Text Box: Richard
‘Aharon’
Chaimberlin
BEREISHEET
"In the Beginning"
The very first words in the Scriptures are: “B’reisheet bara Elohim et ha-shamayim v’et ha-aretz (In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth).” The word used for ‘God’ in this verse is Elohim, which curiously is a plural word. If God wanted to stress his “singularness,” He could have had it written “El” or “Eloah,” which are both singular words meaning God. Elohim is used in conjunction with a masculine singular verb (‘bara’) meaning “created.” This shows a unity in the God-head. As a mere mortal human being, I am unable to fully explain the anatomy of God. However, I happen to believe that the plural form “Elohim” was used to show us that Yeshua was “in the beginning” creating with the Father.

     It is interesting to note that in this first chapter of Genesis, the great rabbinic commentator Nachmanides determined that there were ten dimensions. That’s beyond my brain capacity, as I can see only four dimensions: length, width, height, and time. However, many modern physicists have also come to the same conclusion that Nachmanides had almost 800 years ago.

     Yes, it is self-evident that Yeshua had a pre-existence with the Father. This is confirmed in Yochanan (John) 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” This confirms the divinity of Yeshua, and also that Yeshua was co-Creator with the Father. This is also confirmed in Proverbs 8:22-31, as well as the fact that He was “brought forth” before Creation. How many years before Creation was He “brought forth”? Scripture is silent on this. 

Hebrews 1:1-3 also confirms the divinity of Yeshua, as well as Yeshua being co-creator: “God, who at sundry times and in many ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Rav Shaul [Paul], the likely author of Hebrews, liked long, run-on sentences.)

The Rabbis say that God never gives a man an exalted office unless he is first tested in small things (Rabbi J. H. Hertz). Accord­ing to Midrash, Moses saw a lamb escape from the flock, and followed it to a brook, where the lamb quenched its thirst. Moses said to the lamb, “Had I known that you were thirsty, I would have taken you in my arms, and carried you here.” The Heavenly Voice resounded, “As thou livest, thou art fit to shepherd Israel.”

In Exodus 3:15, God reveals to Moses His name (יְהֹוָה - YHWH). He said, “This is My name forever, and is My memorial name to all generations.” Some Sacred Name people proclaim that they know the exact pronunciation, and have come up with some strange pronunciations. However, ancient Hebrew was always written without vowels, making it impossible to know the precise pronunciation of the Name. Sometime during the Intertestamental period,[1] the Jewish tradition began whereby the Sacred Name would only be pronounced by the Cohen HaGadol (High Priest), and even then, only on Yom Kippur when the Cohen HaGadol entered the Holy of Holies in the Beit HaMikdash (Temple). Therefore, nobody today can be sure of the exact pronunciation. According to most Hebrew scholars, “Yah-way” is a close approximation of the correct pronunciation. (The ancientוָ  [vav] normally had a "W" pronunciation [waw] when used as a consonant.)

WHO IS THE ANGEL?

There are many Scripture ref­erences to “the angel of the LORD,” more properly translated, “the angel of YHWH.” Just who, or what, is this “angel of YHWH”? In this passage from Exodus, we read that “the angel of the LORD (YHWH) appeared to him (Moses) in a blazing flame...(Exodus 3:2).” Then a couple verses later, we read that it was “God who called to him from the midst of the bush." This is one special angel indeed!

We read in Genesis 19 the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, for their wickedness. (Are we far behind?) The text tells us that “the LORD (YHWH) rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD (YHWH) out of heaven.” [2] It seems apparent that there is a reference to two YHWH's here, one on earth and one in heaven. It is interesting that the Jewish translators of the Tenakh recognized the "problem" of two YHWH's. They translated the Tenakh into Greek, a translation called the “Septuagint,” from the Greek for “70” in reference to the approximately 70 translators. They made the following changes in the Greek translation from the literal inter­pretation (included are the rab­binic reasons for the changes):

     "I will make Man" instead of "We will make Man" lest it be said that God is dual in nature.

     "With an image and a likeness" instead of "In our image and like­ness"...lest the creature be com­pared to the Creator.

     "Male and female He created him," instead of "Male and female He created them"...lest it be said they were originally created with two bodies.

     "Come, I shall go down and con­fuse their languages," instead of "Let us go down and confuse..." lest it be said that God is dual in nature.”  [3]  

 

     By the way, the Talmud accuses the early Messianic Jews of believing in two Gods, not three. The doctrine of Trinity was promulgated and made official by the Council of Nicaea (a Gentile church council) in 325 CE (“A.D.”).

Even in the Akeidah ("Binding” of Isaac), we see further evidence that the "angel of YHWH" is also identified as being YHWH.[4] The angel of YHWH is none other than the pre-incarnate Yeshua. (See John 17:11-12.) Yeshua and his Father are both YHWH. They are echad (one).[5] And, they share the same family name—YHWH.

If we travel a bit further on in Scripture, we find that “the angel of YHWH” visits with Gideon (Judges 6:11), who eventually led the armies of Israel against the Midianites. The “angel of YHWH” is finally identified as being “YHWH” in Judges 6:14.

CO-EQUALITY?

If indeed Yeshua also carries the family name of “YHWH,” then the Divinity of Yeshua is firmly established. However, the concept of co-equality goes beyond Scripture, and is in fact, anti-Scriptural. Yeshua clearly states in John 14:28 that “the Father is greater than I.” Earlier on, in John 5:18, Yeshua was falsely accused of “making Himself equal with God.” Just one verse later, to counter this false accusation, He replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son does in like manner.” In verse 30, He said, “I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me.” And they are Father and Son. They are not twin brothers.

     Rav Shaul (Paul) writes, “Messiah is the head of every man, and man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Messiah (1 Corinthians 11:3).” In Philippians 2:5-8, we read, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.” At no point does Yeshua claim equality with the Father.

     It should also be noted that Yeshua often prayed to the Father, as can be seen in numerous examples in Scripture. However, there are no references of the Father praying to His Son. The mere concept of the Father praying to Yeshua is absurd. Meanwhile, the prayers of Yeshua recorded in Scripture again demonstrate His complete submission to the Father’s will. In Mathew 26:42, He prays, “O my Father, if this cup does not pass away from me, except I drink it, nevertheless Thy will be done.” In this prayer, Yeshua agreed to suffer the agony set before Him for your salvation. Have you accepted the atonement paid for by Yeshua, our Messiah? He is waiting for you to call upon Him.



[1] This is between the time in which the Tanakh (O.T.) was completed and before the time when the Newer Testament was written.

[2] Genesis 19:24.

[3] The above items are quoted from The Chabad Times, March 1990.

[4] Genesis 22:11-16.

[5] Yochanan (John) 10:30.