Monday, December 5, 2011

Jehovah - The God of Israel

Most of the Christian world seems to believe that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ are one and the same God. A careful study of the New Testament, however, will clearly show to the enlightened mind that they are two distinct beings, united as one in their purposes. The gospel of John, chapter one, verse one makes it clear that there are two Gods, God the Father and the Word, who is Jesus the Christ. There are many other verses that demonstrate that this is the true relationship between them, but false traditions which men teach can easily cloud the mind to such obvious truths.

The second verse of John 1 also teaches an important principle, the full significance of which few people pause to consider. It tells us that Jesus and His Father were together from the beginning. This implies that the Father and the Son were together throughout the times of the Old Testament as well. Yet few have taken notice of who the Christ really was when He appeared in the Old Testament verses. This perhaps might also be attributed to the false traditions taught by men. Yet even as the New Testament clearly teaches the truth about the Father and the Son, so does the Old Testament teach the honest seeker of truth who they are.

The words 'God' and 'LORD' are often used interchangably in the Old Testament to refer to the same being, but sometimes they are used to refer to the Father and the Son separately. In Hebrew those words are 'El' or 'Elohiym' and 'YHWH' or 'Jehovah'. El is the title in Hebrew given to the most High God or God the Father. YHWH is the name of the God of Israel. I will show you that the Bible teaches that these are two separate and distinct beings, even God the Father and the Word, Jesus Christ of the New Testament. Remember they were together from the beginning.

First consider the revelation given in Deuteronomy 32:8-9. There we are shown that the Most High God divided the nations according to their inheritance. In verse nine we are told that Jacob,or Israel is the portion or the people that corresponds to Jehovah for His inheritance. Thus we learn that the Most High God gave to Jehovah the people of Israel for His inheritance. That is the reason that the people of Israel were always taught that they should worship one God, Jehovah, that there was no other God for them, because they are His inheritance. We know that there were two Gods from the beginning, and here we see them, El and Jehovah, working together.

But this is not the only place that they are shown to be two distinct beings. Consider Job 1:6 and Job 2:1. In both of these verses we are told that the sons of Elohiym took their places before Jehovah. Thus the two Gods are mentioned as if they were two distinct beings. I will proceed to show you that the first truly is God the Father and the second is actually Jesus the Christ.

The people of Israel often referred to their God, Jehovah, as their 'Rock'. This can be found in the following Old Testament verses: Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 15, 18, 30, 31; 2 Samuel 22:3, 47; 23:3; Psalms 18:2, 31, 46; 19:14; 28:1; 62:2, 6, 7; 73:26; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22; 95:1; 144:1; Isaiah 8:14;17:10; 26:4. Clearly Jehovah was the Rock that accompanied Israel. Now in the New Testament, in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 10:1-4, he explains that that spiritual Rock from which they ate and from which they drank and which followed them was Jesus Christ. Thus Jehovah, the Rock of Israel is the same Jesus the Christ.

There is another scripture that brings us to the same conclusion. Back to the gospel of John, chapter 1, this time consider verse 17. There we are told very clearly that no man had ever seen God the Father at any time. Yet we know from the scriptures that in Old Testament times many men had seen Jehovah. For example we are told in Genesis 17:1 and 18:1-3 that Abraham saw Him; again in chapter 26:1-3 we are told that Jehovah appeared to Isaac; then in chapter 32:30 Jacob says he saw Jehovah face-to-face, and Jacob again tells Joseph in chaptetr 48:3 that God appeared to him. In Exodus 24:9-10 we learn that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel all saw the God of Israel. Finally, in Isaiah 6:1 that great prophet Isaiah testifies to us that he saw Jehovah, sitting on a throne in the temple!

After the numerous testimonies from those great men who saw Jehovah, we can only conclude that, while in the words of John, no man has seen God the Father, yet many men have seen Jehovah, the God of Israel. Therefore, in harmony with the other scriptures previously cited, Jehovah is not God the Father, but He is that other God, the God of Israel, even the Son, Jesus the Christ.