The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan Contents of Chapter 13 Messiah Yeshua, Eternal God the Son One Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 2 God the Son – The Eternal Word of God 8 YHVH – The Eternal “I AM” 13 The Angel of the Lord – The Pre-incarnate Logos 17 The First and the Last, The Alpha and the Omega 26 The Creator and Sustainer of Creation 29 The Image of the Invisible God and Firstborn of Creation 31 Messiah Yeshua, Eternal Son of God 32 The Incarnation of Messiah Yeshua 36 Messiah Yeshua, Savior and Redeemer 38 Messiah Yeshua, God the Son, Is The Rock 42 Messiah Yeshua, One with God the Father 45 Messiah Yeshua Not Separated from God the Father at the Crucifixion 45 Messiah Yeshua Not Separated from God the Father While in Sheol Paradise 47 One God, One Way To God 48 References 50 1 The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan (Online Edition) by Peter and Christie Michas Original Title God’s Master Plan: From Aleph to Tav © 1994 The Rod of an Almond Tree in God’s Master Plan © 1997, 2001, 2011-2017 (Online Edition) Messengers of Messiah, 7231 Boulder Avenue #164, Highland, CA 92346 USA Tel. 909-425-8751 – www.messengers-of-messiah.org Expanded and Revised January 2017 This publication may be freely copied and distributed provided it is copied in total with no alterations or deletions. The authors’ names, ministry name and website address, mailing address and telephone number, and copyright notice must be included. No charge may be levied on recipients of distributed copies. Brief quotations may be embodied in critical articles and reviews without breaching copyright. This publication is available for free from Messengers of Messiah’s website www.messengers-of-messiah.org Chapter 13 Messiah Yeshua, Eternal God the Son In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1-4). The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, NIV). ONE TRIUNE GOD – FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT The Word of God reveals God’s nature and character, His relationship to His Creation, His relationship with humanity and His plan of redemption and salvation. God is eternal, infinite in knowledge, wisdom, and power. God existed before Creation, and transcends the Creation He created. God is the source of all life and sustains all Creation. God is personal, loving, and compassionate and desires a personal relationship with each and every human being. God is a God of truth, mercy, and justice. God created human beings with free will and has made a way 2 for them to have a personal relationship with Him through His Holy Spirit by the atoning work of Messiah Yeshua, with the promise of eternal life with Him (John 3:16). The Word of God explicitly informs us that there is one God, and no other God existed before Him or will exist after Him – “To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him” (Deuteronomy 4:35, bold emphasis added). ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand’ (Deuteronomy 32:39, bold emphasis added). “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, In order that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.” (Isaiah 43:10, bold emphasis added). “Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:21-22, bold emphasis added). 3 “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me” (Isaiah 46:9, bold emphasis added). The Word of God emphatically states that God is one – “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God [Elohim], the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, bold emphasis added). Yet God also refers to Himself in the plural form “Us” – Then God [Elohim] said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, bold emphasis added). Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8, bold emphasis added). The Hebrew word Elohim is the plural form of El, meaning “God”. Although there is only one God, the Word of God clearly reveals that God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The oneness of God is essential to understanding the relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They do not exist as separate and independent beings yet the Word of God clearly shows a distinction among them. At Messiah Yeshua’s immersion into the Jordan River, all three were clearly present at the same time – And after being baptized, Jesus [Yeshua] went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17). 4 And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased” (Mark 1:10-11). Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus [Yeshua] also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). One of the fundamentals of Biblical Christianity is that God is one being that eternally exists as three persons, called the Trinity. We do not disagree with this way of expressing the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, the problem we see is that most people do not have a theological education and therefore understand the word “person” not in its theological usage but in its common usage. This leads to misunderstanding, such as the concept of God existing as three separate, independent individuals in human-like forms that can exist apart from each other. Another problem with the trinity concept is that it may be confused with the ancient pagan trinity concept in which the trinity consists of three individual gods in human form in a polytheistic relationship. But the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cannot be understood in this way because God is Spirit and is one in essence and being. Only God the Son took on human form. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should not be thought of as three separate beings in human form. They are not three individuals gods. Perhaps a better word than trinity to describe the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is triune, emphasizing the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God. Nowhere in the Word of God is the Holy Spirit shown to exist or even manifest in the form of a human being. Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God, is God incarnate, God entering His own Creation in a flesh- and-blood human body to pay the price for humanity’s sins through the shedding of His blood. Yeshua’s mortal physical body was transformed and resurrected into an immortal spiritual body — the same kind of body believers will receive in the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:44, 50-54). Messiah Yeshua tells us that His Father, God the Father, is Spirit – 5 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24, bold emphasis added). The prophet Daniel records a vision of God the Father, called the Ancient of Days, and the Son of God, who is called the Son of Man – “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire” (Daniel 7:9, bold emphasis added). “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him” (Daniel 7:13, bold emphasis added). Daniel’s vision shows God the Father and God the Son. God the Father, the Ancient of Days, is revealed as taking His seat on the Throne, and His Son presented before Him. The Ancient of Days emanates light. The apostle John tells us that God is Light – And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5, bold emphasis added). Perhaps God the Father does have some kind of spiritual form but exactly what it is we cannot be certain. God is Spirit. God exists outside of Creation and is everywhere transcending Creation. God cannot be fully contained within any kind of physical dimensions, as King Solomon declared – 6 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27, bold emphasis added). The apostle John also tells us that no human being has ever seen God the Father – No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God [Son of God], who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him (John 1:18, bold emphasis added). Messiah Yeshua, the Son of God, also testifies that no human being has seen the Father, only He has seen the father – “Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father” (John 6:46). Although God the Father was revealed in a vision to Daniel, this is not the same as a human being in a physical body standing in the real presence and full glory of God the Father. Messiah Yeshua is God and reveals the nature, character, will, and love of God the Father – Jesus [Yeshua] said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9, bold emphasis added). God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God in essence and being. Each is fully God and all three eternally coexist in unity. Each displays the attributes of God, including truth, love, mercy, justice, holiness, power, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Each is personal in nature, including the Holy Spirit, which is not an impersonal force or power. Never is there a separation of any one of the three from the other two. They are always acting together in their relationship with each other and in their relationship with humanity, including with each and every believer – AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him 7 [Messiah Yeshua] we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:17-18, bold emphasis added). GOD THE SON – THE ETERNAL WORD OF GOD Before God the Son came into the world in a human body as Messiah Yeshua, He existed as eternal God the Son, the Word of God. The Greek word Logos is translated “Word” in John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word [Logos] was God. He was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2, bold emphasis added). The Logos is fully God, not a created being. The Logos exists as eternal God the Son, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit from before Creation. God the Son entered His own Creation in a real physical human body, combining full humanity with full deity – The Word [Logos] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, NIV, bold emphasis added). God the Son came forth from God the Father – “I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again, and going to the Father” (John 16:28, bold emphasis added). As the apostle John calls Messiah Yeshua “The Word” in John 1:1, he also calls Messiah Yeshua “The Word of God” in Revelation 19:13 – And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word [Logos] of God (Revelation 19:13, bold emphasis added). In John 1:1, 14 and Revelation 19:13, the Greek word logos (Strong’s #3056) is translated “word” as applied to Messiah Yeshua. The corresponding Hebrew word is dabar (Strong’s #1696 8 – verb “to speak”; #1697 – noun “word”).1 The word logos, as applied to Messiah Yeshua as the Word, also appears in 1 John 1:1, referring to Messiah Yeshua as the “Word of Life” – What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word [Logos] of Life (1 John 1:1, bold emphasis added). God makes Himself known through the Word of God (the Bible), and the Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God). God reveals His plan of salvation through the Word of God (the Bible), and the Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God). God reveals His personal nature and the nature of His relationships with human beings and the rest of Creation through the Word of God (the Bible), and the Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God). In the OT [Old Testament] the word is the supreme means by which God the Creator makes known both Himself and His will to His creatures. … The divine word, in distinction from many human words, is co- extensive with that which it says or represents. Its most important attribute, then, is truth (2 Sam 7:28; cf John 17:11). Truth in this sense is not abstract. It carries with it the sense of faithfulness, reliability. What God says is true. If the reference is future, then it will surely come to pass. This, in turn, implies the force or power of the word. It accomplishes what it signifies. … The word, as such, is powerful. This is esp. true of the word of God. By the word God intervenes actively in the affairs of men. The word is historical, not merely in the sense that it records history, but in the dynamic sense that it makes history. This is revealed already in the fact that creation is by the word of God (Ps 33:4ff; Isa 40:26; the “God said” of Gen 1) (bold emphasis added).2 The Word of God (the Bible) is Truth. The Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God) is Truth – The sum of Thy word is truth, And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting (Psalms 119:160, bold emphasis added). 1 Spiros Zodhiates (Editor), The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, Old Testament Dictionary, p. 1838. 2 Merrill C. Tenney (Editor), The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 5, p. 957. 9 “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth” (John 17:17, bold emphasis added). Jesus [Yeshua] said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6, bold emphasis added). The Word of God (the Bible) gives Life. The Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God) gives Life. The Word of God (the Bible) shows the one and only way of salvation. The Word of God (Yeshua, the Son of God) is the one and only way of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV). “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24). “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me” (John 5:39). Jesus [Yeshua] said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies (John 11:25). God spoke the Word to bring Creation into existence (Genesis 1). Creation was brought into existence through Yeshua, the Word of God – Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3, bold emphasis added). For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17, bold emphasis added). 10