"You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form." John 5:37
"No one has seen God at any time." I John 4:12
And yet it is specifically stated in the Torah that men had both seen and heard a being called God whose name was YHWH. If no man has seen God, then who was the YHWH of the Old Testament who was both seen and heard? The key to this mystery is so simple that it is overlooked by many -- "There are two supernatural beings named "YHWH"!
In the King James Version the Hebrew tetragramaton "YHWH" is always represented by the word LORD with all capital letters. Now look closely, there are two beings, both called YHWH [LORD] in the following verse:
Then the LORD [YHWH] rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD [YHWH] out of heaven." Genesis 19:24
Who are these two Yahwehs?
* The first is Yeshusa (Jesus) the elohim (God) of Israel.
* The second is His Father the Supreme Elohim of all creation.
Yes, the Messiah was the "God of Israel" whose name is YHWH just as His Father's name is YHWH. It was the Messiah who was both seen and heard by the Israelites - not the Father.
Is this taught in the Scriptures? Absolutely.... though it must be searched out by comparing scripture with scripture. For
example:
IN EXODUS 3, "THE ANGEL OF THE LORD" WAS CALLED BOTH "YHWH" AND "GOD".
Exodus 3:2-6
1. And the ANGEL OF THE LORD 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....
2. ...And when the LORD [YHWH] saw that he turned aside to see, GOD called unto him *out of the midst of the bush*, and said, Moses, Moses...
3. ....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.
In the verses above the same being is called: (#1) The Angel of the LORD, (#2) YHWH and ( #3) God (elohim) of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
IN EXODUS 13 & 14, THE BEING WHO WENT BEFORE ISRAEL AT THE RED SEA WAS CALLED "YHWH" AND THE "ANGEL OF GOD". PAUL SAID THAT BEING WAS THE MESSIAH.
Exodus 13:21
And the LORD (YHWH) went BEFORE THEM by day in a *pillar of a cloud*, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exodus 14:19
And the ANGEL OF GOD, which went BEFORE the camp of Israel, removed and went BEHIND them; and the *pillar of the cloud* went from before their face, and stood BEHIND them:
1 Corinthians 10:4
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that FOLLOWED them and that Rock was CHRIST.
STEPHEN ALSO SAID THAT IT WAS THE "ANGEL" WHO SPOKE TO MOSES AT MT. SINAI
Acts 7:38
"This is he [Moses] who was in the congregation in the wilderness with THE ANGEL who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us,
IN JUDGES 2, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CLAIMED IT WAS HE WHO MADE THE COVENANT WITH THE ISRAELITES AT MOUNT SINAI.
Judges 2:1-5
"And an ANGEL OF THE LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, *I made you to go up out of Egypt,* and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and *I said,* I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed MY VOICE why have ye done this?... ...And it came to pass, when the ANGEL OF THE LORD SPAKE THESE WORDS
unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept."
IN EXODUS 19, THE "ANGEL OF THE LORD" WHO MADE THE COVENANT WAS CALLED YHWH
Exodus 19:3
And Moses went up to God [ha'elohim], and the LORD [YHWH] to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
Exodus 19:20
Then the LORD [YHWH] came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD [YHWH] called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exodus 20:1
And God ['elohim] spoke all these words, saying: [Ten Commandments follow]
CONCLUSION:
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD ( -OUR MESSIAH -)
WAS THE ELOHIM (GOD) WHO GAVE MOSES
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AT MT. SINAI. ..... AND HIS NAME WAS YHWH!
IN NUMBERS 22, BALAAM CALLED THE ANGEL OF THE LORD (OUR MESSIAH) BOTH "GOD' AND YHWH
Numbers 22:34-35 with 22:38 and 23:12
Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back." THE ANGEL OF THE LORD said to Balaam, Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you." So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
"Well, I have come to you now," Balaam replied. "But can I say just anything? I must speak only *what GOD puts in my mouth.*"
He answered, "Must I not speak *what the LORD (YHWH) puts in my mouth?*"
IN ZECHARIAH 3, THE ANGEL OF THE LORD IS CALLED YHWH ("...the LORD said to Satan) AND THE ANGEL THEN REFERS TO ANOTHER YHWH SAYING (...the LORD rebuke you Satan)
Zechariah3:1
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
2 And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!
As we have seen, the Scriptures teach that there are two beings called YHWH in the Old Testament. The Supreme Father and His Son both bearing the family name of YHWH. That is why the Scriptures also teach that "no one has seen God" and at the same time some have seen "God" and heard His voice.
Remember, the English word "God" (Heb elohim) has a range of meaning. It does not always mean The Supreme Being (The Father). "God" can also refer to a Magistrate (Ruler) sent by the Supreme Being. For example the word elohim was applied to Moses. The Father is The Supreme Being (THE GOD) who sent His Son to be our Ruler (our God).
As one brother said: "...the Messiah has had numerous roles in God's plan for mankind. He acted as the guardian of Israel when they came out of Egypt, traveling with them in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. The Messiah was the one who delivered God's words to the Israelites from Mount Sinai. He protected them in the wilderness and punished them when they sinned. This Angel stood up for God's people when Satan slandered them before the heavenly throne.
As the commander of the holy host, Christ has battled against Satan and his demons and triumphed. It's time to realize and appreciate the central role that God [The Father] designated in His plan for the one we know as Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah. He's our Savior, Redeemer, Shepherd, Protector, Brother, and Lord."
I have tried to keep this simple and merely point the way by noting only the most obvious verses for proof and evidence. However, there are many other witnesses to the fact that there are Two Yahwehs. Some refer to the concept as "A lesser Yahweh" or "Two Powers in heaven", some use the Aramaic name of "Metatron" and use the Targums as proof. Those who are interested will have no trouble searching out more evidence that the being at Mount Sinai was the Yahweh sent by His Father, the Yahweh in heaven whom no one has seen or heard.
I hope you enjoy the hunt...
Harold Kupp
2. The Old Testament Hebrew word for God is "Elohiym" which also refers to "rulers or judges", and is the direct equivalent of the Greek "Theos".(#1. footnotes) Elohiym was used to designate earthly magistrates as well as supernatural ones. In both Hebrew and Greek the basic sense of the word God is ruler, not a personal name for the
creator. The ruler of this universe has a name, but it is not "God".
3. Here are some brief (non Biblical) facts to whet the appetite of those who want to research the idea of two in heaven both called God and LORD...
"An extremely important witness to early Jewish-Christian dialogue is Justin Martyr. His Dialogue with Trypho the Jew was written around 160 C.E., although it purports to record a dialogue which he had around 135 C.E.[34] Whether a fictitious dialogue or not, what is important is that Justin seems to be concerned about interacting with the actual
views and positions held by contemporary Jews. It is significant, therefore, that one of Justin's Jewish interlocutors agrees with Justin that there is a second figure in heaven alongside God, WHO IS ALSO CALLED GOD AND LORD [35] Trypho is portrayed as quite quickly reaching the same conclusion.[36] Thus, in this second century work, there is no hint that the belief in a ‘second god,’ a heavenly agent and vice-regent, is heretical or antithetical to Jewish monotheism."
[Of course, Justin Martyr is not Scripture, and yet neither did he live in a vacuum. His comments reflected what he believed and it is unlikely that such a noted church leader was teaching something about the nature of Yahweh that was not commonly believed.]
[34]Henry Chadwick, The Early Church (London: Penguin, 1993) 75.
[35]Dial. 56.
[36]Dial. 60.
Justin Martyr (The actual text)
Dialogue with Trypho Chap 56 (P 223 Ante Nicene Fathers)
"I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the Scriptures, [of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and there is said to be, another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things; who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things above whom there is no other God ---wishes to announce to them." (End of Article)
HK
