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Y'shua considered himself equal to the Father - but he never said he came to earth to be "YHWH in the Flesh!"

First of all, it is important to remember that Y'shua (Yeshua) means "Yahweh is salvation" in Hebrew. Y'shua is the only Heavenly Entity who has the Name of YHWH (Yahweh) within His own name! The angels/messengers all have the title of Elohim (God) within their names: Michael, Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel. When you are finished reading this article, please also read our short blog post on the YHWH/Yeshua relationship

Tomes could be filled with the rantings of people who insist that Y'shua was not the Messiah of Israel; and especially, that he was NOT divine. Are those people right or wrong? Let's check the Bible to see what it says!

Philippians 2:5 And think you so in yourselves, as Y'shua the Mashiyach also thought; 6. who, as he was in the likeness of Elohim, did not regard it sinful to be the coequal of Elohim; 7. yet disinherited himself and assumed the likeness of a servant, and was in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man; 8. and he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the stake. 9. Wherefore, also, Elohim has highly exalted him and given him a name which is more excellent than all names; 10. that at the name of Y'shua every knee should bow, of (beings) in heaven and on earth and under the earth; 11. and very tongue will avow MarYah - that is, Yeshua the Messiah - to the glory of Elaha His Father. (AENT)

NOTE: "Name" in verse 9 is more than his literal birth name Y'shua (which was and is a common Hebrew name), and more than the perfect reputation that his name represents. Y'shua bears (reveals) the Name of YHWH, the "name above all names"! He has the Name and reputation of the Father YHWH in him (John 17:11) and his name means "YHWH is Salvation" (Matthew 1:21). Y'shua was YHWH's Divine MESSIAH, the Word (John 1:1, 14) and His "arm" (Isaiah 53:1). Human while he walked this earth, he had divine origins and was therefore divine. He never said he was "the Father"; and he never said he came to BE "YHWH in the flesh." He was the MESSIAH!

Traditional Jews and those who have decided to reject the New Testament after discovering the need for Torah always attempt to negate Philippians, because it is in the "New Testament" - which they reject; insisting that for something to be valid, it MUST be outlined in the Torah, or mentioned somewhere in the Tanach (Old Testament). What they are doing, in essence, is "playing God" and "putting our ELOHIM in a box" by suggesting that He HAD to say something in a certain Book of the Bible so it could be validated according to their respective understanding, opinions and timing. What they have forgotten is: He is YHWH and He does things in His OWN timing and His OWN way!

Nobody writes a book by giving the entire plot away within the first few chapters! Things progress as they progress...logically, in due time. YHWH revealed Messiah in Isaiah 53 (which "they" also attempt to negate with their fuzzy, man-made explanations), and Y'shua can be found in every one of the Mo'edim/Appointed Times. YHWH gave us "the rest of the story" via the "New Testament" - which perfectly lines up with the "Old"....

Yet, "they are out there", pushing erroneous concepts such as: "The NT was written hundreds of years later by Gentiles with an agenda to destroy Judaism."

Well, we do not know all of the authors, or the actual dates of the books of the Tanach, either! Did Moshe write the last chapter of Deuteronomy in the Torah about his death after he died? Even some of the Oldest texts known of the Tanach are not much older than the NT Original Texts. Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, some of the NT Texts were actually older than the oldest Masoratic Texts known! Time and archaeology will prove even more to come about the NT Texts and their much earlier Hebrew origins than was thought even just a few short years ago.

Fact is, there are far too many Hebrew concepts in the NT to have been written "hundreds of years later" by Gentiles! Yes, the NT writings were sometimes corrupted by the early Roman Church (and many others to this day). Most Hebrew Texts found by the Romans were destroyed out of hatred for the Jews. There are many sources outside of the NT that confirm some of the Historical Information contained within; as well as the existence of some of those actual persons, including Yeshua.

Let's deep deeper via an excerpt from an appendix in the Aramaic English New Testament:

Coequal of Elohim

"…who, as he was in the likeness of Elohim, deemed it no trespass to be the coequal of Elohim" - Philippians 2:6

The Greek reading of this verse (NASB) is: "Who did not regard equality with Elohim a thing to be grasped." But why the difference? The answer is with what Catholic and Protestant churches would later call, "the mystery of the Trinity." Greek almost seems to say: "For Godhead issues, I really can't say." Aramaic clearly says it is "not blasphemous" to grasp this truth. In reality, the divine component of Mashiyach must be understood in the context of the Tanakh. Paul is not "robbing" anything from the Truth which was in place long before his arrival; he declares the Truth which is from the beginning.

By the revelation given him and diligent study of the Tanakh, Paul knows well that Mashiyach is the "coequal of Elohim." A very Torah based concept. Some may counter: "You make a man out be Elohim," which is not "Jewish" - which is one of the very reasons Paul is considered apostate from Torah. But who are his critics? Obviously they are the Pharisees of old and their direct spiritual descendants this day, who deny Y'shua Mashiyach in the first place. It's not the followers of Y'shua who made him out to be Elohim, but YHWH Who put the Spirit of Mashiyach into a human body. It is the omnipotence of the Almighty YHWH which is under attack by those who reject Y'shua as Mashiyach. Critics posture that the Father YHWH, who is ein sof (without end) cannot indwell a human being, but these critics are simply plying theological limitations upon YHWH's omnipotence.

Aramaic and Greek both state that Y'shua came in the image/appearance of the sons of men. This is a key point, as it shows that while Mashiyach appears as a man, he is not wholly like other men in all respects. Aramaic reads: "And He humbled himself and became obedient up to the point of death - the death of the stake. For this reason also Elohim exalted Him." If this sounds familiar it should: "Of the travail of his soul he shall see to the full, even My servant who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities he did bear. Therefore I (YHWH) will divide him a portion among the mighty, because he bared his soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:11-12 1955 JPS).

Several Hebrew and Aramaic words, each with precise, discreet and subtly different shades of meaning, are uniformly translated into the generic English words "soul" and "spirit". In this case Isaiah tells of the nefesh/naphshah (life force) that Mashiyach lays down. Obviously the divine attributes in Mashiyach (Isaiah 11:1-2) cannot die. This is important because Elohim can neither bleed nor perish, and yet a portion of Mashiyach is equivalent to YHWH.

Another important Scriptural guide is found here: "And they shall look upon Me (et) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son" (Zechariah 12:10). However, the JPS renders this verse, "they shall look upon Me because they have thrust him through," which does violence to the Hebrew, so as to shore up their own traditional religious orthodoxy.

While we're at it, let's take a look at another passage wherein we see Y'shua making himself "equal" to his Father:

John 5: 18. And because of this the Yehudeans were seeking all the more to kill him, not only because he had loosed[1] the Shabbat, but also concerning that he would say that his Father was Elohim and was equating[2] himself with Elohim.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Y'shua did not break the Shabbat according to Torah; rather, he restored the observance of Shabbat as YHWH intended, without the burden of religious tradition. In so doing, the traditions of the Pharisees had been violated, but certainly not the Torah of Moshe.

[2] To consider oneself "equal" to YHWH is a very serious matter. Y'shua spoke of himself as being about his Father's business, of coming in his Father's Name; he spoke and taught with authority and performed healings which made him a formidable opponent to religious tradition. The charge here of Y'shua making himself equal to YHWH is simply Pharisee tradition projecting itself onto Y'shua.

The Ruach haKodesh in Mashiyach is "equal" to YHWH, but the Pharisees supposed that Y'shua and his followers equated his humanity with YHWH; they didn't understand Isaiah 11:1-2, that Mashiyach has the Ruach haKodesh (another name for YHWH-Psalm 51:1-11, Isaiah 63:1-11) within him. YHWH spoke through the Spirit of Mashiyach, rather than through his human component! Y'shua maintained that his nefesh (soul) would die, but that YHWH would resurrect it!

Y'shua believed his own nefesh was mortal. Zechariah 12:10 the Spirit of YHWH is "pierced" but they mourn for him (Y'shua) as an only begotten son. YHWH cannot literally be "pierced"; therefore, this refers to Mashiyach who has the Spirit of YHWH in him. The matter of the Father raising the dead is confirmed in verse 21, but we also see in this verse that the Son takes on the role of His Father as His Firstborn, for both Resurrection Power and Judgment.