Isaiah 40:3 - A Voice in the Wilderness

(This study needs to be edited)

Isaiah 40:3 - The voice of him who cries in the wilderness: Prepare [plural in the Hebrew - speaking to the people of Israel -- a form of the verb transliterated as “panah”, meaning “to turn” — Strong’s #6437] the way of Jehovah; make straight [make right - justified, not crooked] in the desert a highway for [or, to, before] our God. -- Green's Literal.

Isaiah 40:3 (Young's Literal) A voice is crying -- in a wilderness -- Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, Make straight in a desert a highway to our God.

Trinitarians (and some others) often cite Isaiah 40:3 along with various scriptures in the New Testament, and claim that such proves that Jesus is Jehovah, and/or that Jesus is one of three persons all of whom are alleged to be Jehovah.

Isaiah 40:3 foretells of one [John the Baptizer] who was to come with a message to the people of Israel to prepare the way of/to Jehovah. The people of Israel were in a desert condition because of their sin, thus John the Baptizer fulfilled this by preaching repentance toward God to the people. John was not preaching repentance toward Jesus. His preaching of repentance, however, did indeed make ready a people to accept Jesus whom Jehovah sent. That repentance is NOT towards Jesus, but rather to the God of Jesus (Micah 5:4; Ephesians 1:3), as can be seen from what is stated in Acts 20:21; 26:20. Had Israel -- as a whole -- heeded John's message, and repented toward God, they would have made the way of Jehovah straight (justified) so that they would have been ready to receive the one whom Jehovah sent to them. (Isaiah 61:1; John 17:1,3) As it turned out, only a small remnant did so. -- Romans 11:1-5.

Many view this differently, saying that John was to prepare the way for Jesus. If this is so, then the default reasoning should not be to imagine, assume, add to, and read into what is said that Jesus is Jehovah, and that then further imagine, assume, add to, and read into what is said that Jehovah must be more than one person, and then further imagine, assume, add to, and read into what is said that Jesus is a person of his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4), but rather, as is the case many times throughout the Old Testament (For a few instances: Exodus 3:10,12; 12:17; 18:10; Numbers 16:28; Judges 2:6,18; 3:9,10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:24,25; 14:6,19; 15:14,18; 16:20,28-30, 2 Kings 4:27; Isaiah 43:11, 45:1-6), that the one who Jehovah sent fulfilled the prophecy in the name of he who sent him. Jehovah, speaks and performs works by means of his Son, Jesus. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; John 1:17; 3:34; 5:36; 10:25,32; 14:10; Acts 3:13-26; Ephesians 3:9, KJV; Titus 3:6.

Definitely nothing, however, in Isaiah 40 presents Jehovah, the God of Israel, as being more than one person. Any such thought has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into what is said.

For more information related to the above:

https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/2020/03/isa40-3.html

Hebrew analysis of Isaiah 40:3:

https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/40-3.htm

For study of forms of the Hebrew word often transliterated as PANAH

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6437.htm

https://studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/6437.html

For study of forms of the Hebrew word often transliterated as YASHAR

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3474.htm

https://studylight.org/lexicons/eng/hebrew/3474.html

Related study on Biblical use of similarities

https://jesusnotyhwh.blogspot.com/2017/06/similarities.html

* Isaiah 48:16,17 - The Lord Jehovah Has Sent Me

{Isaiah 48:16} “Come near to me and hear this: From the beginning, I have not spoken in secret; from the time that it was, there am I.” Now, the Lord Jehovah has sent me, with his Spirit.

{Isaiah 48:17} Thus says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am Jehovah your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go." — RLIV

The claim is made that this verse shows three persons in one Godhead. One even claims that this verse contains one of the clearest statements of the trinity doctrine in the Old Testament. In fact, however, we find nothing at all about the trinity doctrine in Isaiah 48:16. What the trinitarian actually presents as the trinity is the imaginative assumptions that the trinitarian places over the scripture.

As usual with the trinitarian proof-texts, there is nothing in this verse about three persons in Jehovah. The trinitarian has to imagine the trinitarian dogma applies, formulate assumptions based on that imagination, and then read those assumptions into what is stated, so that, in effect, what they actually present as proof is what has to be imagined and assumed concerning the scripture, not what is actually said in the scripture. Evidently what they are assuming here is that Jesus is one of the persons of Jehovah, and the Jesus is sent by another person of Jehovah, and the spirit is another person of Jehovah,  and either that Jehovah’s spirit as a  person of Jehovah was sent by Jehovah, or that Jehovah’s spirit as a person of Jehovah sends another person of Jehovah, that is, Jesus. In reality, all through the Bible, Jehovah is presented as a unipersonal God; He is never presented as being more than one person.

Actually, Isaiah is the prophet who is writing the above, and is evidently the one referred to as being sent (Isaiah 6:9,10) by Jehovah. Benson's Commentary states concerning the latter part of Isaiah 48:16:

And now — This is opposed to the foregoing words, from the beginning; the Lord God and his Spirit — God, by his Spirit, or God, even the Spirit, namely, the Holy Ghost, to whom the sending and inspiring of God’s prophets is ascribed, 2 Peter 1:21; hath sent me — Namely, the prophet, who yet was a type of Christ, and so this may have a respect to him also.

Albert Barnes notes concerning the one sent:

And now the Lord God and his Spirit hath sent me - There is evidently a change in the speaker here. In the former part of the verse, it is God who is the speaker. But here it is he who is sent to bear the message. Or, if this should be regarded, as Lowth and many others suppose, as the Messiah who is speaking to the exiled Jews, then it is an assertion that he had been sent by the Lord God and his Spirit. There is an ambiguity in the original, which is not retained in our common translation. The Hebrew is, 'And now the Lord Yahweh hath sent me, and his Spirit;' and the meaning may be either, as in our version, that Yahweh and his Spirit were united in sending the person referred to; or that Yahweh had sent him, and at the same time had also sent his Spirit to accompany what he said.... The scope of the passage demands, as it seems to me, that it should be referred to the prophet himself. His object is, to state that he had not come at his own instance, or without being commissioned. He had been sent by God, and was attended by the Spirit of inspiration. He foretold events which the Spirit of God alone could make known to mankind. It is, therefore, a strong asseveration that his words demanded their attention, and that they had every ground of consolation, and every possible evidence that they would be rescued from their bondage. It is a full claim to divine inspiration, and is one of the many assertions which are found in the Scriptures where the sacred writers claim to have been sent by God, and taught by his Spirit.

Matthew Poole states;

Hath sent me, to wit, the prophet Isaiah; who yet was a type of Christ, and so this may have a respect to him also.

In the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, we read:

and now the Lord God &c.] Render: and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me and (i.e. with) His spirit; “His spirit” being not a second subject along with Jehovah, but a second object. For the idea cf. ch. Isaiah 61:1 and Zechariah 7:12. The Spirit is never spoken of in the O.T. as the sender of the prophets, or as an independent agent distinct from Jehovah.

Thus it appears that Isaiah speaks of himself as sent to Israel by Jehovah, and he possibly also speaks of Jehovah’s spirit being sent, or it may be that the prophet spoke of himself as being sent by or with the power of God's spirit.

Consequently, we believe while in much of the book, that Isaiah is quoting what Jehovah has said, that in this verse he suddenly stops quoting Jehovah and speaks of himself as being sent by Jehovah. This is not all that unusual in Isaiah’s writings, that is, that he stops quoting Jehovah, and starts speaking of himself, or someone else, without giving any indication of such a change.

A similar case is Isaiah 8:1-3. One could read verse three as a continuation of the quotation of Jehovah’s words in verse one, thus making Jehovah as the one who went to the prophetess, but common sense tells us that Isaiah stopped quoting Jehovah and began referring to himself.

We find the same principle in Isaiah 48:16,17. There we can see that the latter part of verse 16 goes with the beginning of verse 17, and is not part of the quotation of Jehovah, but rather Isaiah’s own remarks: “And now the Lord Jehovah, and his spirit, has sent me — this what Jehovah says, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel,…” after which Isaiah returns to quoting the words of Jehovah.

Below are some translations that have punctuation similar to ours.

“Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.” And now the Lord GOD has sent me and his Spirit. — Revised Standard Version.

“Now come close to me and hear what I say. From the beginning I have spoken openly and have always made my words come true.” (Now the Sovereign Lord has given me his power and sent me.) — Today’s English Version

“Come to me and listen to this. From the beginning I have spoken openly. From the time it began, I was there.” Now, the Lord God has sent me with his Spirit. — New Century Version

“Come near to me, YOU people. Hear this. From the start I have spoken in no place of concealment at all. From the time of its occurring I have been there.” And now the Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself has sent me, even his spirit. — New World Translation, 1971 edition.

A slightly different punctuation appears in this translation:

Come to me and hear this! Not from the beginning did I speak it in secret; At the time it comes to pass, I am present; “Now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his spirit.” — The New American Bible

Even if this verse were referring to Jesus as the one sent, it still does not say anything about three persons in one Jehovah. The one who sent Jesus is still the only true God, and the one sent by the only true God is still not the only true God who sent him. — John 17:1,3.

Thus it should be apparent to all that the doctrine that Jesus is Jehovah is not found in Isaiah 48:16 (as it is not found anywhere else in the Bible). There is definitely nothing here to indicate that God’s spirit is a separate sentiency yet the Supreme Omniscient Being. And even more definitely we do not find anything in the verse about Jehovah as three persons, or of three persons in one “Godhead.”

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Peter 1:3.

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Addendum

The claim is being made that the “true being of God as a class or kind of being has no less and no more than three eternally distinct Persons of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.”  Support for this is being claimed in Isaiah 48:6; Matthew 28:19-20; Hebrews 9:14. Nevertheless, in not one of these scriptures do we find any reference to God as being three persons. Isaiah 48:6 was evidently meant to have been Isaiah 48:16, which is discussed above.

We have discussed Matthew 28:19 elsewhere.

Hebrews 9:14 presents God as one person, and his son is not presented as being a person of God, nor is the spirit spoken of as a person of God.

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1 Corinthians 8:1-13 - God, Idols and Many Gods, Lords

* Colossians 1:15 - Image of the Invisible God Alleged to be a "God-Man"

Zechariah 2:10,11; 9:9 - Did Zechariah Say That Jehovah Becomes Flesh?

Judges 6:11-16 - Gideon and the Angel

Isaiah 43:13; John 10:28 - No One Can Deliver Out of My Hand

By Ronald R. Day, Sr.

Isaiah 43:13 - Yes, before the day was I am he; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who can hinder it?" -- American Standard Improved Version.

John 10:28 - and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. -- World English.

Some present these two verses together, evidently with the thought that since Jehovah is quoted as saying "there is no one who can deliver out of my hand" in Isaiah 43:13, and Jesus said "no one shall snatch them out of my hand" in John 10:28, this is alleged to prove to Jesus of John 10:28 is Jehovah of Isaiah 43:13.

Actually, it is not clear that Isaiah 43:13 is actually talking about the same thing that Jesus spoke of in John 10:28. In Isaiah 43:13, Jehovah may not have been speaking of the sheep that He was to give to the "one shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24; John 10:16) that he was to appoint over his sheep. (Ezekiel 34:2-24) .

Matthew Poole states concerning Isaiah 43:13:

There is none, none of those which are called gods, that can deliver out of my hand; that can save them whom I will destroy. Therefore they are impotent, and consequently no gods.

I will work, and who shall let it? nor can they hinder me in any other work which I resolve to do.

John Gill states, however, regarding Isaiah 43:13:

and there is none can deliver out of my hand: either such whom the Lord determines to punish, or such whom he resolves to save; none can snatch them out of his hands, there they are safe:

Regardless, Jesus stated:

John 10:28 - I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

John 10:29 - My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. -- World English.

Jesus acknowledges that his sheep are given to him from someone else, his God and Father (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus stands in the strength of his God, Jehovah. (Micah 5:4) Thus it is because no one can snatch these sheep out of the Father's hand, that no one can snatch them out the hand of the one whom Jehovah appointed to be the "one shepherd" over His sheep. -- See Ezekiel 34:2–24.

Rather than claiming to be Jehovah, Jesus was actually claiming to be the one foretold whom his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4) was set up as the "one shepherd" of Jehovah's sheep.

There is definitely nothing in these scriptures that presents Jehovah as being more than one person, or that Jesus is Jehovah, etc.

See also our study:
The One Shepherd

James 2:19 - Did James Say that the Demons Know That Jesus is God?

 The following has been presented to us:

James 2:19 states: "You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder." -- World English.

Obviously, there is nothing in James 2:19 that says that the demons know that Jesus is God. Thus, the trinitarian (or oneness believer) who uses this verse to claim that the demons know that Jesus is God has to create a lot of assumptions that have to be added to and read into what James said to make it appear to say that demons knew that Jesus is God.

Obviously, James by his words recorded in James 2:19 is referring to the same one person he speaks of as "God" in James 1:1,27. We have no scriptural reason to think that James was not referring to the same one person who is identified as the "one God" in 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5. Indeed, it is the same one person who is the God of the Messiah in Micah 5:4 and who is the God and Father of Jesus as spoken of in Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3.

They may claim that since there is only one God, and since the Bible uses the word God of Jesus in a few verses, that this means that Jesus has to be that "one God." Of course, such simply ignores the Biblical usage of the words for "god". It would narrow the Hebrew and Greek words for GOD down to meaning only Supreme Being or false god, and thus claim that either Jesus is the "one God" or else he is a false god. We have addressed this in other studies and thus will not address this again here, except to say that since Jesus is not the "one God" of whom are all  (1 Corinthians 8:6), any application of the Hebrew and Greek words for GOD to Jesus should be understood in the sense of special might and power as given to him from his God and Father.

See our studies:
The Hebraic Usage of the Titles for "God"

Aside from Jehovah, There is No God

As far as who the demons knew Jesus to be, the scriptures tell us that Satan knew Jesus, not to be God, but rather the Son of God. (Matthew 4:3,6; Luke 4:3,9) Indeed, if Satan thought Jesus was the Supreme Being, he surely knew that the Supreme Being could not be tempted into disobeying himself, and thus he would not have wasted time trying to tempt Jesus into disobedience to himself. The demons likewise knew Jesus to be, not God Almighty, but rather the Son of God, the Son of the Most High. -- Mark 3:11; 5:7; Luke 4:41; 8:28.

We certainly find nothing in James 2:19 (or anywhere else in the Bible) that presents Jesus as being the "one God," nor do we find any thought that presents the "one God" as being more than one person. Any such thoughts have to be added to and read into what James wrote.