(In Torah parashah Ki Tisa we see that it was our forefather’s wrong worship that kept them from being a kingdom of Priests… let us rectify this in our lives today!)

(For a downloadable PDF of this article click here!)

Beloved brothers and sisters.  Thank you for receiving the following truths in the Spirit of Love as I know this is a very sensitive subject for many coming out of the church.  The purpose of this article is to help those who grew up in the church return to a Hebraic mindset in regards to who God is. 

Firstly, it is important for all to understand the definition of Idolatry:

Any worship of anything other than the One True Creator and Source of all things is idolatry. 

The Shema and the Belief in only One God

One of the main Hebrew beliefs is that there is just one God, and that he alone should be worshipped.  This is seen in one of the most important prayers for Jews, and what is referred to as “the Greatest Commandment”, the “Shema” which begins with “Hear, O Israel, YHVH our God, YHVH is One.” You shall love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deut. 6:4)

This simple statement encompasses several different ideas:

• 1. There is only one God. No other being participated in the work of creation.
• 2. God is a unity. He is a single, whole, complete, indivisible entity. He cannot be divided into parts.  
• 3. God is the only being to whom we should offer praise and prayer. The Shema can also be translated as “YHVH is our God, YHVH alone,” meaning that no other is our God, and we should not pray to any other.”
  
  

The Shema Yisrael (Deut. 6: 4-9, 11: 13-21, Num. 15:7-41) is the most ancient prayer that can be found in the Torah. It affirms that there is only one God and Yeshua affirmed as the greatest commandment in Mark 12:28 saying “this is the most important thing, “Hear O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one!”

All Jewish people as well as most who a part of Assembly of Called-Out Believers are considered “non-Trinitarian.” Simply put, this means that we do not believe in the traditional, man-made pagan hypothesis of a triune God (that is, “one God in three co-equal Persons”). The Trinity doctrine cannot be found in the Bible, as it was patched together by Catholic theologians hundreds of years after the deaths of the apostles and the completion of Scripture under the influence of Constantine who was a worshipper of the pagan god Mithra and merges pagan ideologies with the followers of Yeshua who followed the Jewish faith.  All pagan religions have a “triune” god going back to the time of Nimrod, Simerameas and Tammuz the “son” born on December 25^th.  Thus they changed Yeshua’s name to “Isous” (ee-Zeus) to further promote the idolatrous pagan worship of false gods. (To learn more about this change click here)

Trinitarianism is a mixture of Jewish, Greek, and Roman philosophies, loosely based on a handful of verses snatched out of context or interpolated into the text.  This fallacious doctrine claims there are three co-equal Beings in the God-Head. Yet the Father is the source of everything, and his sons are the channel through which He carries out His purpose. By His own words, Yeshua asserts that the Father is superior to Him (though they are one in purpose and mind as we should be). Yeshua is the greatest revelation of the Father through which we can receive the knowledge of God, revealing the image, mind, purpose, and character of the invisible, immortal Father.

 

History of the pagan Trinity doctrine:

In the Torah in Deut. 32:39 YHVH says, “See now that I myself am it! There is no god besides Me . . .” and the Prophets always echoed this.  Although the belief in the unity of God (the Sh’ma in Deut. 6:4 says, YHVH is echad meaning One) is taught and declared on virtually every page of the Jewish Scriptures, the doctrine of the Trinity is never mentioned anywhere throughout the entire corpus of the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, this doctrine is not to be found anywhere in the New Testament because early Believers in Yeshua, were all still monotheistic. The authors of the New Testament were completely unaware that the future Church influenced by Roman paganism would eventually embrace a pagan deification of a triune deity. Although the worship of a three-part godhead was well known and fervently venerated throughout the Roman Empire and beyond in religious systems such as Hinduism and Mithraism, it was quite distant from the Judaism from which Christianity emerged. However, when the Greek and Roman mind began to dominate the Church, it created a theological disaster from which Christendom has never recovered. By the end of the fourth century, the doctrine of the Trinity was firmly in place as a central tenet of the Church, and strict monotheism was formally rejected by Vatican councils in Nicea and Constantinople. (To learn more about the origin of the pagan Trinity doctrine click here)

 

 What does God’s Law and the prophet’s say?

The Torah says in Deuteronomy 4:35,39 

Unto thee it was shown, that thou might know that YHVH He is God; there is none else beside him. (39) Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that YHVH he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

 

The Prophets: YHVH through the Prophet Isaiah confirms,

“I, only I, am the YHVH, and there is no savior besides Me.” (Isaiah 43:11) Thus we worship YHVH alone and not any implement of His deliverance or salvation (i.e. Moshe, the Red Sea, His word in the form of the Tablets of Rock, Esther who later brought deliverance to the Jewish people and saved them, Ezra who rebuilt the temple or Yeshua the man).  

 

The Writings declare, in 1 Chronicles 17:20, 

O YHVH, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

 

Thus, we have heard it from the whole of the Scriptures in Torahe, the Prophets and the Writings.    Isaiah says if they speak not according to the Torah and the Prophets there is no light in them”.

 

“Hear O Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is One!” 🙏💗

 

Overview of who God is versus Yeshua the man:

All can agree that God is Omniscient (all knowing), Omnipresent (everywhere at all times as He is Spirit) and Omnipotent (all powerful and unable to die)… Yeshua is not omniscient, omnipotent, nor omnipresent.  Yeshua is a man and referred to himself as a “son of man”.

 

God cannot die. 

Yeshua, the man died.  It was God who resurrected him.  When we die our spirit which came from God returns to God.  It is God alone who resurrects the dead (as prayed in the Amidah).

 

God knows all things. 

Yeshua the man did not know everything.  One example of this is when Yeshua was asked by four of his disciples when the Tribulation period will occur. Yeshua responds, “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father.”  (Mark 13:32)

 

God can be everywhere at once. 

Yeshua, the man, can only be in one place at one time.  Currently, the bible says he is at the “right hand” of God (Acts 7:55-56), while God is still everywhere and His Spirit is in each of us.

Therefore Yeshua cannot be God, but he is the one that God promised to Israel called “The Prophet like Moshe”…

 

Who was Yeshua?

Yeshua was a Prophet.  God promised to send a Prophet like Moshe, from the lineage of Israel in Deuteronomy 18:15-18, thus we would never deny him.  Moshe told Israel to listen to him saying, ”The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. “  In Matthew 21:11 the people aware of this prophecy thronged to him proclaiming him to be “the Prophet” saying, “This is Yeshua the Prophet of Nazaret. They give his name, title, and dwelling place. They call him “the Prophet,” as being the One that was foretold.

 

The Son of Man.  In Matthew 20:28 Yeshua himself relates this humble spirit of Moshe saying, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In Luke 19:10 he says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  This should be our mission as well!

Yeshua as a created being, worships YHVH.  YHVH does not worship Yeshua.

Yeshua was a Jew.  Mary was a Jew; Joseph was a Jew. Eight days after Yeshua was born, he was circumcised (Luke 2:21) according to the Jewish rite handed down by Abraham. Then they offered the appropriate sacrifice (two turtledoves) for a firstborn son (Luke 2:24). Yeshua was taught the Jewish Scriptures. He followed the Jewish law. He went to the temple in Jerusalem at 12 years of age (Luke 2:42). Later, he became a Jewish rabbi who traveled from town to town proclaiming that the God of the Jews was soon to intervene in the normal functioning of human affairs and establish the Kingdom of God on earth (a very Jewish concept often called by Jews today “the messianic age”). Yeshua was known to be the Jewish Messiah who would someday reign on the throne of David (the Jewish ancestor who reigned over Israel). There is little doubt that Yeshua was (and still is) a Jew. He never once preached a sermon redefining the number of persons in the Godhead. He was completely consistent with the Jewish environment within which he operated. He had been told about the perils of forsaking YHVH as the one true God of Israel. He had read the prophets and was intimately acquainted with the God about Whom they spoke.

What about praying to Yeshua?

Yeshua prayed to God (YHVH).  (God does not pray to Himself).  We are to pray to Heavenly Father the way Yeshua did.  (We don’t pray to Yeshua or any other man, no matter how holy). 

Originally believers did not pray in the name of Yeshua, but ended prayers glorifying God, but this too has crept into the church with the justification that Yeshua said “If you ask anything in my name it will be granted”… but once again we cannot create a new doctrine from the NT as all doctrine must be according to Torah and the Prophets.  We can however, ask for God to do miraculous things on behalf of Yeshua, like in Acts 3:6 when Peter healed a lame man, saying, “In the name of Yeshua Hamashiach haNazarene—walk!”

 

What about Yeshua as a Son of God?

“God” manifests His spirit in all things as all things come from “Source” each with a different purpose and yet we do not worship those things (i.e. the literal rock, water, fire, word, Torah, elohim, Yeshua etc), but only the invisible YHVH are we to worship in Spirit and in Truth. 🙏❤

Please do not misunderstand, we are not denying Yeshua or the fact that he came as Messiah Ben Yoseph… and we believe by faith that this same one will come soon as Messiah Ben David.  The discussion is only in regards to clarifying that the Almighty has instructed us not to worship any form of anything that He has manifested or created. 🙏❤

Romans 8:14 says “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”… Yeshua also confirmed this saying in Matthew 5 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

When he said, “ If you have seen me you have seen the father” he was referring to how he totally revealed Heavenly Father’s character… Thus “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father”.

Yeshua explicitly confirmed that God is one.

Although it is often supposed that through Yeshua’ words and actions he opened people’s eyes to see his deity, what does the Scripture say? We are not left to guess if Yeshua believed the same as the Jewish people, because he explicitly confirmed the Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4.

Mark 12:28-30 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Yeshua answered, “The foremost is,  HEAR [Shema], O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. “

This statement leaves no wiggle room for additional persons in the Godhead. The LORD (YHVH) our God is one, and He is the One deserving all our love. Yet, this is not an isolated incidence of confirmation.

Yeshua prayed to Heavenly Father saying in John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua whom You have sent.

 

What about the Prophecies pertaining to the Messiah… Is the Messiah suppose to be worshipped?

We can still understand how the prophet’s words prophetically pointed forward to Messiah. The only difference from a Christian mindset to a Jewish mindset is that Jews follow the scriptures in worshipping YHVH alone whereas Christians believe in worshiping the messiah (which is a form of idolatry).  The Prophet Nehemiah says it beautifully in Nehemiah 9:6 — “You, only You, art YHVH alone; thou has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host (host = other sons and beings), the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preserves them all; and they, the host of heaven worship Thee. 

Therefore, Yeshua as a created being, worships YHVH.  YHVH does not worship Yeshua.

 

But what about John 20:28 where it makes it sound like Timothy is proclaiming Yeshua as Lord and God?

To help in understanding the first century mindset as many get confused by this verse we will explain… In Matthew 16:16 we have Peter proclaiming that he is the “anointed son of the Living God”  but in John 20:28 it is written in a way that makes it seem like Thomas is proclaiming him to be God when he says, “My Lord and my God” which no Jew would have ever done as they know the Torah saying not to worship any image of God and furthermore God himself said in the Torah, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent” (and Yeshua knowing this referred to himself as the son of man).  So we have to throw out misleading verses from the New Testament that contradict God’s own word (or at the least reconcile the verse to a correct understanding in harmony with Torah).  Furthermore, James 1:13 says God cannot be tempted but we know that Yeshua was tempted and therefore cannot be God.  Rabbi Shaul in Hebrew 4:15 says we have a High-Priest “who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”  So then we have to reconcile what Thomas said (if he indeed said it) to be more of what Rabbi Shaul meant when he said that there were “many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords.’” (1 Corinthians 8:5) in the sense of created sons of God also called “elohim” as even Yeshua quoted from the Psalms to show that powerful “sons” were addressed as elohim “gods.” (Psalm 82:1-6; John 10:34, 35). 

What about the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) is the presence and power of God, the essence of the Divine mind that Yeshua stayed connected to in overcoming sin and living out God’s purpose as the implement of His salvation. The Spirit is not a separate being, anymore than the “spirit in man” (I Corinthians 2:11) is a separate being inside each human.  John 4:24 says God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.”

Scripture also reveals that, rather than being limited to two (or three) Beings, the God Family is in process of expanding through God’s plan of salvation. Each true Believer is a son or daughter of God the Father and a brother or sister of Yeshua (Mark 3:35 says, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”). As such, true Believers are members of the God Family, and will, if they remain faithful to the end, be changed into spirit members at the return of Yeshua to this earth.

Although this is astounding when one hears it for the first time, it is fully God’s revealed.  Romans 8:29 tells us that the Father is conforming saints “to the image of His son, that He [Yeshua] might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Notice that He is the firstborn, indicating preeminence over others, not the “only-born.” Likewise, Colossians 1:18 identifies Yeshua as “the firstborn from the dead,” meaning that others will also be rise “from the dead” into the God Family when resurrected at Yeshua’s return (see Revelation 1:5). Additionally, Ephesians 3:14-15 says that “the whole family in heaven and earth is named” after the Father. The saints have taken on the Family name, showing that they are already part of that Family Kingdom (Colossians 1:13), even though they will not be complete until they are transformed into spirit beings (compare John 3:3-8; I Corinthians 15:50).

By contrast, the Bible never mentions the Holy Spirit in the context of a family relationship, nor of being a separate member of the God Family… God IS Spirit and that is why the Spirit does not have a separate name! Scripture speaks of the Spirit as the power (Acts 1:8) or mind of God, the power of love and of a sound mind (II Timothy 1:7). Since it emanates from God and is the very essence of God, it can thus be said to be “poured out” (Titus 3:5-6), “breathed” (John 20:22), and used to “fill” (Acts 2:4) and “anoint” (Acts 10:38).

 

“Hear O Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is One!” 🙏💗

 

Sadly, the descendants of Israel have a history of idolatry and false worship!

At times, the children of Israel strayed from this bedrock creed of worshipping only YHVH. When this happened, the prophets reproved the people with fiery words of judgment.

Judges 10:13 and 14 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.

Ezekiel 16:35-38 Therefore, O harlot, hear the word of YHVH. Thus says YHVH, “Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your harlotries with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your sons which you gave to idols, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, even all those whom you loved and all those whom you hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness. Thus I will judge you like women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.”

Israel is repeatedly likened to a traitor, an adulterous wife who takes all that God gives her and then sneaks out to have relations with the other gods. The message is simple: return to YHVH as your sole God, and you will be delivered; worship someone or something else, and you will be punished severely. YHVH is jealous–He does not want His people to have any other gods (Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 32:16, 21).

In the context of Torah in Exodus 19:6, the only way to fulfill becoming a Kingdom of Priests is to abandon all forms of idolatry and return to the foundation of our faith that there is only one true God of Israel.  “Sh’ma Israel!” 🙏💗

 

The LORD (YHVH) our God is one

Yeshua used different words to convey the same simple truth. Yeshua prayed to his Father (John 17:1) and then makes a categorical statement: the Father is the only one who is truly God.

Scripture reveals Heavenly Father to be the only Supreme Deity, while His son, Yeshua, is in all things submissive and subject to the Father and receives all authority from the Father. 

John 14:28 says, Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.”  To further confound the Trinity doctrine, this verse says that the Father and the Son are not even co-equal! The Father is the Source; He is superior in terms of authority and responsibility. There is government even within the kingdom of God, and the Son takes orders from the Father. They are not equal, but “one” in that the Father’s Spirit is the true identity of all the sons of man!  In I Corinthians 11:3, Paul gives this same clear order of authority and responsibility in saying that the Father is the Head over all creation. As he puts it so simply, the head even of Christ.   

 

“Hear O Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is One!” 🙏💗

 

Conclusion: Followers of Yeshua’s teachings should believe God is one and there is only One God!

As followers of Yeshua, we should adopt his beliefs as our beliefs. This is the chief task of a disciple (to imitate his master). Yeshua never quoted (or even heard of) the Athanasian Creed, wherein it is stated that God is a trinity.  We understand that most modern Believers who grew up in the “church” define God as the Father, son, and Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, what did Yeshua say? Whom did Yeshua worship? He worshipped the Jewish God as revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures. The New Testament never redefined God (although Yeshua did amplify God’s Fatherly role). Let us be like Yeshua who proudly answered those who questioned him with a firm declaration of the Shema. If the Shema is the creed of Yeshua, then perhaps it should be our creed as well!

“Hear O Israel, YHVH is our God, YHVH is One!” 🙏💗

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