Dear Refiner's Fire...

I have a question for you that I am unable answer. In Matthew 10:32 and 10:33, Yeshua says:

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

The cornerstone of my belief in Yeshua as Messiah is that God put His word and will into Yeshua, a man, so that this man (all man and all God) would provide divine interpretation to the Torah for all humankind. My understanding was that once Yeshua the man died, the word and will of God would again exist in God alone. While I understand God resurrected Yeshua, I also understand it was to demonstrate the legitimacy of Yeshua's testament.

The problem is the above passage seems to suggest that in heaven, there are two divine entities. God, and Yeshua. While I understand that Yeshua can be the will and word of God in a man on earth, I don't understand why He would continue to exist separate from God in heaven. That's a lot harder to swallow.

Why? When God manifests Himself on earth, He uses natural entities to channel Himself. He appeared as a pillar of smoke, fire, burning bush, etc. This is because God creates the framework in which we all operate, and He chooses to give human beings dominion over the earth. In other words, so as not to break His own rules, God uses earthly creations to communicate His will in our world.

The above passage seems to change the rules, and violates rule no. 1, that the Lord our God is one in the supernatural realm. I know the Torah uses "Echad" and not "Yachid" to describe God, but that logic only works to explain God's actions on our physical plane. The idea of two separate divine wills existing in heaven, without any substantial references in the Torah evidencing the interaction prior to Yeshua, is troubling.

Our Response....

Explaining God is not easy to do, but I envision the ECHAD God of the Universe like one of those "UFO Fiber Optic Designer" lamps which consists of a million points of light protruding from one central source. God, the Source, is a Spirit; Yeshua was that Spirit incarnate - just one of the myriad "tentacles" flowing from the Source. He was an ASPECT of God sent to us so that we could identify better. God the ECHAD Spirit was still in charge of the universe while an aspect of Himself was running around Israel trying to teach people the things of God and to show people how much God loves them by being the final SIN sacrifice.

John 1 tells us: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing made had being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness not has suppressed it.

Seeing the ECHAD as a carton of eggs or a bunch of grapes or as a football team brings it into better perspective. A team isn't a team unless it consists of ALL players. You can't win a football game unless the TEAM plays. God simply sent a Quarterback, if you will, to be the final sin sacrifice and to teach us (in a way with which we could identify) the things of God and how to treat each other. YHWH is God. He can do and be, and call Himself whatever He wants. After all, He has been a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night; a burning bush; "three men" who came to see Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre; and, He spoke through a donkey! If He can do all that, why COULDN'T He send an aspect of Himself to earth as a human called Yeshua?

You have to remember, we're using our limited, human mindsets to try to understand the things of God. All we have is the Bible - God's Word - which told us from beginning to end what would happen. Yeshua was prophesied in the Tanach, and revealed in the "New Testament". The Bible doesn't say "a new god" would be given to us; it tells us He would be our Messiah "from the days of eternity". This could only mean one thing: God Himself, as there is only ONE God!

Isaiah 9 6 - For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace

Micah 5:2 - "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

John 8:24 - This is why I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not trust that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins."

Colossians 2: 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

It's a good thing there are four gospels, because sometimes one fills the gaps from another. Moving from Matthew 10:32, Luke 12:8 contains the full recitation of what Yeshua said. It provides the following:

I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.

This is a whole lot more plausible, because it does not presume the existence of two divine wills in heaven. Luke 12:8, however, simply clarifies that the word of God (Yeshua while on earth) will proclaim the merit of one's life before the angels in heaven. We are not talking about two divine wills in heaven, but the one word of God.

Luke 12:8 actually has its roots in the Torah. In the Targum on the Song of Solomon 1:15 (which seems totally unrelated), the ancient Rabbis write:

When the children of Israel do the will of their King, by His word (the Logos) praises them in the family of the holy angels.

Thus, this passage in Luke 12:8 is totally consistent with ancient rabbinical interpretation. Even though the passage they interpret seems unrelated.

A network of Hebraic Faith rabbis @ The Refiner's Fire