The Truinity of God in the Old Testament

Someone has said it has been written. I'm sure by more than one person that your view of God will cover your view will color your view of everything in life. And that's certainly true. It how we view God really determines how we view everything else. And we only view other things in this world and in this life in the proper perspective when we have God in the proper perspective. And when we have Him in the proper viewpoint in our lives. And so the study of what the Bible teaches about God is very applicable. It may seem like a dusty, dry theology class at times, but it's very applicable to how we view everything in life because our vision of life and what it is and what it means is only as clear and only as big as the clarity and magnitude of our vision of God. So we've spent a lot of time on the attributes of God to see how the Bible describes Him and we're real deep now into the mysterious and yet amazing subject of the Trinity. And we have seen that a more accurate word to describe that part of God's character and essence and nature is triunity, which really combines both the unity of God that there's one God and the Trinity, which means there is there are three persons in the Godhead. Last time we ended up with this statement defining the Trinity or the triunity of God in this way that within the one Godhead there are three eternal distinct persons, the Father, Son and Spirit. The oneness of God and the threeness of God, if you want to put it that way, the Trinity are not the same thing. They're not on the same level. The oneness of God has to do with His nature in His essence. The threeness has to do with the persons. There are three distinct persons, all of whom share the same nature and they are the only ones in creation that have that same nature, the nature of God. And so oneness and threeness in one, the Trinity, it is a very deep and mysterious doctrine and difficult to grasp logically. We also saw last time that it is not the emphasis of the Old Testament, but it is found there. And so what we're going to do tonight is look at how the Trinity is seen in the Old Testament, the triunity of God, is manifest in the Old Testament. We're going to look at a lot of verses because I want you to see that this is not just a minor little thing that's based on one or two vague passages. This is really quite woven into the fabric of the Old Testament, even though it is not the thrust of the Old Testament. We saw that in the Old Testament, the emphasis is on the unity of God because of the prevailing polytheism, the worship of many gods on the part of the nations around Israel. God wanted to establish very clearly the foundation first that there is one God. There's one God. The further you go in the Old Testament, the more you begin to see little glimmers of the three persons and we'll see that fully blown in Isaiah a little bit later tonight. And then by the time you get to the New Testament, the foundation is laid and now you can build more truth on that and God makes more clear of the Trinity in the New Testament. Okay, before we jump into the five ways in which the triunity of God has seen in the Old Testament, any comments or questions about anything we've done thus far, you want to get cleared up before we move on. Okay, everybody is on the same page. Everything is clear or it's like mud. I'm not sure, but we'll proceed anyway. One of the ways in which the triunity of God is seen in the Old Testament is in the very Hebrew word for God. If you look at Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, the very first verse in the Bible, you find this verse in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. You say, well, that doesn't say anything about the Trinity to me. Just says God, the Hebrew word for God is Elohim. It's printed out for you, I think, on your outline. Yes, the Hebrew word for God is Elohim, at least this word is. Whenever you see the word God in the Old Testament, it is the Hebrew word Elohim, which basically is the most general name for God. It was the name it would be the God who created all things, the God who on that level would be understood by even the Gentiles. There were other names for God that were more particular to the Hebrews, to the Jewish nation, and their relationship with Him. But this is the more general word for God. It's used 2,300 times in the Old Testament. The ending of the word is a plural ending, and that's where I'm coming to. Elohim, the Eam, I am ending, is plural. The plural ending in Hebrew is that I am ending. It appears to be, in the very name of God, the indication of a plurality in his very name. Now, I will, in all fairness, say that that is debated among biblical scholars. There are many who feel that this is what is sometimes called a plural of majesty. And there is such a thing in the Hebrew language, a plural of majesty, where plural terms are used to describe the greatness of something. You make it plural, it describes the greatness, the majesty of something, so it's called the plural of majesty. And some good conservative Old Testament theologians believe that that's the way that that that's what is in the meaning of Elohim. That it simply refers to the greatness of God, the majesty of God, that he is the absolute ruler of the universe. However, it's not necessary to see it that way. Hebrew kings were never referred to in the plural. And there were many who elevated themselves above God, many of the wicked kings, but they never referred to themselves in the plural. The word for king, and even their names are always in the singular. So the Hebrews did not see themselves that way as kings in the Old Testament. And there are many who feel that this plural of majesty idea is a modern Hebrew concept and was not true in biblical Hebrew. I would lean that direction because there are other singular nouns in English that are plural in Hebrew. And the plurality of them is intended to convey both many parts, several parts, but one unity. For instance, the Hebrew word for water is maim as that same plural ending, I am. And the concept is water is a unity. There's one body of water, but it's made up of many drops of water, many parts that compound or combine to make the one. The Hebrew word for heaven or the heavens is samayim. It has that same ending again, that same plural ending. And the idea is to communicate the heaven or the heavens composed of many parts that form the one body of the heavens. You've got the atmosphere, you've got planets, you've got stars, you've got other things that make up the one heaven, but many parts, one essence. And so it is possible, I think, to see even in this plural name of God, a unity made up of several parts. Even the plurality of God indicated, the plurality of the persons indicated in the very name that is used of God. So it's not maybe the strongest way to see it in the Old Testament because there is some debate about that whole concept of the plural of majesty. But it possibly does show the Trinity, or at least hence that it. Any questions, comments there? Yes, Byron? What you were saying is, you did not have the purpose of the Word of God in the Word of God. Right. If you would take the view that I do, they saw God as majestic, but they did not refer to Him as Elohim to indicate that majesty. It was not by them used as a plural of majesty. They knew of his majesty and of his greatness, but they just spoke of it in other terms. They were not trying to indicate that through the name itself. But again, that's debatable. Anything else there? Okay, we get to some of the more clear and solid proofs for the Trinity in the Old Testament. This one will jump out at you, and that is that there are plural pronouns used of God. And this is really quite startling in the way it's worded. If you think about it, plural pronouns used of God. Let's look at four examples. Genesis 1, 26, and 27. You've read these verses many times, heard them many times, and maybe you never recognize this. Notice how God speaks of creating man, verse 26. Then God said, let us, us plural, let us make man in our image, our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground. And then verse 27, so God created mankind in his own image and the image of God, he created the male and female, he created them. And in the Hebrew language again, it's more easily, it's easier to distinguish singular and plural verbs because they have different endings. And the verb in verse 27 for created is plural. So it indicates the subject, God is also plural, because they have to agree just like most of the time, at least in English, they do. So let us God said, let us make man in our image, that seems to indicate more than one person in the Godhead, because plural pronouns are used. Again, chapter 3, verse 22, same thing. 322, and the Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us, clear plurality there, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. He's become like one of us indicating more than one person in that term God, God is speaking more than one person indicated, however. Look at chapter 11, verses 7 and 8, tower of bable incident. Verse 6, the Lord said, if as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Verse 7, come let us go down and confuse their language, so they will not understand each other, so the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth and they stopped building. So you actually got the two things here again, the plural pronoun, let us go down and then the verb scattered is in plural in verse 8. So again, two indications that there's more than one person being indicated here and speaking here. And then one other which is really quite remarkable in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 8, this is the famous passage on the call of Isaiah where he sees the Lord high and lifted up in his temple and the angels crying holy, holy, holy and then notice what God says to him in verse 8. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then I said, here am I sending me. That one is quite remarkable because it uses both the singular and the plural, so in case you were beginning to think, well maybe plural pronouns are always used when God is speaking. Here you have an indication that in the same context in two questions, one right after another, the unity of God is stressed, whom shall I send and then the plurality of the person's is stressed, who will go for us? So really quite remarkable indications of more than one person in the Godhead. Now these are not errors in grammar, they're not contradictions, they are at least a hint, I think a pretty strong indication in the Old Testament that there are three persons in the Godhead. Okay, so the plural pronouns, any question, comment about that. Alright, let's look at the next proof and that is the Hebrew word for one, which is the word a-had. Okay, I have that printed out for you good, so you know how to spell it. The word itself means one, but it can often be used, and we'll see a number of instances of it, it can be often used of this concept. One unit composed of two or more parts, and it's clear in the setting where it's used that it's one unit being spoken of, but that unit is composed of more than one part. There are several parts that make up that one unit, so the Hebrew word one often used to describe that there's one God actually can communicate and often does communicate that that oneness is composed of several parts, equal parts. Let's see a few examples of that, Genesis 1, 5, the creation story. God called the light day and the darkness he called night, and there was evening, and there was morning the first day, or one day, one day composed of two parts, one day, but two parts, morning and evening. And then in Genesis 2, 24, this one is familiar to you. When Eve is created, statement is made, that is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Now, there is a oneness in marriage, but there are still two separate persons, right? So this oneness is not physical oneness, there are two separate persons, but there is a oneness that comes about in many different ways, and we've seen them when we've talked about marriage and preached on marriage, what that oneness means. It has a physical component to it, but it also has to do with psychologically, as far as God sees them, their unity in marriage, their togetherness, their companionship, all of those things are included in that oneness, but they are still two separate persons. So they become one, one flesh, but still two separate persons. A unit composed of at least, well, in this case, only two parts. All right, here's another one in Genesis 11, we saw it earlier, again the Tower of Babel, and it's in verse 6. The Lord said, if as one people, not one person, it is one unit, but composed of many different parts, many people make up that one unit, that one unit that God calls one people. They are one people because at this point, they all speak the same language, they are all the same race. There is no ethnic difference yet, that comes because of the confusion of languages, and people pulling off into separate groups, intermarrying, and the gene pool begins to produce different races. But here they are one people, not one person, a unity, but a unity composed of many different parts, many different individuals. So God says, if as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them, and so we will confuse their language, he says. And then another passage in Deuteronomy 6.4, and this is interesting because it's the great, as we saw last week, the great passage that Israel always used for the oneness of God, and it uses the same word, a God. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and this word means a compound unity. It is a unit made up of several different parts, or at least it can certainly mean that it's interesting that that word is used of God and His nature in this passage. One other example, and we saw this briefly on Sunday evening, if you were here in this service, and how many of you were in small groups and other youth ministries and so forth on Sunday night, but we were looking at Ezekiel 37, and the vision of the valley of the dry bones. Just following that vision, God tells Ezekiel to do something else, to demonstrate the restoration of the nation of Israel, which is what chapter 37 is all about. Do something else to illustrate this, to picture this, to demonstrate this, he says in verse 15, the word of the Lord came to me, son of man, take a stick of wood, and write on it, belonging to Judah, and the Israelites associated with him, then take another stick of wood, and write on it, belonging to Joseph, that is Ephraim, and all the Israelites associated with him. So what he's doing is he's saying, now picture the two nations that split off after Solomon's reign, the northern kingdom of Israel, came from Ephraim, Joseph, the southern kingdom of Judah, take one stick for each of those kingdoms, and they were that way for about 400 years, they were divided before Judah went into captivity also. And then he says in verse 17, join them together into one stick, so that they will become one in your hand. Now, did something miraculous happen to where those sticks suddenly fused into one stick? No, he says, join them together in your hand, so that they'll be one stick in your hand. He's holding, as it were, one stick, but they are two separate parts, two separate sticks, now become one in his hand. And so this is the idea of that compound unity, a unit made up of several parts. The very concept of one in the Hebrew language allows for that, and sometimes even clearly demonstrates it. So, you know, when the Bible says there's one God, it is not disallowing the Trinity. In fact, it made by the very language include the Trinity. Okay, any questions there? John? I'm not sure how they would respond to that, to be honest. I'd have to look at some of their literature again to make sure. I know that that Jehovah's Witnesses base a lot of what they teach on their interpretation of John 1-1. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and they take that to be little G, the Word was A God, and that's completely inappropriate with the Greek language. Now, they say that because it does not have a definite article in front of it, and when the Greek word does not have a definite article, like the, then it can be translated A. Well, but the Greek language also leaves out the article in order to stress nature. He was deity. And so, Jehovah's Witnesses really build their theology of no Trinity on the basis that Christ was not God, and they really push John 1-1 on that. I'm not sure how they would respond to what I've just taught about this oneness being seen in three compound unity. I'm not sure what they would say about that. Anyone come from a Jehovah's Witness background or might know how they would respond to this. Anybody here, Jehovah's Witness? Alright, any other questions? Okay, let's look then at a very strong one, these last two are especially strong. Passages that mention two or more persons in the Trinity. There are passages in the Old Testament that mention two or more in the same passage, two or more persons in the Trinity in the same passage. Let's start with Genesis 1924, although that is not the strongest, that can be understood in a couple of different ways. But Genesis 1924 is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. And you remember the, there were three angels that came down to meet with Abraham, and two of those went on into Sodom and delivered lot. And the one stays behind and talks with Abraham and indicates to him what he's about to do in bringing judgment. So it seems to be the one who stayed with Abraham is clearly, if you read the whole passage, is clearly a pre-incarnate, pre-birth of Jesus in the New Testament, pre-incarnate appearance of Christ because he is seen as the Lord. And he is worshipped as such by Abraham. And he is the one who's going to bring the judgment. Okay, so because of that, because he has overlooked Sodom and Gomorrah with Abraham and shown him what he is about to do, the other two angels are sent down to get lot. And as many of his family as we'll go with him out of the city, it appears that the one who rains down fire, the one who calls for the judgment is the one who was with Abraham. Which would be God, the son, Jesus Christ, an Old Testament appearance of Christ. Okay, now I've built up to that because look at what verse 24 says. Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens. Okay, who is the first Lord spoken of? I believe it is the angel who was speaking with Abraham who is called Lord previously in the passage and was showing Abraham what he was going to do in bringing judgment down. Well, where did he bring that judgment down from from the Lord out of heaven? So you've got the Lord on earth and the Lord in heaven. It's Christ on earth and the Father in heaven, both of them spoken of as Lord here. So I think you do have two persons of the Trinity mentioned together in this passage. Okay, I'm going to move on to the next one, but if you have any questions or something you don't understand or you could make clearer than I have, please do. Just raise your hand and we'll stop. Yes. Yes. So these are the two verses of the use. It's a John 1428, the Father of the Spirit that I am, which shows in the name of Satan, the one 18, the man that's being called the Lord of the Spirit. That's very interesting, Courtney. Everybody hear that from from Jehovah's Witness publication itself, the two verses they used, John 1428, was it the Father is greater than me? And obviously our response would be to that Jesus is declaring his submission to the Father while he's here on earth and saying in that sense, the Father is the one running the plan and I'm being obedient to him because there were many other places in the same book where, for instance, he said in John 1030, I and the Father are one. And he said in John 5, my Father works on the Sabbath and I also work the very fact that he said my Father calls the Jews to realize he was claiming deity. So that's how we would respond to that passage, but they use that passage and also John 118, they evidently use no man has seen God at any time. But the verse goes on to say, but the son of God, God the Son, God the one and only, who is Christ, has made him known. And so he is known in Christ. And verse 14, just before that clearly indicates that Jesus came down from heaven, dwelt among us, tabernacle among us, and made known who God is. So it's interesting, they would use those two verses, but that's what most cults will do. They'll pick a couple of verses out of context, especially out of the context of the whole flow of scripture and try to prove something from them. But thanks, thanks Courtney for getting us that information. Yes Steve? And it means that we see that our influence comes from the way we want to be. Yeah. So it's easy to follow back on. If you can't prove your point from scripture, then you can always say, well, your version was wrong. So that's a nice escape route. And obviously that is not so. I mean, that has been there. There's tons of literature on this kind of thing, especially on the way that Jehovah's Witnesses use John 1.1. Lots of writing on that. So it's clear they're not interpreting the scriptures properly. Okay. There are some others that talk about the father and the son and these are very clear in Psalm, Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7. And these are so clear because they are used in the New Testament. Like they're quoted in the New Testament. The next two passages we're going to look at. Psalm 45 verses 6 and 7. Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever. A sector of justice will be the sector of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore God, your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. Okay. Notice there are two separate persons spoke of in that passage. One is in verse 6, who is referenced as O God, who is on a throne that will last forever and ever. Sector of justice, sector of your kingdom. That quite clearly sounds like the person in the Trinity who will rule on this earth. His kingdom, his righteousness and sector of justice. His kingdom will last forever and ever. And then he says, your God. Therefore God, your God has set you above your companions. The writer to the Hebrews quotes this passage in Hebrews 1. I think it's around verse 8 to prove the deity of Christ. Because Christ is the one who has spoken of a sitting on the throne and it is his God who has put him there who has set him above his fellow. So you've got God, the father and God, the son who are both mentioned in the same passage. One other very similar is Psalm 110 verse 1. The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Okay. This is a Psalm of David. David is writing the Psalms of David is speaking. So just imagine David saying this, the Lord, all capital letters, which indicates Jehovah. That's the God who has made covenant with Israel. That's his covenant name with them given in Exodus 3 when he called Moses. That's the name that he uses for his covenant relationship with these people. The Lord says to my Lord, David says my Lord, the Lord Jehovah says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Jesus used this very passage to twist the Pharisees into a pretzel. You remember the last week of Jesus' life, he's teaching in the temple, it's on Tuesday before he will sacrifice his life on Friday. On Tuesday, he speaks in the temple and the religious leaders come at him one group after another asking him questions to try to trap him and making him popular with the crowds. He brilliantly answers all of them. And then finally he has a question of his own. One that they can't answer. I want to read it to you in the Matthew 22. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, what do you think about the Messiah? Who son is he? So the question is, who is the Messiah? Who son is he? The son of David, they replied. Every Jew would know that. The Messiah is the son of David. He comes from David's throne. He's going to ruin it. Rain on David's throne. He comes from David's line. He's the son of David. Jesus said to them, how is it then that David speaking by the Spirit calls him Lord? For he says and he quotes Psalm 1101. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies, put your enemies under your feet. If then David calls him Lord, how can he be his son? No one could say a word and reply. And from that day on, no one dared to ask you any more questions. You see what he was putting them, what he was bringing them face to face with was, I'm God. And it's found in Psalm 1101. The deity of Christ is found in Psalm 1101 because the Messiah is the one that David was talking about when he said my Lord, but it is the Lord talking to my Lord. So the Messiah is called Lord, even though he's also David's son, which indicates he is both human and divine. So this is a very strong passage where you see God the Father, God the Son, both in the same passage. I'm going to skip Isaiah 7 because that one will come up a little bit later. But look at Jeremiah 23 verses 5 and 6. Jeremiah 23, 5 and 6. Another prophecy of the Messiah, the one who would be the righteous king over Israel in the kingdom. God sets this up by talking in verse 3 about gathering the rim of my flock out of all the countries where I've driven them, bring them back to pasture. They will be fruitful increase in number. I'll place shepherds over them who will tend them. They will no longer be afraid or terrified. Nor will any be missing. That's verses 3 and 4. That's a clear picture of the kingdom when God establishes his kingdom with Israel at its center. And verse 5 says, the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, a king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called the Lord, our righteous Savior. It is the Lord who is speaking, verse 5, Jehovah, he is speaking and he says, I'm going to raise up a king for Israel during the kingdom. And this is going to be his name, the Lord, our righteous Savior. So you've got the two persons here in the same passage. God, the Father, speaking of God the Son when he comes to rule in his kingdom over Israel. So you've got several clear passages where you have both the God the Father, God the Son mentioned together in the Old Testament. Any question about those before we move on to a couple of passages deal with Father and the Spirit. Genesis 1, 1 and 2. Again, familiar verses. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formeless and empty. Darkness is over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Spirit of God has been created yet. The Spirit of God is a separate person within the Trinity. You've got God, Elohim, the Creator, that's God the Father. But you've got the Spirit of God also hovering over the water so that the Holy Spirit in the same passage with God the Father. One other passage at the other end of the Old Testament, Haggai. Third book from the end of the Old Testament, Haggai 2, verses 4 and 5. But now be strong, as a rubble, declares the Lord. Be strong, Joshua, son of Joseph, the High Priest. Be strong. All you people of the land declares the Lord and work. For I am with you, declares the Lord Almighty. This is what I coveted with you when you came out of Egypt and my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear. The Lord Almighty, God the Father and His Spirit, remains among them. So you've got the Father and the Spirit in that passage. Okay, comments or questions there before we look at the real culmination of all of this, which is all three of them in the same passage in three different verses in Isaiah. But any question about the Father and Spirit? I would say this that the Son shared in that glory and expressed that same glory before he came to earth because he says in John 17 and his prayer, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world began. I would restore me to that. But now that Jesus is in a human body and continues to be even in heaven, that glory is veiled covered by human body, but not so with the Father. The Holy Spirit, we would assume, although I can't recall an instance of this literally being said about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit since he has the same nature would have the same glory. Christ has the same glory, but it's veiled. It's hidden by his body. And that was part of the amazing sacrifice that he made in the incarnation to become to take on human flesh, which would permanently veil the glory except as it is allowed to be seen like it was in the amount of transfiguration. I think we will see God the Father in heaven because of what Revelation 21 says that God will be with us. He will be our God. We will be his people. I think that once our bodies are glorified, we will be able to see him in his glory. Now there's some who say that we won't, but I think Revelation 21 indicates that we will. And I think that's because we're no longer in just our humanity. Our bodies are glorified. And so no man can see God. And the reason for that is because of these, these limited finite bodies. And we will be released from that when we get our glorified body. I think the Bible indicates that God came down and made himself visible to them, walked on the earth in a bodily form. Whether or not his glory was displayed, I don't know. I don't know. He was in a bodily form though, or at least appeared to be. That's a great question. I'm not real sure, but I do think we will, I do think we will see God in our glorified body. Just not here, not now. Steve, real quick. Yeah, I don't know. You know, certainly everything that is said about Christ's advocacy intercession mediator is on this side of eternity. We know that he's our go between, he's the one who stands between us and God now. Whether or not that will remain in heaven. You know, there are obviously scenes in revelation of us worshipping Christ in heaven. He will be the judge on the throne at the judgements. So Christ's certain is still very active, but that one passage in Revelation 21 leads me to believe that we will actually be in the presence of God Himself, the Father. And you know, that I could be wrong about that. I'll be glad to be proven wrong when I'm in heaven. I just. Yeah, yeah. Good question. I'm sorry, I didn't catch the first part of that. The fact that his glory is veiled by his body. You know, that's a good question. And I'm just kind of flipping through the pages of Revelation. Every time he is seen in Revelation is in his glory in chapter one when John sees him. He's so brilliant. John falls down as though he were dead. I mean, you're seeing his glory there. You're you're not seeing it in chapters four and five as much when he's presented as the lamb, but that's just an object less than image of him. But yeah, when he comes back, he's coming back in his glory. It could well be that that although Christ still has a physical body now that it's glorified. And when we are glorified, we'll be able to see even him in his glory. That could well be. Interesting, interesting thought. Okay, we got to get to this before the Iwana kids pull us away. All three persons. I don't want to leave you hanging on this one because this is just this is amazing in Isaiah. Isaiah is often called the Old Testament gospel because he has so much to say about Christ and salvation. And there are you would not be surprised if you understand Isaiah and his gospel leanings. You would not be surprised to see him as being the one that God would choose to give the most complete revelation about the Trinity in all the Old Testament in three passages, all three persons of the Trinity are mentioned in the same passage. The first one is in Isaiah 48, verse 16. And you have to get the context here. You have to go back to verse 12 where God is speaking. It's not Isaiah speaking. God is speaking. You can see in verse 12, listen to me, Jacob Israel, whom I have called. I am he. I am the first and I am the last words which are spoken of Jesus in the New Testament. And so this may be God the Son, my own hand laid the foundations of the earth, so forth. This is God speaking. But now look at verse 16. Come near me. This is God still saying this is not Isaiah. God is saying come near me and listen to this from the first announcement. I have not spoken in secret as the time it happens. I am there. And now the sovereign Lord has sent me endowed with his spirit. You have got all three in that one statement. The me is God the Son who is speaking in this passage. He is the first in the last. He is the creator, all of which are attributed to Christ clearly in the New Testament. But then Christ says the sovereign Lord, obviously speaking of the father has sent me and I am endowed with his spirit. Clear reference to the Holy Spirit. So you've got all three. The father, son and Holy Spirit in one passage here. Same thing in Isaiah 61.1. Again, a clear prophecy of the Messiah. It is quoted by Jesus Christ in his first sermon in his hometown in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4. And so it's clearly referring to Christ. But notice what it says here. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor and on down through verse 2. You can clearly see that's a prophecy of the Messiah. So the me is God the Son, the Messiah Christ, the spirit, the Holy Spirit of the sovereign Lord of the father is on the son. So you've got all three in that one expression. And then the other one is Psalm 63 verses 9 through 11 and it's really found in verse 9. In all their distress, he too was distressed speaking of the father and the angel of his presence saved them in his love and mercy. He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Now, you have to understand the angel of his presence, probably a reference to Christ. I don't have time to prove this, but we will when we get to the what the Bible teaches about Christ someday. We'll talk about this concept and the Old Testament. The Old Testament, a person appears several times in the Old Testament called the angel of the Lord, not any old angel, not an angel, the angel of the Lord. And several times when he appears, he has worshipped and even called Lord. And one of those is with Abraham, but there are several other appearances of this, the angel of the Lord. And the angel of his presence seems to be again a reference to Christ, literally guiding them in the pillar of fire by night, puller of cloud by day through the wilderness. So that is a reference to Christ. And the person speaking is God the Father and then they grieved his Holy Spirit. There's the Holy Spirit. So you've got all three again in the same passage. Okay. We'll real quickly next time get the last point here. We've gone a little over time so we can't do that tonight. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the wonderful revelation of your word. And the many things you tell us about yourself. The many ways you help us understand who you are. And we thank you, Father, that you have revealed yourself in all of your glory as a compound unity. The one God who eternally exists in three equal persons. And we see that even in the Old Testament. Thank you, Father, that we can understand you better and worship you more deeply in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.