Exploring the concept of the Trinity can feel daunting, but this discussion breaks it down into digestible pieces. We dive deep into how the Trinity is reflected throughout the Bible, starting with its earliest mentions in the Old Testament. The very first verses of Genesis set the stage, with the plural form of 'God'—Elohim—hinting at a complexity beyond a singular entity. We also tackle the Shema, a cornerstone of Jewish faith, scrutinizing its proclamation of God’s oneness while uncovering layers that suggest a multifaceted nature. This examination leads us into the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, revealing how each person of the Trinity interacts with humanity across biblical narratives. Through various scriptural references, we see the distinct functions of the Trinity: God the Father as the initiator of divine commands, God the Son as the pre-incarnate Christ who appears to key figures, and the Holy Spirit empowering and guiding individuals for specific tasks. We conclude by emphasizing that understanding the Trinity is not about parsing complex theological jargon, but about recognizing the relational nature of God as He reveals Himself to us. Whether you're new to these concepts or looking to deepen your understanding, this exploration of the Trinity is designed to illuminate and clarify.

Takeaways:

• The Bible offers profound insights into finding meaning, purpose, love, and peace, essential for our lives today.
• Understanding the Trinity can be complex, yet the Bible provides clarity through its teachings across both the Old and New Testaments.
• The use of the plural term 'Elohim' in Genesis indicates a foundational understanding of the Trinity right from the start of Scripture.
• God's presence is revealed through the actions and interactions of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit throughout biblical history.
• The concept of the Trinity is illustrated through various roles within Scripture, highlighting their unique attributes and unity as one God.
• Each person of the Trinity plays a significant role in our relationship with God, offering us guidance, support, and spiritual gifts.

Links referenced in this episode:

• bible805.com
• blueletterbible.org

Understanding The Trinity Part 3, the Trinity throughout the Bible

Let me review for a minute where we are in this lesson, because it's part of a series on the Trinity.

Understanding the Trinity Part 1. In that first lesson we talked about the three persons of the Trinity, how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are uncreated, co equal and eternal persons.

Then in Understanding The Trinity Part 2, the one substance of the Trinity, we talked about the attributes shared by the members of the Trinity and what that means to us.

And now in this lesson, Part three, Understanding the Trinity, we're talking about the Trinity throughout the Bible where we will go over descriptions of the Trinity and roles of each member in the Old and and New Testaments. Please remember that.

Notes, podcasts, scripts, charts, associated resource links, including everything that you need to freely teach this lesson, are all available on the www.bible805.com website. Now, before we get into this lesson, I want to answer a question that people have been asking me.

Why does God make things like this, things like the Trinity, so hard to understand? Many people wonder about this and I want to take a minute to address it.

Answers to questions about God seem difficult because we simply don't know what the Bible says about importance topics.

It isn't a matter of God attempting to confuse us. It is a matter of the priorities of our lives. The answers are all in the Bible.

However, we usually haven't taken the time needed to read, to study, to research, to learn and discuss the topics that we have questions about. That's what I'm trying to do in Bible 805 and the Bible 805 Academy.

And I don't want to beat up on you because since you're listening to this lesson or participating in learning these things, you obviously are not someone who doesn't care and doesn't look at things. But I did want to briefly answer that question. So with that in mind, let's return to the subject of the Trinity.

Now, from the beginning, the Old Testament actually does talk about the Trinity. Many people are familiar with Genesis 1:1, where it says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And how this applies to the Trinity is the word God is in the plural format. It's the word Elohim, which is a plural masculine noun. Then along with it, the word made is the Hebrew word bara, and it is a singular verb.

So we have a plural noun and a singular verb verb. People always look at this as evidence for the existence and understanding of the Trinity from literally the very beginning of the Bible.

Also with the passage in Genesis, the same Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is used when it says, then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us.

That's how the new Living Testament translates it. And again, here, God is clearly a plurality of persons. That's all well and good, But what about the Shema, the defining statement of the Jewish faith? Now, you might not be familiar with that term, but let me read the verse to you.

The Shema is where it says in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength.

At first reading, it's hard to see any evidence of the Trinity in this verse. And many use this verse to deny the existence of the Trinity. I mean, after all, it says, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

But let's look more closely at what the verse actually says. Let's dig deeper into the word one. A closer look at the word one in the Hebrew is very interesting. It's the word ehad, and it is used in the Shema.

But it's also used in many other places in the Old Testament as a word that contains multiple entities in the oneness that makes them one. Now, I'm going to give you some examples of this. In Genesis 11:6, it says, And the Lord said, behold, the people is one.

From the Hebrew word use, we can see the word one can contain more than one entity. Talking about a group of people and Pharaoh's dreams. But what kind of oneness could there be with God if it is not a oneness of person?

It is the oneness of substance, of attributes that I illustrated for you in the previous lessons and in the chart that I will be sharing in the notes for this lesson. Also, let me describe it to you.

It is page that across the top it says one God.

Then down one side we have a white column and we have the three persons of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Distinct persons, eternally coexisting. But where they one? That's in the next column.

It's a pale blue column. And they are one in their substance. They all share the same attributes equally and eternally.

All are holy, just, merciful, love, all knowing, everywhere, all powerful, unchangeable and eternal.

This is part of a visual explanation of the term that Tertullian in 213 AD came up with to describe the Trinity, where he says, the Trinity is una substantia, tres personae, meaning one substance, three persons.

But did the people in the Old Testament have any sense of that, even though by definitions of the words used, it's really clear?

Well, there's another word used in the Shema that gives us a hint that they did, and that is just simply the word God. Not only the word one being plural and showing that it can contain plural entities, but the word God itself, as in the Lord God. The Lord is one.

And the reason is this is the plural noun Elohim. It's the same plural noun that is used in Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:26, where it is clearly talking about a plurality of persons.

This is the same word used in the Shema. But these three places are not the only places. The same plural word Elohim is used in Genesis.

Now, this word being used throughout the Old Testament, we trust it because if God is the author of Scripture and we believe that he is, in the use of this word Elohim, God was consistently communicating something about himself, that his oneness was not that of a solitary entity, but a plurality of persons. What we know as the Trinity. But who are they? Who are the persons of the Trinity and how are they revealed?

Or were they even revealed in the Old Testament? To answer, let's overview the Old Testament to see what it says about God and how it describes his encounters with people.

John 1:18 repeats this whole idea in the New Testament where it says, no one has seen God at any time. John 6:46 says, not anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father.

Clearly, both Old and New Testaments tell us that God the Father cannot appear to humans. But then how do we explain the following verses where it says that God did appear to humans?

Now in Genesis 17:1 it says, now when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless.

And then in Genesis 18:1 it says, the Lord appeared to him by the tabernacle trees of Mamre as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.

In Joshua 5:13 15 it says, When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand as commander of the armies of the Lord, I have now come. Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence

In Judges 6:22. Now Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord.So Gideon said, alas, O Lord God, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

And then of course, one of my favorites is in Daniel 3. 2 where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace. And Nebuchadnezzar's looking into there and he says, look, he answered, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire. They are not hurt. And the form of the fourth is is like the Son of God.

What's going on in these passages where the Old Testament characters clearly say they saw God?

Understanding the Trinity as we previously discussed, it explains it really easily if there's a plurality of persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, these appearances are of the second person of the Trinity, God the Son in addition to his participation at creation.

He appeared at various times in the Old Testament as this in what theologians refer to as the pre incarnate Christ, meaning this was Jesus before he was permanently incarnated or in fleshed when he was born as a baby in the manger. He is also called THE not an, Angel of Jehovah or the angel of the Lord in many passages.

Clarification-- an angel is the Hebrew word word malak, meaning a messenger or representative, not the current cultural idea of a cute little creature with wings. And the angel of the Lord is God the Father's unique representative, God the Son in his pre incarnate form. Now this just isn't my idea.

This view is shared by many theologians. I'm going to give you two comments from Precept Austin. It's a great resource site for all sorts of Bible studies.

These are two of the many, many entries that are there for the angel of the Lord.

The first one comes from John Walvoord, a highly respected gentleman for his exposition of the prophetic sections of the Scripture, and he was former president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

He lists these arguments supporting the conclusion that the appearances of the angel of Jehovah or the angel of the Lord represent what he calls and others have called them Christophanies, or visible appearances of our Lord Jesus Christ prior to his incarnation.

Now here the reasons that he says this is:

First of all, the angel of Jehovah of the Old Testament no longer appears after the incarnation of Christ.

Both the angel of Jehovah and Christ are sent by the Father.

The angel of Jehovah could not be either the Father or the Holy Spirit, for the Father and the Spirit are invisible to man.

Then Warren Wiersbe has just this wonderful comment on it.

Now Wiersbe goes on to say, and this, this is so touching, I thought. Anyway, I think you'll find it that way too.

These pre-incarnate visits of Jesus Christ to the earth were to meet special needs and to accomplish special tasks. The fact that the Son of God took on a temporary body, left heaven, and came down to help a rejected servant girl surely reveals his love and grace.

Isn't that like our Lord?

Moving along. . . . We know who it is who appears to humanity, Jesus, the second person of The Trinity in his pre incarnate form.

But let's now look at the God who cannot be seen. Just a few verses here, because this is who we generally think of when we're reading a lot of passages in the Old Testament.

God the Father, the first person in the Trinity, is the one who speaks, who decrees, demands and initiates many of the actions of the Bible. He is the one who gives messages to the prophets who then speak God's words to the people.

So far we've seen in the Old Testament, God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, is the one who commands, gives the law, speaks to the prophets who speak to the people who cannot be seen. And then we've also looked at in more detail God the Son.

The second person of the Trinity is the pre incarnate Christ, also known as the angel of the Lord, who takes on human form at significant times in the lives of his chosen people. But what about the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit came on people for specific tasks in the old testament.

Then in Exodus 31:2,4, it says, See, I have chosen Bezalel, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge, and with all kinds of skills, skills to make artistic designs.

Then in Ezekiel 2, 2, it talks about how the Spirit guides the prophets, where it says, The Spirit came to me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

But the Spirit could also be removed, as when Saul disobeyed, the spirit departed.

Now I'd like to share a summary of the Trinity in the Old Testament.

The use of the word Elohim, a plural noun for God, is used over 2,600 times and describes both the individual personhood and united characteristics of the Trinity. Individual passages then clarify the work of each member of the Trinity in these the first person of the Trinity, God as Father, is Lord of all.

Though invisible to human eyes, he initiates, inspires, speaks and acts.

The second person of the Trinity, God the Son appeared as the head of the Lord's armies and the angel of the Lord at specific times and was also looked forward to as the coming Messiah.

The third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit empowered those chosen by God for holiness and service, but was not to be universally and permanently given to all believers as he will be.

The New Testament now those separate persons, they're all at work together in significant events in the Old Testament following the exodus from Egypt. Here's how the three persons of the Trinity interacted with the children of Israel.

God the Father speaks to the people at Sinai.He gives them the law.

God the Son, the pre incarnate Jesus is the God Moses spoke to face to face and who appears to Joshua as the commander of the Lord's army.

God the Holy Spirit inspires and gifts with his skills the builders of the tabernacle in their obedience to God's commands,

Though not as explicit as the New Testament, in other words, there's no passage that spells out really clearly what all three of them are doing this at the same time, like it does in the baptism of Jesus, which we'll talk about in a minute. Yet if you are intentionally looking for it, you can clearly see the work of the various members of the Trinity as you read the Old Testament.

Then in the New Testament, the three persons of the Trinity are more clearly seen. A primary example of this, of course, is in the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 3:16 and 17.

It says, When Jesus was baptized immediately he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Jesus is baptized, the Father speaks, the Spirit descends.

All three are present doing different actions, all initiating the ministry of Jesus. After the baptism of Jesus, Jesus continued interactions with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was clearly in constant communication with God his Father as he prayed for healing, for miracles, and simply interacting about everything as he did when he got up early each day to pray.

The Spirit was also involved. As this passage describes, Jesus began his ministry in the power of the Spirit.Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and news of him went throughout all the surrounding region at the end of his earthly life.

The work of the Spirit in Jesus life is described in this way in Romans 8:11 when it says the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead.

And not only did the Holy Spirit raise Jesus from the dead, but he now has a new relationship with us. Today, all believers, not just those with a special task to do, have a new relationship with the Holy Spirit.

He again promised the Holy Spirit just before his ascension into heaven. In Acts 1:4-5,8, it says, on one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I want to make a clarification here that the Christians indwelling by the Holy Spirit is not a second blessing.

The Holy Spirit is given to all believers at the moment of salvation. We do not receive the Spirit as a second blessing as evidenced by speaking in tongues or the laying on of hands.

And I know there are different beliefs about this in the body of Christ and this is something that we, we do don't really have to divide on, but we can have different viewpoints on. Acts is a historical book, not a doctrinal one.

And many of the events in it that it records are historically accurate, but they're not normative for the church today, nor are they normal for the particular order that things happened in.

However, now there is a difference between being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which every believer is, and being filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit, which is a condition based on our obedience. To further clarify, to be filled with the Spirit means controlled, empowered by the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 we clarifies this a little bit where it says, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Just like how wine can control you, let the Spirit actually control you, not just be in you.

In the Living Bible it translates the same verse this way. Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path. Be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by Him.

We can limit the Holy Spirit's power in our life and we can make him sad by our behavior. And again go back to the lesson where we talked about the Holy Spirit as a person and just how critical it is not to make the Holy Spirit sad.

We sometimes don't realize we have that power. But in Ephesians 4:30 it says don't cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Another important clarification by saying the Holy Spirit is given to all believers at the moment of salvation and that we do not receive this Spirit as a second blessing, as evidenced by speaking in tongues or laying on of hands or any other action, does not mean that these gifts are not important or have ceased.

Though Christians of goodwill can differ on this, I believe this again is just my personal belief based on the Scriptures and what I see God doing in our world today.

I believe all the gifts of the Spirit, all of them tongues, healing, miracles, prophecy, are still operative today and distributed as the Spirit wills. Just as there are many more commonly accepted gifts such as teaching or administration. Not everybody gets the same gifts.

Not everybody's a teacher, not everybody's a good administrator. Also too, not everyone speaks in tongues, not everyone's able to heal. But the Holy Spirit at times and how he wills does give people different gifts.

But the theological term for the viewpoint that I am expressing is continuationist or someone who believes the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue and the term cessationist is used for those who believe the miraculous gifts have ceased.

Now to review and summarize about the Trinity and many other biblical truths, God doesn't tell his people everything all at once, but he can be trusted to reveal that all that needs to be revealed in its proper time will be as he did in the progressive revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament.

God the Father instructed and cared for his people. Though he was not seen, his voice was heard and message communicated through the prophet.

Jesus assumed human form in special circumstances, though he was primarily looked forward to as the coming Messiah.

In a similar way, the Holy Spirit only came upon special people to equip them for specific tasks and would only be given to all believers after the Messiah's death and resurrection. All three persons of the Trinity in their various roles are shown throughout the the Old Testament and then in the New Testament.

We see the members of the Trinity more clearly and more fully differentiated Jesus while remaining fully God became incarnate in human flesh and secured our salvation by his death on the cross. Jesus was in constant contact with God the Father, asking for his intervention in healing, wisdom and help in many areas.

God the Father was constantly directing Jesus in His ministry.

The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus for his work and now indwells every believer immediately upon acceptance of Jesus as Savior and comforts, strengthens and gifts believers for service and spiritual growth. As God progressively reveals, we get to know our triune God better and better as we walk with Him.

I trust this brief study of the Trinity has helped you better understand your triune God, a Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Please download the charts and related materials and share them with others as the Trinity is truly not a doctrine that is difficult to understand or explain. Our God wants to be known and has revealed Himself in His Word. We simply need to look at it carefully to understand.

But as wonderful as this revelation of our triune God is to us, when we study His Word in reality, it is still through a glass darkly.

Think how much more wonderful it will be when someday we experience God the Father and the Spirit more fully and when we see our Savior face to face, then we will truly begin to understand the Trinity, though through all eternity we'll never grasp the fullness of it. That's all for now.

Please check out the Show Notes, a complete downloadable transcript, graph expansion and related materials at www.bible805.com until next time, I'm Yvon Prehn your fellow pilgrim, writer and teacher for Jesus, and I'd like to close with this benediction.

May you know the invitation of God to move from confusion to clarity, from wandering to rest, from loneliness to knowing you are loved, from turmoil to peace, from wherever you are in your spiritual journey to a growing knowledge of God's Word and in your personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.