Bible Study Series: The Trinity
Part 1: Evidence of the Trinity in the Old Testament
by Fraser Gordon
We hear a lot about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in church - this Trinity whom the Bible declares to be one God. I would say though very rarely do we hear a message on the Trinity itself. The New Testament brings out that there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they all work as one unit. For that to be a biblical truth we should be able to find it in all scripture, the Old Testament and the New. Someone once said to me that the Trinity was only a New Testament teaching but it's not. If it is a truth about God, then you'll find it throughout the bible. So the first part of our study will look at the concept of the Trinity in the Old Testament. Can it be found? Does it declare who God is? It's more fully bought out in the New Testament, but the concept should be in the Old Testament as well. If someone were to ask you, could you prove the Trinity to me from the Bible, especially the Old Testament, how would you go? Could you adequately portray the Trinity through the scriptures using the Old Testament to someone who didn't believe the Trinity existed? I believe there's enough in the Old Testament for all saints to be able to do that.
A Mystery
Firstly, when it comes to the Trinity, it is a mystery. There are many mysteries in scripture. In 1 Timothy 3.16, it says, And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, in Colossians 2.2, it talks about the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ and Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And 1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory. There is a mystery of lawlessness, a mystery of evil (how did sin even come about?). There's mystery Babylon, a mystery of Israel's hardening, the mystery of grace - how God acts in grace toward those who believe in Him, and the mystery of the rapture. The Trinity is one of these mysteries.
There's enough in scripture if you dig, but it still remains a mystery. The concept is there but our brains are too small to fully comprehend it. Within the nature of the one God, the scriptures portray three eternal individual persons that are equal and make up one God. That's the part that our brains are too small for and can't really comprehend but the scriptures declare to be true. John Wesley, the famous English Christian, once said ,“Bring me a worm that can comprehend a man. And I will bring you a man that can comprehend the Trinity”. Look at the brain power or the difference between a worm and a man, and look at the difference between a man and the nature of the Godhead. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are three individual eternal persons, but are one. That's the part we struggle with, our brains are far too small. Many people use examples from nature to describe the Trinity. Time has a past, present, and a future, the universe is made up of space, time, and matter, water can be liquid, gas and a solid, and a triangle has three equal sides, which makes it one. All these examples try to give the idea of the Trinity whom we serve, but I don’t feel they really go close.
Plurality
Right from the beginning in Genesis 1.1, the very first words are, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The word for God is Elohim which is the plural word for God, meaning more than one. So right in the beginning God is presented as plural. We see this plurality in many passages. In Gen 1.26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. Who is the ‘Us’ and who is the ‘Our’? Nowhere in scripture are the angels ever declared to have a part to play in creation, the order of man, or in any other part of creation, it's always the Godhead. God is a Trinity and mankind is created in His image. We are also a three part being, having a body, a soul and a spirit which is an example of three in one.
In Gen 3.22, Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. There is the Us again. Another example is in Gen 11 starting from verse 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." then in verse 7, Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Right from the beginning in Genesis, there is a plurality of God presented in scripture. First by His name, Elohim, the plural for God, and then the use of the word Us.
The Angel of the Lord
In the New Testament, we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, we have Jehovah, the Angel of Jehovah, and the Spirit of Jehovah. I want to have a look at this second person, the Angel of Jehovah, because He is a distinct individual. There's many passages that refer to Him and in all of them, He receives worship. So is He an angel? No angel in the Bible ever receives worship in the place of God, never. But this distinct individual always does. People that have had encounters with Him say they have seen God face to face. This Angel of the Lord, is I believe the Lord Jesus Christ before He took on humanity. He is the second member of the Trinity, co-equal with the other two. Before He took on humanity and became Jesus of Nazareth, we see Him presented to us in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord which is called a Christophany. In the beginning, who was walking in the garden? Adam and Eve in Gen 3:8 heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. A member of the Godhead was walking in the garden. It wasn't a Spirit.
In Genesis 18 Abraham sees three men standing by him and realises that one of them is the Lord and the other two are angels. They have a meal together and then the two angels go on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah to see what the state of it is like. The Lord stays with Abraham and discusses what He will do with the city. At the end of Chapter 18 in verse 33, the Lord went His way as soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham and Abraham returned to his place. In Gen 19.24 we get an obscure passage. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. Remember there is one Lord Jehovah already on earth. He'd just been talking to Abraham. So there are two Jehovah figures, one on earth and one in the heavens. A little instance of the Trinity in scripture.
Another instance of the Angel of the Lord is when He appeared to Hagar in the desert and we also read about Him in Genesis 22 with Abraham and Isaac. Gen 22:11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." 12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me." 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided." 15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son– The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham saying, Do not lay your hand on the lad. Then in verse 15 and 16 the Angel of the Lord declares that He is the Lord himself. Saying by myself I have sworn, says the Lord. The word Lord is translated as Jehovah. So the Angel of the Lord declares that He is Jehovah.
In Genesis 28.12 Jacob has a dream. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven!
Jacob had this dream of the Lord God. Then a chapter or two later in Genesis 31.11 He again appears to Jacob in a dream but this time it's the Angel of the Lord. Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am’. 12 And He said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.' "
The Angel of the Lord declares to Jacob that he is the God of Bethel where Jacob had previously dreamed of the ladder, set up a stone, and vowed to God. These two figures, the Angel of the Lord and the God of Bethel are interchangeable. Only a chapter later in Genesis 32 Jacob is wrestling the first MMA match, which goes on all night. I don't have time to do it justice now but Jacob is left alone and he wrestles with a Man. It doesn't say the Angel of the Lord this time and it isn’t a dream but an actual physical wrestling match. The outcome is that this Man gives Jacob a permanent hip injury, changes Jacob's name to Israel and blesses him. Jacob's response is in Gen 32.30, And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." So Jacob was wrestling with who he thought was a man but actually it was the Angel of the Lord.
In the Old Testament, before Jesus took on humanity and became Jesus of Nazareth, He was the Angel of the Lord, the second person of the Trinity. Throughout the bible there are many Angel of the Lord encounters, I'm just picking out a few. Samson's parents are also a good example. The Angel of the Lord appears to Samson's mother and is worshipped as God. Moses is another good example.
The I AM
Exo 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6 Moreover 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 upon God.
Who is in the bush? The bush is on fire, all a flame, and the Angel of the Lord appears to Moses. As soon as Moses took notice of this great sight, God called to him from the midst of the bush. Again as before, the Angel of the Lord and God are interchangeable but they are one. And then God says, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground". This only happens twice in scripture; here with Moses, and also in Joshua 5.13. Joshua saw a Man with a sword in His hand, he called to Him, "Are You for us or for our adversaries?" The Man replies, "No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." This was a distinct individual who came to take over and Joshua was told to "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.
In Exodus there is a discussion about God’s name. Exo 3.13 Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " God wanted to be known as the I AM. This directly relates to the New Testament in John 8:53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
In verse 58, Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM”. He took the name of the eternal God on Himself. He claimed that before Abraham was around, I AM the I AM of God. Jesus was referring to this event in Exodus when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him His name was I AM WHO I AM - the eternal name of God. This is why the Jews took up stones to stone Him because He declared himself to be the God that appeared to Moses in Exodus 3.
Every time we read of an encounter with the Angel of the Lord it is the Lord Jesus Christ before he took on humanity. We see him in Exodus dealing with the nation of Israel. We see him in the book of Judges, and in II Kings 19.35 we read of Him who slays the Assyrians and a great number of wicked and then disappears off the scene. He is scattered throughout the Old Testament.
The Spirit of God
What about the third member of the Trinity - the Spirit of God, is He also active in the Old Testament? In Genesis 1.2 we are introduced to Him. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. The word for Spirit is Ruah and He is hovering or moving over the waters. You get the same imagery of hovering in the New Testament where the Spirit descends as a dove on the Lord Jesus Christ at His baptism. He hovers over the waters in Genesis 1 and He hovers over the Lord Jesus Christ as a dove. So the Spirit was active in the Old Testament as were the other two members of the Trinity.
In Genesis 6 we read of Satan's attempt to corrupt the seed of woman so the Messiah could not be born. Gen 6.3 says, And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." So the Spirit or Ruah will not strive with man forever. Then in Psalm 51.11 David says, Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. These scriptures show that the Spirit was indeed active in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we see Him in a different role where He now indwells believers. He resides within the believer to make Christ real in the believer's heart. In the Old Testament His role was to come upon God's people and anoint them for specific tasks and then go - very different to the New Testament. Now He abides forever in the believer but in the Old Testament it wasn't permanent.
The Trinity revealed
So now let's have a look at whether the Old Testament mentions all three of them together.
Isa 63:7 I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord And the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has bestowed on us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has bestowed on them according to His mercies, According to the multitude of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For He said, "Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie." So He became their Savior. 9 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; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: "Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit within them,
First of all God is mentioned, the Lord Jehovah, then the Angel of His Presence who saved them, loved them, redeemed them, bore them, and carried them (the Angel of His Presence is another term for the second member of the Trinity). Then in verse 10, But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So in this passage all three members of the Trinity are mentioned. The loving kindness of the Lord toward the house of Israel, the Angel of His Presence who saved the nation of Israel, pitied them and bore them, and then the Holy Spirit who they grieved. All three members are working to bring the nation of Israel from its birth through to the promised land and onwards.
Isaiah 48 also mentions all three. God the Creator speaks, not Isaiah. Isa 48.12 "Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. Who else claimed to be the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega? Verse 13 Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth, And My right hand has stretched out the heavens; When I call to them, They stand up together. Then in verse 16 the same person is still speaking. Isa 48:16 "Come near to Me, hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; From the time that it was, I was there. And now the Lord God and His Spirit Have sent Me." God the Creator says that the Lord God Jehovah, and His Spirit have sent Him. Now you can only understand this verse if you understand the Trinity. You might think that God the Creator is the Father but there are scriptures that say the second member of the Trinity was the main instigator in creation Col 1.16 and Heb 1:2. There are also scriptures that reveal all three were involved in the creation of man and of the world such as Gen 2.7 and Job 33.4.
Another passage is in Zec 2:8 For thus says the Lord of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me. 10 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the Lord. 11 Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. The Lord of hosts is sent by The Lord of Hosts to do a certain task and the Lord will be sent by the Lord and dwell in their midst. Two Jehovah figures are spoken of, they are one, but they are also individual persons.
Let's look at two other passages concerning the Trinity. Pro 30:1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel--to Ithiel and Ucal: 2 Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man. 3 I neither learned wisdom nor have knowledge of the Holy One. 4 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, If you know? I find this passage intriguing because as far as I know there is nowhere else in the Old Testament that reveals God has a Son. This man claimed to be more stupid than any other man yet he was given insight and had obviously been revealed to him. He is almost testing them by asking What is His name and what is His Son's name, if you know?
Psalm 2 brings out, I believe, the Trinity or certainly more than one personality and is one of my favourites. This Psalm has 12 verses with four speakers. Each speaker has three verses each. The first three verses are the World, the next three are God the Father responding to the World. Then three more verses where Jesus speaks, and the last three the Holy Spirit speaks.
Psa 2:1 Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." The world does what it has always done, and will do more and more as we get closer to the end of the age. The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Demonic forces are influencing the rulers of the world to break down any Christian rule, heritage, or anything of the Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ. They say, Let's break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. Western countries, where our laws and morality have been founded on Christian principles, are now being torn down. They want to tear away anything that is of Christian value and truth. They don’t want anything to do with God or the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible. The world has always done this but it's getting more and more prevalent as we get closer to the end.
From verse 4 the Father responds to the world. Psa 2:4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." The Lord sits in the heavens and laughs at the attempts of the rulers of the world to break down and tear everything apart. He has already set His King in place, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom everyone in heaven and earth will bow the knee to and confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and all will bow to Him. The world wants to break everything down but God is not concerned in the slightest. Christ will rule and reign at His second coming. The world can try but God's will will be done over all in time.
Then Jesus from verse 7 responds to the Father. Psa 2:7 "I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' " Hebrews 1.5 and Rev 2.27 both quote this Psalm. There will be a King on earth who will rule and reign with a rod of iron for a thousand years (the millennium) and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. The nations will come and bow at His feet and His rule will be completely different to what we have ever known.
In the last three verses I believe the Holy Spirit speaks Psa 2:10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. In the New Testament, what is the role of the Holy Spirit? It is to convict, to judge, to train, and to bring Christ into the open. His role is to elevate the Lord Jesus Christ and this is what these last three verses infer at the end of Psalm 2. I love this Psalm. Three of the speakers are part of the Trinity. The Father has already set things in place, the Son will rule the nations at some point with a rod of iron and they will be put under his feet, and the Holy Spirit’s role is to instruct, to guide, to teach, and to convict.
Even though the Trinity isn't revealed as much in the Old Testament as in the New, the concept is definitely there. We see God the Father throughout the Old Testament, a divine person - the Angel of the Lord - receives worship, is worshiped as God, and declares himself to be God, and the Spirit of the Lord who actively plays a part in the nation of Israel. He leads them and is grieved when they sin. All three have a part to play in dealing with God's people.
The three errors
Finally, I want to cover three main errors about the Trinity.
- The first one is Modalism. This view believes all three are a manifestation of one God. In other words, God reveals Himself as the Father and then as the Son and then as the Spirit. There's one God but He reveals himself in three different ways. However in the New Testament, when Jesus is baptised, all three individual members of the Trinity are present at once, and we'll look at that next time. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Son prays to the Father so they are also two distinct people.
- Another error is Arianism which the Jehovah Witnesses believe. It is an old view which does not view Christ as a deity. Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity and they are hard to pin down about who Christ actually is. Some believe He is the highest angel, others that He is the highest created being, but they don't view Christ as an equal member of the Trinity. They also don't view the Holy Spirit as a divine individual; they believe He is a force. However, you can't grieve or quench a force but you can grieve or quench a person. A force also doesn't have an individual will, but the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 12.11 tells us that the Spirit gives out gifts according to His will.
- The third error is Tritheism believed by the Mormons. This views the Trinity as three independent gods, each one divine. However, scripture declares that there is one God made of three individual eternal persons who are one. The New Testament portrays the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit not as independent but correlating together - having a mutual relationship or connection between one another to bring glory not to themselves but to the other members of the Trinity.
If someone says to you that the Trinity is only a New Testament teaching, I pray you'll be able to say that the concept of the Trinity - three eternal persons as one, is throughout all scripture including the Old Testament, even though it's a little bit more hidden. Next time we'll look at the Trinity in the New Testament and the different roles they have. God Bless.