The following citation is taken from William Cole’s article, “Was Luther a Devotee of Mary?,” found in Marian Studies, Volume XXI, 1970, p. 131:

In a Christmas sermon of 1531, Luther speaks of Mary as the “HIGHEST WOMAN AND THE NOBLEST GEM in Christianity after Christ.” He goes on to claim that “she is nobility, wisdom and holiness PERSONIFIED. WE CAN NEVER HONOR HER ENOUGH. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures” (WA 34, 2, 497 and 499). (Capital emphasis mine)

Here are the links to the primary sources cited by William Cole (WA 34, 2, 497 and 499):

WA 34, 2, 497

WA 34, 2, 499

I want to thank a specific rabid anti-Catholic polemicist (whose name and post will not be shared here) for basically affirming the veracity of these quotes. Ironically, while acknowledging the authenticity of these statements he still goes on a rant in his desperate attempt of explaining why such praise and honor of the holy Theotokos.  

FURTHER READING

Luther & Mary’s Perpetual Virginity: More Context

THE REFORMERS ON MARY’S PERPETUAL VIRGINITY

REFORMERS ON THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION

FRANCIS TURRETIN ON THE PERPETUAL VIRGINITY OF MARY

PROTESTANT SCHOLAR ON MARY’S VIRGINITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH

JESUS CHRIST: JOSEPH’S LEGAL HEIR

NOTES FOR THE ANTHONY ROGERS’ REBUTTAL

NOTES FOR KELLY POWERS’ MARIAN DISCUSSION PT. 1

NOTES FOR KELLY POWERS’ MARIAN DISCUSSION PT. 2

In this short post I will show how the phrase Ehyeh, which is what God named himself to Moses, functions as a name/title for YHWH.

Here is the passage which I am referring to:

“He replied, ‘I will surely be (Ehyeh) with you. Your sign that I have sent you will be that when you have led the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’ Moshe said to God, ‘Look, when I appear before the people of Isra’el and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”; and they ask me, “What is his name?” what am I to tell them?’God said to Moshe, ‘Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be],” and added, ‘Here is what to say to the people of Isra’el: “Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.”’God said further to Moshe, ‘Say this to the people of Isra’el: “Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.’” Exodus 3:12-15 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

Note some other renderings:

“Elohim answered Moses, ‘Ehyeh Who Ehyeh. This is what you must say to the people of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14 Names of God Bible (NOG)

“And Elohim said unto Moshe, Eh-heh-yeh ashair Ehheh- yeh (I AM WHO I AM); and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the Bnei Yisroel, EHHEH-YEH (I AM) hath sent me unto you.” Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

The LXX rendered the Ehyeh expression as Ho On (“The Being/Existing One,” i.e., the One who exists):

“And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14

Here’s another rendering:

“And God said to Moyses, ‘I am The One Who Is.’ And he said, ‘Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, “The One Who Is sent me to you.”’” (Exodus, tr. Larry J. Perkins, in A New English Translation of the Septuagint including corrections and emendations (NETS) [Oxford University Press, the second printing (2014)], p. 53)

The translation of the term Ehyeh as Ho On indicates that the Jews understood that God was stressing his uncreated, never-ending, timeless existence. I.e., YHWH is the God who has no beginning and no end and forever lives, which is why he is able to be with his people throughout all generations:

“Who has worked and done it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, Yahweh, am the first; and with the last, I am He.” Isaiah 41:4 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

With the foregoing in view, I now quote two texts where this word is used as a name for the Deity:

“When you do these things should I be silent? Or do you think that I AM (Ehyeh) like you? I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.” Psalm 50:21 New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)

Here God chides his people for thinking that the Ehyeh was a capricious, fallible, sinful mortal like them. With that said, here’s one way that this passage can be legitimately translated: “you thought that the I AM/I WILL BE was like you.”

Interestingly, this rendering is even suggested by the New International Version (NIV) translation in their fn. to this text:

“When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly^[c] like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you.”  

c. Psalm 50:21 Or thought the ‘I am’ was.

This next one is also relevant:

“Yahweh said, “Name him Lo Ammi [Not My People]. You are no longer my people, and I am no longer your Ehyeh.” Hosea 1:9NOG

Here are a few more renderings:

“Then said G-d, Call shmo Lo-ami; for ye are lo ami (not My people), and to you (pl) not eh’h’yeh (I am, which is ALEFH HEH YOD HEH 1 common sg form of YOD HEH VAV HEH—HASHEM, i.e., to you I am not Hashem).” OJB

tn Heb “I am not yours.” The divine name “God” is supplied in the translation for clarity even though the reading of the MT is followed (see previous tc note). Almost all English versions (including KJV, ASV, NASB) supply “God” here.

sn This is an allusion to Yahweh’s promise to Moses אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ (ʾehyeh ʿimmakh, “I will be with you”; Exod 3:12, 14). In effect, it is a negation of Exod 3:12, 14 and a cancellation of Israel’s status as vassal of Yahweh in the conditional Mosaic covenant. (New English Translation [NET] https://netbible.org/bible/Hosea+1)

g. 1:9 “Not-My-People”: in Hebrew lo-ammi. I am not “I am” for you: a reference to the divine name revealed to Moses, “I am” (Ex 3:14). This reversal of the relationship marks the end of the covenant (Ex 6:7). (NABRE https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+1&version=NABRE)

As the above fns. indicate, this verse is a clear allusion to Exodus 3:14 and therefore substantiates the point of Ehyeh functioning as a name for YHWH.   

What makes this rather interesting is that the LXX translated the phrase Ehyeh as Ego Eimi:

“And he said, ‘Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people and I am not your ‘I am (kai EGO ouk EIMI hymon).”’” (The Twelve Prophets, tr. George E. Howard, in NETS, p. 782)

According to the inspired New Testament writings, Jesus is that very same Ehyeh and Ego Eimi, who revealed himself to the patriarchs and the prophets, including Abraham and Moses:

“‘No,’ replied Jesus, ‘I am not mad. I am honouring my Father and you are trying to dishonour me. But I am not concerned with my own glory: there is one whose concern it is, and he is the true judge. Believe me when I tell you that if anybody accepts my words, he will never see death at all.’ Now we know that you’re mad,’ replied the Jews. ‘Why, Abraham died and the prophets, too, and yet you say, “If a man accepts my words, he will never experience death!” Are you greater than our father, Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets—who are you making yourself out to be?’ ‘If I were trying to glorify myself,’ returned Jesus, ‘such glory would be worthless. But it is my Father who glorifies me, the very one whom you say is your God—though you have never known him. But I know him, and if I said I did not know him, I should be as much a liar as you are! But I do know him and I am faithful to what he says. As for your father, Abraham, his great joy was that he would see my coming. Now he has seen it and he is overjoyed.’ ‘Look, said the Jews to him, ‘you are not fifty yet, and has Abraham seen you?’ I ‘tell you in solemn truth,’ returned Jesus, ‘before there was an Abraham, I AM!’ At this, they picked up stones to hurl at him, but Jesus disappeared and made his way out of the Temple.” John 8:49-59 J. B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” John 5:45-47

“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 NIV  

“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:24-27 NIV

FURTHER READING

Even More Proof That Jesus is Jehovah God Most High! Pt. 2

JESUS CHRIST: ISRAEL’S ANI WAHO WHO SAVES

Jesus as the Great I AM

Jesus as the Great I AM Excursus

The Early Church Fathers On John 8:58

Profoundly and deeply examining the most often quoted Verses John 8: 58 and 8: 24
and The Issue of EHYEH in Exodus 3:14

I continue where I previously left off: WHEN PROTESTANTS ARGUE LIKE ARIAN HERETICS.

THE DAY OF YHWH JESUS

Another way we know that Paul was not identifying Jesus as an archangel, particularly Michael, but was rather describing the risen Christ is YHWH Almighty Incarnate is by his expressly referring to the time when Christ returns to resurrect the dead, judge the world and usher in the age to come, as the Day of our/the Lord Jesus Christ, or any other similar attributions. Note the following examples:

“For they themselves report concerning us what a welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

“For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” 1 Thessalonians 2:19

“But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

“But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you.For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.When people say, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape.But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night.But, since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him.Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing… May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, 23

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition… And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, 8

“so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:7-8

“you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Corinthians 5:5

“And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:6-11

“Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” Philippians 2:14-16

“Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, and therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.” 2 Timothy 1:8-12  

To call this remarkable would be to put it mildly since the Hebrew Scriptures never associate this day to a mere a creature, but always and only to YHWH!

“Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light; As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him; Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?” Amos 5:18-20

“Be silent before Lord Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near, For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice; He has set apart His guests Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit… Near is the great day of Yahweh, Near and coming very quickly; O the sound, the day of Yahweh! In it the mighty man cries out bitterly. A day of fury is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of clouds and dense gloom, A day of trumpet and loud shouting Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind Because they have sinned against Yahweh; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung.” Zephaniah 1:7-9, 14-17

This is the time when YHWH himself comes to personally judge the nations in perfect justice:

“But Yahweh abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, Vav And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will render justice for the peoples with equity.” Psalm 9:7-8 Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)  

“Before Yahweh, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.” Psalm 96:13

“Before Yahweh, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.” Psalm 98:9

“Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.” Isaiah 40:10

“For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land… Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves. There, bring down, O Yahweh, Your mighty ones. Let the nations be roused up And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations. Send in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their evil is great.” Joel 3:1-2, 11-13

These next two cases are rather interesting:

“Enter the rock and hide in the dust From the dread of Yahweh and from the splendor of His majesty (kai apo tes doxes tes ischuos autou). The lofty look of man will be made low, And the men made high will be bowed down, And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day. For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be made low. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, Against all the oaks of Bashan, Against all the high mountains, Against all the hills that are lifted up, Against every lofty tower, Against every fortified wall, Against all the ships of Tarshish And against all the desirable craft. The loftiness of man will be bowed down, And the men who are high will be made low; And Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day, But the idols will completely vanish. Men will go into caves of the rocks And into holes of the ground Before the dread of Yahweh And the splendor of His majesty (kai apo tes doxes tes ischuos autou), When He arises to make the earth tremble. In that day men will cast away to the moles and the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves to worship, In order to go into the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs Before the dread of Yahweh and the splendor of His majesty (kai apo tes doxes tes ischuos autou), When He arises to make the earth tremble.” Isaiah 2:10-21

“For behold, Yahweh will come in fire And His chariots like the whirlwind, To return His anger with wrath, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on all flesh, And those slain by Yahweh will be many.” Isaiah 66:15-16

I have included the Greek words employed in the LXX in order to highlight the connection between the aforementioned texts and with what the inspired Apostle writes in regards to Christ coming in flaming fire with his powerful angels to unveil his majestic splendor and might:

“This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be made worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering—since indeed God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (kai apo tes doxes tes ischuos autou), when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.” 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10

Paul has deliberately taken the very language of the Greek rendering of the book of Isaiah in its depiction of YHWH manifesting his power and majesty as he comes to destroy the wicked in flames of fire, and attributed to Christ!  

 PRAYING TO YHWH JESUS

The final line of evidence from Paul that Christ is none other than the human incarnation of YHWH God comes from the worship, which this blessed servant attributes to the risen Son of God.

For instance, the Apostle begins and concludes his epistles with invocations and benedictions for spiritual blessings to be bestowed upon the churches and/or individuals he is writing to. What makes these prayers astounding is that Paul not only invokes God the Father but Christ as well.

In fact, there are even places where the Son is invoked all by himself!

“Paul, Silva′nus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalo′nians IN God the Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.” 1 Thessalonians 1:1

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:28

“Paul, Silva′nus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalo′nians IN God our Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace FROM God the Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his call, and may fulfil every good resolve and work of faith by his power,so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God AND the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Remarkably, Paul not only prays to Christ either along with the Father or all by himself, but this inspired emissary even goes as far as to say that the churches are in union and fellowship with both God and Christ!

This presupposes that the Son is omnipresent and omniscient since he is able to have fellowship and communion with, as well as oversee, all believers to the same extent that the Father does!   

Even more astonishing are the next two examples:

“Now may our God and Father himself, AND our Lord Jesus, direct (kateuthynai)our way to you;” 1 Thessalonians 3:11

In the following text, Paul mentions Christ ahead of the Father!

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved (ho agapeesas) us and gave (dous) us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,comfort (parakalesai) your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

The verbs employed in both of the aforementioned passages are all singular, even though the Apostle ascribes these actions to both God and Christ. I.e., Paul has just prayed to the Father and the Son to direct and give love and comfort to the believers he writes, by invoking them together through the use of singular verbs.   

What this shows is that, for this inspired envoy, the actions of God and Christ are one and the same, not because they are the same Person but because they are one and the same God!

Here are more cases of Paul praying to the Lord Jesus directly:

“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

“If any one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come (Maranatha)! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” 1 Corinthians 16:22-23

This one is truly astonishing:

“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace FROM God our Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:2-3

Paul not only again prays to both God and Christ, but he also describes believers as being characterized by their practice of calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus.

To help the readers appreciate the implications of this habitual prayer pattern of the very first Christians, contrast this with following OT references:

“And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.” Genesis 4:26 LSB

“Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to Yahweh and called upon the name of Yahweh.” Genesis 12:8

“And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God.” Genesis 21:33 LSB

“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is Yahweh our God whenever we call on Him?” Deuteronomy 4:7 LSB

“Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They would call upon Yahweh and He would answer them. He would speak to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them.” Psalm 99:6-7 LSB

“I love Yahweh, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, So I shall call upon Him in all my days. The cords of death encompassed me And the distresses of Sheol found me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of Yahweh: ‘O Yahweh, I beseech You, provide my soul escape!’… I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of Yahweh… To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of Yahweh.” Psalm 116:1-4, 13, 17 LSB

“Qoph Yahweh is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 LSB

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:12 LSB

“And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls.” Joel 2:32 LSB

“And I will bring the third part through the fire And refine them as silver is refined And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.” Zechariah 13:9 LSB

The foregoing cases demonstrate that the practice of calling on the name is an act of worship, which true believers were/are to render only to YHWH God Almighty. Therefore, that Christians such as Paul became known for their habitual practice of calling on the name of the risen Christ would have been a blatant act of idolatry on their part if the Son is a mere creature.

The only justifiable way that Jewish monotheists steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures could attribute this worship pattern to Jesus is if Christ’s Jewish disciples did not view him as a mere creature. Instead, the first Christians came to believe as a result of Jesus’ physical bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven that Christ is actually YHWH God Almighty Incarnate (even though he is not the Father or the Holy Spirit). There’s simply no way around this point.

If this wasn’t amazing enough, we even have a Trinitarian benediction where the holy Apostle invokes the Holy Spirit as well, thereby showing the Spirit’s essential coequality with the Father and the Son!

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14

With the foregoing in view, can there be any doubt left that Paul in no way was claiming that the risen Lord is the Archangel Michael? Isn’t it obvious that this blessed and inspired emissary of Christ was emphatically affirming that the Son is none other than YHWH God Almighty that became a Man?

CHALLENGE TO THE ARIANS

I issue the following challenge to arian cult leader Greg Stafford and other anti-Trinitarians to cite a single OT text where the inspired authors ascribed the day of YHWH to someone besides and/or alongside of YHWH, i.e., the day of Michael, the day of Gabriel, the day of YHWH and the archangel etc. I further challenge them to show where believers in the Hebrew called upon the name of someone else alongside that of YHWH, or where they invoked YHWH and a creature to bestow spiritual blessings upon the people of God.

In the next installment I will be wrapping my discussion and refutation of arian cultist Greg Stafford and the inconsistency of anti-Catholic/Orthodox Protestant polemicists for employing the same kind of arguments that anti-Trinitarians employ to attack the Triunity of God and the Deity of Christ.

Anti-Catholic/Orthodox Protestant polemicists will often employ arguments against specific, core Catholic and Orthodox beliefs, which are both inconsistent and dishonest.

For instance, in their zeal to deny the blessed Mother’s perpetual virginity certain Protestant apologists will argue that the word adelphe always refers to either a flesh and blood sister or to a spiritual sister. They employ this claim for the express purpose of showing that Jesus had biological sisters (cf. Mark 6:3), which therefore disproves Mary’s being Ever-Virgin.

What makes this inconsistent, in fact dishonest, is that Anti-Trinitarians employ the same method to deny and oppose the Trinity, which these same Trinitarian apologists would be the first to oppose and reject.

For instance, arian cult leader Gregory Stafford claims that the following text proves that Jesus is the archangel Michael:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call (en phonee archangelou), and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;” 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Stafford bases this on the fact that in every place where the preposition en (“with/in”) is used alongside of the term phonee in the dative case (indirect object), it is always referring to the voice of the subject in question. It does not refer to someone else’s voice.

Here are the examples he gives to bolster his case:

“Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice (en phonee megalee), ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water.’” Revelation 14:6-7  

“And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice (en phonee megalee), ‘If any one worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,’” Revelation 14:9

“And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice (en phonee megalee) to him who sat upon the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.’” Revelation 14:15  

“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out with a mighty voice (en ischyra phonee), ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;’” Revelation 18:1-2

“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice (en phonee megalee) he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, ‘Come, gather for the great supper of God,’” Revelation 19:17

“Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Be′or, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human voice (en anthropou phonee) and restrained the prophet’s madness.” 2 Peter 2:15-16  

Stafford reasons, would anyone deny that these verses all refer to the voice of the specific individuals/entities mentioned within the context? I.e., it is the voice of the various angels mentioned and not some other entity’s voice, and it was Balaam’s ass that was enabled to speak with the voice of a man.

In this series of posts I will refute Stafford’s faulty methodology and biblical exegesis (more like eisegesis), and in doing so I will show why Trinitarian anti-Catholics/Orthodox need to abandon such sloppy and poor hermeneutics.  

GOD’S TRUMPET AND THE COMING OF YHWH    

According to the text in question, the risen Lord is said to descend with the trumpet of God:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God (salpingi Theou). And the dead in Christ will rise first;” 1 Thessalonians 4:16

The reason why this is an astonishing proclamation, as well as essential in refuting Stafford’s poor exegesis, is that according to the Hebrew Bible it is YHWH God himself who will blow the trumpet on the day in which he comes to reign on the earth:

“Then Yahweh will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; AND THE LORD YAHWEH WILL BLOW THE TRUMPET And will go in the storm winds of the south. Yahweh of hosts will defend them. And they will consume and trample on the stones of a sling; And they will drink and roar as with wine; And they will be filled like a sacrificial bowl, Drenched like the corners of the altar. And Yahweh their God will save them in that day As the flock of His people; For they are as the stones of a crown, Sparkling in His land.” Zechariah 9:14-16

Now compare the Greek rendering of the specific text in question:

“And the Lord shall be over them, and [his] arrow shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord Almighty shall blow with the trumpet (kai Kyrios pantokrator en salpingi salpiei); and shall proceed with the tumult of his threatening.” Zechariah 9:14 LXX

Earlier, the prophet foretells that this will take place when the King of Israel comes riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Lowly and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His reign will be from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.” Zechariah 9:9-11

Here’s where it gets astonishing.

Zechariah goes on to show that the coming King will not be a mere human being. Rather, this Ruler is none other than YHWH God Almighty himself whom the prophet states shall descend upon the Mt. of Olives, and whose glorious feet will split it in half upon impact, as he enters Jerusalem to reign as King over the entire world!   

“Behold, a day is coming for Yahweh when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. Indeed, I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city will go forth in exile, but those left of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Yahweh will go forth and fight against those nations, as the day when He fights on a day of battle. And in that day HIS FEET will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. And you will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; indeed, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then Yahweh, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! And it will be in that day, that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. And it will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh, neither day nor night, but it will be that at evening time there will be light. And it will be in that day, that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And Yahweh WILL BE KING over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be THE ONLY ONE, and His name ONE… Then it will be that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship THE KING, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship THE KING, Yahweh of hosts, there will be no rain on them.” Zechariah 14:1-9, 16-17

In other words, the inspired prophet is announcing that YHWH comes to dwell on earth as a physically embodied Being, which explains why he has feet and how he can ride upon a physical animal. This also helps us make sense of God’s commanding people to go up to worship YHWH in Jerusalem, since that is the earthly location where they will actually see God visibly in a physical body.

Even more remarkable is that the NT writings identify Jesus as that very YHWH who comes to rule on earth!

For instance, we are told that Christ deliberately rode on a foal as he entered Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy:

“On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.’And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” John 12:12-16

The NT further states that it is Jesus who will descend upon the Mt. of Olives where he shall return from heaven with all his holy ones:

“And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away;” Acts 1:9-12

“and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you,so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

What this means is that Zechariah was seeing the risen and exalted Christ returning to the earth in his physical, glorified body in order reign as the divine King from Jerusalem over all the earth!

Therefore, we can now appreciate why Paul claimed that Christ will descend with the trumpet of God. Jesus is that very YHWH God that became a physical Being, and who will blow his own trumpet in order to announce to the world that their God has returned to rule over the whole earth!

I have more to say in the next part of my refutation to arian cultist Stafford’s claims: WHEN PROTESTANTS ARGUE LIKE ARIAN HERETICS PT. 2.