“When it can be realized that the incarnation, or ‘God manifest in the flesh,’ was a culmination of the same principle of teaching spiritual things by the natural, as God had used from the beginning, the unity of the Bible will be vindicated, and confidence in it as a divine revelation established.” (Zion’s Watch Tower, August 1879, p. 4; Reprints, p. 22)
In the Society’s booklet Should You Believe in the Trinity, they insist that “the fact is that Jesus is not God and never claimed to be.”[1] They often note that if Jesus were God, He would have been painstakingly clear in revealing His identity, despite much evidence to the contrary. Meanwhile, one teaching which has remained the same within the Society since June of 1883 is the identity of Michael the Archangel as the pre-human Christ; although they believe that Christ on earth was not an incarnation of Michael, but rather that Michael disappeared from heaven and ceased to exist for the entirety of Jesus’ human life.[2] Notice, however, that Jesus never claimed to be Michael the Archangel, yet they have no concern against acknowledging Him as such. Another claim which Jesus never made was that He is the Angel of Jehovah, although the Society boldly states:
“The angel of Jehovah spoke to Moses in the fiery flame of a thornbush... This guardian angel of Israel was doubtless Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence.”[3]
Though Jesus never overtly declared that He is the Angel of God, this viewpoint echoes much of Christendom. Throughout this article, you will see that this particular Angel often identifies Himself with God and exhibits powers belonging to Jehovah, alone.[4] This said Angel is worshiped, demonstrates the ability to forgive sin, and saves His chosen ones. Furthermore, those who recognized Him feared death upon the sight, yet never received admonishment for determining that He is their God.
The term which we translate as “angel” is the very same term which translates as “messenger” in both Hebrew and Greek, and unlike English or even Latin, it is found in neither language to necessitate that He is a mere creation. The role as messenger more accurately describes an office, and it mirrors the Son’s relation to the Father; that He continuously comes forth from the Father, or delivers a message, every time that the Father has so much as a thought to convey. The Father is perfectly revealed to us through the Son. This role is described further in such terms as sent, begotten, and the Word of God. Jewish convert to Christianity, the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo,[5] and early Christian apologist Justin Martyr[6] identified the Logos (or Word) of God as the Angel of the Lord, a connection which was reasonably consistent within the patristic writings. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, for example, wrote:
“… just as our word is the revealer and messenger (or ’angel’) of the movements of the mind, even so we affirm that the true Word that was in the beginning, when He announces the will of His own Father, is styled “Angel” (or ‘Messenger’), a title given to Him on account of the operation of conveying the message. And as the sublime John, having previously called Him ‘Word’, so introduces the further truth that the Word was God [John 1:1], that our thoughts might not at once turn to the Father, as they would have done if the title of God had been put first, so too does the mighty Moses, after first calling Him ‘Angel,’ teach us in the words that follow that He is none other than the Self-Existent Himself, that the mystery concerning the Christ might be foreshown, by the Scripture assuring us by the name ‘Angel,’ that the Word is the interpreter of the Father’s will...”[7]
In understanding Him to be the Word, as St. John does declare in John 1:1, it is less complicated to understand his statement that though the Word was with God, the Word also was God when comparing to the Angel of God in the Old Testament. For instance, Amos 4:10-11 quotes Jehovah as stating that He has caused an overthrow among the Israelites who have not returned to Him, yet He compares this to the way in which God had overthrown Sodom and Gomorrah. What Amos is recalling is the moment in which Jehovah, one of the so-called “angels” who was seen upon the land, commanded the Jehovah in the heavens to rain down sulfur and fire upon the earth (Genesis 19:11, 19, 24).
Some presume that the Angel of God is subservient to God and therefore, separate from Him. This notion comes from verses such as 1 Chronicles 21:27, an instance in which Jehovah commanded the Angel of Jehovah (Cf. verses 15 and 30) to return His sword to its sheath (Cf. Zechariah 1:12-13). On the other hand, we have evidence above of Jehovah standing upon the earth while commanding the Jehovah in the heavens to rain down fire and sulfur upon the land (Genesis 19:24). If One was subsequentially subservient to the other, it must be the One who received the command; in this case, the One in the heavens.
Multiple Jehovah’s appear throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. In Psalm 18:6-13 we first learn that Jehovah is said to have bent the heavens and descended; meanwhile “in the heavens Jehovah began to thunder and the Most High Himself began to raise His voice” (vs. 13). In Exodus 34:8, Jehovah came down in a cloud and proclaimed His Name, and Moses hurried to bow low to the earth in worship saying, “If, now, I have found favor in your eyes, O Jehovah, let Jehovah, please, go along in the midst of us.” Yet, while we learn of the Father speaking to the Son in the New Testament, the Society mockingly asks “was God saying that he was his own son, that he approved himself, that he sent himself?”,[8] the comments are lacking in regards to the Old Testament discourse between Jehovah and Jehovah. It seems more difficult to identify the Father as Jehovah within the Old Testament accounts in comparison to the Son, except for these instances where we find that they may both be called upon by this name. Comments are also scarce in regards to passages referencing Jehovah and God, such as in Psalm 35:23 when David prayed, “Do arouse yourself and awake to my judgment, O my God, even Jehovah, to my case at law.” According to the testimony of Isaiah, “Jehovah will be going even before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12); quite a statement for the Society to overlook given their position which demands that God is not omnipresent.
The Society does not disregard each of these instances in which we find the Son in
roles and speech which portray Him as Jehovah, but they justify these occurrences by depredating Him to a mere representative.[9] This concept of Christ as a representative is imprinted throughout their material and has even found its way into their New World Translation. Contrary to any available source, including their very own 1969 and 1985 Kingdom Interlinear Translation, they have injected this term into John 7:29 and therefore misquote Christ as though declaring, “I know [the Father], because I am a representative from him, and that One sent me forth.” What reason might there be to introduce this word if the concept were already present within the text? Instead, this text reveals that as the only-begotten, He has His source within the Father.
If Christ’s identity were always so simple to determine, the Society wouldn’t frequently contradict itself in an attempt to obscure it. For instance, they frequently note that “Jesus Christ… was resurrected and exalted to the right hand of Jehovah.”[11] Many witnesses are apt to point out that this role as the right-hand man styles the Son as second in command, second to the King. They often even invoke the verses which portray Christ at the right hand of God to demonstrate that this enables us to refer to Him as God’s representative, but they never really seem to have much to say regarding any implications placed upon Jehovah when referring to Psalm 110:4-6 in the New World Translation. In this “prophetic promise given to the Lord Jesus Christ,” Jehovah says:
“Jehovah has sworn (and he will feel no regret): ‘You are a priest to time indefinite According to the manner of Mel‧chiz′e‧dek!’ Jehovah himself at your right hand Will certainly break kings to pieces on the day of his anger. He will execute judgment among the nations; He will cause a fullness of dead bodies. He will certainly break to pieces the head one over a populous land.”
Placing Jehovah at the right hand of the Son seems to have an entirely different meaning than when the roles reverse; suddenly to have one at your right hand means “placing [Him] in front of us constantly.”[12] However, it seems possible through Watchtower literature that what we have received in Psalm 110:4-6 was not that Jehovah the Father will be at the right hand of the Son, but that the Father will receive “Jehovah himself at [His own] right hand.” For example, in 1957 they wrote:
“Jehovah himself at your right hand will certainly break kings to pieces on the day of his anger.” (Ps. 110:1, 2, 4, 5; Matt. 22:41-45) To carry out this invitation to Jesus to sit at his right hand and this sworn oath to make Jesus there seated an everlasting king like Melchizedek, Jehovah raised Jesus from the dead on the third day that he might enter the invisible heavens. On the fortieth day after that his disciples on the Mount of Olives saw him ascend heavenward to his Father. Ten days later on the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter preached to over 3,000 Jews and quoted Psalm 110 and gave them the proof that Jesus was then, that day, up in heaven at Jehovah’s right hand as David’s Lord and as Christ.—Acts 2:32-36.”[13]
To review, Peter “gave proof” in Acts 2:32-36 that “Jesus was then, that day, up in heaven at Jehovah’s right hand” by quoting Psalm 110, the prophecy in which God reveals that Jehovah will be at His right hand. If this sends you into a whirlpool of confusion, you are not alone; yet this is just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to confusing statements from the Watchtower Society and the New World Translation. Consider the way in which they have avoided revealing that God has purchased the Church with His very own blood, but to do so, they have inserted the word “Son” into Acts 20:28 (yet have since removed the brackets which were placed to denote that the word has no origin in the ancient texts[14]):
“Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed YOU overseers, to shepherd the congregation of God, which he purchased with the blood of his own [Son].”
The verse provides a footnote which directs to the following statement within their index:
“Grammatically, this passage could be translated as in the King James Version and Douay Version, ‘with his own blood.’ That has been a difficult thought for many. That is doubtless why ACDSyh (margin) (followed by Moffatt’s translation) read ‘the congregation of the Lord,’ instead of ‘the congregation of God.’ When the text reads that way it furnishes no difficulty for the reading, ‘with his own blood.’ However, אBVg read ‘God’ (articulate), and the usual translation would be ‘God’s blood.’”[15]
In other words, they find that it is suitable to alter the text when it is otherwise problematic to one’s preconceived notions. A significant problem with the new concept posed by this insertion is that the groom must pay the bride price Himself; Galatians 3:13 confirms that it was the Son, Jesus Christ who had purchased the Church. The Son purchased the Church with His own blood, and He is, therefore, the God of Acts 20:28.
This identity crisis prevails throughout their doctrines and dramatically influences their choice in translation. The identity of Jesus Christ is so closely related to that of Jehovah that it is often quite impossible to distinguish the two, as often evidenced within the footnotes of the New World Translation. A prime example exists in the footnote of the 1984 translation on 1 Peter 3:15 as Peter exhorts the elect to “sanctify the Christ as Lord in YOUR hearts”; the footnote on “Lord”[16] reveals that the translation committee has elected to reject seven separate J references[17] which would instead show that Peter insists upon sanctifying “the Christ as Jehovah God in YOUR hearts.” Other footnotes reveal that they had inserted the Divine Name with as little as one J reference,[18] or even in areas where none exist at all[19] yet not so where reference to the Son is entirely irrefutable.
The inconsistencies throughout their translation are no secret of the Watchtower Society’s authors. In response to the question, “Why does the New World Translation at Colossians 2:9 state that in Jesus ‘all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily,’ whereas other translations state that in Jesus dwells the fullness of Deity or the Godhead?”, they wrote:
“The way these two words have been rendered in the New World Translation has given rise to the charge that the New World Bible Translation Committee let their religious beliefs influence them. That charge is true, but they did not do so wrongly, or unduly. The meaning that is to be given to these two Greek words depends upon what the entire Bible has to say about Jehovah God and Jesus Christ.”[20]
Their point might seem consistent and even rational if they made a conscious effort to translate appropriately, however, they prove time and again that they do not allow the Bible to portray the Son in the way in which the text suggests. Instead, they alter the text nearly every single time that Christ’s deity is brought to light only to use the lack of references in their own text to justify altering each instance and interpretation. To illustrate, though Peter referred to the Son as though “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1), the 1984 translation slipped the definite article into the text and instead spoke of, “our God and [the] Savior Jesus Christ.” Once more, the 2013 edition of the New World Translation removed the brackets, falsely suggesting that this is how the text was meant to appear. They have done the same in Titus 2:13, and they reference this instance to question whether it is consistent to render the verse as the traditional translations do, asking:
“the teaching of the rest of the Scriptures regarding the identity of God must govern the rendering of certain texts—whether they should represent Jesus as truly ‘God,’ or as separate from and subordinate to Almighty God. What does examination of the Scriptural evidence reveal?“[21]
It would appear that Scriptural evidence reveals that it is not easy to distinguish Jesus from Jehovah. This can be seen in the way in which the Society handles Christ’s claim to the title “the first and the last,” a title previously restricted to God. They raise the question of to whom the title may apply, stating:
“Although Jehovah is referred to as ‘the first and the last’ at Revelation 22:13, in that there is none before or after him, the context in the first chapter of Revelation shows that the title ‘the First and the Last’ there applies to Jesus Christ.”[22]
While Revelation 22:13 was intended to reference the Son (Cf. verse 16), they have
fixed a motive as to why the Son might also receive this title in other instances:
“He was the first human to be resurrected to immortal spirit life and the last one to be so resurrected by Jehovah personally.—Col. 1:18.”[23]
First and last means the first to be resurrected, the last to be resurrected by the Father. When this same title applies to the Father, however, it has much grander
implications:
“In Revelation, Jehovah declares: ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ (Revelation 22:13) Before Jehovah there was no almighty God and after him there will be none.”[24]
Jehovah’s use of this title strictly indicates that no almighty God’s exist apart from Him (note, no “almighty” God), yet this is not the only instance in which Jehovah claimed this title. In Isaiah 48:12-16, the God of Israel referred to Himself as the first and the last, yet declared that “the Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself has sent me, even his spirit” (verse 16; Cf. Zechariah 2:10-11).
The Watchtower Society not only obscures their translation with hopes of downplaying the deity of the Son, but they habitually misrepresent the concept of the Trinity altogether to reinforce their doctrines. The distortion of the Trinity is demonstrated within a 1984 Watchtower, as they had written:
“Remember, too, that as the archangel, as well as ‘the firstborn of all creation,’ Jesus had the highest rank among the angels even before he came to earth.—Colossians 1:15. True, the apostle Paul wrote to the Hebrews: ‘He [Jesus] has become better than the angels, to the extent that he has inherited a name more excellent than theirs.’ (Hebrews 1:4; Philippians 2:9, 10) However, this describes his situation after his having been here on earth. He was still the archangel and ‘the beginning of the creation by God.’ (Revelation 3:14) But he became better than the angels. The ‘more excellent name’ or position is something he did not possess before coming to earth. (These scriptures contradict the Trinitarian concept that the Son is and always has been equal in every way to the Father.)” [25]
Colossians 1:15 was first to be misrepresented. In context, this verse does not count the Son among the angels as they claim, but instead goes on to declare in the following verse that He created all things, which includes the angels.[26] Also, while suggesting that Christ’s position before coming to the earth was less excellent than that of the angels, they maintain that He single-handedly held the position of what they believe to be the only archangel, the highest rank among the angels. They then cited Philippians 2:9-10 which reveals that the disciples responded to Christ’s command to speak in His Name (Cf. John 15:16); it is possibly for this reason that the New Testament authors never uttered the Name “Jehovah.” This citation reveals that it is to the inherited human name that all knees will bend in the earth and under the earth upon Judgment, and further acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord over all creation.
Finally, they noted that Christ is the beginning of the creation by God (Revelation 3:14). The word which they translate as “beginning” (“arche”) also translates as “ruler” in Revelation 1:5 in the New World Translation. In Luke 12:11 it is rendered “authorities” and elsewhere as “government”[27] and “governments”[28] which suggests that John’s revelation did not expose Christ as God’s creation, but rather declared that He is indeed the King of heaven and earth. However, the Society mishandles each of these texts to conclude further that the apostles contradict their erroneous interpretation of the Trinity; namely “that the Son is and always has been equal in every way to the Father.” This statement resonates throughout their congregations, yet is virtually non-existent apart from their claims. The Trinity does not describe the Father and the Son as equal in every way, particularly not in their roles. In fact, many early writers frequently commented upon Christ’s words in John 14:28, “the Father is greater than I” (note “greater,” not better[29]). John of Damascus notes that while Latin theologians “usually spoke of the Father as ‘greater’ not because He is Father, but because the Son was made Man,” he quotes Soebadius (or Phoebadius) as believing “that the Father is rightly called ‘greater’ because He alone is without an author of His being.”[30] Christ claimed that He “came out from the Father” (John 16:28) after He had clearly explained that the “one that is sent forth [is not] greater than the one that sent him” (John 13:16). One might reason that, in terms of arrangement, man’s thought is greater than his uttered word on the merit of domination; the word is formed by the thought, or rather in the thought, and is sent out in obedience.
In a letter of the Blessed Theodoret, he points to the fact that while the Son is “immutable and unchangeable, all-sufficient and perfect, like the Father… the Son always existed of the Father, for he is the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Father’s Person,” He does lack just one quality; the Father is unbegotten.[31] Despite the portrayal of the Trinity by the Society, claiming the concept describes absolute equality in every sense, the Trinity concept does and always has explained an unequal position of the Father to the Son. Christendom writers are not reluctant to point towards the obvious differences between the two, yet the Society takes great pride in enlightening their readers regarding these already well-established differences:
“Some object to identifying Jesus with the angel of Jehovah mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. For Trinitarians, of course, such an identification poses a problem since it shows conclusively that he is not equal to Jehovah God. But even some who do not accept the Trinity doctrine feel that Jesus’ identity with an angel somehow detracts from his dignity.”[32]
If by “Jehovah God” they mean the Father, they would be correct in terms of function; the Son is not equal in His role yet He is equal in terms of nature. As the only begotten of the Father, He has said, “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30); yet of His position He has said, "You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him”[33] (John 7:28 NIV). However, if they mean to imply that identifying the Son as the Angel suggests that He is not equal to Jehovah God, they would benefit to be more specific. He is not only equal to God, He is positively identified as Jehovah quite possibly more often than the Father. Due to the frequent occurrences in which Jehovah appeared upon the earth, has been spoken of in prophecy later revealed in the Son,[34] or has even referred to another called Jehovah, numerous groups and commentators mistakenly insist that the Name Jehovah applies only to the Son of God. For instance, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism writes of the term “Elohim” (or, God):
“In the Hebrew BIBLE, this name can mean several things. It can refer to ISRAEL’S God, also known as JEHOVAH, which LATTER-DAY SAINTS believe is the OLD TESTAMENT name for the premortal JESUS CHRIST’...”[35]
Most recognize that others have received the Divine Name, as well. Margaret Barker, British Methodist preacher who studied at the University of Cambridge, authored a book entitled The Great Angel: A Study of Israel’s Second God in which she frequently notes that second person who is Named Jehovah. Carl D. Franklin published an article entitled The Two Jehovah’s of the Psalms,”[36] as well as The Two Jehovah’s of the Old Testament,[37] and another called The Two Jehovah’s of the Pentateuch;[38] each article providing persuasive evidence of his case.
It is not from the Name or activity alone that many commentators conclude that the Name is applied to separate persons; it is imprinted throughout the considerable terms which ascribe to God a sense of plurality within His existence. For example, His use of the word “us” in instances such as Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:5-7; Isaiah 6:8; or His function as the “holy ones,” “keepers,” “Makers,” or “Creators.” While translations denote the singular form of these words, these are but a few terms with plurality afforded to God in the original texts. All one must do is consult the footnotes in the 1984 New World Translation to reveal many others.[39] The titles most often received by Jehovah are “Almighty” (Shaddai), which designates a plurality within His rulership,[40] the plural Adonai (or “Lord”; “lords”), and “God” (Elohim), a plural term which may translate as “gods”; the Society teaches that this conveys a nature with a “plural majesty,”[41] which is very much true. He exhibits a majesty which, although peculiar to one singular God, is displayed with such magnitude that the Society cannot distinguish the Kingship of the Son from that of the Father. While Paul spoke with authority in determining Christ Jesus to be the King of those who rule as kings, or the only Potentate (1 Timothy 6:15-16), the Society professes belief in multiple kings. For example, they note prophecy to Zion in which “God has become king” (Isaiah 52:7), yet explain that fulfillment of this prophecy made it possible for “Jesus Christ to ride into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass and present himself to Zion as king.”[42] However, while at times they reduce Christ to a mere “honorary king,”[43] most often they teach that the Father fulfills His role as King through the Son.[44] The voices in heaven, however, convey a more complex alternative to determining Who will rule as king forever and ever; “He will,” our Lord and His Christ:
“The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
“He” is our eternal King, He, our Lord and His Christ. This is the oneness which Christ spoke of having with God. Together these are one singular, united King of heaven and earth. It is to this king that the twenty-four elders proclaimed, “We thank you, Jehovah God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun ruling as king” (verse 17). While the term “One” does not appear in the original text in this instance, it does appear in others. In the ancient Scriptures, there are two common words which translate as “one.” The first is “yachid,” a singular form which demands reference to only one. Another word is “echad,” a plural form suggesting compound unity as seen in instances such as Genesis 2:24 (which details that man will unite with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh), and in Ezekiel 37:17 (which reveals that the Son will unite Judah to Israel, making the two one). Deuteronomy 6:4 is an instance which reveals the compound unity, or echad, though it had been altered in later texts by the hands of Jewish scribes, yet retained in the earlier ancient manuscripts and utilized in the texts of the Masoretes (those which the Society prefers). The verse is commonly called upon by Jehovah’s witnesses as it emphasizes that “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.” In noting that “God,” in its plural form to denote a plural majesty, is united to the compound form of the word “one,” this text suggests that although there is but one Jehovah, He is comprised of a unity of persons. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find one speaking to another.
As previously mentioned, it is not uncommon to find that Jesus fulfills prophecy spoken of Jehovah, but possibly the most captivating illustration is way in which the apostles regarded references to Jehovah and His betrothal to Israel. Although Jehovah had sent a bill of divorce to ancient Israel (Jeremiah 3:8; Isaiah 50:1), He promised to restore her, to allure her back into His arms (Hosea 2:2-23; Cf. Isaiah 54:6). He vows to include those of Judah, that these too will become one with the bride, Israel. There are not two brides, but one (Ezekiel 37:15-28; Cf. John 10:16), noting the compound unity which He has ascribed to His bride. In God’s statements regarding Israel’s unfaithfulness, He offers qualifying evidence that He is the Son who shall appear again to man, He who could state, “My back I gave to the strikers, and my cheeks to those plucking off [the hair]. My face I did not conceal from humiliating things and spit. But the Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself will help me” (Isaiah 50:6-7; Cf. verse 1). At the same time, He could also declare, “For your Grand Maker [plural] is your husbandly owner [plural], Jehovah of armies being his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Repurchaser. The God of the whole earth he will be called” (Isaiah 54:5). Yet while we read of the redemption of Israel and the future inclusion of the Gentile nations, the apostle Paul, for instance, was more specific regarding her groom in stating, “I personally promised you in marriage to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to the Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Sadly, the confusion which concepts such as these creates for the Watchtower Society causes them to retreat and denounce any notion which so much as appears to convey the Trinity. In Should You Believe in the Trinity they wrote:
“contending that since the Trinity is such a confusing mystery, [that] it must have come from divine revelation creates another major problem. Why? Because divine revelation itself does not allow for such a view of God: ‘God is not a God of confusion.’—1 Corinthians 14:33, Revised Standard Version (RS). In view of that statement, would God be responsible for a doctrine about himself that is so confusing that even Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholars cannot really explain it?”[45]
One of the problems is that in 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul is not talking about mysteries of faith, but rather order within the Church. It is precisely for this reason that the Watchtower Society prefers the Revised Standard Version over their own translation which they elsewhere quote in a way which reveals that they are not unacquainted with its context:
“Speaking of the need for order within the Christian congregation, Paul wrote: ‘God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.’”[46]
In other words, they have no support for their assumption that divine revelation cannot make known the Trinity. Likewise, their doubt of whether God could be responsible for a doctrine about Himself too confusing for scholars to explain is troubling. The Society reacts to Romans 11:33-34 by explaining that God’s mind and ways are “incomprehensible,” a principle which is commonplace throughout the Scriptures.[47]
The Trinity is established most entirely in the New Testament writings, though it cannot be fully comprehended as it truly is a mystery. The Society insists that "this great God of ours is not a mystery," nevertheless, in Colossians 2:2 we learn that Christ is the "mystery of God." In 1 Timothy 3:16,[48] though corrupted in the Society's translation, we read of the “mystery of godliness,” that "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (KJV). The New Testament authors often described the nature of God and the revelation of His kingdom as a mystery. The word appears 27 times, though most often shrouded by an alternative phrase within the New World Translation; apparently, it is more accurate to translate “mystḗrion” not as mystery, but as “sacred secret,” yet only where the authors reference God, His Kingdom, or His design. The same word is translated as mystery on occasion, though only when referring to lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7) and the whore of Babylon (Revelation 17:5, 7). This is just one example of the way in which the Society, not brainwashes, but cleanses the mind[49] to alleviate any temptation to wander into the world outside of Jehovah’s earthly organization. As a result of the inconsistency in the translation of this word, the Society tiptoes back into their mind cleansing techniques and efficiently ascribes to Satan the works of God in teaching any mystery credited to Him to be an invention of none other than the devil himself.[50] Still, the mystery of God is a belief which advanced through the apostles, yet only through revelation:
"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." (Ephesians 3:2-5[51]; KJV)
The early Watch Tower illuminated a manner of mystery regarding the Son; that God cannot be known without Him. Everyone knows the conundrum: “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Similarly, can there exist a God who cannot reveal Himself, let alone interact with His creation? Yet:
“Without Christ or out of Christ God cannot be known. The Father does not reveal the Son, but the Son reveals the Father, ‘For no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.’ No theologian need attempt an explanation of the Divine Sonship of our Lord. ‘But it pleased the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell,’- ‘All fullness of the Godhead bodily.’- Col. i. 19, and ii. 9. He is the Word, the Truth, the personal embodiment of all that is good and true, and emphatically the Revelation of God. ‘The Word was with God and the Word was God.’ ‘The Word was made flesh.’ He took our nature, the ‘form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.’ Phil. ii. 7. He of whom it was said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship him,’ [that must include Michael,] and ‘Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever,’ (Heb. i. 6, 8) ‘left the glory he had with the Father before the foundation of the world;’ ‘made himself of no reputation;’ ‘was made a little lower than the angels; ‘ ‘for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.’ Heb. ii. 9.”[52] (brackets original)
It is precisely this act of revealing the Father which allowed early apologetic writers to attribute to the Son all Old Testament appearances of God, not excluding those which portray Him as the Angel of the Lord. Various commentators, [53] including the Watchtower Society,[54] believe the angel in Revelation 10:1 to be a reference to Jesus Christ as his appearance is strikingly similar to that described of the Son in Revelation 1:15-16. While the evidence is not persuasive that this angel is, in fact, the Son of God, other passages do project that this term is indeed applicable to Him. For instance, Malachi 3:1 describes John the Baptist preparing for Christ to come and enter into His temple, but the prophet refers to both men as “מַלְאָךְ” (mal’ak, “angel” or “messenger”). In fact, Christ is further known as “the Angel of the Covenant” (or “Messenger of the Covenant” based upon translation); Isaiah 63:9 also calls the Son to mind in referring to “the Angel of His Presence” as both a Savior and a Redeemer (Cf. Psalms 34:7). On the contrary, there is One alone can make this claim: “I am Jehovah your God . . . besides me there is no savior” (Hosea 13:4; emphasis mine).
The Word of Jehovah is further referred to as an “angel” three times within Zechariah’s prophecy (Zechariah 4:5, 6, 8), and Paul spoke within the New Testament of the trials which he has brought before the Galatians, yet they did not treat him with contempt but “received [him] like an angel of God, like Christ Jesus” (Galatians 4:14).
In conclusion, this role as a messenger is suggestive of His role as the Word of God, yet must not influence our understanding that He is by no means a creation (although the Jehovah’s witnesses are quite apt to call upon these instances to demonstrate that He is). On the contrary, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance outlines the Biblical usage of the term “mal’ak” in three ways: a messenger, an angel, yet lastly, “the theophanic angel,”[55] a term which the Jewish Encyclopedia identifies as “a temporary manifestation of God.” This viewpoint prevailed in early Christianity[56] and resonates still today. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops relates:
“Although angels frequently assume human form (Cf. Gn 18–19), the term is also used to indicate the visual form under which God occasionally appeared and spoke to people, referred to indifferently in some Old Testament texts either as God’s ‘angel,’ mal’ak, or as God. Cf. Gn 16:7, 13; Ex 14:19, 24–25; Nm 22:22–35; Jgs 6:11–18.”[57]
While today's teachings harmonize elegantly with those found within the early Church, the Watchtower Society misrepresents the Church fathers in effort to support their view that referring to the Son as the Angel must demand that He is, therefore, a created being. For instance, in Should You Believe in the Trinity, they wrote:
“Justin Martyr, who died about 165 C.E., called the prehuman Jesus a created angel who is ‘other than the God who made all things.’”[58]
It is not too puzzling that this claim should contain no citation; within all of the writings of Justin Martyr, there is not one instance in which he refers to Christ as a creation. However, he did write something similar to the remainder of this allegation in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew:
“Then I replied, ‘I shall attempt to persuade you, since you have understood the Scriptures, [of the truth] of what I say, that there is, and that there is said to be, another God and Lord subject to the Maker of all things; who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatsoever the Maker of all things--above whom there is no other God--wishes to announce to them.’"[59]
Some note that this sounds as though Justin Martyr is holding an Arian view, [60] though credit this to the lack of Trinity terminology and expressive development of the concept within his time.
On the other hand, Justin seemed to have found the most effective method for arguing Christ’s deity to the Jews.[61] This method is quite similar to many Trinitarians when discussing the Son with Jehovah’s witnesses; it is a less complicated task to convince of the Son’s deity upon establishing that two separate persons are identified as God. Justin Martyr frequently spoke of the identification of the Angel of the Lord, always attributing this title to the Son of God, yet never wavering with respects to His identification with God Himself.[62] Within the same chapter quoted above, Justin Martyr continued:
"Moreover, I consider it necessary to repeat to you the words which narrate how He who is both Angel and God and Lord, and who appeared as a man to Abraham, and who wrestled in human form with Jacob, was seen by him when he fled from his brother Esau."
And further:
"Have you perceived, sirs, that this very God whom Moses speaks of as an Angel that talked to him in the flame of fire, declares to Moses that He is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob?"
Some reject the theological standpoint which portrays the Son as the Angel based chiefly upon their resolve to avoid such a paradox, yet the Bible contains many enigmas. The Son alone is described both as a lamb and a lion (Cf. John 1:29; Revelation 5:5), the root and the offspring of David (Revelation 22:16); the priest, the sacrifice, and the Mercy Seat (Cf. Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 Peter 1:19; Romans 3:24-25). The way in which we learn of Christ is a paradox as Paul prayed that the Father may impart the wisdom that we might “know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19). We must not attempt to confine God’s ways to our finite understanding.
The Son of God cannot be constrained to the rigid definition of “angel” which the Society imposes upon Him. Both the Old and the New Testaments reject the notion that He possessed a created nature. It is contested most deeply in Hebrews 1:5-6 which reveals that the Father had never spoken of any angel as though begotten, however, He approved for the angels to worship His only begotten Son even in His weakened state of humanity (Cf. Hebrews 2:7-9). While all things were under the subjection of the Son (Psalm 8:6), “it is not to angels that he has subjected the inhabited earth” (Hebrews 2:5; emphasis mine).
While the role of a messenger is demonstrated within the accounts of the Son, appearing as an angel does not necessarily demand that He is an angel. If the term angel were expressive of His nature, then it must be equally suggestive of the nature of God. For instance, Jacob referred to God as the “Angel who has been recovering [him] from all calamity” (Genesis 48:15-16; Cf. Zechariah 12:8). The New World Translation provides a perceptive cross-reference which declares that “the angel of Jehovah is camping all around those fearing him, And he rescues them” (Psalm 34:7; emphasis mine). This redeeming quality of Jehovah’s Angel is a persistent theme throughout His accounts; the Angel relieved Joshua of His iniquity (Exodus 23:20-23) which symbolized the future removal of sin as represented by filthy garments (Cf. Revelation 3:1-4, 19:7-9; compare Micah 7:18-19).
Hosea 12:4 states that Jacob had wrestled all night with one whom he calls “the Angel,” yet 1 Kings 18:31 explicitly states that Jacob’s encounter was with the “Word of the Lord.” Further, in Genesis 32:24-30 it is revealed that Jacob wrestled with a “man,”[63] yet when this man departed “Jacob called the name of the place Pe‧ni′el, because, to quote him, ‘I have seen God face to face and yet my soul was delivered’” (verse 30). It was this “man” who had changed Jacob’s name to “Israel” (verse 28), an event which the Society applies to Jehovah[64] (Cf. Genesis 35:10). The fact that Jehovah appeared to Jacob in the form of a human would never sanction a Jehovah’s witness to profess Him to be a creation. In 1951, the Watchtower cited Exodus 15:3 to insist that “Jehovah is a man of war: Jehovah is his name;”[65] yet this does not necessitate that Jehovah’s nature was that of a human.
When Jacob asked the Angel for His name, the Angel evaded the answer and merely asked, "why do you ask my name?" In Judges chapter thirteen, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Manoah and twice to his wife. Manoah and his wife did not recognize who it was that was in their presence and like Jacob, asked the Angel for His name, yet only received the response, “Just why should you ask about my name, when it is a wonderful one?” (verse 18). The Angel then ascended in a flame which rose toward heaven from the altar, and Manoah and his wife fell upon their faces to the earth. When Manoah realized that they had seen the Angel of God, he said to his wife, “We shall positively die, because it is God that we have seen” (Judges 13:22). The word used to describe the Angel’s name “wonderful” is “pil'iy” (פִּלְאִי); a derivation of “pala'' (meaning, “to separate, to distinguish, or to make great. It is applied usually to anything that is great or wonderful, as a miracle”[66]). Also derived from “pala” is “pele',“ as found in Isaiah 9:6 pointing toward the birth of the Messiah and the name which He shall be called (“Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”). These words are elsewhere found only to describe God and His works; therefore, the Blue Letter Bible defines the Biblical use of “pil'iy” as, “wonderful, incomprehensible, extraordinary.”[67]
The Watchtower Society offers their understanding as to why the Angel consistently
refuses to provide His name, stating:
“The lack of more names was a safeguard against giving undue honor and worship to these creatures.”[68]
This reasoning seems illogical as the Scriptures afford the names of both Michael and Gabriel. Contrary to any evidence, the Society frequently refers to Exodus 23:20, 21, 23; 32:34; and 33:2 to reason that Michael led the Israelites through the wilderness,[69] though his name is not mentioned anywhere within these accounts. If it were a safeguard to conceal the Name of the Angel, then identifying Him as Michael is sure to provoke some to worship the archangel in imitation of the patriarchs who worshiped the one who had appeared to them. On the contrary, in Revelation 22:8-9, the angel who delivered the visions to John corrected him for false worship; when John fell at the feet of the angel, the angel said, "See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God" (KJV).
Furthermore, if their understanding accurately describes the Angel’s reason to refuse to make His name known, it didn’t work. Again, the Angel did receive worship, and for a good cause. He not only performs many actions attributed to Jehovah but He established the covenant with God’s people, though He refers to it as His very own Covenant. For instance, in Judges 2:1-4, we read:
“Then Jehovah’s angel went up from Gil′gal to Bo′chim and said: ‘I proceeded to bring you up out of Egypt and to bring you into the land about which I swore to your forefathers. Furthermore, I said, ‘Never shall I break my covenant with you. And for your part, you must not conclude a covenant with the inhabitants of this land. Their altars you should pull down.’ But you have not listened to my voice. Why have you done this? So I, in turn, have said, ‘I shall not drive them away from before you, and they must become snares to you, and their gods will serve as a lure to you.’ And it came about that as soon as Jehovah’s angel had spoken these words to all the sons of Israel, the people began to raise their voices and weep.”
In addition to claiming God’s power to forgive sins and authority over the Covenant, the Angel claims in Genesis 16:7-14 that He will bless Hagar by giving her countless descendants. He did not even correct her when “she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?” (verse 13; KJV). In contrast, not only did the prophets refrain from claiming the authority of God’s messages as their own, but the archangel Gabriel did as well. The prophets often introduced God’s word with the phrase "thus saith the Lord." This phrase occurs 415 times within 413 verses in the King James Version, yet this language is foreign to the Angel of Jehovah in any account where He had made known His identity. Apart from the Angel, Christ Jesus was the only figure who had claimed God’s words as His very own. When Gabriel approached Zechariah to inform him that Elizabeth will give birth to John the Baptist, Zechariah questioned how he could be sure given his wife’s age. In response, Gabriel answered:
“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.” (Luke 1:19-20)
Gabriel insinuated that his words were true because he has received them from God, whose presence he stands in. The Angel of Jehovah, on the other hand, stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac before assuring him that He now knows that he fears God "in that you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me" (Genesis 22:11-12; emphasis mine). In Genesis 16:10, the Angel of Jehovah spoke to Sarai claiming: “I shall greatly multiply your seed, so that it will not be numbered for multitude.” In Genesis 31:11, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Jacob in a dream; yet He said in verse 13, “I am the [true] God of Beth′el.” That He appeared as the Angel even in vision is indicative of the fact that His words were valid; the Society is quite firm that God can be seen in vision, so what reason would He have, in vision, to appear as the Angel of Jehovah?
On the contrary, the 1984 New World Translation’s footnote reveals that within His claim to being the [true] God of Bethel, He utilizes the expression “ha·’El,” an “expression [which] occurs 32 times in M in the singular and it always refers to the true God, Jehovah.”[70]
In Hosea 1:6-7, Jehovah declared that He would deliver Judah “by Jehovah their God; but I shall not save them by a bow or by a sword or by war, by horses or by horsemen.” This prophecy was fulfilled a short time later during the rule of Hezekiah. Their God Jehovah saved them when the Angel of Jehovah smote 185,000 in a single night in the camp of the Assyrians. The Society writes that:
“Jehovah ended the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem by having an angel slay 185,000 of the enemy’s forces in one night. (2 Kings 19:34, 35) Jehovah thus delivered Judah, not ‘by a bow or by a sword or by war, by horses or by horsemen,’ but by an angel.”[71]
Perhaps “by an angel” is what Jehovah meant to say when declaring that He would save them not by bow or by the sword, by war or horses, but “by Jehovah their God”; sometimes it truly is difficult to distinguish the two.
Similarly, while Moses reveals many of his encounters with Jehovah, Exodus 3:2-8 continues to be the most intriguing. Here we see that although the Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He called out to Moses and said, "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"; in response "Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God."
Deuteronomy 5:4 agrees, “face to face Jehovah spoke with you in the mountain out of the middle of the fire” (Cf. Deuteronomy 4:12, 33, 36). It was during this encounter that the Angel of Jehovah revealed Himself as the great "I AM" in verse 14, or “I shall prove to be” according to the New World Translation. The Catholic catechism refers to “the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany at the burning bush” as “the fundamental [revelation] for both the Old and the New Covenants”[72]; they too believe that this appearance of the Angel of Jehovah was likewise an appearance of God. This particular Name which the Angel revealed, I AM, is a title which Christ finds applicable to Himself within New Testament revelations, a claim which was so well understood by the Jews that they picked up stones to kill Him (John 8:56-59; cf. Judges 13:11); it is a claim which should we not believe that it applies to the Son, we shall die in our sins (John 8:24).
Like the account of Jehovah’s defeat of the Assyrian army, as well as the account at the burning bush, identification of the heavenly being who appeared to Gideon shifts back and forth between Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah. Two critical figures are present in Judges chapter 6; Gideon begins the conversation with Jehovah, speaking plainly with no noted concerns of facing death for seeing His face. However, when Gideon exclaimed to Jehovah that he had seen the Angel of God face to face (verses 20-22), Jehovah did not reprimand him for holding the Angel in such high repute, but simply assured him that he would not die (verse 23). Albert Barnes’ observes that the continuous shift from “the Lord” (NWT, “Jehovah”) to “the Angel of Jehovah” is quite remarkable:
“when messages are delivered by the Angel of the Lord, the form of the message is as if God Himself were speaking (compare Judges 2:1).”[73]
Perhaps it is for this reason that this Angel in verse 21 burned Gideon’s sacrifice to reveal, as Matthew Henry says, that:
“The Angel turned the meat into an offering made by fire; showing that he was not a man who needed meat, but the Son of God, who was to be served and honoured by sacrifice, and who in the fulness of time was to make himself a sacrifice.”[74]
We find a similar account within 1 Chronicles 21:25-26 as David prepared to sacrifice both burnt and fellowship offerings upon the altar of the Lord. When calling upon Jehovah, He responded “with fire from the heavens upon the altar of burnt offering.” Compare also Leviticus 9:24 and 1 Kings 18:38.
Moses has by far the most recorded encounters with Jehovah, though some are more remarkable than others. For example, in Exodus 19:3, Moses “went up to the [true] God, and Jehovah began to call to him out of the mountain.” It is of interest that the New World Translation cross-references this occurrence to Acts 7:38, suggesting that either “the [true] God” or the “Jehovah” on Mount Sinai was “the angel who spoke to [Moses]” as relayed in Acts. Within Exodus’ account, Jehovah had instructed Moses to go the people and sanctify them for two days, yet on the third day “Jehovah will come down before the eyes of all the people upon Mount Si′nai” (Exodus 19:11). When Jehovah had come down upon the mountain, He forbade the people from going up to it, or even touching the edge of it. No hand was to touch Him or they would receive a sentence of death (verse 13); they may only approach the mountain at the blowing of the ram’s horn.
On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, then appeared a thick cloud accompanied by the deafening sound of the horn. All of the people in the camp began to tremble as Moses brought them out to stand at the base of Mount Sinai, to the location where they were to meet God. The mountain quaked and became covered with smoke as Jehovah had descended upon it in fire. Again, Jehovah came down upon Mount Sinai, although He had already descended upon it and remained there, and He said to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, that they do not try to break through to Jehovah to take a look and many of them have to fall. And let the priests also who regularly come near to Jehovah sanctify themselves, that Jehovah may not break out upon them” (Exodus 19:20-22). Moses reassured Jehovah that the people would not approach Jehovah:
‘"however, Jehovah said to him: Go, descend, and you must come up, you and Aaron with you; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up to Jehovah, that he may not break out upon them.’”
The Watchtower Society’s publication Reasoning from the Scriptures poses the following question: “Is Jehovah in the ‘Old Testament’ Jesus Christ in the ‘New Testament’?” The writer continued to suggest that the Trinitarian understanding does not recognize the Father as separate from the Son before stating that:
“Jesus said, not that he himself was Jehovah, but that Jehovah was his Father.”
Shockingly they list no examples of any instances in which He may have said this, but it is quite possible that one of the multiple persons referred to as Jehovah in the above encounter may have been the Father. It is also quite likely that the one whom the people of Israel approached was not the Father as the Society believes that the Father is stationed forever in the heavens, yet He was referred to as Jehovah by Jehovah. Jehovah has also, in speaking to the Son, referred to Him as God and declared, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Psalm 45:6; KJV) as Hebrews 1:8 quoted this instance, yet introduced it with the words, “unto the Son he saith.”[75]
Like the first account at Mount Sinai, the Israelites accompanied Moses during God’s presence on other occasions, as well. For instance, in Exodus 24:1-12 Jehovah said to Moses:
“Go up to Jehovah, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the older men of Israel, and you must bow down from a distance. And Moses by himself must approach Jehovah; but they should not approach, and the people should not go up with him.”
Moses instructed the people not to come near Jehovah, and they all at once agreed to do as He said. Moses wrote down all that was spoken and then woke up early in the morning to build an altar, as well as twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. After the offering and the sprinkling of blood, he took the book of the covenant and read it to the people, demanding their obedience. Moses, Aaron, as well as his sons Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders then went up the mountain, “and they got to see the God of Israel” (Exodus 24:10).
While they got to see God in verse 10, the New World Translation Committee chose to insert the word “vision” in the very next verse, despite all available texts, to insist that God was not literally present among them, as “He is seen only with the eyes of heart appreciation, not with the literal physical eyes.”[76] Their explanation, however, offers little insight into why God might say that He would “come down and speak with [him]” (Numbers 11:17). 1 Kings 8:27 is frequently called upon by witnesses in discussion to suggest that God would never dwell upon the earth as the verse relays:
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!”
It is common to overlook that the verse also alleges that even the heavens cannot contain Him, yet the Society asserts that “the dwelling place of Jehovah [is] heaven itself.”[77] The witnesses were not the first to question God’s dwelling upon the earth, in his letter to Autolycus, a second-century idolater, Theophilus of Antioch wrote:
“You will say ... to me: ‘You said that God cannot to be contained in one place; how do you now say that he walked in Paradise?’ Hear what I say: The God and Father of all truly cannot be contained, and is not found, in a place ... but his Word, through whom he made all things, being his power and his wisdom, assuming the person of the Father and Lord of all, went to the garden in the person of God and conversed with Adam. For the divine writing itself teaches us that Adam said that he had heard the voice. What else is this voice but the Word of God, who is also his Son? [He is] not [a son] in the way the poets and writers of myths speak of sons of gods begotten from intercourse, but as truth expounds, the Word, who always exists, residing within the heart of God. For before anything came into being [God] had him as a counselor, being his own mind and thought.”[78]
Theophilus was not without warrant to suggest that God had walked in Paradise, some believe that Adam and Eve were likely to have seen the form of Jehovah before the transgression of the law, before the fall from perfection. While this cannot be proven, after the fall, however “they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden” and proceeded to hide “from the face of Jehovah God in between the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8-9). In agreement with Theophilus, Zion’s Watch Tower suggested that “although Jehovah could have spoken directly to his perfect human son, Adam, in the garden of Eden, likely he used the prehuman Jesus to speak for Him.”[79] Notice however that there is no reference to the presence of anyone but Jehovah God in the account with Adam and Eve.
Like the account of Jehovah’s presence in the Garden of Eden, Jehovah later appeared to Abram and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and prove yourself faultless.” While Abram fell upon his face as God continued to speak with him (Genesis 17:1-3), the Watchtower writes that this account describes an instance in which “Abraham … was visited by an angel of God.”[80] Incredibly, we find no mention of the Angel, only that He who appeared to Abram had Himself changed his name to “Abraham,” and further established the covenant with him and his descendants; He claims that it is He who will prove Himself God to them (Genesis 17:6).
In regards to instances such as these, Jehovah spoke to Moses in Exodus 6:3 and said, "I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob …" (emphasis mine). He states that it was He, Himself who had appeared. In Numbers 12:6-8, He says that while to some He appears in visions and dreams (i.e. Genesis 31:11, Genesis 46:2, 1 Samuel 3:15, 1 Kings 3:5,15; 22:19-22; Isaiah 6:1-6; Ezekiel 1:1-28; Revelation 4:1-5:14) this is not true of His servant Moses with whom He speaks “face to face.” Moses is not the only one to have seen Him outside of a vision or a dream, but what exactly did the eyewitnesses behold? We find that man may not see God, for “no man may see [Him] and yet live” (Exodus 33:20). On the other hand, Jehovah had appeared on countless occasions. Despite God’s testimony to Miriam and Aaron, that He does not appear in mere visions to Moses, the Watchtower Society writes:
“Of course, Moses never actually saw Jehovah. (Exodus 33:20) But Jehovah was so real to him that it was as if he saw Him.”[81]
A few years earlier, they directly acknowledged the statement within Numbers 12:6-8 that God speaks to Moses face to face and not in “visions,” yet they write:
“Moses never saw Jehovah’s face literally. Rather, as the context shows, it was God’s speaking through angelic spokesmen to Moses in open, verbal communication (instead of by visions or dreams) ...”[82]
The Society claims that what Moses saw was an “angelic spokesman,” yet many witnesses maintain that the reason which nobody can see Jehovah is that He is Spirit. In effect, they attribute all instances in which He was seen to a mere representative, or an angel; although the Society teaches that even “the angels are spirits.”[83] Moreover, spirits are also not visible to human eyes “because human eyes are not strong enough to see spirit bodies.”[84] It seems that no spirit is visible according to Society literature; speaking of the devil, they assert that:
“Satan was not visible to Adam and Eve, for he is a superhuman, invisible spirit creature. By tricky use of a serpent or snake in the garden of Eden and making human speech appear to come forth from it...” [85]
There never seems to be an explanation for how it is that God must have appeared by means of an angel (who is spirit and cannot be seen) because He Himself cannot be seen. They also contend that Jesus’ return must be invisible “since he is said to come with his invisible angels”[86] and elsewhere further explain that spirits may be recognized only with the eyes of faith. While acknowledging the eye of the heart or soul, or noûs, as entirely biblical, seeing merely with the heart offers no explanation for Abraham washing the feet of Jehovah in Genesis 18:4-5, nor does it offer harmony to Hebrews 13:2 which teaches that angels may disguise themselves as humans (Cf. Tobit 5:4-5; 12:6-22). A vision also cannot account for Exodus 3:5-8, in which the Angel of God said:
“’Do not come near here. Draw your sandals from off your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ And he went on to say: ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ Then Moses concealed his face, because he was afraid to look at the [true] God. And Jehovah added...”
How are we to reconcile our teachings from the Society that an invisible angel may manifest himself while the Almighty God cannot? On the contrary, in Genesis 18:14, Jehovah (as Abraham refers to the three persons) responded to Sarai’s laugh of disbelief in God’s capabilities by stating, “is anything too extraordinary for Jehovah?” Isaiah 64:4 states that “from time long ago none have heard, nor have any given ear, nor has an eye itself seen a God, except you...” God has been seen but He shows us in a way in which we can perceive Him; apparently by taking on humanity, or even the form of an Angel. This would demand not that He appeared through a representative, but that He enabled Himself to appear in a way in which man could gaze upon Him and yet live. Tertullian suggested:
“Now we find that God has been seen by many persons, and yet that no one who saw Him died (at the sight). The truth is, they saw God according to the faculties of men, but not in accordance with the full glory of the Godhead.”[87]
This might explain how, in the same chapter in which Jehovah stated to Moses, “You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live” (Exodus 33:20), He also came down on a cloud and spoke "face to face" with him (Exodus 33:7-11). In verses 12-16, Jehovah told Moses that His "own person" would accompany him to distinguish Moses from all others (verse 14). The New World Translation’s footnote on “my own person” states that the literal translation is “my face” (rather, “my faces”[88]); therefore many translate this to read “My Presence” in harmony with an additional footnote within the New World Translation upon this verse: “’I myself shall go before you,’ LXX’”. John Gill understands this to imply:
“my presence shall go with thee; or before thee, both with Moses and before the people; meaning the Angel of his presence he had before promised, the eternal Word and Son of God, who saved them, redeemed them, bore and carried them all the days of old: or ‘my faces shall go’ (y); all the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit; there was Jehovah the Father, whose the Angel of his presence was; and there was Jehovah the Son, Christ, whom they tempted in the wilderness; and there was Jehovah the Holy Spirit, whom they vexed, see Isaiah 63:9.”[89]
In verse 17, Jehovah agrees to come and proclaim His Name to Moses. He, of course, keeps His promise when in Exodus 34:5-7 He again came down on a cloud and passed before the face of Moses while making His Name known. Just after God stated that no man will see His face, we read that He further says:
“Here is a place with me, and you must station yourself upon the rock. And it has to occur that while my glory is passing by I must place you in a hole in the rock, and I must put my palm over you as a screen until I have passed by. After that I must take my palm away, and you will indeed see my back. But my face may not be seen” (Exodus 33:21-23).
What, or rather Who did Moses see? Regarding 1 Timothy 6:16, which refers to “the one alone having immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom not one of men has seen or can see. To him be honor and might everlasting” (emphasis mine), the Society poses the question: “Do these words apply to Jehovah God or to Jesus Christ?” only to insist:
“These words apply to the one whose manifestation they describe, namely, Jesus Christ. (1 Tim. 6:14) … Since his ascension to the invisible heavens, no man on earth ‘can see’ him with literal eyes.”[90]
Pastor Russell believed quite similarly that:
“God said to Moses, ‘No man shall see My face and live.’ Saul of Tarsus merely had a glimpse of Jesus glorified, and yet the glory was so great that if he had had a full look he would not have lived. Jesus was the express image of the Father. Jesus is the express image of the Father. And if no man can see God and live, then he cannot see the glorified Jesus and live.”[91]
If no man may see the Son and live, yet the Son is the Angel who appeared throughout the accounts within the Old Testament, are we then to assume that He had sent an angel to represent Him as Jehovah’s representative? Though again, even the angels cannot be seen. Regarding Christ’s appearance to St. Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-5), the Society is likely correct in that the appearance was in some way shielded, yet even so Paul witnessed a light so bright that it left him blind for three days (Acts 9:9). Before this encounter, Stephen looked up into heaven and saw the Son standing at the right hand of the Father (Acts 7:55-56). Some believe that the stoning of Stephen was prompted by a misunderstanding of God’s statement, “no man may see me and live,” that perhaps the Jews took it upon themselves to render God’s judgment upon Stephen’s claims. Rabbinical literature records that the same misconceptions of Manasseh had reduced Isaiah to similar fate:
“It is related in the Talmud that Rabbi Simeon ben 'Azzai found in Jerusalem an account wherein it was written that Manasseh killed Isaiah. Manasseh said to Isaiah, ‘Moses, thy master, said, 'There shall no man see God and live' [Ex. xxxiii. 20, Hebr.]; but thou hast said, 'I saw the Lord seated upon his throne'’ (Isa. vi. 1, Hebr.).”[92]
It is likely that Stephen, and later Paul, saw something quite similar to that which the patriarchs beheld in the Old Testament; that He was seen in a manner described previously by Tertullian as though “according to the faculties of men, but not in accordance with the full glory of the Godhead.”[93] The late Pope Shenouda of the Egyptian Coptic Church observed likewise:
"’No one has seen God at any time’ (John 1:18). That is to say, no one has seen God in His Divinity, but when He was Incarnate, when He was manifested bodily (1 Tim. 3:16), we saw Him in the flesh, we saw Him Incarnate. That is why St. John the Apostle says: ‘No one has seen God at any time. The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him’ (John 1:18). This means that Christ declared God to us, and through Him we are able to perceive God. The same meaning is given in (Col. 1: 15): ‘He is the image of the invisible God’, and in (Phil. 2:5-7): ‘Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men.’ This means that if Christ appeared to be equal with God, He did not consider that robbery because He is verily so. But while being equal with the Father, He gave up all His glory, was Incarnate, taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of man... became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8).”[94]
Of the encounters which the patriarchs had with God,[95] John Calvin made quite an astute observation when suggesting that:
"Looking back on the Old Testament in the light of the New, we find that the theophanies of the ancient Scriptures were all Christophanies, i.e., it was always in the Son that God revealed Himself to men."[96]
Christophanies are often thought to refer only to the manifestations of the Son after His ascension, but they do also refer to pre-incarnate appearances of Christ in some literature; appearances in His human form. The main significance in recognizing that Jesus Christ was in some way revealed to the holy prophets is that it provides quite overwhelming testimony against the Watchtower Society’s two-class system. The Protoevangelium (or “first gospel”) is the very first prophecy within the Torah, and it concerns the promise which God made to the serpent of the coming “seed of the woman” who would subsequently crush his head (Genesis 3:15). This prophecy is the first revelation of God’s arrangement for the salvation of mankind. The seed of the woman projected the birth of Christ, the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8; KJV). The sacrifice of Christ was the intention from the beginning of mankind, and Abraham, in some way, understood this prophecy as he awaited God to prepare Himself, a lamb for the offering (Genesis 22:8). God also purposed to prepare a kingdom “from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34; KJV); therefore, from the foundation of the world, focus is stationed upon the redemption of mankind from sin through the sacrifice of the Son of God, as well as the resulting inheritance of God’s Kingdom. The Society rejects the notion that the Old Testament figures may receive inheritance into that Kingdom, many witnesses suppose that this rejection is justified in that acceptance into the Covenant is reliant upon one’s faith in Christ. Is it quite biblical to suppose that the patriarchs had not accepted him? Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the Covenant (1 Timothy 2:5-6), and the Society believes that:
“Christ became Mediator in order that the ones called ‘might receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance’ (Heb 9:15); he assists, not the angels, but ‘Abraham’s seed.’ (Heb 2:16) He assists those who are to be brought into the new covenant to be ‘adopted’ into Jehovah’s household of spiritual sons; these eventually will be in heaven as Christ’s brothers, becoming a part with him of the seed of Abraham.”[97]
In summary, He has become Mediator to assist the children of Abraham in being brought into the New Covenant; those who shall become one of God’s adopted children. The New Testament writers are quite convinced that one becomes a child of God “through [their] faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26), that “as many as did receive [Christ], to them he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name” (John 1:12); “For all who are led by God’s spirit, these are God’s sons” (Romans 8:14). Could we in good conscience assume that the opportunity to receive Christ was never granted to the patriarchs? As previously mentioned, the Society believes that “This guardian angel of Israel [the Angel of Jehovah] was doubtless Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence.”[98] The patriarchs were submissive to the Angel’s commands; they understood Him to be the Judge of the entire earth (Genesis 18:25). The Israelites surrendered to the Angel and followed Him, as contended by the Society:
“The angel who guided Israel through the wilderness and whose voice the Israelites were strictly to obey because ‘Jehovah’s name was within him,’ may therefore have been God’s Son, the Word.”[99]
A condition for the forgiveness of sins (which incidentally is an attribute of the Angel [Cf. Exodus 23:21]) is belief in Jesus Christ. One must have whole and absolute belief in all that He is, as He warned, “if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24; KJV). Such a claim would be the epitome of blasphemy had Christ not the authority to attribute this Name to Himself, but no one had more authority. As previously noted, the Name “I AM” (Exodus 3:12) was the Name which was revealed to Moses of the Angel of God only moments before He had instructed Moses to gather the men of Israel and tell them that, “‘Jehovah the God of your forefathers has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’” (verse 16). Christ further admonished the Jews while claiming that “before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58; Cf. Judges 13:11); He existed before Abraham, and He appeared to him on numerous occasions, providing sufficient evidence that the patriarchs followed the Son long before Christianity was ever established or His human body ever created. The apostle Paul explains that undeserved kindness is bestowed upon that seed “which adheres to the faith of Abraham” (Romans 4:16); for there “is no distinction” between Jew or Greek, He does not discriminate. All may receive “God’s righteousness through the faith in Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:22). In essence, although His disciples were only first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26), it seems as though they were in existence long before His human birth.
Unfortunately, some rejected the Son, as they were no part of Abraham’s seed (Cf. Galatians 3:28-29; Colossians 3:11); they knew not what the Torah truly taught, as Christ revealed to some of the Jews of His time, “if you believed Moses you would believe me, for that one wrote about me” (John 5:46). They did not even recognize that the Scriptures had “declared the good news beforehand to Abraham, namely: ‘By means of you all the nations will be blessed’” (Galatians 3:8). Albert Barnes’ observed that though the full meaning of the promise was not clear from the words themselves:
“Abraham must have understood their application in a far more extensive sense than that ‘somehow through him all the nations of the earth would be made happy.’ Whether the true import were made known to him directly by the Spirit of God, or discerned by him in typical representation, it is certain that Abraham's faith terminated on the promised Seed, that is, Christ whose day he desired to see, and seeing it afar, was glad, John 8:56. ‘Hereof it followeth,’ says [Martin] Luther on the place, ‘that the blessing and faith of Abraham is the same that ours is, that Abraham's Christ is our Christ, that Christ died as well for the sins of Abraham as for us.’"[100]
Though they had only glimpsed at the shadows, the Israelites were perpetually directed towards Christ; not only in person, but through their sacrifices[101] and feasts. Every feast was designed by God to reveal their fulfillment. Christ was the fulfillment of all feasts, as well as countless God-ordained Jewish traditions; He truly is the Torah made flesh.
God designed the Festival of Tabernacles[102] as a remembrance of the Israelites time in the wilderness. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, “From the frequent notice of it, as well as from its designation as ‘the Feast,’ it would seem that the Feast of Tabernacles held the most prominent place among Israel's festivals.”[103]
During this feast, the Israelites would travel to Jerusalem “to bow down to the King, Jehovah of armies,” (Zechariah 14:6) as it was Him who had led them through the wilderness, and He who was to lead them in the future, grander Exodus. Throughout this feast, the Israelites would dwell in tents, or tabernacles, for eight days as God had dwelt within a tabernacle throughout the Exodus (i.e., 2 Samuel 7:4-7). When John introduced Christ, He drew allusion to the Festival of Tabernacles in announcing that “the Word became flesh and dwelt [lit. tabernacled] among us” (John 1:14). It is perhaps for this reason that the Society teaches Jesus’ birth to have been at the onset of the Festival celebrations in the year 3 B.C.E.:
“Jesus was born about the 14th day of the lunar month of Tishri. This was one day before the beginning of the week-long festival of Sukkoth (Booths, Tabernacles), during which festival the Jews would dwell outdoors in booths and the shepherds would be out in the fields guarding their flocks during the watches of the night.”[104]
Zechariah 14 reveals what the Festival of Tabernacles foretold of the future of Israel and the surrounding Gentile nations (verse 14), from the coming of the Messiah (verses 3-4) and the restoration of the Jewish remnant (verse 5) to the identification of the Christ as their universal King (verse 9). While they certainly did not grasp the full implications, the Israelites gathered together yearly to commemorate God’s deliverance from Egypt, as well as to celebrate the coming of our Lord. It is rather uncanny that while the Society teaches that “Christ commanded his followers to celebrate his death, not his birth,”[105] they cannot assert the same of the patriarchs and those who were, according to their teaching, presently arriving in Jerusalem from far and wide to celebrate the coming arrival of Israel’s King at the precise moment in which the Society projects His birth. It is worthy of special notice that the Israelites also appeared with gifts, as of this feast Jehovah has ordained that “none should appear before Jehovah empty-handed. The gift of each one’s hand should be in proportion to the blessing of Jehovah your God that he has given you.” (Deuteronomy 16:16-17)
It is more likely, however, that the Festival of Tabernacles found its significance at a later date[106] as there is neither biblical nor any other historical evidence which substantiates this date for Christ’s nativity. Surely at least one New Testament author would have mentioned if He had been born during Israel’s most prominent Feast, or even the conflict which this would have caused for those who had to return to their hometown for the Roman census (Luke 2:1-2).
On the contrary, the Feast of Tabernacles further signified the time in which God had made His dwelling among men. The significance of this observance was sure to have become most apparent to Peter, James, and John as they beheld His glory (Cf. John 1:14) and became eyewitnesses of His majesty (Cf. 1 Peter 2:16) as He was transfigured before them. This event implored Peter to suggest erecting three tabernacles: one for Christ, but also one for Moses and one for Elijah. Peter’s suggestion leads some to believe the transfiguration to have occurred during Christ’s final celebration of this particular Feast.
The Feasts continued to find their fulfillment in Christ (Cf. Hebrews 8:5; Colossians 2:17). Jesus fulfilled the Passover as the Lamb of God during Passover; He rose as “firstfruits from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20) on the Feast of the Firstfruits. The day which Christians recognize as Pentecost was first known as Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks), it was a day to commemorate the giving of the law to Moses. The day was first celebrated as Pentecost beginning on the year of the Lord’s crucifixion when God poured out His Spirit to inscribe those very same laws into the hearts of His believers (Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3). Christ claimed that He would return for Judgment on a day and hour which nobody knows, which happens to be an accurate reference to Rosh Hashanah (the Day of Judgment).
Perhaps the observance of these feasts contributed to the Israelites identification as “sons of God” (Cf. Exodus 4:22-23; Deuteronomy 14:1; Psalm 73:15, 82:6; Isaiah 43:6; Hosea 2:1, 11:1). They were rather familiar with Christ, though they had yet much to learn. They celebrated each of His triumphs, yet under the establishment of God’s appointed festivals. He appeared to them, He guided them, and He further returned to them as their redeemer (Cf. 1 Peter 3:18-20). As told by Tertullian:
“It is the Son, therefore, who has been from the beginning administering judgment, throwing down the haughty tower, and dividing the tongues, punishing the whole world by the violence of waters, raining upon Sodom and Gomorrah fire and brimstone, as the LORD from the LORD. For He it was who at all times came down to hold converse with men, from Adam on to the patriarchs and the prophets, in vision, in dream, in mirror, in dark saying; ever from the beginning laying the foundation of the course of His dispensations, which He meant to follow out to the very last… Moreover, how comes it to pass, that the Almighty Invisible God, ‘whom no man hath seen nor can see; He who dwelleth in light unapproachable;’ ‘He who dwelleth not in temples made with hands;’ ‘from before whose sight the earth trembles, and the mountains melt like wax;” who holdeth the whole world in His hand ‘like a nest;’ ‘whose throne is heaven, and earth His footstool;’ in whom is every place, but Himself is in no place; who is the utmost bound of the universe;—how happens it, I say, that He (who, though) the Most High, should yet have walked in paradise towards the cool of the evening, in quest of Adam; and should have shut up the ark after Noah had entered it; and at Abraham’s tent should have refreshed Himself under an oak; and have called to Moses out of the burning bush; and have appeared as ‘the fourth’ in the furnace of the Babylonian monarch (although He is there called the Son of man),—unless all these events had happened as an image, as a mirror, as an enigma (of the future incarnation)?”[107]
[1] “Should You Believe in the Trinity,” Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989, p. 20
[2] "God’s ‘Eternal Purpose’ Now Triumphing: for Man’s Good" ,Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1973, p. 137
[3] The Watchtower, May 1, 1952, p. 264
[4] Not all instances are referenced in this post; for instance, in both 1 Kings 22:19 and 2 Chronicles 18:18, the word of Jehovah declares that “I certainly see Jehovah sitting upon his throne and all the army of the heavens standing by him…”; Amos saw God (Amos 7:1, 4, 7; 8:1; 9:1). 1 Chronicles 21:15-20, the Angel of Jehovah appeared to David, yet 2 Chronicles 3:1 refers to Him as Jehovah. See also: Numbers 14:14; Exodus 19:9, 17, 33:12-23; 1 Kings 11:9.
[5] Frederick Copleston, A History of Philosophy, Volume 1, Continuum, 2003, p. 460; J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, 5th ed., HarperOne, 1978, p. 11.
[6] Erwin R. Goodenough, The Theology of Justin Martyr, BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009, pp. 139–175; “No Ordinary Angel: Celestial Spirits and Christian Claims about Jesus”, Susan R. Garrett, Yale University Press, 2008; Cf. “Angelomorphic Christology”, Gieschen, pp. 187-200
[7] Saint Gregory of Nyssa; Chapter IV; His Teaching on the Holy Trinity
[8] “Should You Believe in the Trinity”, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989, p. 18
[9] Insight on the Scriptures, Volume II, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 407
[11] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume I, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 440
[13] The Watchtower, October 15, 1957, p. 633
[14] 1984 New World Translation Reference Bible; Introduction: “BRACKETS: Single brackets [ ] enclose words inserted to complete the sense in the English text. Double brackets [[ ]] suggest interpolations (insertions of foreign material) in the original text.”
[15] 1984 New World Translation Reference Bible; 6C With the Blood of God’s Own Son
[16] 1984 New World Translation Reference Bible; 1 Peter 3:15 footnote: “’The Christ as Lord,’ אABC; TR, ‘the Lord God’; J7,8,11-14,16,17,24, ‘Jehovah God.’”
[17] The “J” stands for Jehovah; the ‘J references’ refer to the symbols which the New World Translation supply as support of the 237 insertions of the Divine Name into the New Testament; each reference corresponds to a separate source from within the Hebrew manuscripts which contained some form of the Divine Name or otherwise indicated a reference to Jehovah God.
[18] Acts 18:21; Colossians 3:13; James 2:23
[19] i.e. 1 Corinthians 7:17
[20] The Watchtower, August 1, 1962, p. 480
[21] “Awake!”, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, March 22, 1972, p. 7
[22] The Watchtower, January 15, 2009, pp. 30-31
[23] The Watchtower, January 15, 2009, pp. 30-31
[24] “Isaiah’s Prophecy: Light for all Mankind”, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 2001, p. 129
[25] The Watchtower, December 15, 1984, p. 29
[26] The 1984 New World Translation inserted the bracketed word, “other” into this verse to read, “because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.” The 2013 New World Translation removed the brackets, yet deviously left the interpolation.
[27] i.e. Luke 20:20; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21
[28] i.e. Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:16, 2:15; Titus 3:1
[29] The intention in the term “greater” when used by Christ does not reflect that the Father is greater in nature. The early Society was also aware of multiple meanings of this term as indicated in claiming that: “As the individual Christ is the Head of the greater Christ [144,000], so the individual anti-Christ would be the head of the greater anti-Christ.” (Zion’s Watch Tower, March 1, 1916, p. 76-77, Reprints, p. 5866)
[30] John of Damascus; Exposition of the Orthodox Faith; An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
[31] The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret: The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret
[32] The Watchtower, December 15, 1984, p. 29
[33] At times, translations other than the New World Translation are utilized in effort to avoid the See Spot Run ambiance.
[34] See comments on Matthew 3:3; 5:2; 9:30; 11:5, 10; 15:30; 21:12, 16; 26:26
[35] Encyclopedia of Mormonism; Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1992; “Elohim”, p. 452
[36] http://www.cbcg.org/franklin/The_Two_Jehovahs_of_the_Psalms.pdf
[37] http://cbcg.org/franklin/letter_october-07_supplement.pdf
[38] https://www.cbcg.org/franklin/2Jehovahs_pentateuch.pdf
[39] i.e. Genesis 1:1, 3:5, 21:22, 39:2, 40:1; Exodus 21:4, 32:1, 4, 31; Deuteronomy 4:7, 5:26, 10:17, 23:15; Judges 3:25, 8:33, 11:24,16:23, 19:11; Joshua 24:19; 1 Samuel 4:7, 8, 5:7, 17:26, 20:38, 26:15, 28:13, 15; 2 Samuel 2:5, 9:10, 16:3; 1 Kings 1:11, 11:5, 23, 12:27, 16:24, 20:35, 22:17; 2 Kings 1:2, 2:3, 5:1; 1 Chronicles 10:10, 12:10; 2 Chronicles 2:5, 13:6, 16:14, 32:15; Ezra 1:8, 4:18; Nehemiah 3:5, 9:18; Job 3:19, 5:8, 35:10; Psalm 3:2, 8:1, 29:1, 42:5, 45:11, 58:11, 89:6, 122:5, 123:5, 132:5, 135:5, 149:2, 136:3, 147:5, 149:5; Proverbs 9:10, 16:13, 25:13, 27:18, 30:3, 10; Isaiah 1:3, 10:15, 19:4, 22:18, 24:2, 30:20, 36:12, 37:4; Ezekiel 2:4; Daniel 7:9; Hosea 11:12, 12:14; Zechariah 6:14; Malachi 1:6
[40] New World Translation Reference Bible; 1984; p. 1568, “1J Titles and Descriptive Terms Applying to Jehovah”.
[41] The Watchtower, August 15, 1984, p. 28
[43] The Watchtower, December 1, 1980, p. 31
[44] The Watchtower, May 15, 1960, p. 310
[45] “Should You Believe in the Trinity?”, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989, p. 5
[46] The Watchtower, July 1, 1994, p. 22
[47] Deuteronomy 29:29; Job 26:14; 42:1–6; Psalm 139:6, 17–18, 145:3, 147:5; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Corinthians 2:10–11, 16; 1 Timothy 6:13–16
[48] “Indeed, the sacred secret of this godly devotion is admittedly great: ‘He was made manifest in flesh, was declared righteous in spirit, appeared to angels, was preached about among nations, was believed upon in [the] world, was received up in glory.’” (New World Translation) The footnote in the 1984 translation on “devotion”, a word which exists in no other translation, reveals two “J” references to suggest that the NWT Committee was inconsistent in inserting the Divine Name into verses which reference the Son: “’Godly devotion,’ אAVg; J7,8, ‘fear of Jehovah.’”
[49] The Watchtower, June 1, 1953, p. 350
[50] The Watchtower, September 1, 1957, p. 524
[51] “if, really, you have heard about the stewardship of the undeserved kindness of God that was given me with you in view, that by way of a revelation the sacred secret was made known to me, just as I wrote previously in brief. In the face of this you, when you read this, can realize the comprehension I have in the sacred secret of the Christ. In other generations this [secret] was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by spirit.” (Ephesians 3:2-5; New World Translation)
[52] Zion’s Watch Tower, July, 1879, p. 3, Reprints, p. 9
[53] Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, 1706, Revelation 10:1; John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1746-8, Revelation 10:1; “Geneva Study Bible”, Thomas Nelson Inc; Seventh Printing, R.C. Sproul (originally published in 1560), Revelation 10:1; Vincent’s Word Studies, Hendrickson Publishers, 1886, Revelation 10:1; “Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers” (Charles J. Ellicott, Cassell and Company, 1905) considers the possibility, though finds it inconceivable that the Lord Jesus would be referred to as, “another mighty angel”. Likewise, Jamiesson-Fausset-Brown (1871) analyses the evidence and determines this angel to be a representative of Christ.
[54] The Watchtower, December 15, 2004, p. 19
[55] Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for mal'ak (Strong's 4397)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012.
[56] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3:3:4; 3:6:1-5, Fragments, 53; Tertullian, Against Praxeas, 16, Against Marcion 2.27, 3.9; Novatian, On the Trinity, 18, 19, 31; Apostolic Constitutions, 5:3:20; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, 1:7; Eusebius, The Proof of the Gospel, 1.5, 4:10, 5:10, Church History, 1:2:7-8, Preparation for the Gospel, 7:5, 14,15; Origen, ContraCelsus, 5.53, 8.27; Methodious, Symposium, 3.4; Melito, New Fragments, 15; Ambrose, Exposition of the Christian Faith, 1:13:83; Athanasius, Against the Arians, 3:25:12-14; Gregory of Nyssa, His Teaching on the Holy Trinity, Chapter IV; Against Eunomius, 11.3. St. Augustine confers that the Angel of the Lord was also called God in On the Holy Trinity, Title Page, Chapter 13.—The Appearance in the Bush, though, author Taylor Marshall points out the reluctance of St. Augustine to refer to the Angel of the Lord as the Son of God and believes this to be due to the Latin translation; he notes that while “angel” does not specifically reference a created being within the Greek and Hebrew translations, it does within the Latin texts which were afforded to St. Augustine (https://taylormarshall.com/2015/01/is-the-angel-of-the-lord-the-pre-incarnate-christ.html); The Blessed Theodoret wrote that the whole passage of Exodus chapter 3: “shows that it was God who appeared to Moses. But Moses called Him an ‘angel’ in order to let us know that it was not God the Father whom he saw — for whose angel could the Father be? — but the Only-begotten Son, the Angel of Great Counsel.”
[57] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Exodus 3:2; http://www.usccb.org/bible/exodus/3
[59] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter 56
[60] https://carm.org/justin-martyr-and-the-watchtower
[61] Justin Martyr’s audience weighed upon the method which he used; he borrowed from Stoic philosophy when arguing that the Word was one in the same with the Son within his First Apology (Cf. General Linguistics by Francis P. Dinneen 1995, p. 118)
[62] Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Chapters 58-61, 76, 86, 116, 126-128; Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 63; Justin Martyr. First Apology, Chapter 63.
[63] The angel Gabriel was also referred to as a man in Daniel 9:20-21
[64] The Watchtower, May 1, 2002, p. 10
[65] The Watchtower, February 1, 1951, p. 67
[66] Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Kregel Classics; 8th edition, June 30, 1962; Isaiah 9:6
[67] Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for pil'iy (Strong's 6383)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011.
[68] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume I, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 107
[69] i.e. “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume I, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 106; “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume II, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 394; The Watchtower, February 1, 1991, p. 17; The Watchtower, July 1, 1987, p. 17; The Watchtower, December 15, 1984, p. 27; The Watchtower, January 15, 1961, p. 57; The Watchtower, August 1, 1960, p. 459; The Watchtower, September 1, 1958, p. 559; “Pay Attention to Daniel’s Prophecy!”, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1989, p. 204
[70] 1984 New World Translation; App 1G
[71] The Watchtower, September 15, 2007, p. 14
[72] Catholic catechism #204: “God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai.” (Part One: The Profession of Faith: Section Two: The Profession of the Christian Faith: Chapter One I Believe in God the Father: Article I; Paragraph I; II. God Reveals His Name #204) The Catechism elsewhere speaks of theophanies (i.e., #697, #707, #2059), though 204 alone speaks specifically of the Angel of the Lord as a theophany.
[73] Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Kregel Classics; 8th edition, June 30, 1962; Judges 6:14
[74] Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary, 1706, Judges 6:21
[75] Both Psalm 45:6 and Hebrews 1:8 are unrecognizable in the New World Translation.
[76] The Watchtower, June 15, 1966, p. 373
[78] Theophilus; To Autolycus 2:22
[79] Zion’s Watch Tower, August, 1879, p. 4; Reprints, p. 22
[80] The Watchtower, July 1, 1964, p. 413
[81] The Watchtower, October 15, 2002, p. 17
[82] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume I, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 801
[85] The Watchtower, October 15, 1960, p. 621
[86] The Watchtower, October 15, 1967, p. 611
[87] Tertullian: Anti-Marcion: Against Praxeas: Chapter XIV.—The Natural Invisibility of the Father, and the Visibility of the Son Witnessed in Many Passages of the Old Testament. Arguments of Their Distinctness, Thus Supplied.
[89] John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible, 1746-8, 1746-8; Exodus 33:14
[90] The Watchtower, September 15, 2008, p. 31
[91] Zion’s Watch Tower, August 15, 1913, p. 243; Reprints, p. 5290
[92] “The Jewish Encyclopedia”, Funk & Wagnalls of New York, 1901-6; Isaiah
[93] Tertullian: Anti-Marcion: Against Praxeas: Chapter XIV.—The Natural Invisibility of the Father, and the Visibility of the Son Witnessed in Many Passages of the Old Testament. Arguments of Their Distinctness, Thus Supplied.
[94] “Divinity of Christ”, H. H. Pope Shenouda III; V, “Jesus is the Logos (The Word)” (Andro Michel)
[95] Note that Jacob, for instance, also saw God on other occasions (Genesis 35:1; in visions in Genesis 46:2-3); Job knew that in his flesh he shall see God (Job 19:25-27), and he did (Job 42:5).
[96] John Calvin, Cf. “The Companion of the Way”, H. C. Hewlett, p. 11
[97] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume II, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 362
[99] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume II, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 53
[100] Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Kregel Classics; 8th edition, June 30, 1962; Galatians 3:8
[101] St. Thomas Aquinas notes that “[It is appropriate that the Body and Blood of Christ be truly present in this Sacrament] because of the perfection of the New Covenant. The sacrifices of the Old Covenant contained the true sacrifice of Christ's Passion only in symbol ... Therefore it was necessary that the sacrifice of the New Covenant, instituted by Christ, have something more, namely, that it contain Christ Himself who has suffered and contain Him not only in symbol but in reality.” St. Thomas Aquinas; Summa Theologiae, IIIa, q. 75, a. 1
[102] Sometimes called Feast of the Lord; Cf. Leviticus 23:39; Judges 21:19
[103] “The Jewish Encyclopedia”, Funk & Wagnalls of New York, 1901-6; “Feast of Tabernacles”
[104] “Insight on the Scriptures”, Volume I, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988, p. 140; While they place His birth at “about the 14th day”, numerous commentators determine His birthday as Tishri 15th: “When is the Birthday of Christ: Examining the Historical and Biblical Evidence for the Time of the Messiah’s Birth”, David M. Rogers, www.BibleTruth.cc; “Messiahmas? On the Birth Date of Yeshua [aka ‘Jesus’]” , Uriel ben-Mordechai • Jerusalem; https://www.thejoshlink.com/article112.htm; http://noelrt.com/?p=933; http://www.jewishrootsofchristianity.ca/jesus-born-at-sukkot-festival-of-booths/; https://jewsforjesus.org/jewish-resources/community/jewish-holidays/sukkot-the-feast-of-tabernacles/; in contrast The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia writes: “It seems impossible, on analogy of the relation of Passover and Pentecost to Easter and Whitsuntide, to connect the Nativity with the feast of Tabernacles, as did, e.g., Lightfoot (Horæ Hebr, et Talm., II, 32)”, “Christmas”, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
[105] The Watchtower, December 15, 1953, p. 740
[106] The eighth and final day of the Festival of Tabernacles is called Shemini Atzeret and it is the final day for God to decide the amount of rainfall He will deliver to Israel based upon their Judgment. The Jewish people prepare throughout the first week of the Feast by reciting prayers for rain. Historically, there was a ceremony where the people would follow the High Priest while he drew water from the Pool of Siloam to offer at the altar in hopes that God would offer them more rain for the year. One of the prayers that ancient rabbis associated with this ceremony was Isaiah 12:3, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation [yeshua]”. According to John 7:37-38, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “’Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’”
[107] Tertullian: Anti-Marcion: Against Praxeas: Chapter XVI.—Early Manifestations of the Son of God, as Recorded in the Old Testament; Rehearsals of His Subsequent Incarnation.
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