The Lord GOD and his spirit

Isa_48:16  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

People have said that Isaiah 48:16 proves that the “Holy Spirit” is another member of the Godhead, a third person, a third divine being. But I believe anyone can see that a simple comparison of the construction of Isaiah 48:16 will show that this verse must not be understood by modern language and our straight-forward, Hellenized form of communicating. Isaiah 48:16 must be properly understood by the Hebraic form of communicating, as we will see below. Specifically what I mean is the use of the word, “and”. “And” does not necessarily mean an addition of subjects, but rather can bring added emphasis, for another quality, description, or attribute of the original person.

This is what we see in the following biblical texts.

 Eph_5:20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Col_1:3  We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

Col_3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Jas_1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Rev_1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Are God and the Father two different persons? Obviously not. No one would ever say that. Other texts that say this don’t use “and” as seen below, which we as 21st century readers recognize to be the norm. But, it wasn’t always the norm. Comparing scripture with scripture, line upon line, we see that to use “and” doesn’t mean any differently in the first verses quoted above. “And” has sometimes simply been a different language and literary construct from the past.

Joh_6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Gal_1:1  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Gal_1:3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Eph_6:23  Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Php_2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1Th_1:1  Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Ti_1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Tit_1:4  To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

1Pe_1:2  Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

2Pe_1:17  For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2Jn_1:3  Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Jud_1:1  Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

 “God the Father”, “God and the Father”, or “God and his Father” (Rev. 1:6), all say the same thing. God is the Father. His only begotten Son is “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. 1:5). God and the Father are not two separate persons. Then let’s read Isaiah 48:16 the same way. Basic ancient syntax and grammar reads Isaiah 48:16 as “the Lord GOD his spirit sent me”, or rather, “Adonoy Jehovah his spirit sent me”. In the minds of prophet and people monotheism reigned supreme. No one in Israel would have understood that Isaiah was sent by two Gods. They would have interpreted Isaiah to mean that the Spirit of the Lord had sent him. Not two Gods, but Christ alone has been the medium of communication and communion between God and man.

“This ladder represented Christ, who had opened the communication between earth and heaven. In Christ’s humiliation He descended to the very depth of human woe in sympathy and pity for fallen man, which was represented to Jacob by one end of the ladder resting upon the earth, while the top of the ladder, reaching unto heaven, represents the divine power of Christ, who grasps the Infinite, and thus links earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God. Through Christ the communication is opened between God and man. Angels may pass from heaven to earth with messages of love to fallen man, and to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. It is through Christ alone that the heavenly messengers minister to men.” Selected Messages, book 1, p. 280.

“In the vision the plan of redemption was presented to Jacob, not fully, but in such parts as were essential to him at that time. The mystic ladder revealed to him in his dream was the same to which Christ referred in His conversation with Nathanael. Said He, ‘Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’ John 1:51. Up to the time of man’s rebellion against the government of God, there had been free communion between God and man. But the sin of Adam and Eve separated earth from heaven, so that man could not have communion with his Maker. Yet the world was not left in solitary hopelessness. The ladder represents Jesus, the appointed medium of communication. Had He not with His own merits bridged the gulf that sin had made, the ministering angels could have held no communion with fallen man. Christ connects man in his weakness and helplessness with the source of infinite power.”  Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 184.

 

“In all these revelations of the divine presence the glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not alone at the Saviour’s advent, but through all the ages after the Fall and the promise of redemption, ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ 2 Corinthians 5:19. Christ was the foundation and center of the sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and the Jewish age. Since the sin of our first parents there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God. All the communion between heaven and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was the Son of God that gave to our first parents the promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Himself to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked for salvation through man’s Substitute and Surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh; and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face. 

     Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in the wilderness--the Angel in whom was the name of Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went before the host--but it was He who gave the law to Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ declared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses the law engraved upon the tables of stone. 

     It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. The apostle Peter, writing to the Christian church, says that the prophets “prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It is the voice of Christ that speaks to us through the Old Testament. ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Revelation 19:10.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366.

“The Saviour had not come to set aside what patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for He Himself had spoken through these representative men. All the truths of God’s word came from Him.” Desire of Ages. p. 287.

Look at some other examples of the ancient grammar of “and” and see if they are not simply a bridge between two words that can be made invisible, and even put out of use today, yet mean the same as in the past:

Mat_24:48  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

Luk_12:45  But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

Luk_20:6  But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

1Co_7:11  But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

1Co_7:28  But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

1Pe_3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Joh_6:62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

Rev_17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Isa_34:16  Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.

Compare the last two references to the Lord and His spirit. The Lord’s Spirit reveals the work that He does. The Spirit is the Lord’s mouth. What does the Almighty’s mouth do? It commands, It moves, as in holy men being “moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Pet. 1:21). Isaiah 34:16 says that that is what His Spirit does. A plain reading of this verse says that His mouth works in conjunction with His Spirit. We see this also in Isaiah 48:13.

Isa 48:13  Mine Hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right Hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

Isaiah 34:16 and Isaiah 48:13 give the context of the key text we started with, Isaiah 48:16, a verse that people use to prove that the Spirit as a separate person. But, from a plain reading of these verses we get a clear insight into the Spirit of God, that it is simply His Spirit; it is “the power of the Highest” (Luke 1:35), the power in the Most High to do His will. His Spirit is His power unto creation and over His creations, and it is His power unto salvation and over His subjects of salvation, His delivered saints. He is their Lord, and with His omnipotent work, in His presence, they “do…the things which I say.” (Luke 6:46, cf Jer. 15:19). His power, His word moves His inanimate creation and animal kingdom to do His bidding. Why are His human creatures, who are made in His image, rebellious toward His commands, His biddings?

The almighty Lord God has His Spirit just as we have our spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:11). He has His Mouth, just as we have our mouth. He has His right Hand, just as we have our right hand. We are made in His image. From the abundance of our spirit our mouth speaks and our hand acts; and likewise His abundant Mouth speaks and powerful Hand works from the abundance of His Spirit. His Spirit functions similarly as His Mouth in that its almighty powerful aspect of His mind causes His almighty Mouth to speak and His omnipotent righteous right Hand to cause His providences. His Spirit, His Mouth, and His Hand were involved in bringing vultures to the vulture friends spoken of in Isaiah 34:16, for them all to feed on the slain enemies of Israel. His Mouth, His Hand, and His Spirit called the animals to feast on the dead rebels of the kingdom of God.

How can we say that the Lord’s Spirit, His Mouth, and His righteous right Hand are separate entities, separate persons, from Himself? If we say His Spirit is a separate person, then we must say the same thing about His Mouth and His Hand. The Mouth and Hand of the Lord are not separate persons, distinct from the One who owns that almighty Mouth and Hand. His almighty Mouth and Hand are simply the part of God that commands the human and animal kingdom. They are the manifestation of Him that our minds detect and comprehend.

And so is His almighty Spirit, the Spirit of truth and Comforter, our Wonderful Counselor.

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord .” (2Cor. 3:17,18). God has a Law, and is the Law, His Law being a transcript of Himself (see Romans 7:25; 8:7; 4:15; Galatians 3:24; Hebrews 12:6). God is a Spirit and has a Spirit. Likewise, are we in our sphere, being made in His image. We are “living soul[s]” (Gen. 2:7), yet we possess a soul, the place of God’s peace within our mind. Even as David pined to himself, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul; why art thou disquieted within me?” (Ps. 42:11, cf vs. 2,5,6). And even as David mourned the loss of his peace from Jesus,  “Lord, why castest Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?” (Ps. 88:14).

That converted soul finds its great peace and comfort while abiding in connection with the Lord who put the soul in man when He breathed into His nostrils His holy Spirit of life. The human soul, by His Spirit, is the Lord’s resting place in man, His footstool upon the mercy seat of the redeemed man. His power that reconciles the heart and mind to God, and brings calm to His creation by closing in man the oppressive breach made by the presence of the spirit of Satan.