HEAR O'ISRAEL ... YAHWEH IS ONE


  1. Yahweh is one

    1. "Sh'ma Y'srael, Yahweh Elohenu, Yahweh echod." (Translation): "Hear O'Israel: Yahweh our Mighty One; Yahweh is One." (Deut. 6:4)

      1. The most ancient and basic of all creeds.

        1. Declares who our Mighty One is.

        2. Thereby, declares that His name is "Yahweh."

        3. It also declares His oneness - that He alone is Elohim.

          1. The opposite of polytheism (such as Baalism in which one name was used to refer to any one of, or all of, a number of deities).

          2. Thus it also defines the nature of Yahweh. He is not a group, or a family, of deities. He is not a number of individual deities.

      2. Various views: Trinitarian, Binitarian, Unitarian [1] , and Oneness.

      3. The oneness of Yahweh is re-emphasized by His prophets & apostles, and by Yahshua Himself.

        1. Prophets: Isa. 44:6,8; 45:18,21,22; Zech. 14:9

        2. Apostles: Paul, I Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James, Jms. 2:19; 4:12

        3. Yahshua: Mark 12:29

    2. Pronouns used of, about, and by Yahweh.

      1. That Yahweh is not two or more individuals - not some kind of group or family of persons - but a single individual or person is seen by the pronouns and verbs He uses when speaking to those outside Himself. It is also seen by the pronouns and verbs used by the apostles and prophets when speaking about Him. It is always "I am Yahweh,' never "We areYahweh" when speaking of Himself to others. It is always "He is Yahweh," never 'They are Yahweh" when He is spoken of by the apostles and prophets.

      2. However, when speaking to Himself, or within Himself, He does use the plural pronoun "us:" Gen. 1: 26 (yet note 27); and possibly 11: 7

      3. Also, although the singular pronouns are always used when speaking of Him, nevertheless, He is at times spoken of as though He were more than one individual.

        1. Gen. 19:24 (Yahweh sends fire from Yahweh out of heaven.)

        2. Zech 3:2 (Yahweh rebukes in the name of Yahweh.)

    3. Can Yahweh be seen?

      1. The scriptures state that Yahweh has never been seen and cannot be seen. John 1: 18 (Greek says, "no one has seen" Yahweh). Also see 1 Tim. 6:16.

      2. Yet, He is also spoken of as being, or having been, seen.

        1. By Moses & Aaron, Nadab & Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel. Ex. 24:9-1 1

        2. By Isaiah. Isa. 6:1

        3. By Angels. Matt. 18:10

    4. Thus, Yahweh is represented in the scripture as being only one, and as being the only true Mighty One. Yet He is sometimes given the appearance of being more than one. Also, the Bible says He cannot be seen. Yet it also records that He has been seen. What, then, is the explanation of these paradoxes, or seeming contradictions?


  2. Explanation of Paradoxes

    1. Infinity

      1. Yahweh is infinite. (I Kings 8:27)

      2. The universe does not contain Yahweh, but is in Him. (Acts 17:28; Col. 1: 17)

      3. Infinity cannot be seen. (Infinity has no outline, no lines of demarcation.) Therefore, Yahweh as the Infinite One (i.e., in His infinity) cannot be seen.

      4. As the Infinite Source of all things He cannot be seen by anyone. He is what is known in the Hebrew by Jewish mystics as '"the Eyn Sof" ["the Endless One", "the Infinite One"]. In this respect, that is, as infinite, it is obvious that He has no form or shape.

      5. This is why it says in John 1: 18 (in Greek), "None have seen Yahweh at any time", and in I Tim. 6:16 "whom no man has seen nor can see" (i.e., in the full essence of His being).

    2. Image/Expression/Word

      1. However, although as the Infinite One, Yahweh, cannot be seen, not even by angelic spirit beings (for, once again, there is no form or shape to infinity), yet out of Himself Yahweh's own Eternal Life has been eternally birthed, or emanated, as the perfect image or expression of Himself as He relates to His creation. In other words, we can say that Yahweh, the Infinite Invisible Source of All Things, has Himself eternally come forth, shined forth, as an uncreated spirit being, in a form that is visible to His created spirit beings. It is the perfect Manifestation[2] (the Perfect Living Image) of what Yahweh is as He relates to His universe of created spirit beings - angels, seraphim, cherubim, etc. Yet there is no separation between the Infinite One and that spirit being that is the continual outflowing, or birthing forth, of His own substance in a spirit form visible to other, created, spirit beings.

        1. In Hebrew this living manifestation of Yahweh is called the Dabar[3] (called "the Memra" by some), and in Greek He is called "the Logos". Both terms in English mean "the Word" or "the Expression."

        2. Being that which Yahweh sends forth continuously of His own substance, the Dabar, or Word of Yahweh, is both Yahweh Himself (His own Eternal Life substance) and, at the same time, that which is with Him (as His Word, or Expression of Him). As the very Eternal Life of Yahweh, this Expression of Yahweh has thus always existed with Yahweh.

        3. John 1: 1 expresses it this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Yahweh (or Elohim) and the Word was Yahweh (or Elohim)".

      2. The best illustration of this that I know of is one from nature, which Yahweh Himself revealed to me when I sought Him for an answer to this mystery around 42 years ago. It is the sun of our solar system.

        1. Whatever the sun is, we know it by its glory or splendor that bursts forth from it to our eyes (the image that it produces of itself by the light that it sends forth). And we know it by the warmth we experience from the energy that comes with and in the light.

        2. So it is, that Yahweh, the Infinite One, is known by the glory which He manifests of Himself (the living Word which in the course of time became Yahshua the Messiah). And we know Him by the totally invisible power of His life (the Holy Spirit) which operates in, through, and along with that glory.

        3. You cannot separate the sun, whatever that created mass in the sky is, from the light that shines out of it (and the energy power that comes in and with that light). Nor you can separate the light and power that is coming out of it from the sun that is the continual source of that outflowing light and power.

          1. The sun, whatever it is, is the continual supply of that which is its glory (its outshining light) and of its accompanying energy output. All three - the sun, its light, and its energy - are distinguishable by definition, and yet integrally, inseparably, one. Not one exists without the other existing.

          2. So also, though in an infinitely greater way, Yahweh and His Word, which is His living image and glory (now made flesh in Yahshua), and His felt or experienced, invisible, but manifest, presence (the Holy Spirit) are distinguishable by definition, and yet are integrally, inseparably, One Elohim.

    3. In Summary

      1. Thus, Yahweh exists not as two or three totally separate individuals, or personages, but as One Eternal Person or Being who is Himself Infinite. Yet He manifests Himself by the continuous outflowing of Himself, i.e., of His own Eternal Life, in a spirit form (Greek "morphe" - Phil. 2:6) which is visible to other spirit beings as the "Word" or "Expression" of Yahweh. He is also manifested by a Presence of Power that is generally not seen at all, but is experienced (by being felt, or by being expressed in acts of His power or might) as the Holy Spirit. Each, the Infinite, the Word, and the Spirit dwell integrally in the other even as the sun is in its rays and energy and its rays and energy are in the sun..

      2. So outside Himself He is always spoken of as being One, and only One. Thus He Himself and the holy prophets and apostles speak of Him with singular pronouns. Yet within Himself He is a complex, compound Being who is triune in nature. Within His triune nature He can and does communicate with Himself, just as He would if He were three separate beings. However, He is not three separate beings, but One Eternal, Infinite Being, who exists simultaneously in three different modes. He is One Elohim who manifests Himself by His living Word and by His living Spirit.

      3. Consider these scriptures in relation to this: Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; I John 1:1,2 compared with 5:20; John 14:16-23; 16:13-15; Rom. 8:26,27


  3. The cause of confusion.

    1. The confusion comes when people misunderstand the facts about the man Yahshua the Messiah, who is the Word of Yahweh made flesh (John 1:14), and of whom Col. 2:9 speaks when its says, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Divinity bodily."

    2. We have to use clear understanding and careful analysis when we read John1: 14 which says, "And the Word was made flesh", and the related verses that tell of Yahshua's conception in the virgin womb of Miriam (Mary): Matt. 1:20 and Luke 1:31-35 (esp. 35).

    3. Since Yahshua the Messiah is spoken of as having come down from heaven (John 6:51 and elsewhere), and since He is spoken of as the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was made manifest unto us (I John 1:1,2), this question needs to be asked: "When the Glory, Expression, or Eternal Life of Yahweh ('the Word') became flesh, as a fetus in the womb of Miriam (and consequently as the newborn child Yahshua of Nazareth), was all of Yahweh's Glory, all His Expression, all His Word, or, all His Eternal Life contained only in the womb of Miriam (and, then, after birth, in the child that was born) in total quantity, or just in total quality?".

    4. I believe the answer must clearly be, " in total quality, but not in total quantity." Just as one drop of sea water is the same as the rest of the sea in quality, but not in quantity, so it is that when the Eternal Life, or Word, of Yahweh came down from heaven we have no reason to suppose that the Eternal Life, or Word, of Yahweh did not still exist outside the man Yahshua the Messiah as well.

    5. Though it is a great mystery as to how such a wonder took place, what clearly appears to have happened when the Holy Spirit - Yahweh in His non-seen, but experienced form - overshadowed Miriam is that the Word, Yahweh's own Eternal Life as it had been seen in heaven, in total quality, but in tiny, minute quantity was united to the seed or ova of woman in place of the human sperm. This caused a conception, which was of Yahweh so that the Holy Child thus born was the only begotten son of Yahweh, who then grew as time went by in understanding and stature like any other child would. He was thus the Son of Man (as He delighted to call Himself) and the Son of Yahweh (which He came to realize as He developed reasoning powers in early childhood). He was and is indeed the Word, the Eternal Life, now manifest in the flesh, as having been in this manner made flesh.

      It might make this concept easier to understand if we remember that Levi was in the loins of Abraham long before he came to be born (Heb. 7:9-10). So also the Eternal Life, or Word, was in Yahweh long before He came to be the man Yahshua the Messiah of Israel. His historical birth or beginning as the man Yahshua of Nazareth was when He was born in Bethlehem. He did not pre-exist as that except in the plan and purpose of Yahweh. But as the Word that (in the manner already described) became flesh, He existed with, and as, Yahweh from all eternity. (John 1:1)

    6. Thus as He grew in understanding He came to recognize (1) that He came from Yahweh and was one with Yahweh, and (2) that Yahweh (as the Infinite Being, and as the non-bodily form by which the Infinite Being manifested Himself in the spirit realm) was His Father by means of Holy Spirit conception.

  4. Understanding

    1. So, when people ask those who see this truth such questions as, "Well, then, did Yahshua pray to Himself'?" the answer is "Absolutely not". The man Yahshua the Messiah did not as such pray to Himself. He, the man Yahshua the Messiah who was the Word made flesh, prayed to His Father Yahweh, who, although He was in the Son and the Son in Him (John 14:10,11), was at the same time still in heaven being seen by the angelic host (Matt. 18:10), while in His Infinity was, nevertheless, unable to be seen at all (John 1:18).

    2. Because He was Yahweh's Eternal Life made flesh, the man Yahshua could say, "He that has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), and could say, "I and my Father are one." (John 10:30)

    3. Yet, as being a man, Yahshua could also well say, "My Father is greater than I" just as the spring of water is greater than the water that continually flows from it, even though the water that flows from it is the same substance, and just as the sun is greater than the radiance and heat energy that comes out of it even though it is one with its rays and with their accompanying energy heat. Elohim (the Word, and the Infinite Source of the Word), of which Yahshua is the fleshly manifestation, was greater than the man which He became by the incarnation in that miraculous virgin birth by the Holy Spirit.

    4. Because He was the total quality (though obviously not the total quantity) of Yahweh as His Expression and Life made flesh (now dwelling in, and limited to, the flesh as far as His humanity was concerned) He could pray, as He did pray, to be taken back and united, now in His humanity, to Yahweh by His being glorified with the glory which He had with the Father before the world began. (John 17:5)

    5. This is what took place when Yahshua was glorified after His resurrection.

    6. As the glorified man (now made a life giving spirit according to I Cor. 15:45) Yahshua is both seated, visible to those in heaven, in His glorified body at the right hand of the Majesty on High, that is next to Yahweh's non-bodily manifestation, and yet is also come invisibly by the Holy Spirit to indwell His people, as Messiah in us. (See John.14: 18-20, 23)

    7. After all enemies are put under His feet, in execution of the victory of Calvary, then (in a way not now seen) the Son, the glorified man, Yahshua the Messiah will be subject to the Father so that Yahweh may be all in all.

      [Note: As far as submission is concerned Yahshua is now, and has always been, submitted to the will of Yahweh in all things. So this must mean something different than that. When thinking on this many years ago, in my mind's eye I saw a vision of a great marvelous light with the figure, or silhouette, of a man superimposed upon it as being the ultimate state of the man Yahshua the Messiah. In that day the man Yahshua the Messiah will no longer be seen, or appear to operate, as separate from Yahweh, but as fully one with Yahweh. As Revelation 22:3, 4 indicate, there will be one throne: "the throne of Yahweh and the Lamb". It says "His servants" (the servants of "Yahweh and the Lamb") "shall serve Him, and they shall see His face" (the face of "Yahweh and the Lamb"), "and His name" (the name of "Yahweh and the Lamb") "shall be in their foreheads." The antecedent of all these singular pronouns, "His", is "Yahweh and the Lamb". I do not say we know the full answer for sure, but I am convinced that this full visible union of the man Yahshua the Messiah with the Eternal One (making Yahweh "all in is all") is what is meant by the son then being "subject unto" Yahweh.]

    8. That is when we will fully see the revelation of Yahshua the Messiah in the sense of which Rev. 22:3-4 and Zech. 14:9 speak.


  5. Summary & Conclusion

    1. We have seen that the Bible plainly declares that Yahweh is One. He is never spoken of, or speaks of Himself, in the plural. Only within His own being is He compound and complex. However, this is not as a plurality of persons or individuals, but as having three simultaneous modes of existence or manifestations, each intertwined or dwelling in the other[4].

      1. He exists as the Infinite, Eternal, Unseen, Unseeable One.

      2. At the same time He exists as the Manifestation of Himself, called the Word (or Expression) of Yahweh by which He is seen in the heavens, and by which He has made appearances unto men (such as Abraham, Moses, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel). The Word is spoken of as being in the beginning with Yahweh, and yet as being Yahweh.

      3. Thirdly, He also exists as the totally invisible presence by which He manifests His omnipotence (His all powerfulness). As such, He is felt and experienced by His creatures. (E.g. Gen. 1:2 f, book of Acts, etc.)

    2. Thus Yahweh is a complex, compound, triune being who communicates within Himself. He is to some extent like the sun, which sends forth a visible image -its radiance -, as well as an invisible, but experienced, or felt presence from itself. However, as an ever-living person, rather than a created substance as is the sun, that which Yahweh thus produces, or sends forth out of Himself as His manifestations, carries all the personality traits of His person so that He can communicate within Himself. He can communicate among His own manifestations, sort of like we humans communicate with ourselves each within our own individual beings. However, although there is a distinction made between His existing manifestation (His simultaneous modes of existence), there is never a separation into three separate individuals or persons as we use that word "person" today. This is why we read in John 1:1 that the Word is both with Yahweh and is Yahweh, and, nevertheless, read that there is only One El[5], or Mighty One, as Isaiah 45:22 says as well as many other scriptures.

    3. Finally, in order to redeem mankind by dying in his place, and to bring mankind into His own glory, Yahweh, by His Word (or Eternal Life) became flesh. This He did by that Word being united to the ova or seed of woman by the Holy Spirit in minute quantity, but in fullness of quality. This virgin born child was the Son of Yahweh by being born of the Holy Spirit. [By Yahweh's Spirit the very living Word of Yahweh or the Eternal Life (in place of the human sperm) activated or gave life to the "seed of the woman" (the ova)] Thus, by virtue of His being born of the Holy Spirit He "by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than" the angels (Heb.1: 4) who though they were called "the sons of Elohim" were created beings, and not "the only begotten Son of Elohim", nor "the image of the invisible Elohim", nor "all the fullness of Elohim dwelling bodily", nor "the true Elohim and Eternal Life". The man Yahshua of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel, by virtue of His birth by the Holy Spirit as "the Word" made flesh was all of this. In other words, He was, and is Elohim by inheritance as the Word of Elohim made flesh. Also He is Elohim by virtue of the fact that in his human spirit He was given the Holy Spirit without measure. He had the infinite supply of the Holy Spirit.

      Yet being fully human he had to learn obedience and overcome this world by constantly relying on the Father, Yahweh, and by prayer and the word, by walking in spirit and not in flesh (even sinless flesh in His case). He had to walk by His human spirit to which the Holy Spirit was joined (in infinite measure in His case, His being Elohim in the flesh) instead of obeying the natural desires created by the constant assault of the pressures of this world system of darkness as it worked upon His natural normal sensibilities of the body and natural mind through which the body works. Unlike Adam who obeyed a natural desire in disobedience to the word of Yahweh, Yahshua in His human will always chose to fully do the will of the Father, Yahweh, instead of the will of His natural, physical, fully normal, human desires for comfort, ease, pleasure, etc., even when the circumstances of this world played upon those desires drawing Him to satisfy them even at times when it was not in line with the Father's will. Thus as a man walking according to His spirit, which was joined to the Holy Spirit, instead of walking according to His flesh or bodily desires, He overcame the kingdom of darkness.

      We now who have become born of Yahweh also have the Holy Spirit joined to our spirit (though in limited, but as needed in increasing, measure). Therefore, we too, by this same Holy Spirit, who is now Messiah living in us, are able to get free from the flesh and to overcome the world, obeying the word of Yahweh, by walking in spirit by the power of the same Holy Spirit of Yahweh.

    4. As a final word we read in I Tim. 3:16: "And great is the mystery of the Deity; He who was manifest in the flesh, justified in spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." HalleluYah!


Prepared by Robert W. Young



[1] Unitarianism is the belief that only the Father is deity and the Son is only human.

[2] "Manifestation": (1) the act of manifesting or the state of being manifested, (2) the demonstration of the existence, reality or presence of a person, object, or quality, (3) one of the forms in which someone or something, such as an individual, a divine being, or an idea, is revealed." (American Heritage Dictionary) "Manifest: clearly apparent to the sight or understanding; obvious. to show or demonstrate plainly, reveal." (American Heritage Dictionary)

[3] Also research the term "Metatron", His agent.

[4] This is not the same as "dynamic modalism" which teaches God changed into the son, and then back and forth into the Father, and then the Spirit, etc., i.e., kept switching back and forth as one and then the other mode of manifestation.

[5] Note: Though "Elohim" by grammatical construction is regarded as plural, it is sometimes used as a plural of intensity or majesty, and not of number. Proof of this is that it is used of the false 'god' Chemosh (Judges 11:24), of the false "god" Dagon (I Samuel 5:7), and of Moses (Exodus 4:16). However, "El" as used in Isa. 45:22 and elsewhere of Yahweh is, by grammatical construction, only singular, and is never used as a plural.