of His Presence and The Holy Spirit are all mentioned within one chapter. The rest of the time in the Old Testament various theophanies or appearings of God reveal his tri-unity. A term that is commonly used instead of Angel of the LORD for the second person of the trinity within the Old Testament period is The Word of The LORD or the Word of God. This person who I take to be the same as the Messenger of the Presence of the LORD or the Messenger/Angel of the LORD.

There is a difference between the word of God which includes all scripture or the oracles of God and statues of God and the person the Word of God. Simply said the Word of God speaks the very words of God because He is One with God and is God himself though He submits Himself to the will of YHWH. He bears the name of God and speaks in His authority, take his appearing to Moses. He spoke from Sinai before all Israel and is the One who Moses talked in the tent of Meeting for example. Exodus 24 for example speaks of God revealing himself to Moses, Aaron and his sons as well as seventy of the elders of Israel. In the passage the people and God confirm what is now known as the Mosaic Covenant. The elders and Moses saw the feet of God and a pavement under it that is likened in its appearance to sapphire and its clarity to the sky. The same sort of picture is painted in the first chapter of Ezekiel. There too the Glory of God is likened to fire. The first chapter of Ezekiel it is said that the Word of the LORD came to Ezekiel. However unlike many other prophets this was not simply the audible voice of God speaking to Ezekiel, it was God appearing to Him and speaking directly to Him.

Ezekiel 1:1-3
“In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of The LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.”

The Prophet and Judge Samuel who judged Israel before Saul ruled as King, had a similar experience when He first received the call to be a prophet in his youth. I will highlight a few scriptures which I perceive to support the theory that the “Word of the LORD” in the Hebrew Scriptures does not only speak of the actual spoken words of God but for God himself also. Let us take for example 1 Samuel 3:1.

It reads “ Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”

It is interesting that many a time in the scriptures God revealed himself through visions, those who experienced the visions would not only hear the voice of God but also many a time see God. Take Jacob for example who at Bethel had a vision of God. His father Isaac had a similar experience where God confirmed the Covenant he made with Abraham with Isaac also. Solomon also had a vision where God appeared to Him. However at times God would only speak to people (as opposed to appear visibly) in visions as was the case with Nathan when David had it in his heart to built a Temple for the LORD. What makes Samuel an exceptional case is that the appearing of the word of The LORD to Samuel is described in anthropomorphic terms just like when The LORD appeared to Moses and the elders of Israel and also when He appeared to Abraham with two angels at the oaks in Mamre. I’ll highlight two other verses in the third chapter of Samuel which seem clearly to show that the Word of the LORD is many a time God himself and not just the words of his mouth (which endure forever). The LORD had been calling Samuel and Samuel had answered thinking Eli was calling Him. The Text (Samuel 3:10) continues to say “ And the LORD came and stood as at other times, Samuel! Samuel! And Samuel said, speak for your servant hears.” The text continues to talk of how Samuel grew before the LORD and he was with Him, Samuel chapter 3 ends with this verse though (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.” This verse seems to clearly show that The LORD revealed himself to Samuel specifically through the word of the LORD, and from Samuel 3:10 it can be deduced that the Word of The LORD stood and called out to Samuel. Could this be the same person who’s feet the elders of Israel, Moses, Aaron and his sons saw? Could this be He who appeared to Moses in the pillar of Fire and He who’s Glory Moses saw from the back at the top of Mt. Sinai? Could this be He with whom Jacob wrestled?

The doctrine of the trinity can as such be seen through out all the scripture, The New Testament writings as well as the Law, Writings and Prophets. I have stressed the fact that the second person of the Trinity (the pre-incarnate Christ) eternally existed with God to show that when He became a man He fully retained His Divinity though did not fully partake of his Divine powers and rights but in obedience lived in the weakness that comes with being human. Showing traits such as hunger and weariness for example.

Isaiah 63 is an interesting passage where The Father, The Angel of the Presence and The Spirit are mentioned within the same text.

Speaking of Israel and her God the text says “ 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 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 he himself fought them” (Isaiah 63:8-10).

You will notice that the first part of the passage above states that The LORD became their (Israel’s) Saviour. The text then continues to say that the Angel of His (The LORD) Presence saved them and in his love and pity he redeemed them and lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Clearly here the messenger of the presence of God is being credited and given Glory by the LORD himself for saving Israel. This must mean that The LORD, The Messenger of His Presence and His Holy Spirit are distinct as persons but are one being called YHWH (Yahweh). For we know that God has stated that He alone is Savior and will give his Glory to no one, he is a jealous God. In Isaiah 43:3 and Isaiah 43:11 God states this very clearly. He alone is savior.

The Trinity with Focus on the Spirit

Now for one to be grieved one must have a personality in order to posses emotion. In Isaiah 63:8-10 The Holy Spirit is t said to have been grieved. The Text does not say The LORD was grieved it says specifically that His Spirit, The Holy Spirit was grieved. This implies individual personality. The Spirit figures heavily in the scripture where he is heavily involved with prophetic inspiration and miracles for example. The LORD is also said to fill all the heavens and the earth and yet to be sat on his Throne in the Heavens. For example Isaiah, Daniel and Micaiah both outline various visions in which God sat on His throne. As such how could He sit in one specific place and yet fill all the Heavens (The Highest Celestial Heaven, Space and the Sky) as well as the earth. To the point where David even talks of how one can not run from the presence of God, on earth in heaven and even in the grave (hell). The answer to this puzzling question is that it is the Holy Spirit who fills all the Heavens and the Earth. He is One with the LORD and as such be referred to by the Holy Name of God hence the LORD fills all the Heavens and the Earth. Furthermore Because The Father, The Word and The Spirit are One as Deuteronomy 6:4 so clearly states we know that The Father is present every where through the Holy Spirit as He is in The Spirit as The Spirit is also in Him. They are intrinsically One. It is through The Spirit that The Father and The Word/The Son search the hearts and minds of men, it is through the power of the Spirit that all things were created.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD your God, The LORD is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

The word translated for one in the text above is the hebrew term echad, which denotes a sort of unity in oness. The same term is used in reference to the houses of Israel and Judah joining together to be one in Ezekiel’s vision of the valley and the dry bones. It can thus be seen to imply both exclusivity as well as unity. There is One God and He is united in His Oness. Using this very concept The Lord Jesus clearly revealed to us the nature of the oness of God in his teachings. Yet the same text also supports the plurality in the oness or a compound unity rather than a complete singularity. To denote a complete singularity the hebrew word yachid would have been employed. However The LORD is revealed as One Being, the Word for God used here in Hebrew is Eloheinu which means our God. Interestingly the word Elohim which also means God is plural meaning gods. And yet it is used through out the Hebrew Scriptures in the singular sense. Revealing that there is only One God but this God is complex in His Nature, He is One Being and yet three persons.

What becomes clear as we go through the Old Testament Scriptures (especially through a new Covenant perspective) is that no human ever saw the Father but that He was revealed through the person of the Word and through His Holy Spirit. This becomes especially clear with the incarnation of the Word. He became flesh and lived as a human just as the scriptures said He would. Isaiah 9, Psalm 110, Psalm 45 and Micah 5 are examples of texts that reveal the Messiah’s humanity and Divinity.

God and man intertwined in Jesus Christ

Now what makes God, God. Is that He has always been God and that he is the sole Divinity from Eternity to Eternity. Now Genesis 1 tells us that in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth (the universe). Various New Testament texts tell us that Pre-incarnate Messiah was there before any thing existed. He was God then and was there with God also (who is identified as being distinct from Him). Through Him God (the Father) created all things. Now in the same way that God the Father reconciled us unto Himself through the Messiah he also created all things. In the same way that the Messiah will one day speak and raise the dead so in the past He spoke and created all things. The words which He spoke were not His own but the words of God (the Father).

John 1:1-3

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

For the purpose of further exposition on the Divinity of the Messiah and His distinct personhood from God and inseparable and indivisible unity in Being, nature and essence with God the Father and The Spirit. I have quoted from John 1:1-3 and have added the verse numbers to assist our study. In Genesis 1, we learn that in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. Before He created them, they didn’t exist and so all that fills them did not exist either. This includes all creatures and matter etc from rocks to angels, men and the tiniest of creatures. We learn in Genesis 1 that “The Spirit hovered over the face of the deep.” Then God spoke and created light and subsequently every other thing that is part of His creation. What is interesting is that Genesis 1 speaks of the LORD and His Spirit, and John 1 speaks of God and The Word. John does not call the Word “it” (verse 2) which would be used if he was speaking of simply the words God spoke in the beginning. No Here he is speaking of a person. And when referring to this Divine Person whom John under inspiration of the Holy Spirit calls the Word, John uses the masculine pronoun “He” which denotes personhood. Further more He uses the verb was to communicate the fact that the Word existed with God before any thing was created. Note that the text also says that all things were made through Him and nothing was made except through Him. This means the he Himself like God was uncreated and was with God before creation. Now the employment of the term “was” is of great importance. Every Word of God is pure and as such we must pay attention to all he says even the smallest jots and titles as they are part of the larger context of what God is communicated to us. The term “was” speaks of being and existence. The text does not say, it was there. It says He was there. In Revelation 1:4-5 John names all the persons of the trinity.

Revelation 1:4-5
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his Throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and ruler of the kings of earth.

Note that in referring to He “who is and who was and who is to come” He is referring to God the Father. He also refers to The Holy Spirit whom he specifically refers to as “the Seven Spirits who are before his Throne.” He also refers to Jesus Christ. Now in referring to God the Father He talks of how He “is” and “was” and “is to come.” This is interesting for it denotes eternality and Being. So when John says of the Word that He was in the beginning with God. He is saying plainly that before anything ever existed, The Word did as God the Father also did and from Genesis 1 which mentions the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the deep we know that The Holy Spirit existed then also with God before any thing ever was. There unity is thus stressed as they share the same name as Jesus clearly points out when he commands his disciples to baptize in The Name of the Father and the Son and The Holy Spirit which is none other than the name of YHWH. The name used for all three persons of the Trinity through out the Law, Writings and Prophets.
John the Baptist was the prophet sent to go before the Messiah the LORD to prepare the way for him. He knew this and when Messiah appeared John the Baptist had to say this of Him

“He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard yet no one receives His testimony. Who ever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand” (John 3:31-35).

Its worth noting that in Jesus Christ the Divine and the human intertwine. There has been much discussion regarding how exactly the two natures co-exist as one in Christ. Now my opinion is that his humanity regards his body and His Divinity regards His person. By that I mean that all humans have invisible souls within them, rather than have a human soul or spirit the invisible person within the body Jesus being God would be who he was before he became flesh. I believe as Jesus grow he would simply allow himself to grow as a normal human would. Showing growth in wisdom and stature which he intrinsically had within Him yet hid so as to live like a normal person would except without sin. It makes no sense that in becoming human he would take on a human spirit as well. How then would he be called the God who pre-existed? What makes us human is our human body and its nature. That is what the Lord Jesus took on so that He could die on our behalf. Freely giving his life as a ransom for ours on the cross. No one took his life, he laid it down freely. Hunger, weariness and tears are all part and parcel of what it means to be human with or without sin. It is the nature of the human body to show signs of tiredness, if your soul is vexed your body shows it with tears. The Lord Jesus showed all these signs of humanity. Isaiah makes it clear that the son who was to be born would be fully God and yet he would be a man. It is clear thus that even in the womb, The Lord Jesus was omniscient. He did not cease to be God. He can not deny who he is, namely God.

In many other places in the New Testament Jesus makes it clear that all that is the Father’s is His also and that all authority has been given Him, in Heaven and on earth also. John 3:31-55 also speaks of Jesus having the Spirit of God without measure. He has all the Holy Spirit in His entirety. The means that He shares in all the power of the Spirit as well as the knowledge of the Spirit. Hence Jesus searches the hearts and minds of men, he especially demonstrated this power in knowing the thoughts of his enemies when he would encounter them. The Spirit is a person within the Trinity and He is One with Messiah, John makes this clear by showing that Jesus the full measure of the Holy Spirit was in Jesus. Furthermore John talks of how Jesus came from Heaven. John the Baptist’s ministry was to prepare the way of the Lord (this is God himself). Prophecies like those of Isaiah 9 clearly speak of the coming Davidic King as being God himself , calling Him “Mighty God and everlasting God.” John would have known this, His exaltation of Messiah clearly points to this as He clearly says that “He who comes from heaven is above all.” Then further saying that whom God sent utters the words of God. So Jesus came from Heaven, became man and has the full measure of the Holy Spirit and utters the words of God. Clearly he is God. The one who eternally pre-existed. Furthermore Jesus himself in Matthew 24:35 states “Heaven and Earth will pass away but my word will not pass away.” In this text (Matthew 24:35) Jesus identifies the words which he speaks as being his own, John clearly says the words Jesus utters are the words of God. The same text (John 3:31-35) also says Jesus bears witness to what he has seen and heard (from God the Father). He as such is the sole messenger of God that is fully God and utters the words of God in the complete authority of God. He is The Word of The LORD, The LORD’s Messenger made flesh. As John the Baptist says, The Father sent Him to go come from Heaven to earth to fulfill his will.

Up to this point I have tried to use various new testament and old testament texts to show the divinity of the Messiah, the unity of the Godhead and the distinctness of each person of the trinity. I have tried to avoid using credal formulas to point to the triune nature of God. But in order to delve further into the doctrine of the trinity I will have to employ my own formula rather than quoting those from the Nicene Creed for example.

The Father and The Son

Jesus said of His relationship with the Father “I am in the Father and The Father is in me.” Now He does not says that He is the Father made flesh, rather he says he is in the Father and the Father in Him. Showing a mutual indwelling that is part of what makes them one. They share the same nature and essence and are within one another. They are in one another and one. Furthermore when speaking of how the Spirit would indwell believers, Jesus says that the Father and the He himself would make their home in believers. He makes it clear that He would ascend back up to Heaven so how then would he make his home in us? Well is is through the Holy Spirit. He the Father and the Spirit are one. They mutually indwell one another. For it is written that the Spirit came forth from The Father. This means he is in the Father. Further more the Holy Spirit is many a time called the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit of the Son, this is the case in Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6, Philippians 1:19 and 1 Peter 1:11. Now this means that The Spirit of The Father is also the Spirit of the Son and yet is a person within the Godhead distinct from both the Father and the Word/Son. Taking this it becomes clear how exactly God is one. The Father is God and so is the Son and the Spirit and they are One. The Father is God and the Son/The Word is his image and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Colosians 1:15, ). Hence He as the Messenger of the Father can speak in the complete authority of the Father as He is exactly like Him. The Spirit of the Father is the Spirit of the Son, The Son is in the Father and the Father is likewise in the Son. The Spirit is the embodiment of their perfect love and they are in Him also. As such when the Spirit speaks He speaks God’s mind perfectly, He gives us what the Son gives Him and the Son has all that the Father has. As such we see that the Trinity is completely and utterly united.

It is worth noting that there has also been much discussion regarding passages of scriptures that speak of how the Son “came forth” from the Father and how he was “in the bosom” of the Father. The testimony of scripture is clear that Christ existed as a person within the Godhead. Fully Divine and eternally co-existing with the Father and the Spirit, indwelling both and mutually in-dwelt by both the Father and the Spirit. So if this is the case what does it mean to say that Christ came forth from the Father and that He was “in” the bosom of the Father? I think the answer to this is in the title given to Jesus. This is that he is the Son of God. Now there is a sort of dual meaning to this, prophecy regarded the Messianic King as the Son of God according to the promise given to David. This makes sense for a number of reasons. First of all the King of Israel ruled as a sort of regent of God, sitting on the Throne of the LORD as Chronicles says. It can thus be seen that the promised King who’s Kingdom would be unending would rule over the nations and Israel as God’s True Representative. Christ perfectly fulfills this role as He is fully God. Before His incarnation is was the perfect representative of God as the Messenger of His Presence; fully bearing God’s Name and authority as His own. Now in his incarnation He has redeemed men and will fulfill of God’s promises to Israel in Himself as he draws all men to himself. In this way he is the perfect witness and representative of the Father and the Spirit bears witness of this having Glorified Him. However there is the other aspect of what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God, this is of course to do with His incarnation itself (being conceived purely from by the Holy Spirit and having no sin in him). This gave Him the ability to be the perfect righteous servant of God, the One who would offer himself as a ransom for men and a guilt offering according to the words of Isaiah 53. The means through which He was conceived and His perfect sacrifice and resurrection made Him the Last Adam; this can be seen in the way He is the Progenitor of the renewed human race just as Adam was the progenitor of all men. But the fullness of what it means for Christ to be the Son of God is found in the truth that he is God the Son. God’s Eternally co-existing and equally Divine Son who became flesh.

Now I don’t see this title as merely something that describes how God chooses to reveal Himself or that He uses for the purpose of a sort of leadership hierarchy within the Trinity. I perceive this to mean that though Christ as a person has eternally co-existed with God and is God, He was in a sense‘hid’ in God the Father’s bosom. not that he had to hide, just that He was in the Father’s bosom. Much the same way a child is in their mother’s womb and yet is a person or how in a much lesser way the writer of Hebrews saw Levi as being in his great grandfather Abraham’s loins. The Word existed as a Divine person within God the Father and the Father and the Spirit were in Him and He was in them both just as He is now, the difference is that His ‘spiritual body form’ if I can call it that, (for example God actually sits on a throne and has a sort of spiritual body) was in The Father. Then at some point in the ancient of ages before the Universe was ever created, he came forth from the Father. This is what He meant when He said it was granted to Him by the Father to have life in himself as the father has life in himself (that life being the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of both the father and Son and is a person within the Godhead also). So The Word/Jesus came forth from the Father and shared completely in the Glory of the Father. He was and is the image of God [I will stress here that that Jesus was not created, he is co-creator with the Father and the Spirit and in fact scripture clearly states that nothing was created except through Him. He did however come forth from God, and was in the bosom of God].

As the image of God, The Christ pre-existed without His human nature. He then became flesh and as such now became the visible image of the invisible God. The fulness of Deity dwelt in the body of Jesus. The One dwelling in the body of Jesus was The Word who united his Divine nature with human flesh, each distinct of course and yet one in Him. Similarly we all have souls and they are some how one with our bodies and yet distinct in nature with the flesh. One is invisible the other is visible. In Jesus, his inward person was (and is) the Divine eternally existing Word. In the person of The Word, the Father revealed Himself. No one has ever seen the Father, but the Son has made him known. Both to the Ancient prophets through various theophanies and to us also through taking the human form permanently for the purpose of our redemption and the Glorification of the Father. The Spirit has always been engaged in the work of making the mind of God known to his people through visions and miraculous work, He has always Glorified the Son and as such Glorified the Father in the Son. This was the case in the rescue of the people of Israel from Egypt for example. The Father who is Sovereign over all rules, through the Spirit and The Son He creates, sustains and fulfills His perfect will. The Persons of the Trinity dwell in a union of complete Love that has always been.

John 1:
No one has seen God, the only God who is at the Father’s side has made him known.

John 6:46
“Not that any one has seen the Father except he who is from God he has seen the Father.”

John 17:4-6
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father glorify me in your own presence with the Glory that I had with you before the world existed. I have manifested your Name to the people you gave me out of the world. Yours they are and you gave them to me and they have kept your word.

To summarize what could end up a very long repetitive chapter. The Father, The Son and the Spirit have always existed as three persons and yet One Being. This is seen clearly in the Father for example as the Son and the Holy Spirit are in Him and yet He is one person within the Trinity. The same is true for the Spirit and the Son, for the Father and the Spirit are present within the Son and the Son and the Father are present within the Spirit. They are inseparable and indivisible in nature and essence. They are three and yet one. The triune nature of God is thus seen in all three persons of the Godhead.

Words explicitly of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

1 Samuel 10:10
2 Samuel 23:2
Zechariah 2:10
Zechariah 2:12

The Deity of the Holy Spirit explored in the Old Testament

Job 33:4
Psalm 104:30
Psalm 139:7

Titles for the Holy Spirit in Scripture:

The Spirit of Grace
The Spirit of Truth
The Holy Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit of God
The Spirit of Christ
The Seven Spirits

The list above is not complete, but is here as a sort of witness to the main message of what I’m attempting to portray. Namely that the Holy Spirit is Divine and that he has his own distinct personality.

Theophanies/ Christophanies in the Old Testament

Passages person/people to whom God appeared to
Genesis 12:7 God appeared to Abram
Genesis 18:1 God appeared to Abraham
Genesis 26:2 God appeared to Isaac
Genesis 26:24 God appeared to Isaac
Genesis 35:1 God appeared to Jacob
Genesis 35:9 God appeared to Jacob
Genesis 48:3 God appeared to Jacob
Exodus 3:16 God appeared to Moses
Exodus 4:5 God appeared to Moses
Exodus 6:3 God appeared appeared to the patriarchs
Leviticus 6:2 God appeared to Aaron
Leviticus 9:4 God appeared to Aaron
Deuteronomy 31:15 God appeared to Moses and Joshua
1 Kings 3:5 God appeared to Solomon
2 Chronicles 1 God appeared to David

Appearances of the Messenger of the LORD/ Christophanies

Genesis 16:7-14
Genesis 22:9-14
Exodus 3:2
Exodus 23:20-21
Numbers 22:21-35
Judges 2:1-5
Judges 6:11-22
Judges 13:3

Titles for The Word of God/ The Lord Jesus Christ in both the Hebrew and New Testament Scriptures:

The Branch
Son of David
YHWH our Righteousness
The First and the Last
The Son of God
God
The Christ
The Holy One
The Angel of the Presence
The Angel of the LORD
The Chief Shepherd
The Good Shepherd
The Way, the Truth and the Life
The King of Israel
The Great King
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords
The Lord of the Sabbath
The Word of God,
The Word of YHWH
*The Lord of Hosts (having all authority in Heaven and on earth)
The image of God
The Radiance and Brightness of the Glory of God

Titles for the Father in both the Hebrew and New Testament Scriptures:

The Ancient of Days
The Lord
The First and the Last
The one who was and is and is coming
The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
The invisible God
God
The King of Kings
Creator
God Most High
The Majesty
The Holy One of Israel (which can be applied to Jesus Christ also)
God Almighty
The Sovereign Lord

The passages above are not meant to be complete lists of theophanies and the various explicit words of the Holy Spirit. They are a sampling. I hope that you may do your own study to make up your own minds. I hope you grab your bible’s and concordances and do loads of praying and reading. My hope is that this leads you to further study and fellowship with God through prayer and meditation on his word.

Many writers classify different roles for the persons of the Godhead. Each person within the Godhead has a distinct work or role that they play within their tri-unity. For example, the Holy Spirit fills all the heavens and earth and searches the hearts and minds of men. However it seems that there is great overlap regarding the roles the persons of the trinity engage in. For example the Father and The Son both search the hearts and minds of men, this however is done through the Holy Spirit. Another example of the distinct work of the persons of the Trinity is the work of sanctification. The Spirit of God is intensely involved in the work of sanctification. He works within human beings to change their desires and ways of life so that they live according to the word of God. In the Spirit they work according the the Law of the Spirit and Life. This however is made possible by the Son who utters the commandments of God which we are to follow and also in his human body ratified the New Covenant, giving himself as a guilt offering for the sins of human beings. So through his sacrifice, resurrection and commandments he makes way for the Spirit to give us life in our mortal bodies and also give us the fruits of the Spirit, and eventually the resurrection body. All these things are done because God the Father wills that they be done. And so the power and Glory is His and He is Glorified in the work of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father also Glorifies the Son and the Spirit in their work also.

In closing this chapter I will quote from the Epistle of Jude the brother of James.

Jude 1:5-6

Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus who saved a people out of the land of Egypt , afterward destroyed who who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority , but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day.

Further Study

For Further study on the issues of the trinity and Christology I suggest you refer to the Nicene Creed, the proceedings of the Chalcedonian Council and the writings of Augustine.

All Glory to God Most High and Jesus His Only begotten Son.