Jonathan Bernis - Who Is Our Heavenly Father?
Jonathan Bernis: Shalom and welcome to Jewish Voice and thank you for joining me today. I'm Jonathan Bernis. I'm here again with my co-host, Ezra Benjamin, and Ezra, Jews believe in one God.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: That's the confession of our people.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: Christians also believe in one God but manifested in three persons. Are they the same or different? To find the answer to the question we have to go back to the Hebrew and the Old Testament. Ezra, probably one of the greatest challenges for Jewish people...
Ezra Benjamin: Sure.
Jonathan Bernis: Is the erroneous belief that Christians believe in three Gods: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: We believe what when we go back to the Hebrew?
Ezra Benjamin: Right. We believe in one God and that's, you know, taken to its extreme, one of the Jewish objections to Jesus, if you will, or the Jewish objections to the idea that belief in Jesus or the Christian faith could be for Jewish people or even applicable is this idea that God is one, God's whole relationship with Israel is, "I'm taking you out of pagan idolatrous cultures, and I want you to worship me and me alone". And the Christians, well they have, whatever they call it, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. They're worshipping three Gods or three persons, three manifestations. We worship one God. And it's like never the two shall meet. And yet, if we look back at the Hebrew, which we're gonna do in the next few minutes today, we see that the word is both. Is there any middle ground? Totally. Are we saying the same thing when we're talking about the God of Israel and the God who manifests himself as Father, as Son, and as the Ruach, it says in Hebrew, or the Holy Spirit? Absolutely. It has everything to do
Jonathan Bernis: So, let's put up a slide here because I think the first thing that we need to suggest... ***. Right.
Jonathan Bernis: And this is really a correction. And it may sound the same but it's not really. Is the idea of Trinity. Trinity does convey three.
Ezra Benjamin: Right. Three persons, three entities.
Jonathan Bernis: But maybe a more, but a more accurate word would be "Triunity". That God isn't a Trinity, he's a tri-unity and that's brought out by our confession of faith in Deuteronomy 6:4. We have something called the Shema.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: "Hear o Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one". But listen to it in Hebrew now. Shema yIsrael, hear, o Israel, Adonai eloheinu, the Lord our God, Adonai, the Lord, echad, the Lord is one.
Ezra Benjamin: Right, echad.
Jonathan Bernis: But that word "Echad" is very unique and helps us understand the idea of a triunity.
Ezra Benjamin: It is. And Jonathan, it is two things. To be fair, when you're counting in Hebrew, you know, one, two, three, echad, shta'im, shalosh, shmone, echad does mean the number one, but the root here in Hebrew means more than that. It can also mean, in the way that it's applied here in this great confession of the Jewish faith, Deuteronomy 6:4, echad is unity in perfect oneness. And another use, another form of that word in Hebrew is yachad. Yachad, you know, we know the verse. "How good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in perfect unity". And the word there in Hebrew is "Yachad". It's related. It's that same root, one in perfect unity. And so, what God's saying here to Moses and to the people of Israel isn't God is the number one, he's saying God exists within himself in perfect unity and he's inseparable.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, a triunity...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: We see in scripture.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Now, notice a couple times this is used. Echad is used to describe the union between man and woman. They're individual but they're coming together in marriage and they're becoming one flesh.
Ezra Benjamin: Oneness in perfect unity.
Jonathan Bernis: Echad.
Ezra Benjamin: Yeah.
Jonathan Bernis: Oneness in perfect unity. They become echad, one.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: A bunch of grapes has many grapes but it's echad, it's one bunch but there's multiple grapes. The idea here is not that there's three Gods, but that there is one God, and this is emphasized, I think, in the New Testament as well, but in perfect unity, a triunity, the Father, the Son, and the spirit. Ezra, give it... You have another example.
Ezra Benjamin: Yeah. Isaiah 48, moving ahead few hundred pages in the Old Testament in the Jewish Bible.
Jonathan Bernis: On the screen now.
Ezra Benjamin: Yeah. Isaiah 48:16 say this, "Come near me and listen to this: 'from the first announcement I've not spoken in secret: at the time it happens, I am there'. Now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his spirit". "The sovereign Lord has sent me, endowed with his spirit". And so, we see these references throughout the Old Testament, Jonathan where it's referring to the Lord, to Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey in the Hebrew, to the omnificent one, you know, omniscient one, the all powerful one. But then, referring to his own spirit. It's these references. And we can skip over them and read it and go, "That's very poetic". But we need to understand here, God, if you will, the Father is referring to his own spirit. Oneness with, you know, distinction, but oneness with perfect unity.
Jonathan Bernis: It's a great verse. It's a great verse. You know, when you look at the Jewish scriptures, when you look at the Torah, just look at the creation story...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: You have God who is everywhere on the one sense, but he is speaking forth creation.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: And it says that the Spirit of God, that's the Ruach, is hovering...
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: Over this void earth.
Ezra Benjamin: The first few chapters, the first few verses in the entire Bible we already see, "And the Spirit of God was hovering".
Jonathan Bernis: So, you already see a bi-unity in the first few verses of the Hebrew scriptures. So, God is one.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: He's one God. He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's the God of Israel, but he's also speaking into existence all of creation, and the Spirit of God is bringing this to pass.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: As God speaks, the Spirit of God is bringing this to pass. So, you have the bi-unity, and then of course in John 1, that, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was God".
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: So, you have the word then who was part of creation. Nothing was created without him.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right. That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: The word was with God. The word was in fact God. So, not three Gods, not a Trinity, but a triunity. One God manifest in Father, Son, and spirit.
Ezra Benjamin: Jonathan, there's so many more examples we could give. I'm thinking of a couple right now in the book of Isaiah where we see this perfect unity represented in, if you will, multiple persons or multiple manifestations. You know these verses but let me give you context. This is Isaiah 9 and it's this great, if you will, Messianic prophesy, right, talking about the Messiah who would be born. And it says in 9:6, "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders". So, there's this Son who's gonna rule the government, and then listen, "And he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". "Now, wait a minute, I thought it was the Son who's ruling and the government will be on his shoulders. How can he also be called 'Everlasting Father' and 'Prince of Peace'? Because it's that perfect unity represented in these multiple persons these manifestations of God.
Jonathan Bernis: And I think this is one of these concepts that's so infinite...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: That we can't fully understand it. You can say, "Water I steam".
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: But that, that's good, but this is an infinite concept that there's one God, Father, Son, and spirit. They're all one but they're all distinct in character and nature.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: That's mind blowing.
Ezra Benjamin: Right. And this really answers, you know, another verse I'm thinking of Jonathan, is Isaiah 61. You know this as well because Jesus quotes it when he reads from to Torah, when he reads from the scriptures, the scroll in the synagogue in the New Testament. It says, "The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. To bind up the brokenhearted". And it goes on. And Yeshua, Jesus is reading this. The spirit is on him. Well, the scriptures say, Jesus himself says, "I and the Father are one". And yet, the spirit of the Lord is on him empowering him to minister. It's another example of that the persons, the complexity of God himself working together in perfect unity to do what only he can do.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, but when you think about this, and I know this might be getting Philosophical but this relationship of a perfect unity within the personhood of God, or that God had...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Emphasizes the idea of relationship.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: So, you have this wonderful relationship within this one God. Again, we're talking about infinite concepts with the finite, so that's not, I guess it's something that's more understood here.
Ezra Benjamin: Sure. And I think you know, two takeaways, Jonathan, even, you know, thus far in our time together today, is as you said, God is a God of relationship. He's not this distant, unknowable force like Islam believes. You can never truly know God. He can't be known. He can't be loved, or he can't love you. Our God, the God of Israel and the God of all nations, of the God of all who would call upon him, is not that way. He's a relational God. And despite Jewish objections, we see this triunity of God represented all through the Old Testament.
Jonathan Bernis: We do and he's one God. The New Testament does not teach three Gods, it's one God. That's right. When we come back, we're going to talk about the distinct person of the Father. I think we know a lot about the Son as believers. We know a lot about the Ruach, the spirit. But do we really know about the Father? Maybe the Jewish community knows more about the Father, the nature of the Father than we do. I think it's an important thing to talk about. We do have to take a break. When we come back, we're continue this conversation, but I want our announcer to tell you about some of the outreaches and opportunities that we're making available here at Jewish Voice. You're giving today will support our medical outreaches in Africa, our humanitarian aid around the world to Jewish communities and their neighbors. And we believe that God is calling you to partner with us, to fulfil Romans 1:16 that the gospel is to the Jew first. Your funds, your partnership is needed to keep these vital outreaches alive and together. We are fulfilling God's call to the Jewish people and the nations of the world. Don't go away. Ezra and I will be right back.
Jonathan Bernis: Before we get back into our discussion, I just wanna take a moment together with Ezra to say thank you to all of you who support Jewish Voice. We couldn't do the work we do without you, and we are so grateful. Especially to our monthly partners, you keep us going. Every month, we're able to bring teams to provide medical care, dental care, eye care. We're able to send money to our partner ministries in Israel, and Ukraine in particular. Thank you. We're so grateful. We really are. It means so much. Well, Ezra, we've been discussing the one true God...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Manifest in three as triune God. And we were talking about Trinity being misleading. And many Jewish people understand Christians to believe in three Gods. We don't believe in three Gods in the New Testament, we believe in one God.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right, and quick, you know, proof text if you will, if you're talking with a Jewish friend, Jewish colleague, maybe Jewish extended family member, and they go, "You Christians believe in three Gods. We believe in one". Well, the same Old Testament scripture we've been reading from today, Jonathan, that says, "Hear o Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one". Echad also refers to God as the Father and refers to him as the spirit. And it says, in one place, it says, "Do you know the name of his Son? Do you know his name, and do you know the name of his Son"? So, that language of these persons of God, that triunity is all over the Old Testament,
Jonathan Bernis: That's an Old Testament reference. And also, Psalm 2 says, "Embrace the Son,"
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: "Lest you perish from the"... The scriptures are, the Jewish scriptures, the Hebrew scriptures are filled with references to of course the God of Israel, the Spirit of God, and the Mashiach.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: The Messiah.
Ezra Benjamin: Now, moving right along, Jonathan, you know, I think sometimes the danger is we read the Old Testament and say, "That's the Father," who's kind of generally angry, and then we read the New Testament and we say, "Well, that's the Son who's generally happy and glad, and died for our sins". And yet, in the ministry, in the words, the red letter if you will, but in the words of Yeshua, we constantly see him pointing to the Father.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah. We put a great deal of emphasis on the Son...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: As we should be. "Every knee will bow, every tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of the Father". We focus on the Son. I think many are very focused on the Holy Spirit which is not a bad thing, but what about the Father? The Father is so central. God the Father is so central...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: To the scripture, the New Testament as well, that I think there is a lack of understanding about the Father. In fact, this scripture now, "Pray in the name of Yeshua". And Jesus said, "Pray to the Father in my name".
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Do you do that? Do you actually pray to the Father in the name of the Son, in the name of Jesus or Yeshua?
Ezra Benjamin: And you know, I'm picturing, you know, the dinner table somewhere in Iowa, we love you. If you're watching from Iowa, thanks for joining. You know, "Okay, let's pray. Dear Jesus", and you know, the Lord sees the intention of our heart. I think he's gonna hear us, right? You know, he's looking inward not at the outward appearance or even words. But when the disciples are asking, "How should we pray"? In Matthew 6, this is Yeshua's answer. He says, "This, then, is how you should pray," this is Matthew 6:9, "Pray: our Father in heaven, may your name be glorified and lifted up, or hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". So, Jesus, the God man, who's about to die for the sins of Israel and the sins of all mankind is saying, "This is how you pray. Let me teach you. 'Father, abba, daddy, who art in heaven, may your name be glorified and lifted up'". So, this is the Messiah, himself saying, "You're praying in my name on the merit of what I'm about to do for you, slain since the foundations of the world, but you're praying to the Father".
Jonathan Bernis: It's interesting though he doesn't avoid his true identity. He says, "I and the Father are one".
Ezra Benjamin: Totally.
Jonathan Bernis: He says, "Before Abraham was, I am". He's making it clear who he is. He knows who he is. He's not an ordinary man. He's not a created being. He is part of the triune God.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: But also in another sense, he's subordinate and serving the Father.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: He doesn't say, "Pray to me for your daily bread".
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: He says, "Here's how you should pray to the Father. You're praying to God, 'give us this day, our daily bread'".
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: When it talks about the need for laborers, he said, "Pray to the Lord of the harvest".
Ezra Benjamin: Right. "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, so pray". It's actually in Hebrew, such an interesting word, "Beg, implore, the Lord of the harvest, the Father, to thrust forth laborers into his harvest fields". It's incredible.
Jonathan Bernis: There are so many clear references to the Father, and I just think we overlook them. We have a blind spot.
Ezra Benjamin: Right. Now, Jonathan, one quick thing here as we're running out of time. You know, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, let me quote two verses here. Exodus 33:20, God's speaking with Moses, right? It says Moses was like a friend to him. And he says, "You cannot see my face and live, for no man has seen my face and lived". This is the Father, if you will, speaking to Moses saying, "You can't see me. I can't be seen face to face". And then, John 1:18 confirms that in the New Testament, "For no one has ever seen God," speaking of the Father, if you will. "No one has ever seen the Almighty". And yet, Jesus said, "Anyone who's seen me has seen the Father". And so, Jesus is not only our mediator as we're praying but our way to have that closeness, to have that restored relationship with the Father. We can't see him yet. One day in eternity, I believe we will. But right now, what we can see is the manifest glory of God manifested through the person of Jesus.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah, so, when it talks about the Father, he's in shadows.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: He's in, there's an image. There's a light.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: There's the back...
Ezra Benjamin: That cannot be directly seen.
Jonathan Bernis: Moses sees the back.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: But God the Father, this is the picture of the holy God...
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: The God who in his Shekhinah...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: In his kavod, in his weight, and in his glory, can't fully be seen.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: But the Son who is the grace and the mercy, these are all attributes of God.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: The attributes of holiness, and justice, and righteousness are all part of who God is, but then you have Jesus expressing the love, the redemption, the healing, the mercy of God, and he's visible to the world. "But you've seen me, you've also seen the Father". Not in absolute fullness, but in part.
Ezra Benjamin: Jonathan, it's just amazing to kind of meditate on for a minute, right? Moses is so close to God, but God says, "You can't see me. You can only see my back". And then, it says, God made all of his own glory to pass before Moses and Moses is held in the cleft of the rock, right? And it says, "This is my glory. Moses, I'm gonna show you who I am. The Lord, the Lord compassionate and gracious God, forgiving iniquity, pardoning the transgressors even to a thousand generations". And we go, "Well, that's great but that's a description of him. I can't see him". And yet, John and Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews are very clear that Jesus is the expressed manifestation of the glory of God. Jesus is the manifestation of the Lord, the Lord compassionate and gracious God, pardoning iniquity to a thousand generations.
Jonathan Bernis: Yeah. It's mind blowing.
Ezra Benjamin: It is.
Jonathan Bernis: Just, I wanna go back and just emphasize the Father in this Revelation of the triune God. First of all, we're praying to him.
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: If we wanna get it scripturally right, we're praying to the Father through the Son who's our intercessor, who's our mediary. Right? There's a mediary. There needs to be a mediary but it's God himself who's the mediary. Then, the second thing, we haven't seen God face to face. We've seen God in the person of Yeshua, but we haven't seen the Father face to face. And then, also, the Son is leading us to the Father, right? "He's the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father". What's the goal? To come to the Father.
Ezra Benjamin: "Except through me".
Jonathan Bernis: And then, the final... "Through me". And then, the final thing, the Father is the one that holds all knowledge.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: Jesus said, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons. It's not for you to know the hour,"
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: Rather...
Ezra Benjamin: Right.
Jonathan Bernis: "But only my Father".
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: He holds that truth.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right. It's an incredible thought to know that there's things that even the Son is not aware of, only the Father knows.
Jonathan Bernis: Right. Get to know the Father. Get to know all aspects of the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ezra, we need to take a short break so we can share some of the information with you about resources that we're making available this week. Resources that will help you. And then, make sure to stay with us. In just a few minutes, we'll come back and pray for your needs. The needs of your family. Many, many needs have come to us this week. We pray for every one of them. Don't go away. We'll be right back.
Jonathan Bernis: Truly, one of the names of God is Adonai Yireh, the Lord will provide. You might know him by the name Jehovah Jireh, but it's Adonai Yireh, the Lord will provide, and he will provide for your needs today. We're gonna agree with you right now.
Ezra Benjamin: That's right.
Jonathan Bernis: Ezra, we're gonna join in together. "Where two or three agree on earth as touching anything, it shall be done". Those needs are met. So, Lord, we come before you and we lift up the needs of those who are watching right now, or have written to us, or sent us an email. Adonai Yireh, you're the Lord who provides for every need. You're the Lord who hears and answers prayer. We speaking healing right now. We pray for divine provision, for a creative miracle...
Ezra Benjamin: Amen.
Jonathan Bernis: For healing for those that are fighting cancer...
Ezra Benjamin: Amen.
Jonathan Bernis: For those who are fighting life threatening illnesses. In the name of Yeshua, in Jesus' name, we speak life, life, life. We speak provision, financially, spiritually, emotionally. We pray for restoration of families. We declare it. You are Adonai Yireh, the Lord who provides, and we thank you for that, Lord. We thank you for your triunity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that is truly in relationship, perfect unity as a whole as one God. Amen.
Ezra Benjamin: Amen.
Jonathan Bernis: If you'd like more information about our ministry, you can log on to our website, jewishvoice.tv, and you'll find many helpful resources there. You can send us prayer requests right to the website. I want you to know that we care about you and we pray for your needs. Most importantly, that God loves you and cares for your needs. I wanna thank you for your support of Jewish Voice around the world. And as we close the program today, Ezra and I wanna remind you to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Bible says, "They shall prosper who love thee". Ezra, thank you for joining me again today.
Ezra Benjamin: Pleasure, Jonathan.
Jonathan Bernis: And until next week, we want to say to you, "Shalom and God bless you".