The Trinity in the Old Testament

Introduction

In the Old Testament the Trinity is a mystery that is foreshadowed and anticipated but only to be more fully revealed in the New Testament.

Monotheism in Old Testament

The Shema (Hebrew for “Hear) is the foundational truth about Yahweh and confirms there is no other God. This was revealed to the Israelites coming out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ASV

Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah:

Deuteronomy 4:35 ASV

Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him.

Isaiah 43:10 ASV

Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

Isaiah 46:9 ASV

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me;

It is Deuteronomy 6 that stands as a pivotal chapter in the Old Testament, offering profound insights into the spiritual and moral framework that guided the Israelites. It is the words given to Moses by God.

Jesus quotes the Shema in Mark 12:29 “Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one:”

The Mystery of the Godhead

There is an assumption that we humans can easily reason and understand the nature of this one true God. It makes no sense to us that God can be more than one person and still be one in essence. That God the Son can take on both divine and human nature seems impossible.

Is anything impossible to God? Do we think that human limited creatures can fully understand the divine eternal Creator? The revelation in the Old Testament of the Godhead (Trinity) is there but gradually revealed as we head towards a clearer understanding that will come later in the New Testament. Christians belief in the Trinity was not due to any Church Council but from understanding the Scriptures and realising that simple monotheism doesn’t go deep enough.

1. God speaks in the plural pronouns

Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 3:22 “And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—” Genesis 11:7 “Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.”

2. Multiple Persons Similtaneously Called God

Psalm 110:1 “Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Hosea 1:6–7 “And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And Jehovah said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah; for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, that I should in any wise pardon them. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by Jehovah their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.”

3. Identifying the Multiple Persons

One of the key examples in the story of Abraham’s three visitors in Genesis 18:9-33 The text does not limit the name of the LORD to only one of them.

The creation story in Genesis 1 seems to show elements of the trinity of God. The Father created the Heavens and the Earth (Gen 1:1), The Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the waters (Gen 1:2) and God speaking into existence connected to the Word in John 1:1. This shows the importance of the New Testament in further understanding God’s nature.

4. The Messiah

The Messianic prophesies about the Messiah are littered throughout the Old Testament.

The Seed

There are multiple promises of a Seed that will come through the lineage that God chooses and Satan will attempt to stop it.

Genesis 3:15 “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Genesis 9:27 “God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”

Genesis 12:3 “and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

Genesis 17:19 “And God said, Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.”

Genesis 18:18 “seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?”

Genesis 21:12 “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.”

Genesis 22:18 “and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

Tribe of Judah

Genesis 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come: And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.”

No Bone Broken

Exodus 12:46 “In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.”

We find out in John 19:36 “For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.” this is prophetic about the Messiah.

Blessing to the Gentiles

God has always intended to reach everyone from Genesis.

Genesis 22:18 “and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

Genesis 26:4 “and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;”

Blessing to the Firstborn Son

God points to a blessing for the firstborn son.

Exodus 13:2 “Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.”

Luke 2:23 “(as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord),”

Serpent in the Wilderness

Jesus reveals the deeper meanng behind what seems like a strange incident at the time.

Numbers 21:8–9 “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a standard: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.”

John 3:14–15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.”

A Star Out of David

Jesus reveals the deeper meanng behind what seems like a strange incident at the time.

Numbers 24:17–19 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite through the corners of Moab, And break down all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies; While Israel doeth valiantly. And out of Jacob shall one have dominion, And shall destroy the remnant from the city.”

The angels can testify to the meaning of this verse.

Matthew 2:2 “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” - Maji speaking

Luke 1:33 “and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” - Angel speaking

Luke 1:78 “Because of the tender mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,” - Zacharias

Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.” - Jesus speaking to John

5. God the Father

The Old Testament often uses “Father” in reference to Israel being his “Son” to show their covenantal relationship. Some verses do suggest he is a Father beyond Israel.

Genesis 12:3 “and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

Psalm 103:13–14 “Like as a father pitieth his children, So Jehovah pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”

Proverbs 3:11–12 “My son, despise not the chastening of Jehovah; Neither be weary of his reproof: For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”

Isaiah 63:15–16 “Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where are thy zeal and thy mighty acts? the yearning of thy heart and thy compassions are restrained toward me. For thou art our Father, though Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us: thou, O Jehovah, art our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is thy name.”

Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Jehovah, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Jeremiah 3:19 “But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.”

Malachi 1:6 “A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”

Malachi 1:11 “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts.”

Malachi 2:10 “Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?”

6. God the Son

There are verses that are seen as messianic prophecies or theophanies (appearances of God in a human form), which later were fulfilled in Jesus. The second person of the Trinity has both a divine and human nature that He has taken on.

Genesis 3:15 “and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (The promised son of the woman to defeat the Devil)

Exodus 3:2–6 “And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.” The Angel of the Lord appears in the burning bush, yet speaks as God Himself.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is interpreted in Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.” as referring to Jesus.

Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This verse refers to a divine child, clearly linked to God's nature and rule.

Micah 5:2 “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” The Messiah is eternal.

Daniel 7:13–14 “I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Jesus often referred to Himself as the "Son of Man," echoing this verse.

Psalm 2:1–12 “Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, And vex them in his sore displeasure: Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Now therefore be wise, O ye kings: Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, For his wrath will soon…”

Proverbs 30:4 “Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?” A rare reference to God having a son.

7. God the Holy Spirit

There are verses that are seen as messianic prophecies or theophanies (appearances of God in a human form), which later were fulfilled in Jesus. The second person of the Trinity has both a divine and human nature that He has taken on

Genesis 1:2 “And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” This is the first mention of the Holy Spirit, as "the Spirit of God" (Elohim), active in creation.

Numbers 11:25–29 “And Jehovah came down in the cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no more. But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all Jehovah’s people were prophets, that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them!” God’s Spirit is shared among leaders to empower them.

Judges like Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. The Spirit empowers them for leadership and deliverance.

Judges 3:10 “And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim.” Judges 6:34 “But the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together after him.” Judges 11:29 “Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon.” Judges 14:6 “And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”

Saul and David were anointed and empowered by the Spirit for their role.

1 Samuel 10:10 “And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them.” 1 Samuel 16:13–14 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him.”

Psalm 51:11 “Cast me not away from thy presence; And take not thy holy Spirit from me.”

There are lots of verses in Isaiah which are Messianic pointin gto the Holy Spirit’s role in future redemption.

Isaiah 11:2 “And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.” Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:” Isaiah 59:21 “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.” Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”

Ezekiel 36:26–27 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.”

Joel 2:28–29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.”