The Only True Elohim
This is about the fact that the Bible calls the Father the Only True Elohim. If you believe the Father is the Only True Elohim, this is going to give you support in talking to those who don’t. It’s going to give you the answers to a lot of passages that people oftentimes get confused. I think you’re going to have clear, definitive answers to these verses where you do not have to compromise the fact that the Father is the Only True Elohim.
If you do not believe that the Father is the Only True Elohim and you think Yahshua the Messiah is the Almighty, then, Yahweh willing, if you are searching for the truth, you are going to come to see that Yahshua is NOT the Almighty. There is not a verse in the Bible that say’s He is the Almighty; never, ever, not one time! However, He is called Elohim on occasion, and after reading this you may understand the entire concept more clearly.
In Christianity today and among many sacred name believers, there is such a wide variety of who the Almighty actually is. For instance, Christians would say it’s the trinity—the ‘three in one god,’”—meaning the Father is the Almighty, the Son is the Almighty and the Holy Spirit is the Almighty. So they have a “3-in-1” in their term “god,” and “it’s a mystery that we cannot understand or explain but we just have to accept it—that that is the Almighty.”
Other people, when they come to the realization that the Spirit is not a being, it’s not a person, it’s the spirit of Yahweh; His Spirit, not a separate entity; then we have what is oftentimes called a “duality.” They believe there are two, the Father and the Son—the Father being the Almighty and the Son being the Almighty.
Last, we have what is called the “oneness” doctrine which, in my opinion, is a lot harder to understand than the average doctrine. I will briefly tell you what that is about. The “oneness” doctrine says that, since the Bible tells us at Isaiah 43:10, Before Me there was no Elohim formed, And there will be none after Me, than there can only be one Elohim. For those who are not familiar with the word “elohim,” it is a word that is most often translated “god” in the Bibles. I use the word “elohim,” which is the Hebrew word that is translated “god.” I will use the word “elohim” except where a specific source is quoted, maybe a Bible scholar or someone, I will quote it exactly as it is written. Otherwise, I will use “elohim.” So, in Isaiah 43:10, the Almighty says, I, even I, am Yahweh, And there is no savior besides Me. People look at that and say, “If there’s only one, and we have the Savior called Elohim...” (Hebrews Chapter 2; John 20:28, Thomas said, My master and my Elohim; John 1:1), “If the Savior’s called Elohim and the Father says there’s only one Elohim, well the Savior must be equal and Elohim with the Father,” which would be the duality, but the oneness doctrine says you can’t have two. You can’t have the Father and the Son. What they say, then, is the Father ceased to exist, he doesn’t exist anymore. He took on the form of the Son. So, there was nobody in heaven when the Son was on the earth because the Son now is the only Elohim—you can only have one. This is, of course, according to their reasoning which I find very bizarre. So, they say the Father left heaven and became the Son and they use the verse that there’s only one Elohim, you can’t have two, that’s their reasoning.
Some people take it a step further and say that when the Savior died, the Spirit became Elohim and now the Savior ceased to exist. I talked to a fellow not too long ago who believed that. I asked him, “Who was the Savior praying to in the garden or in the mount of transfiguration when the apostles heard the voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. Who did the apostles hear?” This may be unbelievable to some, but this is actually what some people believe. He said, “Well, Bob, what is sound? We know sound is the air vibrating, frequencies in the air. What was happening is the Savior, being the Almighty Elohim [there is nobody in heaven now, keep that in mind], He made the wind vibrate to make it sound as if a noise was coming from heaven. That is what the apostles heard.” Now, I don’t want to spend too much time on this but, just to show you how bizarre the thinking in this is, I said, “Well, Peter believed he heard the Majestic voice from heaven. Peter says in II Peter 1:17-18 that they heard the Majestic voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, so the Messiah deceived Peter in thinking he was actually hearing a voice from heaven?” We went back and forth on this and the fellow said, “He wasn’t deceiving, He was simply teaching them a principle.” Needless to say, it is a very bizarre way of understanding the Scriptures.
Let me say this, it is not complicated, it is not a mystery, it is not something you have to throw your mind away to believe, it is very simple as to who the Only True Elohim is.
In the past, I have often asked Christian ministers if they believe John 17:1-3, Yahshua spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true Elohim, and Yahshua Messiah whom you sent. If the Savior was to stand in front of you today and say, “Who is the Only True Elohim?” what would you tell Him? Would you agree and say, “Of course your Father is Master, because you just got through saying it,” or, would you tell Him, “Well, I’m sorry Messiah, you’ve made a mistake because you see, you’re the only true Elohim. You and the Father or possibly just you [if it was a oneness person].” What would you tell Him?
For those that believe anyone or anything other than the Father is the Only True Elohim, as the Messiah just said, what would you say to Him? “Well, I beg to differ with you Master, because in Genesis 1:26, we have the word ‘us’ so that makes me believe there’s two only true Elohims. John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the word and the word was with Yahweh and the word was Yahweh [or the word was Elohim] so you must be the Almighty, too. And, also, John 8:58, where Yahshua says, before Abraham was born was I am. I’m sorry, but looking at these passages, Master, I think you are mistaken. I think that you are the Only True Elohim or possibly you and your Father, but not only your Father as you said.” I don’t think anyone would dare to do that, but that is exactly what people are doing that believe in an Almighty other than the Father, Yahweh, alone.
What I am going to do here is to attempt to cover every passage in the Bible. Genesis 1:26, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 7:14, Genesis 18 and 19 where Abraham saw the three angels, one identifying Himself as Yahweh; John 1:1; John 8:58; John 20:28, Thomas, my lord and my Elohim; I want to cover all these passages and go through each of them. I believe it will become extremely clear that in no way does this contradict the fact that the Father is the Only True Elohim.
Before I get into this much further, I want to talk about the word “elohim” and clarify that. This is very important because if you miss this, you will miss things down the line. You must understand what the word “elohim” is talking about in order to understand some of these passages. I personally believe this is where all the confusion comes in as far as who the Almighty is. Let me explain this. This word “elohim” is used in the Bible literally 2,600-some times. Being a Hebrew word, that is only in the Tanak. The Tanak is from Genesis to Malachi, more commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.” So, in the Tanak, the word “elohim” is used 2,600-plus times. Out of those occurrences, 2,366 times it is translated in the singular sense, i.e., “god”; it’s not plural although it can be used in the plural sense. It is used in the plural sense 216 times and translated “gods.” The reason I say that it’s very important is because people look at the word “elohim” and they think it is a plural word. Like I said, it is a plural word—can be used in a singular sense or in the plural sense. Primarily, almost exclusively, it’s used in the singular sense.
We are going to comment on this a bit. For instance, Moses is called an “elohim.” The number in Strong’s Concordance is 430, Elohim. That’s the word that a lot of people think is used as a plural exclusively, but as I just stated, almost always it is translated in the singular sense, not plural. Whenever it is referring to the Almighty Yahweh, it is always in the singular, never does it refer to him as a plurality. Some people think the word “echad” in Deuteronomy 6:4 is a plural word. Years ago I used to confront people about this and I’d look and not one time is the word “echad” in the Hebrew translated to be more than one. It may mean one flock of birds, one pride of lions, one house full of people, but it’s talking about one house, one flock, one pride—it is never used to mean more than one, it always means “one.” Deuteronomy 6:4, when it says in the Hebrew: Shami Israel Yahweh Elohim Yahweh echad [echad is the word I want to focus on]—that’s the word translated “one.” In the Strong’s Concordance, they used to define the word as “unity.” So, it was hard to explain to people that the word “one” is never, ever used as a unity—never, not one time in the Bible. It always means “one.” How could I say that to someone when they would open their Concordance and it would say “unity.” It was a little difficult to get the point across. Now, Strong’s came out with a new Concordance called the Strongest Strong’s—many of you have probably heard of it. In there, they corrected the definition. They define the word “echad” as “one”—no “unity.” They took the word “unity” out so it is much easier to convince someone now that that word “echad” means “one,” it doesn’t mean two, or three, or four—it means “one.” I could make a presentation about every verse I’m going to bring up however, I will go through things briefly and attempt to summarize as concisely as possible.
“Echad” in Deuteronomy 6:4 means “one.” The reason Yahweh says one here—Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is one is because all the pagan nations, all the heathen nations, had their trinities, their pantheons of elohim. You know, they all worshipped more than one elohim. The difference between Judaism and the rest of the world was that they had “one,” one Elohim—not a plurality and His Name is Yahweh. So, keep that in mind as you go through this paper.
Another thing about the word “elohim,” people oftentimes in the translation—as I said, it uses the word “god” and “gods.” Again, 2,366 times it is translated as “god,” 200 or so of those times it is translated “gods.” So some people say, “Does it have a big ‘g’ or a little ‘g’?” Again, this is very important and it is going to be relevant in verses I bring up. There is no such thing as a big “g” and a little “g” in the Hebrew language—it doesn’t exist. It is all same case letters—it is the letter gamal and it is all same case—no big “g’s” and little “g’s.” So, when somebody is reading the word “elohim,” they didn’t see a big “e” or little “e,” and when they translated it, there was no such thing as big “g’s” and little “g’s.” That was totally up to the discretion of the individual(s) translating as to whether to make it a big “g” or little “g.”
Let me ask you, if it was talking about Messiah and the translator happened to be a Trinitarian or believed in the Messiah as the Almighty, how do you think he would translate that? Absolutely, he’d put a big “g” in there; although, again, there’s no such thing as upper and lower case. It’s exclusively up to the translator. In the Konia Greek, the original New Testament was written in Hebrew, I believe, most of it. But, of course, we don’t have the Hebrew copies—we have the Greek copies. But in the copies that we do have, it was written in what is called Konia Greek. There’s Konia Greek and there’s Classical Greek. Classical Greek is what we use today. But, in Biblical days, it was Konia Greek. In the Konia Greek, again, there was no such thing as upper and lower case letters—there weren’t any big “g’s” or little “g’s”—they didn’t exist. Everything was the same case—all upper case letters. So, when somebody wrote the word elohim—in the Greek it would be the word “Theos”—but when a translator translated it, it was up to the discretion of the translator to put the big “g” or little “g” in there. It is very important to know this because a lot of people say, “Well, I see a big ‘g’ in my Bible.” That is totally irrelevant. Moses is called an elohim—we’re going to look at that in Exodus 7:1; angels are referred to as elohim in Psalm 8:5, He made Him a little lower than the angels, well, that word is actually elohim, #430. He made them a little lower than "gods," speaking of the Messiah. Judges of Israel—the Savior said in John 10:30, and we will go over that more extensively, the Savior quoted the verse, He says: Is it not written in your law that I said you are elohim [or the word in the translation would be gods], who was He referring to? He’s quoting Psalm 82. If you go back to Psalm 82, it’s referring to the judges of Israel and we’re going to take a look at that. Exodus 22:8-9 says to bring the servant before the judges—the word “judges” is actually the word “Elohim”—bring them before the "gods" is how the translations would have it, but it’s “elohim”—bring them before the elohim, speaking of the judges of Israel. What I’m saying here and what is going to be hard for many people to accept—there are many “elohim” in the Bible, but there’s only One True Elohim.
The word “Elohim” or “theos,” (“god” in the English dictionary) means “mighty one” or “mighty ones,” again, depending on the context and how the word “elohim” is used. I will give you numerous examples to that. You should look for yourself and see that what I am saying is true—it means “mighty one” or “mighty ones.” That is why in John 17:3, the Savior says This is eternal life, that they may know you [speaking of the Father Yahweh] the Only True Mighty One, [or the Only True Elohim, or as most translations have it, the Only True "god,"] because He IS the only True Mighty One.
Who did the Savior receive all His power and authority from? Numerous times He says, I can do nothing of myself except that which the Father shows me. We’re going to look at those passages. Moses was made an elohim in Exodus 7:1, Yahweh said to Moses, See I make you as elohim to Pharaoh. There’s an “as” in there—that was added by the translators. Yahweh says, I make you elohim to Pharaoh. And, of course, in no way did that make Moses the Almighty. Likewise, in no way does it make Yahshua the Messiah the Almighty. In saying that, I feel like I have to explain myself.
There is nobody in the universe that is second to Yahweh—NOBODY. And, there is nobody in the universe that can compare or is second to Yahshua. Yahshua is everything the Bible says He is—He’s the lamb of Yahweh, not Yahweh the lamb; He’s the word of Yahweh, not Yahweh the word; He’s the son of Yahweh, not Yahweh the son. Oftentimes He’s called the Son of Elohim. Never, ever does the term “Elohim the Son” appear in the Bible. Some people I tell that to are surprised because you hear it so often, you would think it is in there. Never does it say “Elohim the Son.” There is no Elohim the Son, there is the Son of Elohim. The angels are often called that—in Job. In John 1 we’re called the sons of Elohim. So, there are many sons of Elohim but Yahshua is the only begotten son of Elohim.
The Messiah is my Master, my Savior, I would gladly lay down my life for Him. He is equal to no one, absolutely nobody. He has been given all power and authority in heaven and earth by the Father. The Father who gave Him the authority is the only True Mighty One.
Let’s look at some of the verses here and see exactly what it is I am saying.
When the Pharisees accuse Yahshua of blasphemy for saying that He and His Father are One, He said, I and the Father am one and they accused Him of blasphemy. Yahshua says, starting with verse 29: My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. He just got through saying His Father is greater than all. He says in John 14 that His Father is greater than He is; the “all” does include the Messiah. In John 14:28 the Savior says, My Father is greater than I. And in John 10:30-36, I and the Father are I. The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Yahshua answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be Elohim. Yahshua answered them, ‘Has it not been written in your Law, “I SAID, YOU ARE ELOHIMS”? ‘If He [speaking of the Almighty] called them elohim, to whom the word of Yahweh came and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of Elohim'? To paraphrase this, the Savior is saying wait a minute, if He [speaking of His Father] called them elohim to whom the word of Elohim came, then how am I blaspheming by saying I’m the Son of Elohim? I’m not even claiming to be Elohim, I’m claiming to be the Son of Elohim. I believe that is what the Messiah is saying and it is backed up by the fact that a number of times the Savior was accused of blasphemy.
Yahshua says that because He said His Father Yahweh was His Father, the Jews accused Him of claiming equality with the Father. Here, because Yahshua said I and the Father are One; they are saying He’s claiming equality with the Father.
Before we continue with other Scriptures, let’s look at what the Savior meant when He said that He and His Father were one. John 17:11, this is the Savior speaking here, I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. So, He says that we should be one even as He is one.
John 17:21 says, That they may all be one; even as You, Father are in Me and I in You, that they [that is you and I brother] also may be in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. Verse 22, The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;... Just as we are one—so in the same sense that the Messiah is one with the Father, we are to be one with them. How? What He is talking about, of course, is in purpose, in unity, in forgiveness, in patience, we are to walk even as the Messiah walked (I John 2:6). And, another time the Savior said, We should be as our Father in heaven. And, again, that means we should be patient, we should be forgiving, we should be everything that the Messiah Yahshua was. We should have the same attitude that they had as far as walking with the Messiah. So, that is what He means by we should be one. That’s what the Savior meant when He said He and the Father are one—we should be one in the same sense that they are one.
Well, the Jews were looking for any reason they could to kill him. As early as John 5:18, very early in the gospel, it says the Jews were seeking to kill him. In John 7:1, again, it says the Jews were seeking to kill him. They wanted to kill Him for reasons we’re not going to go into now because this is about the Only True Elohim. But they were seeking any excuse they could to put Him to death.
In Matthew 26, although I do not want to deviate too much from where I’m at in John, in verses 59-65, it says they were looking for false witnesses. When they brought the Messiah before Caiaphas, the high priest, they were looking for false witnesses. And it says they could not find any. They couldn’t find any! Now, if anybody would have thought that He was claiming equality with the Almighty, that not only would have been a cause for death, it was justifiably a cause for death according to the Torah [Yahweh’s law], reason to kill him. Absolutely nobody came forth and said, “Oh, I heard Him say He was equal with the Almighty!” That never, ever happened. They tried it when He was alive, but just like we’ve seen here in John 10, He refuted them with an answer they couldn’t deny. He said, wait a minute. If He called them elohim to whom the word of Eohim came, why do you say I blaspheme by saying I am the Son of Elohim? And again in Matthew 27:43. So the false witnesses were in Matthew 26:59 and in Matthew 27:43-46 when He was hanging on the stake and they were mocking Him, this is what they said. Listen to this, they said, He trusts in Elohim. Let Elohim rescue Him now. They accused Him of trusting in Elohim. They didn’t accuse Him of claiming to be Elohim; they accused him of trusting Elohim.
So what was Yahshua saying? Who were the ones that were called elohim in John Chapter 10? Who was He referring to? He is quoting it from Psalm 82. Psalm 82:1 says, Elohim takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the elohim. So the translations would say, “God judges in the midst of the gods.” Both of these words elohim [or the word “god” and “ruler” in the translations, are #430 in Strong’s]—the first Elohim is talking about the Father. Elohim judges in the midst of the elohim. And the second one it’s talking about the judges. So it says, Elohim takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the elohim. The judges of Israel are called elohim. In Verses 2-5 it says, How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needed; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. They do not know nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken. In Verse 6, [which is the verse the Messiah quoted], I have said you are elohim. This is Yahweh Himself calling the judges of Israel elohim [which simply means “mighty one” or “mighty ones”]. He’s saying not only are you elohim, mighty ones, but you’re also my children. Yahweh Himself said, I said you are elohim and all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, you will die like men. And fall like any one of the princes. This is talking, again, about the judges of Israel.
Exodus 22:8-9 is in the context of the judges of Israel. If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house shall appear before the judges. That word “judges” is elohim, #430, same word translated “gods” 2,000-plus times in the Bible. Continuing, to determine whether he laid his hands on his neighbor’s property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any lost thing about which one says, "This is it," the case of both parties shall come before the judges, he whom the judges [again, #430, elohim].
Exodus 22:28 says Thou shall not curse elohim. Now, most translations have the word “god” in there—thou shall not curse 'god.' Well, that’s talking about the judges. Your translation may have the word “judges” in there, some do. I know the King James and the New American Standard have the word “gods” in there—it’s #430 and it’s speaking of the judges. Nor curse the ruler of your people. So you see, again, there are many elohim in the Scriptures.
As mentioned previously in Exodus 7:1, Moses is referred to as “elohim” (I make you god [elohim] to Pharaoh). Moses is one person, he’s not a duality; yet he is called elohim. It is the same word used to describe the judges that we just looked at. So, He says, I make you elohim to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron your prophet. Again, Moses is one person—he’s not plurality, he’s not a duality—he’s one in the same sense the Father Yahweh is only one. He is not a duality. He is not two-in-one, He doesn’t change forms as the oneness doctrine teaches, He is ONE.
I believe I Samuel 28 makes a powerful point. When King Saul went to the witch of En-dur, and he wanted her to conjure up Samuel, the prophet. Notice what he said to her, and keep in mind as we read this that Saul spoke fluent Hebrew, better than anybody reading this—he spoke fluent Hebrew. And listen to how he understood the word “elohim.” I Samuel 28:13, The king said to her, ‘Do be not afraid, but what do you see? And the woman said to Saul, “I see a divine being [#430 here “elohim”] coming up out of the earth.’ [Some Bibles have the word “gods” in there. They have different words in there, but the word is “elohim.”]. Who did the woman see? Keep reading, I saw ‘gods’ coming up out of the earth. He said to her [this is Saul] 'What is his form?' Did Saul understand the word “elohim” to be plural? Did he say to the woman, “What do they look like?” No, he said, What is his form? He understood the word “elohim” to be in the singular sense. Like I said, I’m sure he spoke better Hebrew than anybody reading this. And she said, 'An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped with a robe.’ And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and did homage.
So, again, the point I want to bring out there is that when the woman said I see elohim, here’s a man [Saul] that spoke fluent Hebrew and he understood the word elohim to be singular. Why did he do that? As mentioned earlier, because out of the thousands of times that the word elohim is used in the Tanak, 2,366 of those times it is in the singular and 230 times it is in the plural. That’s why the majority of times it is referring to singular, not plural although it can be used in a plural sense. Never is it used that way in reference to the Almighty.
Some translations say I see a spirit. If your Bible happens to have the word “spirit” there in I Samuel 28:13, it’s the word elohim so don’t get confused with the word there. Look it up in Strong’s, it’s the word elohim, #430. Some Bibles say “spirit,” and I believe some say, I see a divine being. I know the New American Standard says the witch of Endur said I see a divine being. That would be a better way to translate it—but it should be the word “elohim.” It could have just as accurately been translated I see ‘god’ in the text, not that it was the Almighty, but Samuel being a mighty one. As receiving all his power and might from the Only True Mighty One, and that is Yahweh, he [Samuel] could rightfully be called an “elohim,” just as the judges of Israel who judged in life and death situations can rightfully—notice what I said there, rightfully-—be called “elohim,” or as people would say today, “gods,” because they are mighty ones. But, the important thing to realize is there is only One True Mighty One from who everybody else receives their power and that is Yahweh.
Psalm 8:5, For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour [KJV]. This is a very important passage which will go contrary to a lot of people’s way of thinking. Who is that referring to? Of course, it is speaking about the Messiah and is quoted in Hebrews 2:7. What I want to point out here is the word “angels”—-that word “angels” is the word “elohim” (#430 in the text). It is the Hebrew word “elohim.” If a Hebrew person was reading this before the translators got a hold of it, they would read, Thou hast made Him a little lower than the elohim. A Hebrew speaking person would understand immediately that it was not talking about the Almighty. They understood the word “elohim” could be referring to a number of different beings.
Let’s turn to Hebrews 2:7, keeping in mind that the word “angels” could just as correctly been translated in the corrupt text we have, as “gods.” Thou has made Him a little lower than, ..who?..the elohim. This is a quote from Hebrew, which says a little lower than the elohim, or as the translations would say, the "gods," and thou has crowned Him with glory and honor and set Him over the works of thy hands, speaking of the Messiah, of course.
I’m going to use the terminology and don’t mean to offend people—but I know a lot of people are offended by the use of the word “god.” I’m trying—I don’t want to do that, but I’m going to use the terminology to make it clearer for those, primarily Christians that believe this, so it says Thou has made Him a little lower than the gods [the word is elohim].
With that in mind, turn to Hebrews 1:4. Keep in mind that angels are called mighty ones or elohim. Are angels mighty ones? Absolutely they are mighty ones. I’m thinking about the angel that destroyed 170,000 Assyrians in Hezekiah’s day—that’s a pretty powerful angel. They are very mighty. Angels are definitely mighty ones and the word for “mighty one” is “elohim.” It is a generic word and, again, I want to keep emphasizing the reason the Father is the Only True Elohim is because He is the Only True Mighty One from whom all other mighty ones—angels, Moses, Yahshua, judges of Israel—they all received their power, authority and might from the Only True Elohim and that is Yahweh, as our Savior tells us in John 17:3.
Hebrews 1:4, having become as much better than the angels, now what did we just discover here in Psalm 8:5? Angels are called elohim. Having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. So, He’s so much better than the angels. Why? Because He inherited a more excellent Name than they did.
Verse 5, For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’? And again, ‘I will be a father to Him and He shall be a son to me’? And in Verse 6-8, And when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says, ‘And let all the angels of elohim worship Him.’ And of the angels He says, ‘Who makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.’ But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O Elohim, [of course, the word in the Greek is “theos,” I don’t want anybody to get it confused. The word “theos” is used in place of “elohim”]. Verse 8 again, Unto the son He said, ‘Thy throne, O Elohim [god] is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.' Who is He referring to as Elohim or, as the translations have “god”? Of course, the Messiah.
You know, an interesting fact about that Psalm, if we turn back to it, Psalm 45, who was that originally addressed to, that’s called elohim? Now, keep in mind, the word “elohim” and I know I’ve said this over and over—but I want to drill it into you that when you see the word “elohim” or you see the word “god,” it is talking about a mighty one. You have to make the distinction as to whether it is talking about the Only True Mighty One being the Father Yahweh, or it is talking about somebody else.
Let’s look at it, Psalm 45, starting at Verse 1:
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore Elohim has blessed You forever. Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies. Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore Elohim, Your Elohim, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows. All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad. Kings' daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
This particular king had a wife. Now, I don’t know of any place in the Scriptures that it implies that the Messiah is ever going to have a wife. I don’t believe He is. It talks about the 144,000—there’s different ways to interpret that passage—but it says They know not women. I’m just saying that I believe this passage is talking about an earthly king. That is my opinion and I will say when it is my opinion.
But in either case, absolutely in Hebrews 1, it is talking about Yahshua and it refers to Him as an Elohim which is not hard to understand because, absolutely, there is no Elohim in the world with the power and might that Yahweh has given to the Messiah Yahshua. He is second to nobody except His Father, Yahweh, who gave Him the authority He has. So, Yahshua is by far Elohim, my Elohim—He is my Elohim. Is He the Almighty? The Only True Elohim? Absolutely not. Is He my Mighty One or My Elohim? Absolutely He is; He’s my Master, my Savior and, as I said earlier, I would gladly lay down my life for Him—He’s my soon-coming King, He’s my Messiah, He’s my Everything, but He is NOT the Almighty; He’s NOT the Only True Elohim.
So, again, Hebrews 1:8, I didn’t finish reading that, but again—I think we’re all in agreement that this is talking about the Messiah. But of the Son [speaking of Yahshua], He says, ‘Your throne O Elohim, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore, Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. You see where He says Therefore, O Elohim, thy Elohim,—he is calling the first one a mighty one, Therefore, Mighty One, even YOUR Mighty One has anointed you with the oil of gladness. Is that true to the text of the Bible?
Without going there, because we’ll look at it later, in John 20:17, it says when the Savior met Mary on the road when He rose from the dead, she had mistaken Him to be the gardener, this is what He said to her, Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and my Elohim and your Elohim. His Elohim is my Elohim, your Elohim is His Elohim. He said to my Elohim, or as the translation puts it, to my "god" and your "god," my Father and your Father.
When the Savior said in Mark 15:34, EliYah, EliYah lama sabachthani, or, My El, my El, why hast thou forsaken me? Who was He talking about? Of course, He is talking about His Father, the Only True Mighty One, Yahshua is NOT the Almighty. Everything He had He was given by the Father, Yahweh, the Only True Mighty One. I want to keep emphasizing that Yahshua is Everything to me; but He is not the Almighty. He is the Word of Yahweh, not Yahweh the Word; the Lamb of Yahweh, not Yahweh the Lamb; the Son of Yahweh, not Yahweh the Son. He’s none of those things, but He is everything the Bible says He is.
In I Corinthians 8:5, Paul says, For thou there be many that are called elohim [gods] whether in heaven or on earth, as for us there is but one elohim [one "god"] the Father and there is one Master and that of course is Yahshua. We are going to look at numerous passages that say the same thing.
In I Corinthians 8:5, I believe the Elohim in heaven we are talking about refers to angels. I believe Paul could have been talking about the judges with regard to “the Elohim on earth,” because the word simply means “mighty one.” But absolutely, the false elohim, the elohim of the nations, Kemosh and Molech, Ashtoreth—they were all called elohim—Dagon was called an elohim, being plural, and the reason I’m mentioning that is because Dagon was one; he wasn’t a plurality, he was one and yet he was called an elohim [gods].
The word “elohim” could be used in a plural sense, but most of the time (2,366 times) it is used in a singular sense. It was common in the ancient middle east to speak of an owner, master, ruler or a deity in what is called a compound plural. I’ll give you some examples of compound plurals—Elohim would be one of them that would be considered a compound plural.
Baalim, which is usually translated “baals” or “masters” or the word Adonin. In the Hebrew, the word “adon” means “lord” or “master.” “Adoni,” makes it “my master.” Usually Hebrew words with an “i” at the end of it means “my,” “my master” or like I just mentioned the Messiah on the stake, he said Eli, Eli—”my El.” So, anyway, “adoni,” means “my master.” “Adonin” is the plural—it could be translated “lords,” but just like the word “elohim,” it is used to describe individuals. I am going to go through and mention just a few of the many, many times the words “elohim,” “baalim,” “adonin,” appear. All these words could be translated as meaning more than one, but are usually meaning or applying to just one individual.
I Kings 1:11, this is what it says, Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, ‘Have you not heard that Adoniya the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord [adonin] does not know it? The word “lord” there is the word “adonin.” It literally says “lords.” David our lords. So if somebody wanted to make a case that David was more than one which, of course, is ludicrous, you know you could use this verse to do it because clearly David is called “lords” here in the plural sense—”adonin.”
As I mentioned earlier, these words are in the compound plural in reference to greatness or excellence since generally denoting a majesty or a dignity and applicable to a single monarch. But it’s like the plurality of excellence or the plurality of greatness, not the plurality of the person being spoke of. Again, Moses is called an elohim, he’s a singular; Dagon all the false elohim; angels are called elohim; judges are called elohim. David, here in I Kings 1:11 is called “adonin,” that’s the plural word for the word “adon,” which means “lord” or “master,” but he’s called adonin in the plural sense. It’s used again—I hate to keep repeating myself, but I know this is new to a lot of people. It’s a plurality of greatness or majesty, NOT the plurality of the person being spoken to, such as David here.
Isaiah 1:3, is another good example, It says, An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand [of course, this is Yahweh speaking]. He says, The ox knows its owner. The word “owner”/”master” if you look it up, it is the word “adonin,” the plural word. See, they have it here in the possessive noun, master’s—that’s possessive, one person, owner’s crib. The word used there, though, is “adonin,” speaking of more than one. Of course, the context is clearly talking about one. But this owner here is referred to as “adonin,” not because it’s a multiplicity of persons, that’s not the case, it never is. It means a plurality of greatness or majesty. It was often used in the Middle East, in the Semitic languages, like that.
If you spoke to a Jew and you said elohim, they wouldn’t believe, just like Saul as we read in I Samuel 28, that “it must be more than one.” The word in Isaiah 1:3 is “baalim.” The word “baal” which is singular, the word “baalim” which is plural, but in this case, the word “baalim” is used speaking of one—one individual.
Isaiah 19:4, Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel master, And a mighty king will rule over them,... The word there is plural, Yahweh is clearly talking about one individual. I’ll read the whole verse and then we’ll go back and comment on it. Moreover, I will deliver the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel adonin [master or lord], And a mighty king will rule over them, Yahweh, Yahweh of hosts. See the word “lord” there—that’s the plural; not the word “adon,” meaning “lord,” it’s the plural “adonin,” which could be translated plural meaning more than one but in this case it’s used to refer to one individual.
If you look these verses and a multiple of others up in the Strong’s, you are not going to see what I am saying. For example, you’re not going to see the word “adonin”—you are going to see the word “adon,” meaning “one.” The reason is because Strong’s does not interpret it that way. Strong’s is more or less (this is my opinion, this is what I’ve found to be true about the Strong’s) based on how the word was perceived. Therefore, if you want to verify what I have said, you have to look into a Hebrew Interlinear. You have to look in a Hebrew Interlinear to see that it’s the word “adonin” or “lords.” It will tell you there that it is the word “adonin.” But, if you look in the Strong’s you’re not going to be able to verify it. Just like I said about the word “echad.” Strong’s was translating that word, putting “unity” in there as the definition for all these years. In the Strongest Strong’s, the most recent one out, they took it out because it doesn’t belong there. Strong was a Trinitarian—I am not saying he was biased in some of his definitions, but I’m not saying he is not, either.
Strong’s is not what you would call a reputable source for doing an in-depth study of something, because he gives you the way the word is used, not all the time the way it is defined. So, in the verses I’ve shown you, of course, it’s used speaking of one individual but the actual word used, if you look in a Hebrew Interlinear, you are going to find it is the word “adonin,” just like the word “elohim,” and the word “baalim.” These words, although they can be used in a plural sense, they are used to speak of a single individual.
Let me see if I have covered enough of that here. Brown-Drivers-Briggs is a reputable Hebrew dictionary, a very good Hebrew dictionary. You will find a lot more in there than you will in the Strong’s if you’re looking up definitions of words. Anyway, in there, speaking of the word “elohim,” these are the definitions: rulers, judges, angels, divine ones, gods, goddess, or somebody who is god-like. Those are the definitions for the word “elohim.” And we have just seen a number of them where angels, judges, Moses, all the pagan deities are all called “elohim.”
I feel this is very important. I want to state that I believe this is a matter of salvation. When the Savior said, This is eternal life..., He meant it! If you say that the Father is not the Only True Elohim, as the Savior tells us He is in John 17:3, you are denying the very words of the Messiah and how can you expect to stand before Him on Judgment Day and tell Him that He was wrong? Or that He was mistaken, that He is actually the Only True Elohim, that He is the Almighty, that He is the Supreme Being when clearly He said His Father is the Only True Elohim?! His Father is His Elohim, John 27.
Let’s look at a few more verses. We are going to look at some other verses in the New Testament because never, ever did anybody in the New Testament EVER try to say to anyone or convince anyone that Yahshua was the Almighty. Over and over again they prove that He was the Messiah, the Anointed of Yahweh, the Son of Yahweh, the One that Yahweh did miracles through.
In John 17, we see that This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true Elohim....
I Thessalonians 1:8, we’re told that when the Messiah returns, He’s going to deal out retribution to those who do not know Elohim. Of course, the word in Greek is “Theos,” the Hebrew would be “Elohim.” So, He’s going to deal out retribution to those who do not know Elohim. Verse 9, For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to Elohim from idols to serve a living and true Elohim, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Yahshua, who rescues us from the wrath to come. So the living and true Elohim here, who is it speaking about, a trinity? Is it talking about Yahshua? Well, of course it’s not, because it says the living True Elohim and to wait for His Son—this is the living and true Elohim which of course would be Yahweh.
In Matthew 27:46 it says, About the ninth hour, Yahshua cried out with a loud voice saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My Eli, My Eli, why have you forsaken me?’ The translation has “My God, My God.” Who was He referring to here? Of course, He’s referring to His Father. You know, some people have the misconception which I find strange to say the least, but they say that while the Messiah was on earth, He gave up His powers that He had as the Almighty. And then when He died, He regained those powers again.
After the Savior rose from the dead, look at Peter in Acts 2:22, this is what he said, Men of Israel, listen to these words. Yahshua, the Nazarene, a man [he’s speaking of Yahshua] attested to you by Elohim with miracles and wonders and signs which Elohim did through Him. Was Peter trying to convince these thousands of Jews on the Day of Pentecost that it was actually the Almighty in the flesh that came down, that died for our sins? No, absolutely not, that’s not what Peter was trying to say. He said, a man who was proven to you by Yahweh with miracles and signs and wonders which Yahweh did through Him. He didn’t do them by virtue of the fact that He was the Almighty, He did them because the Almighty was with Him.
In Acts 2:36, Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that Yahweh has made Him both Master and Messiah, this Yahshua who you have impaled. So, Yahweh made Him both Master—the word there is “Lord”; which in the Hebrew would be “adon” and in the Greek “kurios.”
The word “lord” in the translations, which I am sure many are familiar with, whenever you see “LORD” in the Tanakk (Old Testament), that’s ALWAYS speaking of Yahweh. That should have been His Name—that’s the Tetragrammaton, yod, heh, waw, heh [hwhy]. We translate that in English “YHWH.” Whenever you see the “lord” in small case letters, or even if the “L” was an upper case, that is simply the Hebrew word “adon,” which means “master” or “owner.” It could be referring to Yahweh. It could be referring to a landowner. It could be referring to a king, a prophet. It could be referring to anybody. Psalm 110:1 has a good example of what I am trying to say. It says, The Lord said to my Lord [which Yahshua again quoted in the New Testament]. People look at that and they say, “See, there’s two Lords.” No, if you look at the first one closely, the word “LORD” is all capital letters because that should be the Almighty’s Name, Yahweh. So what it says is Yahweh said to my master [lord], sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool.... And you see what it says here in Acts 2:36, Yahweh made Yahshua Master [or lord] and Messiah.
In Acts 10:38, this is Paul preaching to the first Gentile convert and listen to what he says—does he tell them (as the Christian ministers do today and some people in the Sacred Name groups) that Yahshua is the Almighty? Is that what Peter is proving here, trying to convey to the people? Again, the answer is “Never.” Never does anybody do that. Acts 10:38, to the first Gentile convert, Cornelius, he says, You know Yahshua of Nazareth, how Yahweh anointed Him [the word is “Elohim” here “Theos” in the Greek, speaking of Yahweh] with the holy spirit and power and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for Yahweh was with Him. With Him—he doesn’t tell Cornelius because He was the second person of a trinity, or because He’s the Almighty because He says Yahweh was with Him. And, again, these things were written long after the Savior died, long after the Savior died.
Let me ask you: Who’s going to judge the world? Well, the Bible clearly says Yahweh is going to judge the world. How is He going to do it? Acts 17:30-31, listen to what Paul says, Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, Yahweh is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He [Elohim or Yahweh] has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. How? It says through a man. Through a man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. So, Yahweh is going to judge the world. How is He going to do it? Through a man. What man? The One that is sitting at His right hand right now, Yahshua the Messiah.
Did Yahshua raise Himself? You know, we’re told literally 24 times—if you go through the New Testament—that Yahweh raised Yahshua from the dead. I’ll give you a couple of examples: Romans 10:9, this is an important example, it says, If you confess with your mouth that Master Yahshua and believe in your heart that Yahweh raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. You have to believe that Yahweh raised Him from the dead. He did not raise Himself from the dead. But there is a verse in John 10:18, No one has taken it away from Me [speaking of His life], but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from my Father. He says, This command—the word “command,” I have the definition here; I believe it is from Brown-Drivers-Briggs, but may have been Strong’s (Strong’s #1785 for “command”). This is what it says, “It’s an injunction, an injunction is a command or an order, especially for someone in a position of authority; that is, an authoritative prescription, a command, a precept.” Yahshua received the command, some Bibles say the “authority” to lay it down and take it up again. He says, I received this power [or this authority or this command] from my Father. Like I said earlier, 24 times we are told that Yahweh raised Yahshua from the dead. One time Yahshua says He did it by Himself, but he clarifies it in John 10:18 that He did it by power or authority that His Father gave Him.
I Timothy 2:5, it says, For there is one Elohim and one Mediator also between Elohim and men, the man Yahshua the Messiah. Who is the Elohim here? The Elohim here is clearly talking about Yahweh. Who is the Mediator between Elohim and man? Of course, it’s talking about Yahshua. The Apostle Paul here says there is one Elohim, one Mediator between Elohim and man, the man Yahshua the Messiah.
Ephesians 4:4-6, There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one ‘lord,’ one faith, one baptism, one Elohim and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Of course, the one ‘lord’ there would be the Messiah. We see in Acts 2:36 that Yahweh made Yahshua the “lord” or Master. The one ‘lord’ in Ephesians 4:4-6 is clearly talking about Yahshua, but One Elohim is talking about the Father.
We are told in the Bible there’s only One Savior. In Isaiah 43:11, it says, I even I am Yahweh and besides me there is no Savior, there is no Savior… That word “savior” is “yasha” and it’s #3467 in the Strong’s. That word “savior”—when Yahweh says there is no savior but Him, it’s in the same text as Him saying there’s no Elohim but Him. As I pointed out to you, the word “elohim” means “mighty one.” He’s the Only True Mighty One, meaning He is the One from whom the might and the authority is given to other beings or deities, Moses, angels, judges, Yahshua. And the same is true with the word “savior” here. Look at II Kings 13:5, Yahweh gave to Israel a deliverer [savior]; same word that’s used in Isaiah 43:11 when Yahweh says there’s no savior but me. Here we see another savior. II Kings 13:5, And Yahweh gave Israel a deliverer [savior], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons of Israel lived in their tents as formerly. The savior here is Joash, (see Verse 25), but it says Yahweh gave Israel a savior. Of course, ultimately Yahweh is the only Savior, meaning, if there is a savior that He gives the men then it is by authority and power of the Only Savior, which is Yahweh.
Judges 3:9, When the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a deliverer [savior] for the sons of Israel to deliver them, The word there “deliverer” is “savior,” again, the same word used in Isaiah 43:11 (#4467, “yasha”). So it says, when the children of Israel cried unto Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior to the children of Israel who delivered them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger.
Acts 13:23, From the descendants of this man, according to promise, Yahweh has brought to Israel a Savior, Yahshua. So, we see all through history, Yahweh raised up saviors or deliverers for His people Israel. And it is just as true in the New Testament—He raised up a Savior, Yahshua. Of course, Yahshua will be the final and ultimate Savior because it is through Him that our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled back to the Only True Elohim, Yahweh.
Acts 5:31, He is the one whom Elohim exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. So, here we see again that Yahweh exalted the Messiah Yahshua to His right hand as a prince and a savior. So the fact that Yahshua is called a Savior and the Almighty Yahweh says there is no savior outside Him, we see now, hopefully, there are many that are called saviors . But what Yahweh means is, ultimately, there is no savior besides Him because He is the One that brings the Savior to Israel, including the Messiah Yahshua.
In Genesis 1:26 where it says Elohim said let us make man in our image. Who was He speaking to? He’s speaking of course to the Messiah Yahshua. There’s two of them there. The word “elohim” is singular but of course the word “us” is plural. If you read the context there, later on in Verse 27-28, it says, And He made man in His image. He, singular—His image, singular. So how did Yahshua do it with Yahweh? Let me explain that.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says, Yahweh, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. So Yahweh made the world. How did He do it? Through His Son. He did it through His Son. Yahshua was the instrument by which Yahweh made the world. How did He do it? I haven’t a clue. There’s a lot of things that Yahweh does that we have no clue as to how, but He did it. And He did it through His Son.
Let’s look at Moses in the desert, Acts 7:36, This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.’ Who performed the miracles in the wilderness for forty years? Moses did it. But there’s clear passages that say Yahweh did it. Would anybody imply that Moses is Yahweh? Absolutely not. But, yet clearly it says Moses did it and Yahweh did it. How? Yahweh did it through Moses.
In Exodus 3, the angel appeared to him in a burning bush and the angel spoke as if it were Yahweh Himself speaking. But, if we go to Acts, even though it was the angel of Yahweh speaking with the authority of Yahweh, Steven, the disciple recognized Him as being an angel. Steven, the first martyr for the faith; the one who Yahshua got up out of His chair sitting next to the right hand of the Father to receive Steven to Himself. It says that Yahshua stood up to receive Steven to Himself. Yahshua stood up when Steven got stoned to death. This same Steven says in Acts 7:30, After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness in Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. And in Verse 33, Yahweh said unto him take off thy sandals. So what I’m saying is the point that Steven recognizing, knowing the passage better than you and I, recognized the fact that the angel was speaking in the first person and still believed it to be an angel.
John 8:58 says, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Though I could write an article on this alone, I will just make a brief point. In the Septuagint (that is a Greek copy of the Hebrew Bible); which was written around 250 AD (or about 250 years before the Messiah), if you look up Exodus 3:14 where Yahweh says, Tell the sons of Israel I am has sent you, and compare that with John 8:58—compare in the Greek Septuagint and a Greek Interlinear, you’re going to see that Yahshua did not use the same word that His Father used. Although the word that His Father used is found four times in the Book of Revelation, it is always speaking of Yahweh.
There are so many verses that are worthy to comment on: I John 5:7, I John 5:20, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, John 20:29; Micah 5:2; and on and on. This is a matter of salvation and there is nothing more important than your salvation and my salvation. If I can help somebody to understand and realize that Yahweh is the Only True Elohim, I would be happy to do that.
May Yahweh bless the honest heart that is seeking after Him and wants to serve Him in spirit and truth.