In the biblical scriptures, we find written:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
A close look at that verse shows us that the word used for God is Elohim. That Hebrew word is the plural gods. Elohe is singular for god, while Elohim is plural..!
So in reality, Genesis chapter 1 is saying…
“In the beginning GODS created the heaven and the earth…”
This is the reason you would find written a verse that says “let us make man in our own image…”
Genesis 1:26-27
26 And God 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This plural concept of God was well known to the Middle East… to all the regions in and around all of Israel.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
When Israel called on the one true God, this was their understanding of One God..!
The Quran’s view of the Trinity is not correct because Muhammed probably did not understand the Christian concept of the Trinity.
Islam sees the Trinity as Father, Son and the Virgin Mary; but this is faulty since it is not the case in reality.
Though the word “trinity” cannot be found in the Bible it is nonetheless a concept that existed with the Israelites right from the time that God revealed himself to Israel.
The God of Israel has always been known by the founding fathers of Israel as a Trinitarian God. The word was only used to describe and give definition to a concept that was already in existence.
This is evident in the scriptures (referring to Genesis through Malachi) which is actually the Bible of the Jews..
I will show you a few verses in the Old Testament part of the Bible over time, that support the view that the God of Israel was known to be Trinity.
We will start with Isaiah 48:12-17 (you could read from verse 1)… it says:
Isaiah 48:12-17
12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.
14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Let’s see some parallels to verses 12, 13 and 16 in the New Testament:
Isaiah 48:12 (the first & the last):
Revelation 1:9-11
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Isaiah 48:13 (I laid the foundation of the Earth):
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Isaiah 48:16 (God Sent):
John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
If you read from verse 1 of Isaiah 48:, you would see that the same speaker speaks through all the way to verse 16.
My focus is actually the 16th verse. Here we see that the One speaking as God makes a statement that says “and now the Lord God and his spirit have sent me”.
Did you notice that..?
There are 3 entities there.
1. The Lord God
2. His Spirit
3. Me
Primarily, we see the representation of the Trinity in this verse.
Who is “Me”..? Who is the One amongst the 3 that was sent..?
Even if we were to doubt that this is Jesus, it is easy to see that there are 3 distinct entities in the capacity of God.
Note that the One Who has been speaking has been speaking as God Himself. He comes to verse 16 and declares that God and His Spirit have sent Him/Me. Think about it: Who can send God..? Jesus always said He was sent by the Father:
John 5:37-40
37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
The context of life in the above verses is Eternal Life. Coming to Jesus means having Eternal Life. Who can give life but God..?
Why was Jesus constantly speaking in a manner as to equate Himself with God..?
If God sent Him just like he sent other prophets, and He usurped God’s place (claiming to be God), would God not cease to validate His ministry with signs and wonders..?
The opposite was rather the case…
Despite His claims to oneness with God, God continued to back up His words with signs, wonders and miracles that men had never seen. This was no ordinary Prophet..!
Jesus knew the One God verse (Deuteronomy 6:4) and He quoted it:
Mark 12:29-30
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Why then, as a Jew, would He “go against” this and blaspheme..? At least that’s what they thought. Even when He proved it to them that He wasn’t blaspheming:
Matthew 9:1-8
1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
The purpose of the statement He made in verse 6 above was to let them see that, if He didn’t have such power on Earth (power which only God should exercise), then the man would not have been healed. He was proving His equality with God. This challenge means if Jesus was blaspheming, the cripple would not have been healed because God would not have answered Jesus favorably, thereby validating His works/ministry.
Satan recognized Jesus as Son of God:
Matthew 4:5-7
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Demons recognized Him as Son of God:
Matthew 8:28-29
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Men recognized Him as Son of God:
Matthew 14:26-33
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
To all these He never said it was blasphemy, calling a man Son of God.
What Does Son of God Mean..?
Note verse 33 above…
Matthew 14: 33
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
If the phrase Son of God meant every other man, why would they say “Of a truth thou art the Son of God”..? Why would they worship Him..? Is walking on water something that’s common with mankind..? Why would something that extraordinary be ascribed to a human being (if the phrase means son of a man like my next door neighbor..?). The natural response to something such as a man walking on the sea would be to say… “this is not a man but a God”. That’s exactly what they did when they called Him Son of God.
The problem however is that, Islam, like many others, fail to look at this phrase within its worldview. Rather the world sees this from a westernized perspective, especially with English being the more common global language. This was written by a people within a culture not like the English. So their understanding of the phrase was intact.
Look at this:
John 5:16-18
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
The Jews knew that the claim to be God’s Son meant Jesus claimed equality with God. In the verse above, He called God His Father and they wanted to kill Him for “making Himself equal to God”.
This is how it worked in their society. If Jesus was speaking English and living in England then He would use the language, culture, worldview and perspectives of His day. That’s what He did with Israel. They understood Him perfectly, else why would anyone want to kill a man who says God is his father..?
John 10:27-33
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Here too they want to kill Him for claiming to be God. If that is not what verse 30 means, why would they want to stone Him to death..?
Jesus also says “I give them eternal life…”; Claiming capacity for what is only possible with God.
Another phrase that has brought confusion to Muslims is @Son of man”.
Why would Christians say Jesus is God when clearly He calls Himself Son of man..?
Let’s take a closer look:
This phrase exists in many places in the Bible, but the one Jesus lays claim to is found in the book of one of the prophets, specifically in…
Daniel 7:13-14
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
When Daniel saw this vision he was quite puzzled because it seemed like a human being (son of man/offspring of a human) was given dominion over everything…
“And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him”.
Daniel was perplexed because he couldn’t understand how God would give such dominion to a “human”..! He to being a Jew would naturally understand that God alone us to be worshipped, so how is it possible that God was showing this to him..?
The vision revealed to Daniel was for the future. It was actually about the return of Jesus.
Jesus would come to Earth, take on the nature of a man, live like a man, be killed like a man…
but He would be raised to life with the same body, though this time changed to an immortal body..!
This is what Daniel was shown in the vision. A man coming with the clouds (like only God would), to judge the nations of the world (like only God would), and to rule all nations (like only God would)..!
Note that the people He spoke to were conversant with Daniel’s vision. So when Jesus referred to Himself as Son of man, this was the picture He used; this is the picture they saw.
Let’s see that in the next verse which I intend to also use to address another term that’s often misunderstood:
Luke 22:66-71
66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,
67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:
68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.
69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
71 And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.
We have addressed what Son of God means to a Jew. It is clear that to a Jew that means equality with God (as God Himself). See here another proof that further explains that concept while also throwing light on our current focus…
Jesus calls Himself Son of man:
Verse 69
Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
Note the response they give to Jesus calling Himself Son of man:
Verse 70
Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
In order words, “are you claiming to be the Son of God then..? (ie One of the Trinity..?)
This means, they directly acknowledge that both phrases point to the same thing.
The Jews had no issue with the phrases “son of man” and “son of God”. Many times this is misunderstood. Their problem was that Jesus claimed these titles. A man whose parents and siblings they knew. The attitude was: “How dare you come from nowhere and claim such an exalted position”..!
Primarily because of their many years of being ruled by cruel nations, Israel desperately wanted the Messiah to come deliver them from slavery. Unfortunately, they failed to see that that would happen at the second coming of Jesus; when He would return to rule all nations (as was revealed to Daniel as we saw in Daniel 7:13-14), having destroyed Israel’s enemies and ushered in a reign of peace forever. They just could not see how a carpenter’s son would fit the bill..! Not even the miraculous signs He did as proof could convince them, because their hearts were hardened.
The misunderstood term I mentioned earlier is found in verse 70:
Luke 22:69-71
69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
71 And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.
When Jesus was asked:
“Art you then the Son of God?”, He answered saying:
“Ye say that I am.”
Jesus’ answer is what I want to explain. Again, the people of that era understood this to be YES I AM..! So what follows His response, proves that His words were indeed a resounding “YES”..!
When Jesus answered saying:
“Ye say that I am.”
They responded by saying:
“What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth”.
What did Jesus say with His mouth that “sealed” His fate before them all..?
He said “I am the Son of God”.
By saying “Ye say that I am.”, He was speaking based on the culture of the people, for that is one of the ways they said “yes”.
Else, why would they kill Him if that did not mean “Yes”..?
Why would they say to one another:
“for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth”..?
I’ll show you another verses:
John 18:33, 36-37
33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
The answer to Pilate’s question is what I am bringing to the fore. He asks:
“Art thou a king then?”; and Jesus’ answer is my focus.
“Thou sayest that I am a king”.
He goes on to say I was born to be King and that’s why I came. Remember at what happened at His birth…
Matthew 2:1-2
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
However, instead of a direct “Yes”, Jesus says… You Say..! This was quite common and well understood by the people of His day, as well as those today who care to know the reason behind why we believe what we believe. Don’t forget these things were translated into another language. It’s very much like trying to convert proverbs in a Nigerian language for an English man to understand. All the words may be right, but sometimes the sense may not apply as smoothly. Like we know what it means, but it is clearly different from our everyday speech.
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