The Holy Trinity: Part 2

Intro & Recap

Last week, we discussed how God reveals himself in Scripture as the trinitarian God. Indeed, we saw how the Lord appears as Father, Son and Holy Spirit from the very beginning of Genesis, even within the first three chapters of the Bible. This week, we are going to see how the Lord uses these three manifestations of his holy presence in the Old Testament, long before the Son appears on Earth, and long before God’s Spirit is poured out at Pentecost in the Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts.

Moses’ Encounter w/ God the Father

One of the most significant encounters with the Lord happens in the third chapter of Exodus, the second book of the Pentateuch, when Moses comes into contact with the burning bush that appears to be on fire, but is not consumed. This breathtaking encounter culminates with Moses asking for the name of the Lord, to which God responds, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I am has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14). The significance of God’s reply here points to his whole being as the Creator God, the Father, the one who exists eternally, and is the only being who is, was and ever will be. Not insignificantly, this existentially trinitarian designation, as “is”, “was” and “ever will be” stand as three relative time stamps pointing to the singular, all encompassing “I am” (“I am” encompasses all three: past, present and future). In order to understand who God says he is to his servant, Moses, and why he chooses those particular words, one has to come to terms with the singular God’s disdain and contempt for the polytheistic idolatry of the Egyptians who manufacture false gods arbitrarily after the image of man, rather than by the creation order: mankind is made in God’s image, the finite from the infinite.  In essence, “I am” signifies the source from which everything else came; indeed, it signifies the very beginning of creation, the current existential reality, and all that will come in the future. It’s preposterous to suggest, according to the harrowing voice resonating from the bush, that anything else exists besides “Him.” If everything comes from Him, and indeed everything sentient and insentient has no other Maker, then we can safely assume that the God of the universe is making an obvious point: I am everything, and nothing exists outside the will of the singular “me” (or “I” in this case), the very Creator of everything, indeed all creation. In sum, God the Father speaks in this memorable scene in Exodus, but it won’t be long until the Israelites will encounter God’s Son and his Spirit in Egypt and in the wilderness.

In Exodus, Chapters 11 and 12, after Moses has pleaded with Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, and Pharaoh has refused to soften his heart from the nine previous plagues, the Lord vows to kill all the firstborn of Egypt including any of the firstborn of the Israelites who have not obeyed and slaughtered a lamb, smearing the blood on their doors which constitutes a blood sacrifice for salvation. This mass killing of lambs and the firstborn children of Egypt points to God’s future offering of his firstborn Son, the lamb of God, for the sake of all the world as a blood sacrifice for the salvation of all people (nearly 1,500 years in the future) (see John 3:16, Colossians 16:18).

As Exodus closes, and the Israelites have completed building the tabernacle, the place where God’s presence can dwell among the people, we see the Spirit of God descend and dwell among the people in the form of the cloud by day, and fire by night: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle…so the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels” (Exodus 40:34, 38).  Before you second guess whether this is truly the Spirit of God remember that it is the Spirit of God who dwells/tabernacles in the actual followers of Jesus beginning in Acts 2. Indeed, Peter quotes that this prophecy of the coming of the Holy Spirit is being fulfilled in the second chapter of Acts, which is precisely what the prophet, Joel, predicts: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream drams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).

The Trinity in a Single Sentence in Isaiah

While there are many other places in the Old Testament to go to showcase the trinitarian nature of the Lord Almighty, Isaiah 61 is a fantastic place to land the argument. For in Isaiah 61, we have an inescapable representation of the Holy Trinity, when the prophet speaks, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news o the poor. He has sent me to the bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners…” (Isaiah 61:1). At first glance, you might think that only the Spirit of God and the Sovereign Lord (God the Father) are represented here—that is, until you ask who is the “me” in the sentence, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is one me.” Rabbinical scholars might suggest that this “me” is Isaiah himself, or even the whole nation of Israel as God’s servant people. But the Messiah, the Christ, overthrows that argument (and is indeed nearly “thrown over” a cliff for his claim) in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 4, when he speaks in the synagogue of his hometown, Nazareth, when he quotes from Isaiah 61:1, declaring that this Scripture he has just read has been “fulfilled in your hearing” to those in the Nazarene synagogue. Jesus claims that he is the one in whom the Spirit of the Lord has anointed for the messianic task of saving not just Israel, but the world. So, in essence, Isaiah 61:1 states, “The Holy Spirit of the Lord, God Almighty, the Sovereign Creator of the Universe is on Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.”

That’s just one verse (and just one sentence!) in Isaiah 61:1 that reveals who God is—universally manifested in three persons! For some of you, you may wonder why this matters? You may be asking yourself why spend two blog entries making a biblically relevant observation, while neglecting a culturally relevant subject matter, such as the current geopolitical upheaval in the Middle East? The answer is that, without a right understanding of the nature of God—as one essence existentially communicating via three persons—one cannot understand the prominence and power of the Lord and his plan for humanity.

Suffice it to say that none of the upheaval in the Middle East, to say nothing of all the wickedness and death in the world, comes as a surprise to the Trinitarian God of the Bible. Indeed, he is a Creator with a divine and majestic plan; he is a Savior who died for repentant sinners; and his Spirit is active in the world bringing more and more people into the knowledge of the New Kingdom—that is the New Heaven and New Earth that was inaugurated upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and which will come into full fruition much sooner than any of us may think.

For brothers and sisters, the time is near. Don’t take my word for it. Take the Word’s word for it: “And he said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Revelation 22:10-13).  

 Until next time, rest in the righteousness of Jesus,

Pastor Kyle