The world is full of people. Old people, young people, big people, and small people. It consists of people from many different backgrounds: with differing customs, traditions, lifestyles, religions, and beliefs. But one thing every person ever born has in common, each is created as a spirit being once conceived in their mother’s womb. This phenomenon occurs because God said: נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ “let us make man in our image after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26a, MT[1]). God did this so that man could have supreme authority over what he created on the Earth (Gen. 1:26bcd, 28-30). Therefore, God created man (male and female) in his (ṣelem) image (Gen. 1:27)—he created man in his likeness to represent him in the Earth that he created. His likeness primarily refers to our spirit-being, since God is a spirit (Jn. 4:24a; 2 Cor. 3:17; Isa. 61:1a; Rms. 8:16). God created man as a spirit-being, he has given him a soul to communicate with, and provided him with a body of human flesh to live in this world (1 Thess. 5:23). The first man came to life once God breathed life into his spirit-being (Gen. 2:7), as did Eve once he created her from Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:18, 21-24). Although God breathing life into Eve is not recorded in the Scriptures he would have had to because she was created a spirit-being just like Adam. Every person since the creation of Adam and Eve has been born a spirit-being when at the fertilization (conception) of a man’s sperm and the egg of a woman connect, God then breathes life into that fusion.
The God who created the universe and all that is in it (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 33:6; Isa. 40:26; Jn. 1:3; Heb. 11:3; Rev. 4:11) is one God, but contrary to the beliefs of all religions except true Christianity he exists as three distinct persons. The God of true Christianity is not an erroneous idea, because the Holy Scriptures record that God Almighty is a Trinity. The Father (Rms. 1:7; 2 Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:2), the Son—Jesus (Titus 2:13; Jn. 1:1, 14, 18 [3:16; 1 Jn. 4:9]; 5:18; 10:27-30, 33; 17:21; Phil. 2:5-6; Col. 2:9-10; 1 Jn. 5:20; Rev. 1:17-18 [2:8; Isa. 44:6], and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:25-26; 15:26-27; 16:7-15; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor. 2:14), are three distinct individuals who are the divine and sole existence of the one God who created the heavens and earth. True Christianity is a monotheistic faith because of the belief in one God, even though they believe that the only true God exists as three distinct individuals. Other religions that believe in only one God do not believe true Christianity is monotheistic because of the faith that God is a Trinity. Even some in the Christian faith have difficulty understanding the concept of the Trinity, therefore they choose to believe that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one person—like the breakaway sects of Christianity. This belief invalidates the idea of the Trinity. But the fact that God is three distinct persons who equally are the one true God is revealed in Scripture. God the Father sent God the Son into the world (Jn. 3:16) to redeem man from the power of the evil ones (Eph. 2:1-6)—these Scriptures reveal that God the Father and God the Son are two separate individuals. When Jesus’ work on the earth was finished, he then went back to the Father who resides in the eternal realm (Acts 1:9-11; Jn. 16:10b)—these Scriptures also reveal that the Father and the Son are two separate persons. Jesus revealed to his disciples that no one can come to the Father except through him (Jn. 14:6) and that no one can know the Father unless Jesus reveals him to them (Matt. 11:27)—this also reveals that the Father and the Son are two separate but equal individuals. Jesus did say that he was in the Father, and that the Father is in him; that the Father lives in him (Jn. 14:10-11), but these statements reveal that Jesus the Son is equally God with his Father—these two distinct persons are two of the individuals who are the divine and sole existence of the one true God. The Scriptures reveal that the Holy Spirit is God who is a distinct person from the Father and the Son, as you can see from the Scripture references to him above. Jesus said to his disciples that if they love him, by keeping his commands, then he would send another helper to help them and he will be with them forever—once he leaves them, after he is raptured back into heaven (Jn. 14:15-16). He is the Spirit of truth (God) who will guide Christ’s followers into all truth (Jn. 14:17a; 16:13). Jesus is not the Father nor is he the Holy Spirit. The Father is not the Son nor is he the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father nor is he the Son of God. But all three persons of the Trinity are distinct individuals who are the divine and sole existence of the one and only true God who created the heavens and earth. Some people would say that the Scripture references that I have presented with my description of the Trinity are just words written on pages by certain men, but I contend that they are divinely inspired words recorded by certain men for those who are appointed to eternal life so that they can believe.
When God said: “let us make man in our image after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26a), who do you think he was talking to? Was he talking to the cherubim that surrounded his throne? No! The cherubim around his throne does not have the power to create a man. Was he talking to the angels Gabriel, Michael, or another heavenly being? No! Gabriel and Michael and all other heavenly beings do not have the power to create a man. Rather, one of the three persons of the Trinity was discussing with the other two persons in the Trinity the creation of a new spirit-being to guard and take care of his creation upon the newly restored planet Earth. They would have discussed that this spirit-being would need the ability to communicate with God and also their humankind, so they created a soul and a physical body to go along with the spirit of man. This record is an allusion to the likelihood that all three persons in the Trinity were responsible for the creation of man. Another Scripture that reveals the Trinity is after Adam had sinned, one of the three persons of the Trinity had said to the other two: καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ Αδαμ γέγονεν ὡς εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρόν (kaí eípen o theós idoú Adam gégonen os eís ex imón toú ginóskein kalón kaí ponirón) “And God said, Behold, Adam became as one of us, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:22a, LXX[2]). This certain person of the Godhead was not referring to the angels because they are not like God. Yes, the angels know the difference between good and evil but if God was referencing these heavenly beings he would have alluded to the fact. There was yet another time God revealed himself as a Trinity. This was after the Great Flood, when Nimrod and the people of the earth were building the tower to reach the heavens, possibly to reach one of the many portals to the spiritual realm, God had to stop their construction (Gen. 11:1-9). Yahweh had come down to see their construction and knew that this construction had to stop (Gen. 11:5-6). So, one of the three persons in the Trinity said to the other two that they must go down to the earthly realm and confuse the language of the people so they will not be able to communicate with one another to complete their tower to the heavens, or portal to the spiritual realm: “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Gen. 11:7, ESV)—the Ancient Book of Jasher says in 9:32, that God was referring to the seventy angels who stood before him; that they were who he was talking to. The Book of Jasher was written over 3,500 years ago possibly the same time Moses wrote the Book of Genesis. Jasher is not part of the Canon of Scripture but it is a history book that has been referenced in the Scriptures (Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18; 2 Timothy 3:8), so its extra information concerning the events in the Book of Genesis and Exodus may be somewhat accurate but it is not writing that the Holy Spirit inspired, because some of its information contradicts what is written in the Holy Scriptures. There are fake books of Jasher, but the book I have referenced is a credible work (Ken Johnson Th.D. – copyright 2008). My point is, that whoever wrote the genuine Book of Jasher may have not believed that God is a Trinity, so to not sound like he was a heretic he may have substituted the Trinity for the seventy angels who stood before Yahweh. Does this mean that I am right in saying that in Genesis 11:7 the text is about the Trinity and not the seventy angels as the book of Jasher records? What I am inferring is that my theory is that Genesis 11:7 is referring to the Trinity because of the abundance of Scriptural references that allude to God being a Trinity. When you compare these three recorded incidences – Genesis 1:26a; 3:22a; 11:7 – with the Scripture verses in my previous paragraph about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you should be able to understand that the only true God is a Trinity. The Scriptures sometimes will refer to each of the three persons of the Trinity by the same proper nouns (names), but that only reinforces the concept that God the Father, God the Son, and the Spirit of God, are all equal in power and might and sovereignty.
After God created man, he was able to have fellowship with him because it is written that he put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work in and take care of it—he trusted Adam with that (Gen. 2:15). During Adam’s initial fellowship with God, he was assigned to name all of the creatures in the Earth (Gen. 2:19-20a). God gave him authority over the Garden and he was allowed to eat what he could produce in it (Gen. 2:16). But God warned Adam not to eat from עץ הדעת טוב ורע “The tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17a, MT). If he did, he would experience מוּת (mûṯ) death. The man was created to live forever in communion and fellowship with his Creator. Some disagree with this statement because Genesis does not say that. But Romans 5:12 reveals that the reason Adam eventually died, and all men after, is because of sin. Because Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he sinned against God (Gen. 3:6). God commanded Adam to not eat from this tree but he did what his wife said instead of obeying God. Ever since that point in time sin entered into the world and everything living would then not only die physically but man would also be spiritually dead to God. Adam’s spiritual relationship with God died once he ate of the tree and a curse was put on him and every man after (Gen. 3:17-19; Rms. 5:12-14). A curse was put on Eve and every woman after because she let the serpent deceive her, thereby leading Adam to sin against God (Gen. 3:1-6, 13, 16). For Adam and Eve to be forgiven for their transgression, and not die immediately or be cut off completely from God, he had to shed the blood of one of the animals that he had created (Gen. 3:21). Once Jesus came into the world and sacrificed his life for men (shed his blood), then mankind could have their spiritual relationship with God restored if they put their faith in Christ (Rms. 3:22-23).
As time went on אַבְרָם ('aḇrām – pronounced av-rawm') Abram was born – about 1948 years after Adam was created – to his father Terah (Terah had two other sons: Nahor and Haron – Gen. 11:26). Yahweh instructed Abram about seventy-five years later to leave Harran and settle in the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:1-5). Yahweh promised to give the land of Canaan[3] to Abram’s offspring—meaning his son born by the promise of God, Isaac (Ishmael was born by Abram’s union with Hagar, therefore he was not the child of Yahweh’s promise – Gal. 4:21-31), and his grandson Jacob, who was later called Israel (Gen. 32:27-28), and the descendants of Jacob (Gen. 12:6-9; 13:15; 17:8[4]). The land of Canaan covered the areas that are present-day Israel. It also included the land that is known as Gaza and the West Bank. The land that Yahweh gave to Abram’s offspring, the descendants of Jacob (Israel), also included Lebanon and portions of Syria and Jordan.[5]
After traveling to Egypt because of a famine in the Negev (southern Israel), Abram and his wife Sarai were welcomed there because the Egyptians and Pharaoh saw that Abram’s wife was beautiful (Gen.12:10-16). But they were ordered to leave Egypt after Yahweh had inflicted disease upon Pharaoh’s household because Abram had deceived Pharaoh concerning his wife Sarai (Gen. 12:17-20). Abram, his wife, and his nephew Lot, then went back to the Negev (Gen. 13:1). After Abram had lived in Canaan for about ten years, his wife gave him her Egyptian slave so that her husband could sleep with her and bear a child for Sarai since she had no children, Abram slept with the slave and she conceived (Gen. 16:1-4). Before this Yahweh had promised Abram a son (Gen. 15:1-6). The son born to Sarai’s slave, Ishmael, was not the child promised to Abram by God, Isaac was (Gen. 21:1-4). Yahweh had changed both Abram’s and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sara before the birth of Isaac (Gen. 17:1-7, 15-16). Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was 90 years old (Gen. 17:17; 21:1-7)—Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed before Isaac was born (Gen. 18:16-19:1-29).
When Isaac was about 37 years old,[6] God tested Abraham by commanding him to go to Mount Moriah (the future temple mount in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 3:1), which is now occupied by the Muslim, Dome of the Rock, which is surrounded by the al-Aqsa Mosque compound) and sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering[7] (Gen. 22:1-2). Abraham did not hesitate because he knew that Yahweh was testing him, and he believed that God would provide the lamb to be sacrificed as the burnt offering (Gen. 22:3-8). Abraham went as far as to build the altar and lay Isaac on top of the wood, he even drew his knife to sacrifice his son, but an angel of Yahweh stopped Abraham before the knife touched Isaac (Gen. 22:9-11). The angel of Yahweh told Abraham that God knew he had יָרֵא (yārē') fear for him, even at the cost of his only son (Gen. 22:12)—to fear God means to be afraid to not disobey what he says; having reverential fear is allusive to showing honor and respect. Yahweh then provided a ram for Abraham to substitute Isaac for (Gen. 22:13). Abraham called the place where God provided a substitute for Isaac: “The LORD Will Provide” (Ge. 22:14a, CSB). The temple mounts on Mount Moriah, where the first and second Jewish temples stood (957-586 BC – 516 BC-AD 70) and where the third temple will be built once the Tribulation Period begins (Rev. 11:1-2; 2 Thess. 2:4; Dan. 9:27bc), is where Jesus entered to present himself as Israel’s Messiah, but was rejected by the religious leaders (Matt. 21:7-17; Mk. 11:7-11; Lk. 19:32-44). That presentation Jesus made on the temple mount that day was not only to present himself to Israel as their Messiah, but his appearance at that place was also allusive to his role in being the lamb that Yahweh would provide to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10). He knew that he would be sacrificed for the sins of the world (Jn. 3:13-18; Rms. 5:8; 1 Jn. 4:9-10; Isa. 53:1-12). Jesus’ appearance on Palm Sunday at the same place where Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac was a prophetic sign that indicated he would be the sacrificial lamb God would provide for the salvation of not only the nation of Israel but for all who would put their faith in him; meaning the Church—Jesus was not sacrificed on the temple mount, but that was the place God chose to announce that he would provide the lamb to be slain; and that lamb was Jesus. Just like Yahweh provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice as a burnt offering instead of Isaac, God has provided the lamb of God that was sacrificed so that all who would believe may have eternal life.
As time went on, Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, had twelve sons. These twelve sons were the descendants of Abraham who were promised to receive the land of Canaan (Gen. 28:10-15; 35:12). These twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. There came a time when Israel settled in Egypt because of a famine (Gen. 41:53-54, 57; 42:1-5; 46:1-47:12), this was to fulfill a prophecy given to Abram (Gen. 15:13). Their brother Joseph was already in Egypt because of their brother’s deception (Gen. 37:12-36) and in time was put in charge of Pharaoh's palace, all Egypt submitted to Joseph’s orders (Gen. 41:40-41). The power over Egypt was given to Israel’s son, Joseph, because of a dream that he accurately interpreted for Pharaoh (Gen. 41:1-39). After many years Israel ended up becoming slaves to a new generation of Egyptians after Joseph and his brothers passed away (Ex. 1:1-14). But Yahweh delivered the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by the power of his might many years later (Ex. 12:31-51), which further fulfilled the prophecy given to Abram (Gen. 15: 14-16). Yahweh had to also divide the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape Pharaoh's soldiers (Ex. 13:17-14:31).
The people of Israel proved to be a stubborn and obstinate nation. They tested God and Moses in the desert after leaving the land of Egypt (Ex. 15:22-17:7). Yahweh made another promise to Israel, that if they would obey him completely and keep his covenant, then he would favor them over every other nation (Ex. 19:5). God said to the Israelites: אַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ־לִי מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים וְגוֹי קָדוֹשׁ “you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6a, MT). Yahweh gave them the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17). But they were frightened of his power and did not want God to speak to them directly (Ex. 20:18-21). This request was more than just from a sense of fear, it was an early indication that the people of Israel would never fully listen and obey Yahweh and his decrees. Yahweh had set laws for the people of Israel to obey (Ex. 21:1- 23:33), but in time they became disloyal.
When Israel was about to leave their slavery in Egypt, Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron to instruct the Israelites to take a lamb, one for each family (Ex. 12:1-3). The lamb must be a male without defects and be a certain age, and then on a certain day, they were to slaughter the animal (Ex. 12:5-6). They were then to take the blood from the slaughtered animal and wipe it on the doorframes, top and sides, of the house they would eat the lamb in (Ex. 12:7). That same night, Yahweh would pass through the land of Egypt and end the life of every firstborn human and animal, at the same time he would judge the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12). But every house that had the blood of the slaughtered lambs on their doorframes Yahweh would bypass, and the destroying plagues would not harm them (Ex. 12:13). The lamb’s blood was a sign of God’s mercy. Jesus Christ was also: “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pt. 1:19b, Webster’s Bible). Israel escaped Yahweh’s judgment upon Egypt only because of their obedience to the accommodation of the blood sacrifice. This is similar to the blood Jesus sacrificed for the sins of the world: “According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22, CSB). When Israel was in the desert in front of Mount Sinai, when the covenant was established, Moses took the blood of the young bulls that he had the young men slaughter as a fellowship offering to Yahweh and he put half of it in bowls and the rest he splashed against the altar he had built at the foot of Mount Sinai (Ex. 24:3-6). After reading the book of the covenant (literally, Exodus 20:22-23:19) to the people (Ex. 24:7), he then took the blood in the bowls and sprinkled it on the Israelites and said: “Behold the blood of the covenant, which Jehovah hath made with you concerning all these words” (Ex. 24: 8b, ASV). This blood of the covenant was what Jesus was referring to when he and his disciples ate the “Lord’s Supper” the night he was betrayed: καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης τὸ ἐκχυννόμενον ὑπὲρ πολλῶν (kaí eípen aftoís toútó estin tó aímá mou tís diathíkis tó ekchynnómenon ypér pollón “And he said unto them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many” (Mk. 14:24, mGNT). Once a year, Aaron was to make atonement for the people of Israel on the horns of the Altar of Incense with bulls’ blood (Ex. 30:10). This ordinance was a picture of the blood Jesus shed on the cross to offer up to his Father (Heb. 9:11-10:14).
Jesus is referred to as the Lamb that was slain, and if a person is not written in the Book of Life, they will worship the Antichrist during the seven-year Tribulation Period (Rev. 13:5-8). John the Baptist recognized Jesus in his day as the Lamb of God: “who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29b, Darby). It is the blood of Jesus Christ that gives the Church power over evil spirits (Rev. 12:11).
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