YESHUA -- GOD OR MAN?
What the Bible says.
What the Bible doesn't say.

THIS MAY BE THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT IN CHRISTENDOM TODAY (AND FOR THE PAST 1600 YEARS, FOR THAT MATTER).

I simply ask that you accept LOGIC, COMMON SENSE, and THE TESTIMONY OF THE SCRIPTURE, rather than what you have been taught from your denominational theology which has been handed down from the Catholicism of the fourth century, and which was not "protested" by reformation Protestantism.  If you're held in the grip of Catholic doctrine and your mind is closed to any further possibility that they may be wrong, there's no need to read farther.  If you're open to new views which just might be true - shown in the Scriptures - then read on.

Regardless of the "mystery" arguments one may put forth (and are still claimed in the Catholic Encyclopedia), the fact remains - if Yeshua is God; then God died.  It doesn't matter how one defines, categorizes, or subdivides God's "essence" or "substance" or "nature" or "hypostasis" or "emanations" - the fact is Yeshua died and God cannot die.  No amount of verbal gymnastics, regardless of how zealous and intricately worded they are, can avoid that simple fact.
-- From a source no longer available online.
We’re in the "end of days."  It's time to start thinking for ourselves instead of taking what "theologians" say is the absolute last word.

You'll find the most important aspect of Yeshua's relationship with mankind is at the bottom of the page.

YESHUA -- GOD OR MAN?


The Bible says:
He was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh." (Rom. 1:3)  "God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:24)
"Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus the Christ) is come in the flesh." (1 John 4:2)


The Bible DOESN'T say:
Demons, who had been in the very presence of the Almighty, knew that he was "God."
His talmidim (disciples) who had walked, eaten, lived with him for years called him "God."  Why not???
"God came in the flesh."


In the KJV and a few other versions, the word "godhead" appears.  In a modern Hebrew-English dictionary, "godhead" is translated to Hebrew as "elohut."  The suffix "-ut" is the equivalent of the English "-ness."  Ex.: godliness = "chasidut"; sleepiness = "t'lilut"; brightness = "b'hirut."  In modern Bibles, words such as "divinity" or "divine nature" are used instead of "godhead."  Merriam-Webster defines "divine" as "of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God."  So, yes, Yeshua was "divine," but NOT God.

God, YHWH, the Father, Elohim is called "savior" more times in the Bible, including the "New" Testament (e.g., Luke 1:47; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 2:10; Jude 1:25), than Yeshua is.

Elohim and Yeshua were both mentioned in the same verses in the "New" Testament many times:

We could go on and on.  The point is: If "Jesus is God," then THERE ARE TWO GODS.  Call it unity or diversity or however you want to rationalize it, the Bible says there is ONE GOD !!.

EVERY EPISTLE of Paul begins, within the first few verses, with something like "Grace to you and peace from God our Father AND our Lord Jesus Christ."  Paul OBVIOUSLY considered them to be TWO INDIVIDUALS.  He never said "God our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ."

Yeshua never directly said, "I am the son of God," so it would have been quite a step to say "I am God."  He did refer to "my Father" about 52 times (with some duplication in the gospels), and he used "son of God" in the third person sometimes ("the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God"; "Do you believe on the Son of God?") and once quoting what the Judeans supposedly said, "You say of him, whom the Father has sanctified, ...because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:36)

MANY times he is called "son of God" by his talmidim.  If they had any inkling that he was "God in the flesh," WHY DIDN'T THEY SAY "YOU ARE GOD?"

When he walked the earth, Yeshua was not omniscient or (obviously) omnipresent, as Elohim is.

"And Yeshua increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with Elohim and man."  (Mk. 2:52)
Elohim couldn't become wiser or more pleased with himself.

"But of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."  (Mk. 13:32)
Elohim (the Father) knows.  The son is not all-knowing.

"The Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, which Elohim gave unto him"  (Rev. 1:1)
Elohim gave it to him; he did not already have it, did not give it of himself.

"My Father is greater than I."  (John 14:28)
Self-evident and self-explanatory.

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matt. 28:18)
He wasn’t born with it.

"Messiah pleased not himself" (Rom. 15:3).
His mission and intent was to please the Father.

"Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3)
Elohim cannot die, even temporarily!

"The head of Messiah is Elohim" (1 Cor. 11:3).
Shows seniority, not equality.

"Elohim was in Messiah" (2 Cor. 5:19)
Can Elohim be in Himself?)

He was "obedient unto death" (Phil. 2:8)
Is it necessary for Elohim to obey Himself?

"Elohim FOR Messiah's sake has forgiven you." (Eph. 4:32)
Else Elohim would simply forgive by Himself.

"Yeshua the Messiah is come in the flesh" (1 John 4:2)
NOWHERE is it said that Elohim came in the flesh.

"angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." (after ascending to heaven) (1 Pet. 3:22)
Implies and can be inferred that they were not previously subject to him.  In Matt. 26:53, he said he could ask his Father for them.

Devils called him "son of Elohim," NOT Elohim (Matt. 8:29; Mark 5:6-9)
Surely they, as created spiritual beings, would know the difference.


"In the beginning was the Word [Hebrew davar], and the Word was with Elohim and the Word was Elohim." (John 1:1, NASB)

"Hear the word [davar] of YHWH, you rulers of Sodom;
give ear unto the law [Torah] of our Elohim, you people of Gomorrah." (Is. 1:10)  (This is Hebrew poetry, parallelism instead of rhyme.  Parallelism: word = law, just as "hear" = "give ear;" "YHWH" = "our Elohim;" and "you rulers of Sodom" parallels "you people of Gomorrah.")


THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE

"Yeshua said to him, I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE: no man comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

"As for Elohim, his WAY [derekh = direction] is perfect: the word [imrah = "word of Elohim" (i.e., Torah)] of YHWH is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him."  (Ps. 18:30)

"Lead [darakh] me in Thy TRUTH [emet], and teach me: for you are the Elohim of my salvation [yesha, whence Yeshua]; on you do I wait all the day." (Ps. 25:5)
"Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your LAW [Torah] is the TRUTH [emet]."  (Ps. 119:142)

"For the commandment [mitzvah] is a lamp;
and the LAW [Torah = instruction] is light;
and reproofs of instruction are THE WAY [derekh] of LIFE [chayyim]."
(Prov. 6:23) (Triple parallels.)

The Torah is the Word of Elohim.  Yeshua is the Word of Elohim.
The Torah is the Way.  Yeshua is THE WAY.
The Torah is the Truth.  Yeshua is THE TRUTH.
The Torah is the Life.  Yeshua is THE LIFE.
YESHUA IS THE TORAH (THE WORD OF ELOHIM) MADE FLESH.
"And the Word (the Torah) was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 NASB)

He did not exist in "eternity past" (a Christian invention) before Elohim spoke "the Word."  A secular dictionary gives a definition of eternity as "infinite time."  But "time" was created along with the universe.  The Father "inhabits eternity" (Is. 57:15) and is outside of "time."  "Eternity past" implies "before the beginning," "the beginning" being the point at which "the Word" was introduced.  Elohim "declares the end from the beginning" (Is. 46:10).  Yeshua, as the spoken "word of God," was the "beginning of creation (Rev. 3:14)."  Later, he was begotten of the Father as flesh to dwell among us.  He was the "firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1:15 NASB) when Elohim spoke him into existence as the Word.

Genesis 1 --  "And Elohim said, …"  Elohim SPOKE THE WORD.  THIS was the "beginning of creation." (Rev. 3:14)  "Light" was not the first thing created (Gen. 1:3).  The WORD which spoke the light (and the rest of the creation) into existence was.  This "WORD," the "beginning of creation," 4000+ years later "became flesh and dwelt among us."

"And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in Elohim, who created all things BY Yeshua the Messiah." (Eph. 3:9)

YESHUA DID NOT CREATE THE WORLD BY HIMSELF

1 Cor. 8:6 (RSV):  "for us there is one Elohim, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."
All things were created BY Elohim.
We exist FOR Elohim.
All things were created THROUGH Yeshua.
We exist THROUGH Yeshua.

"In the beginning was the Word [davar], and the Word was with Elohim and the Word was Elohim." (John 1:1) This does not imply that there was a separate PERSONAGE with Elohim, but that the Word, the very speech, which was spoken BY Elohim had power.

"The Word [davar] was made flesh and dwelt among us."  (John 1:14)

"And many people shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of the Elohim of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways [derekh], and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law [Torah], and the word [davar] of YHWH from Jerusalem."  (Is. 2:3)

"The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word [davar] of our Elohim shall stand for ever."  (Is. 40:8)

"And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, and to the house of the Elohim of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways [derekh], and we will walk in his paths: for the law [Torah] shall go forth of Zion, and the word [davar]of YHWH from Jerusalem."  (Mic. 4:2)

"Making the word of Elohim of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."  (Mark 7:13)

"These things says the Amen (Yeshua), the faithful and true witness (Yeshua), the beginning of the creation of Elohim."  (Rev. 3:14)

"And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in Elohim, who created all things by Yeshua the Messiah."  (Eph. 3:9)

Many interpret "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father" to mean "I am the Father standing in front of you."  But "No man has seen Elohim at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared [him]" (John 1:18)

"He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, … He is the image of the invisible Elohim, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him."  (Col. 1:13, 15-16 RSV)  When you look into a mirror, do you see yourself standing in front of you?  NO.  You see your image.  The people whom he taught didn’t see Elohim standing in front of them, but through Yeshua, they could see the Father.

Yeshua's talmidim (students [disciples]) spent 24 hours a day with him for months at a time, if not years.  They knew him better than anyone except possibly Miryam, Yosef, and his siblings.  They knew the powers he had through his Father's authority.  Rav Sha'ul (Rabbi Saul/Paul) spoke with him "face to face" also, but not as long.  With their knowledge of him, there is not one reference to him being "Elohim in the flesh" or anything similar.  Why not?

Did they even THINK of him as Elohim?  NO!  To them, there was/is ONE ELOHIM!  They lived by the same credo HE did.  HEAR, YISRAEL.  YHWH OUR ELOHIM IS ONE. "... and HIM ONLY SHALL YOU SERVE."

Acts 2:22-23 (HNV) -- "Men of Yisra'el, hear these words! Yeshua of Natzeret, a man approved by Elohim to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which Elohim did by him in the midst of you, even as you yourselves know, him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of Elohim, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;

Acts 13:37-39 (HNV) -- But he whom Elohim raised up saw no decay.  Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moshe.

Acts 17:30-31 (HNV) -- The times of ignorance therefore Elohim overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead."

1 Cor. 15:21 (NASB) -- For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

Rom. 5:15 (HNV) -- But the charisma [gift of grace, faith, knowledge] isn't like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of Elohim, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Yeshua the Messiah, abound to the many.

Rom. 5:19 (HNV) -- For as through the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one (man) will many be made righteous.

1 Tim. 2:5 (HNV) -- For there is one Elohim, and one mediator between Elohim and men, the man Messiah Yeshua.


What it boils down to is this:  If God can't die (and of course he can't, as Yeshua did), and Yeshua was God, how was Yeshua a worthy sacrifice for our sin?  "He was also born with the capacity to do evil as well as good, because the Bible says he was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.  If he had not had the capacity to sin, he would not have been as we are." ( Dr. Roy Blizzard)  Now, add to the fact that God cannot die, he cannot sin.  If he (Yeshua or the Father) cannot sin,"he would not have been as we are."  Therefore, he must have been a man, capable of sinning and dying, and worthy to be a sacrifice for us.  Animals sacrificed on the altar in the Tabernacle and Temple had to be without blemish.  That doesn't mean that they could not develop a blemish, because they were flesh and blood, just as we are.  Our sacrifice was without spot or blemish (spiritually at his death), but not because of his "deity."  As the Son of the Most High, made flesh to dwell among us, it was his choice as a MAN, not to sin.

If you still think that Yeshua was "Elohim (God) in the flesh," that’s up to you.  The Bible doesn't say it.


Beit HaDerekh
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15 June 2013
Last update 17 September 2020