The Nature of God and Christ - Members Site - United Church of God

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THE NATURE OF GOD AND CHRISTDoctrinal Study Paperantecedent to verse 8 is clearly established in verse 7. It is Jesus Christ who will come in theclouds, it was Jesus Christ who was pierced and died for the sins of the world. Thus, He is the“Alpha and Omega” of verse 8.In reading the book of Revelation one should keep in mind that Jesus Christ is therevelator and the principal spokesman. In verse 10 John hears a voice like a trumpet and thevoice states, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” John then turns to see thevoice that was speaking and sees seven golden lampstands with one like the Son of Man walkingin the midst of them with seven stars in His right hand and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedgedsword. John is so shaken by the vision that he falls as dead before the one who isspeaking, and the one speaking instructs John not to fear. Then the one speaking clearlyidentifies Himself saying, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am aliveforevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (Revelation 1:10-18).Only Christ could make the claim that He was dead and is now alive. Later in the book ofRevelation John is inspired to write, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,the First and the Last” (Revelation 22:13). “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you thesethings in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star”(verse 16). Clearly, the contextual and internal evidence demonstrate the term “Alpha andOmega” in the book of Revelation is referring to Jesus Christ.Moreover, even if one argues that Revelation 1:8 is referring to God the Father—the factremains that Jesus Christ also identifies Himself as, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, …the Firstand the Last.” Thus, Jesus’ clear statements in the book of Revelation make it abundantly clearthat He exists in eternity.The Shema and the “Oneness” of GodThe Shema is the fundamental confession of the Jewish religion. “Hear, O Israel: TheLORD our God is one [Hebrew, echad] LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4, King James Version). TheShema is not a prayer but rather a “confession of faith or creed.” 4 It is seen as the creed thatproclaims the oneness and uniqueness of God. To the Jews the Shema is not only an “assertion ofmonotheism, it is also an assertion of the numerical oneness of God which is contradictory to theChristian view of the Trinity of the Godhead.” 5Jesus came proclaiming a controversial and revolutionary message about God and theway to eternal life. He proclaims He was sent to reveal the Father, which no man has ever seenor heard (John 1:18; 5:37). Furthermore, Jesus claims that He is the Son of God, the bread of lifesent by the Father from heaven (John 6:32-40). His message was particularly inflammatory to theJews, even though they were familiar with the Logos terminology—nevertheless, they rejectedthe idea of God becoming flesh. Any suggestion that God exists as more than one being, or that ahuman being could be God in the flesh, was viewed by most of the Jewish sects as blasphemy.4 G.W. Bromily, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1988, Vol. 4, p. 469.5 Frank E. Gabelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1992, Vol. 4, p. 69.Page 8September 2005© 2005 United Church of God, an International Association
THE NATURE OF GOD AND CHRISTDoctrinal Study PaperSo does the Shema indeed state that there is only one being in the Godhead? The greatJewish scholar Maimonides addresses this problem in his writings. In his “Thirteen Principles ofFaith” he actually changes the Hebrew echad used in Deuteronomy 6:4 to yachid in expressingthe oneness of God. However, when Moses wrote Deuteronomy 6:4, he used the word echad,which allows for more than one as in the case of Adam and Eve becoming one (echad).In addition to the problem with echad, Maimonides was hard-pressed to find asatisfactory solution to the plural pronouns that Moses uses in referring to God in the Torah. Sohe suggests changing the text and dropping them altogether and substituting singular referencesin his attempt to preserve strict monotheism. Obviously this is not the solution since this wouldchange the original intent of the Scriptures.Scholars are now bringing to light the influence of Maimonides in making the Shema thehallmark of Judaism. On the Web site “Most Frequent Questions in Jewish Evangelism” fromNorthwestern University, the following quote shows how Maimonides changed echad to yachidin his attempts to preserve strict monotheism:Even more striking is the very word used in the Sh’ma to proclaim the oneness of God:echad. This word allows for plurality or diversity within the unity. This can be seenclearly in several passages. In Genesis 1:5, 2:24, Ezra 2:64 and Ezekiel 37:17, theoneness is the result of combining evening and morning, man and wife, the individualmembers of an assembly and two sticks, respectively. There is, however, another Hebrewword to describe an indivisible unity: yachid. The scholar Maimonides, when composinghis famous Thirteen Articles of Faith, substituted yachid for echad in describing thenature of God. Ever since, the notion of an indivisible unity of God has been fostered byJudaism; nevertheless, the Bible gives ample instances to show that there is a diversitywithin God’s unity. 6Another writer, Dr. Michael L. Brown, author and founder of ICN Ministries,commenting on the Jewish scholar Maimonides writes:In the twelfth century, Moses Maimonides, writing to counter Christian and Muslimbeliefs, compiled his thirteen articles of faith, recited by observant Jews daily. One of thearticles states that Jews must believe that God is yachid—“absolute unity.” But this isunscriptural…Author Sam Stern comments on Maimonides and attributes his writings with definingmonotheism among the Jews:Yet, the Jewish understanding of “one God” evolves not from the Scriptures, but fromMaimonides’ Thirteen Articles of Faith. When he formulated these principles, hereplaced the word echad, which appears in the Bible and means a unity of more than oneelement, with another word, yachid, that means an absolute one. Maimonides influenced6 http://groups.northwestern.edu/crusade/resources/apologetics/TheMostFrequentQuestionsInJewishEvangelism.Page 9September 2005© 2005 United Church of God, an International Association
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