This question presents a major difference between Judaism and Christianity. Both religions declare to believe in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. This particular difference between the two religions asks the question,”Is this God total and complete in Himself or is He composite”? Judaism and Christianity have totally different beliefs on this topic.
Christianity believes that God is Triune!
The Christian believe is that God is not whole and complete in himself, but that he has three different and complete natures that make up the whole. These separate natures are independent of each other, yet they are one composite. The trinity doctrine states that God is three distinct persons.
There are not any references in the Christian Bible, or the Jewish Bible that stating that God consists of three persons. Just prior to the Counsel of Nicia the Christian Bishops were struggling with the concept of Jesus being divine. The problem was that if Jesus is Divine then that makes him God. But according to the Jewish Bible; the Tanach, the only Bible of that day, this cannot be. So the problem becomes, how do we express Jesus, a human as God, and yet God is not human, and does not consist of flesh and bones?
A lawyer from Northern Africa felt that he had the answer. His answer was a concept that was expressed by many of the pagan cults in that region for many years. His name was Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullian, from Carthage (155 – 220 ACE). He is the first person to use the term “Trinity”.
Christianity teaches that God is a triune being. He is comprised of three segments:
- the father,
- the son,
- the holy spirit.
These three segments make up a whole. Each segment of God is a different aspect of His nature. A common term is: god the father, god the son, and god the holy spirit.
The Father –
The Father God is usually mentioned first, when referring to the Christian God. Whenever we read about Jesus praying it was always addressed to the Father. An example of this is “The Lords Prayer”, from Matthew 6:9-14, it begins “Our Father who is in heaven.” It is The Father that we hear mentioned primarily in the Old Testament. Most all of the New Testament letters begin in each Salutation with mentioning “The Father”, as God. Then Jesus (Yeshua), as Christ (Messiah)… An example from 1 Chor. 1:3: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (ASV)
The Son –
Jesus represents the “the son” segment of the triune God, or “God in the flesh”. Because of Jesus being born of a virgin and impregnated by the Holy Spirit he is divine in nature. and is the flesh representation of God. According to the writer of Mathew 1:23:
“behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel,” which translated means, “god with us.” (NAS) He is refereeing to Isaiah 7:14:
“Therefore the Lord of His own shell give you a sign: Behold, the young woman is with child and she shell bear a son, and she shell call His name Immanuel.” (Actual translation)
Both of these verses are translated pretty close to the same, the problem is in the translation from Hebrew. When Isaiah was prophesying to King Ahaz concerning Israel he did not say “virgin”, he said, “young maiden”. A young maiden could be a virgin, but probably not, because if being a virgin was important in what was being stated he would have said “betulat” in Hebrew meaning virgin. But in Hebrew these are two totally different words, and are used separately. If the prophecy was to be about a virgin he would have used the Hebrew word “betulat”, but he said “haalmah”, which means the young maiden. The Hebrew is: הָעַלְמָ֗ה “haalmah” or “the young maiden”. If he was saying a “virgin”, he would have said, “בְּתוּלַת֙”..”betulat” or “virgin”, as in Isaiah 47:1.
The Christian translation changes the prophecy by saying “she will be with child” insted of “she is with child”. The actual prophecy is saying that this young women is already pregnant, not that she will be pregnant. Thus pointing to the prophecy’s subject being about something other than a young women becoming pregnant.
In this same passage that the writer of Matthew uses is where he translates the word Immanuel as “god with us”. The Hebrew word here is:…”.אֵֽל.עִמָּ֥נוּ”. Immanuel, meaning in English is: “God is with us”. Immanuel is not a descriptive word, but it is a persons name. Many Jewish names are describing God, or praising God. So at this point we have Isaiah prophesying to King Ahaz, that the young maiden is with child and will have a son and his name will him Immanuel.
Isaiah tells King Ahaz that because of his situation with Syria he needs to have a sign from God. This sign has nothing to do with the young maidens virginity, but instead the sign pertains to the child, “before the child is old enough to choose good and refuse evil, his prayer will be answered”. A sign has to be something that all can recognize, this would not be true with the sign of a persons virginity. This prophecy was directed to King Ahaz, it is not very probable that it was intended for anyone else, especially, several hundreds of years later.
The Holy Spirit –
Spirit in Hebrew is “Rucha”, meaning wind or breath. So this part or aspect of the Triune God would be manifested as His wind or breath. Wind and breath are invisible, likewise so is the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 1:18-20, it is recorded that it was the Holy Spirit that conceived with Mary when she became pregnant.
Just prior to Jesus’ ascension to heaven in John 14:26 , he said that he would be sending his comforter,
“But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.” (ASV)
Note that he doesn’t say “I will”, but he says “the Father will”. This, seems to take place in the beginning of the book of Acts.
Acts 2
1. And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. 2. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3. And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them. 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The day of Pentecost is the Greek word for the Hebrew Shavuot. Shavuot is 50 days after the Passover Seder.
In Act 2:16 the writer says that this event was prophesied by the Prophet Joel.
16. but this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: 17. And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams: 18. Yea and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 19. And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the day of the Lord come, That great and notable day. 21. And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.. (ASV)
Comparing this translation to the actual text of Joel chapter 2:15-32, and in context. There may be some questions to ask, after reading the questioned text.
1. Who was giving the Prophecy?
Ans,: Joel – chapter 1:1
2. Who was receiving the Prophecy?
Ans.: Judah – during the reign of King Manasseh – chapter 1:2
3. What was happening at the time of the Prophecy to warrant God speaking to them?
Ans.: They were faced with a 7 year famine.
4. What was the Prophecy ?
Ans.: Joel gave a Prophecy about swarming locusts, in Joel 1:4 with hopes that the people would repent.
The four species of locust was representative of four conquerors of the land,
A. Babylon,the Chewing Locusts
B. Persia, the Swarming Locusts
C. Greece, the Crawling Locusts
D. and Rome, the Consuming Locusts
The Prophecy was for warning Judah of what was to come in the captivity from the East. A call to repentance, in chapter 1:13 – 15. The captivity would be followed by a blessing after the locust, ie. Chapter 2:28 – old men dreaming dreams, sons and daughters prophesying.. Verses 30 & 31 we haven’t seen fulfilled yet.
A. Chapter 3 and 4 explain the end of days.
B. Was the Prophecy fulfilled, if so when?
C. Yes, all four of the captivities took place. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquering Israel, followed by Persia conquering Babylon, then Alexander the Great conquering all of the known world, finally Rome conquered the Grecian Empire. During the Persian period, the Israelite’s lived in peace.
In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, Paul refers to God the Holy Spirit as giving gifts…….
The 9 gifts are:
1.Word of wisdom
2.Word of knowledge
3.Faith
4.Gifts of healing
5.Workings of miracles
6.Prophecy
7.Discerning of spirits
8.Divers kinds of tongues
9.Interpretation of tongues
According to the Jewish belief and The Tanach there is One God.
This God is not divided up, nor is He a compound unity in any form. Lets look at some Scripture to investigate the Jewish belief.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (NAS)
The key word here is “one”, in Hebrew this word is “echud”. Echud is similar to the English word “one”, in that it can refer to a single object, such as a single chair, that is part of a dinning room set, or it can be used as a compound unity, referring to the entire dinning room set, consisting of several components. As in English we know which way to understand the word by the context, so the same method is used in Hebrew. If I were to refer to “one” chair in a set, I would probably describe it from the others. If this verse is saying “……The Lord is Our God, The Lord is a compound unity!”, as opposed to “singular unit”. It would not make any since. Nothing follows this verse to support a compound unity, therefore it can only mean “one”, that God stands alone.
In addition to the “Shama” we have:
Nehemiah 9:6
You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it. The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You.
Psalms 73:25
Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
Isaiah 44:6-8
6. Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 7. ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming, And the events that are going to take place. 8. ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”
Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone,
Isaiah 45:5-7
5. I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6. That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun, that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, 7. The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.
Hosea 13:4
Yet I have been the LORD your God, since the land of Egypt; and you were not to know any god except Me, for there is no savior besides Me.
Joel 2:27
“Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame.
1 Chronicles 17:20
“O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Also read the following from Isaiah: 45:18-19, 45:21-22, 46:5, 9, 48:11
All of these verses from the Tanach indicate a singular God that does not share His authority or status as God of the universe. No other gods or division of gods except one whole and complete God.
In Summary
The Christian sees God as three distinct and equal persons making up a “Godhead”, consisting of a Father, a Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three in themselves are considered God, and as a composite unity are considered God. Three persons, yet one substance. In 325 AD/ACE this doctrine became part of the Nicene Creed at the Council of Nicaea.
In Judaism God is absolute one, He always existed, and will always exist.
Ex 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (ASV)
Isaiah 48:12
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
Isaiah 44:6
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
By, Jim Behnke
Studying Torah 