class: center, middle ## Introduction - The Trinity in the Old Testament (Derived from https://ichthys.com/1Theo.htm) --- ### Summary God has always been triune in nature; He did not somehow change to become three persons in New Testament times, but rather, has always existed as such. What has changed is not God, but our perspective and understanding of Him. As to why God might have chosen to veil his triune nature until the time He actually did reveal it to mankind, we put forward two explanations: that God did not reveal His triune nature in order to head off idolatry among the people of Israel, and that God did not reveal His triune nature simply because it was not possible for humanity to fully grasp it until the First Advent of Christ. --- #### Outline - [Given the benefit of subsequent clarifying New Testament revelation, the Trinity is visible in the Old Testament](#4) - [Matthew 22:41-46](#5) - [Prophetic foreshortening](#6) - [Why did God decide to veil the triune nature of His essence in Old Testament times?](#7) - [Idolatry as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature](#8) - [The person of Jesus Christ not yet come as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature](#9) --- ### Given the benefit of subsequent clarifying New Testament revelation, the Trinity is visible in the Old Testament The Trinity is not only present in the verses of the Old Testament, but portrayed clearly enough to see (with the benefit of New Testament revelation). - When God says "let *us* make Man in *our* image (Gen.1:26) - When the angels of God praise Him with their three-fold "holy, holy, holy" (Is.6:3) - When Aaron's sons are told to "put My name" on the Israelites with a triple blessing (Num.6:24-26) In these cases and others, the clear intent is to reflect (if not to convey) the triune nature of God. Moreover, some Old Testament scriptures cast the Trinity in even sharper relief, such as king David's last words which in quick succession refer to God as "the Spirit of the Lord", "the God of Israel", and "the Rock of Israel" (2Sam.23:2-3; see 1Cor.10:4 for the image of Christ as Israel's Rock). There are many other passages commonly cited to demonstrate the reality of the Trinity in the Old Testament, a reality shimmering just beneath the veil (e.g., Is.48:15-17; 63:9-10), but perhaps the best example is the one used by our Lord to demonstrate that His divinity was indeed prophesied by scripture (cf. Zech.2:7-13): Matthew 22:41-46. We'll look at this passage next. --- ### Matthew 22:41-46 <div class="special-content scripture"> <strong>Matthew 22:41-46 | <a href="/site/content-features/#ichthys-translations">Ichthys translation</a></strong> <p>As the Pharisees were gathering together, Jesus put a question to them, saying "What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They answered Him, "David's son." Then He said to them, "Well then, how can David, speaking in the Spirit, call Him Lord? For he says,<br />   The Lord said to My Lord,<br />   "Sit down at my right hand,<br />   until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." [Psalm 110:1]<br /> So if David calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare to question Him any longer from that day forward. </p> </div> We are not to assume that David, when he penned this prophecy under divine inspiration, saw the coming Christ as clearly as he wished to. Indeed, we have it from Christ that "many prophets and righteous men desired to see" what was being revealed to Jesus' generation face to face, namely, the unveiling of the Messiah (Matt.13:17; Lk.10:24; cf. Jn.8:56; 1Pet.1:10-12). The revelation of Jesus Christ to the world during His 1st Advent, in addition to explaining passages such as Ps.110:1 above (Christ is David's Son in His humanity, but David's Lord in His deity), is also, not coincidentally, the basis for explaining many other Old Testament passages that are only fully understood by means of our likewise now more complete understanding of the Trinity. --- ### Prophetic foreshortening In the Old Testament, the three Persons stand in front of us like three mighty mountains, one after the other, all partially visible, but not readily distinguishable from each other. Only with the revelation provided by the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the New Testament do we see the Old Testament picture of the Trinity from a sidelong perspective, so that now the three mountains become visible in their own right when viewed from this new vantage point. We should note that all three mountains have always been there, even if humanity was not previously able to distinguish them from one another. One did not suddenly become three. Instead, our perspective merely changed. This illustration of the Trinity in the Old Testament is commonly called "prophetic foreshortening". For more on this phenomenon, see [part 1 of Coming Tribulation, section IV.1.a, "Prophetical Foreshortening"](https://ichthys.com/Tribulation-Part1.htm#Foreshortening). --- ### Why did God decide to veil the triune nature of His essence in Old Testament times? Exactly why did God decide to veil the triune nature of His essence in Old Testament times, choosing instead to only foreshadow it, in the manner discussed above? Sometimes the explanation put forth for this veiling is the prevention of idolatry: God did not make His triune nature known to Israel in Old Testament times to help them avoid falling into idolatry (the mechanics of which we will examine in a moment). While this explanation has merit, it is not alone sufficient. We will instead argue that God did not reveal Himself in triune form before the 1st Advent of Christ simply because the Trinity can only be clearly explained and understood after the 1st Advent of Christ. In any case, the point is God has good reasons for His progressive revelation of truth to humanity, and we need to have unshakeable faith in His wisdom and judgment. God knows what He is doing... and not in the way we humans think we do. For He is control of *everything*, and nothing happens except that which is part of His Plan. --- #### Idolatry as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature Idolatry, a major problem in ancient times and one of Israel's most serious stumbling blocks, is often adduced as the reason for this veiling in pre-Christian times of our present knowledge of the Trinity. Certainly it is true that the threat of idolatry to the faith and practice of Old Testament believers was a very real one. We need only to consider that the first two of the "ten commandments" deal with this subject (Ex.20:1-6), and that Balaam's counsel of idolatrous seduction was more destructive to Israel than any curse could ever have been (Num.25). The argument suggests that there was, therefore, a need to emphasize the *oneness* of God in the face of this very real polytheistic threat, thus obviating any possible twisting of a proper understanding of the Trinity. This explanation possesses much of value, but it does not entirely resolve the matter. <div class="special-content sidenote"> <strong> <a href="/site/content-features/#sidenotes">Sidenote</a> </strong> <p>Pagan pantheons (not to mention pagan religions) are different from God and the true worship of Him in every way, and this would have been obvious to true believers, revelation of the Trinity notwithstanding. To state but two obvious points of departure, pagan pantheons are never even close to being "one" in purpose as the Trinity is (Jn.10:30; cf. 1Cor.3:8), nor are their individual members so integral to the existence of the whole.</p> </div> --- #### The person of Jesus Christ not yet come as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature The full answer lies in the person of Jesus Christ. Before the fact, before we see with our own eyes Christ come in the flesh, His humility, His suffering, His sacrifice for us, can we really appreciate in full the Trinity and what God has chosen to do for us in Christ's incarnation and death on the cross? Without the *accomplished reality* of the incarnation of Jesus, how could we ever but dimly conceive the glory of it? And without the accomplished fact of His incarnation, how could we possibly understand and appreciate the triune nature of God? For it is only through Christ – after He has come into the world in person – that we begin to see God with the clarity of vision it has now been given us to possess (Jn.1:18; 14:9). --- #### The person of Jesus Christ not yet come as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature Just as the temple veil that symbolically separated us from the presence of God was split in two by Christ's sacrifice on our behalf (Matt.27:51), so the veil that in the Old Testament partially obscured the person of Christ from our view has been lifted by His actual advent in the flesh – to die on our behalf. So that now, through our faith in Jesus Christ, we see God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit more clearly than we ever could before: <div class="special-content scripture"> <strong>2 Corinthians 4:6 | <a href="/site/content-features/#ichthys-translations">Ichthys translation</a></strong> <p>For God who said, "Let light shine forth from the darkness!", is He who has shone forth [His light] into our hearts to illuminate our knowledge of God's glory <strong><em>in the person of Jesus Christ</em></strong>.</p> </div> <div class="special-content scripture"> <strong>2 Corinthians 3:14 | <a href="/site/content-features/#ichthys-translations">Ichthys translation</a></strong> <p>For until this very day, the same veil remains [upon their unbelieving hearts] when the Old Testament is read, and it is not removed [when they hear these scriptures], because it is [only] done away with <strong><em>in Christ</em></strong>.</p> </div> --- #### The person of Jesus Christ not yet come as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature So: - We see the Son more clearly after He comes into the world (Jn.1:14). - The Son can only reveal the Father more clearly after He comes into the world (Jn.1:18). - The Spirit cannot be sent to indwell believers until after the Son has been glorified (Jn.7:39). And therefore: - The Trinity can only be clearly explained and understood after the 1st Advent of Christ, a task undertaken by the New Testament. - While in the Old Testament, before the 1st Advent, the members of the Trinity are, understandably, not as clearly distinguished as they are in the New Testament. <!-- Footnote List --> <div class="footnotes"> <ol> </ol> </div> --- #### Outline - [Given the benefit of subsequent clarifying New Testament revelation, the Trinity is visible in the Old Testament](#4) - [Matthew 22:41-46](#5) - [Prophetic foreshortening](#6) - [Why did God decide to veil the triune nature of His essence in Old Testament times?](#7) - [Idolatry as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature](#8) - [The person of Jesus Christ not yet come as an explanation for God's veiling of His nature](#9)