Reading through scripture, the word Elohim is not
a divine title belonging to God alone, nor the word Savior. We call Jesus the Messiah our Savior, and
rightly so, but let’s look in Isaiah 43:11 where it says,
“I, I am the LORD [Yahweh], and besides me there is no savior.”
The conclusion in Trinity and Oneness doctrine is
that Jesus is the heavenly Father. (Trinity doctrine believing three persons in
one God but Jesus not the Father, and Oneness doctrine of three manifestations of the one God.) No matter how it is viewed, Jesus ends up
being the Father because there is only one savior and there is none beside Him.
Isaiah 45:21 says,
“Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD [Yahweh]? And there is no other god [Elohim] besides me, a righteous God [Elohim] and a Savior; there is none besides me.”
For sure there is no other Elohim besides Him and no
other Savior. In Hosea 13:4 we read,
“But I am the LORD [Yahweh] your God [Elohim] from the land of Egypt; you know no God [Elohim] but me, and besides me there is no savior.”
So far we can see that there is no savior nor no other God but Yahweh. Based on
these Scriptures people come to the conclusion that Jesus is Yahweh or Jesus is God. There is no way around this, because the
logical conclusion is that there is only one Savior and the same thing with
Elohim - there is only one Elohim, and therefore Jesus is Yahweh, Jesus is Elohim. This explanation may be accepted based on the scriptures above because this is what we are taught, but can we really come to this conclusion while ignoring other facts shown to us in scripture?
In other portions of scripture there are other
saviors. Someone might say, “But I thought God was the only Savior?” Let’s read Obadiah 1:21,
“Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD's.”
In Neh 9:27 we read,
"Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies."
If there is only one savior, why does
the scripture mention multiple men as being saviors?
Let’s go to Psalm 82:1 where we read,
“God [Elohim] has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods [Elohim] he holds judgment.”
He [Elohim] judges among the gods
[elohim]? Who are the Elohim?
As we continue to read (2-8) we see,
How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, "You are gods, [elohim] sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince." Arise, O God, [Elohim] judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!
In verse 6, who are the elohim? Man is called elohim.
How can these passages, with
these legitimate titles, be reconciled since Yahweh said He is the only Savior and that He is the only Elohim, and yet we see common men
are called saviors and they are called elohim?
The way this is reconciled is
that God sends saviors and has given them power to enable them in saving other common
men. One of these saviors Yahweh sends, for the purpose of saving mankind, is Jesus the
Messiah, His only begotten Son.
What about the word “Elohim”? In the trinity doctrine we are to believe
that the word “Elohim” means a plurality of individuals. But this is not so. The word “elohim” can
mean either plural “gods” or singular “god” There is nothing in the word elohim
that means a “plurality of individuals,” anymore than its use of Moses in
Exodus 7:1. God said to Moses:
"And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world." 1John_4:14
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." John 3:17
"They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this [Jesus] is indeed the Savior of the world." John_4:42
So though Jesus is called the savior of
the world the ultimate savior is Yahweh, for He is the one who is doing the
actual saving through the Messiah.
“See, I have made thee a god [ELOHIM] to Pharaoh.”
No one would say Moses is a plurality of individuals.
God chose human instruments as
being themselves “God” (Exod. 4:16; 7:1; Ps. 82:6) but not the ultimate Elohim.
If God [Elohim] calls someone else God
[Elohim], who are we to argue? As shown
in Ps. 82:6, God calls the judges “God.” [Elohim] They serve Elohim who has made them elohim. The promise of the coming Messiah is
designated as “Elohim” (Ps. 45:6), so Jesus the Messiah is described as “Elohim,”
but this does not make him the supreme Elohim.
For more on the topic of Elohim, see:
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