Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Stay with us as we discuss the question, do Christians worship three gods? Right here on Messianic Perspectives. Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the doctrine of the Trinity. Does it really mean that Christians worship three gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Some people think so, and that's what we want to find out. I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about our special offer.

And now, with today's installment, here's Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you. It's good to have you with us listening friend as we continue this series of programs on the Trinity. And this is a very controversial series because it represents one of the main dividing lines between historic Christianity and traditional Judaism. Because you see, for the past 2,000 years, the official position of the rabbis has been that Jesus Christ, Yeshua of Nazareth, was not God. In fact, Orthodox Judaism teaches that the Trinity represents the worst form of idolatry because they say it makes a God out of a mortal man. So, the Trinity is the watershed between Christianity and Judaism.

Not only that, but the Trinity is also a watershed between Christianity and some branches of the Messianic movement. We're running into more and more people who call themselves Messianic Jews who don't believe in the Trinity. They don't believe Jesus is God. There are many Messianic Jews in Israel, for example, who don't believe Yeshua of Nazareth was God. In fact, they don't consider themselves Christians in any sense of the word. They are, and they will tell you they are Messianic Jews. And in many respects, that's appropriate because their theology is more Jewish than it is Christian.

And as if everything wasn't already confusing enough, now we've got the B'nai Noah movement which puts a different spin on the Trinity issue because in B'nai Noah, you've got mainly Gentiles who were once professing Christians, but now they're part of this Gentile version of Judaism known as B'nai Noah. And I say Gentile version of Judaism because they don't believe in the Trinity, they don't believe Yeshua of Nazareth was God in the flesh, and they don't believe in the authority of the New Testament. So, they're more in line with traditional Judaism than they are with historic Christianity.

They say the New Testament documents were altered or doctored by the early church to present Yeshua as divine, but they say the truth is that he himself never even claimed to be God. By the way, one of the co-founders of B'nai Noah is Vendyl Jones. You may have heard of him. He's the guy who claims the Indiana Jones movies were based on his experiences in the Middle East during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. And now he's out digging around at Qumran or somewhere trying to find the ashes of the red heifer. The interesting thing is that I don't know any Israeli authorities who really believe the ashes of the red heifer are necessary for the starting up of the sacrificial system.

Most of the people who are concerned about the ashes of the red heifer are Gentiles, not Jews. I've talked with Israeli rabbis and archaeologists. I've talked with our own personnel in Jerusalem, and everybody says the same thing. If they find the ashes of the red heifer, it'll be an interesting archaeological discovery, but it's certainly not necessary. Once the temple is rebuilt, they can start up the sacrificial system again without the ashes of the red heifer. And they're breeding their own cattle now through genetic manipulation, genetic engineering to meet the Old Testament specifications for the purification rights, so they'll have their own red heifers.

But the point is that the deity of Jesus Christ is the real dividing line between historic Christianity and traditional Judaism. It's also the dividing line between historic Christianity and some branches of Messianic Judaism. Although we have many friends in the Messianic movement who are very orthodox in their beliefs, and we thank God for all of them, but there are others who are not quite so orthodox. Now, you might say, why is this so important? Why are you making such a big deal about whether or not Jesus is God? Well, let me tell you why it's such a big deal.

One of the central teachings of the Christian faith is that of the substitutionary atonement. Now, substitutionary atonement is just fancy theological terminology that means someone who's innocent taking the place of someone who's guilty. First Peter 3:18 says, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. You might say, well, where did this idea of substitutionary atonement come from? Well, our Jewish friends will be the first to tell you that they don't believe in a substitutionary atonement. And that's true. Rabbinic Judaism, which originated with the Pharisees, doesn't believe in the concept of substitutionary atonement, but that's rabbinic Judaism.

The truth is that biblical Judaism during the days of the first and second temples did believe in substitutionary atonement. In fact, the concept actually originated in biblical Judaism. That's what the Old Testament sacrificial system was all about. Once a year on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur, the high priest sacrificed an innocent animal. Then he went into the Holy of Holies in the temple and sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat. Now, what did that mean? It meant that an innocent victim had been sacrificed in the place of a guilty sinner. The innocent for the guilty, the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous.

It's a process of substitution. When I was a little boy, I remember the first summer I got to play in Little League. I wasn't much of a ball player, but I had a lot of fun trying. And one thing I could do was hit the ball. I wasn't very good at fielding and I wasn't very good at throwing, but I could hit the ball. So, they used me a lot of the time as a pinch hitter. When they needed someone to hit the ball, they'd substitute me for someone else. That meant that I'd go in and he'd come out.

That's what a substitute is, someone who takes the place of someone else. And the purpose of the Old Testament sacrificial system was to represent the substitutionary death of the coming Messiah. One of the most beautiful passages in the Old Testament is the one found in Isaiah 53 where the prophet says, who has believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken by God and afflicted. Now, watch this. Here's the substitutionary atonement. Isaiah 53 verse 5. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Verse 6. All we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way. Now, watch this. And the Lord, that's God the Father, hath laid on him, that's God the Son, the Messiah, the iniquity of us all. And again, rabbinic Judaism takes issue with this Christian interpretation of Isaiah 53. They say the suffering servant here in Isaiah 53 is the nation Israel. It's Israel suffering for her own sins. But all you have to do is read it, my friend. When you read Isaiah 53, it's very clear that the prophet was talking about someone who was innocent, someone who had done no violence, someone in whose mouth there was no deceit, someone who had done nothing wrong.

And that innocent someone suffered for those who were guilty, a substitutionary atonement. Now, if you make the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the nation Israel, then you've got the nation Israel suffering for her own sins. And that would be fine if that was what it said. But again, what it says is that an innocent party suffers in the place of someone else who is guilty. So, how can Israel be the innocent party and the guilty party all at the same time? You see, in the Old Testament the sacrificial animals had to be the best of the flock.

They had to be spotless without defect because they pointed forward to the spotless, sinless lamb of God who would die to take away the sins of the world. Because if he wasn't sinless, then he wouldn't be qualified to die for our sins. If he was a sinner in his own right, he would only be qualified to die for his own sins. If he was only a man, he wouldn't be qualified to save anybody. You see, that's really why this is so important. We were in a position where we couldn't save ourselves. The only one who could save us was God himself.

He loved us so much that he devised a plan whereby he would take upon himself a human body and be born as a man. Don't you know why it had to be that way? Because God cannot die. God is not subject to physical death, but he knew that the only way to neutralize the effect of sin and to provide a way back for fallen humanity was for someone else to accept our death penalty for us. And the dilemma was that God himself was the only being in the universe who was qualified to accept the death penalty on our behalf.

But he couldn't die. There was no way he could die. Or at least that's what Satan thought. But what he didn't count on was that little baby born in Bethlehem, the Son of David, the Messiah. Because he was God in the flesh and he was qualified to die to save us. See why it's so important? No wonder this is the focal point of the enemy's attacks. Everything hinges on the deity and virgin birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha Mashiach. Well, that's all of our time for today. God bless you, dear friend. We appreciate your love and support more than you know.

We'll continue this next time. I'll see you then. You take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary, and thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now, let me tell you about our special offer for this month. It's Gary Hedrick's booklet entitled, do Christians worship three gods? In this 70-page booklet, Gary addresses head-on the question of whether or not the doctrine of the Trinity makes Christianity incompatible with the teachings of the Jewish Bible or what we call the Old Testament. It's available for a suggested gift of $7. After all, the Jewish people have always been champions of monotheism. The central creed of Judaism is Deuteronomy 6:4 which says, the Lord our God is one Lord, not three.

So, when a Jewish person becomes a believer in Jesus, isn't he forsaking his monotheistic Jewish heritage? Surprisingly enough, the answer is no. And you'll find out why in this interesting booklet. It has an informative question and answer section and also a helpful glossary of Hebrew words at the end. The title again is, do Christians worship three gods? Then we also have the programs you're hearing here on the broadcast available on two CDs with the same title, do Christians worship three gods? This series is available for a suggested gift of $12. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order.

If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. Even if you're one of our regular listeners, you still may not know that we're much more than just a radio program. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries, one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. We currently have missionary families serving the Lord all over the world, including the United States, Canada, South America, England, France, and of course, Israel. So, when you write, consider helping us with a gift above the suggested amount.

We'd be very grateful. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on, do Christians worship three gods right here on Messianic Perspectives? Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas and is made possible on this station by the free will contributions of our listeners in this area.