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So, you don't understand
the relationship between YHWH and Yeshua?

The Refiner's Fire has "taken on" many websites that claim to have proof about Yeshua supposedly not being the Messiah. As the study below will show, YHWH did send His Son (the "arm" of YHWH - Isaiah 53:1) to dwell among mankind for a time and, what's more, he (Yeshua) will return again as the Lion of Judah!

Bottom line up front!

Even satan and his demons knew who Yeshua was:

Mark 1: 23. And there was a man in their assembly in whom was an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 24. And said, What have we to do with you Y'shua the Nasraya? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, you are the Set Apart One of Elohim. 25. And Y'shua rebuked him and said, Shut your mouth and come out from him! 26. And the unclean spirit threw him down and cried out in a loud voice and came out of him. (AENT)

There are at least 6 direct mentions in the "New Testament" to show that YHWH and Yeshua are ONE. Yeshua is divine/has a divine nature because of his divine qnoma. He was the "arm" of YHWH - and an arm is not separate from the body (Isaiah 53:1); and also the Word (John 1:1, 14).

Luke 2:8 In the countryside nearby were some shepherds spending the night in the fields, guarding their flocks, 9 when an angel of Adonai appeared to them, and the Sh'khinah of Adonai shone around them. They were terrified; 10 but the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people. 11 This very day, in the town of David, there was born for you a Deliverer who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 Here is how you will know: you will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding trough." (ISR)

The bottom line is that Yeshua is divine because of his Divine Nature received straight from YHWH Himself when YHWH placed him into the womb of a virgin. Consequently, he was also given the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit). In other words, we see the fullness of YHWH dwelling inside Mashiyach, in accordance with Tanakh prophecy (Isaiah 53:1, Zechariah 12:10).

1 Corinthians 12: Therefore, I want to make it clear to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, "Yeshua is cursed!" and no one can say, "Yeshua is Lord," except by the Ruach HaKodesh.

Philippians 2:5 Let your attitude toward one another be governed by your being in union with the Messiah Yeshua: 6 Though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God something to be possessed by force. 7 On the contrary, he emptied himself, in that he took the form of a slave by becoming like human beings are. And when he appeared as a human being, 8 he humbled himself still more by becoming obedient even to death — death on a stake as a criminal! 9 Therefore God raised him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name; 10 that in honor of the name given Yeshua, every knee will bow — in heaven, on earth and under the earth — 11 and every tongue will acknowledge that Yeshua the Messiah is Adonai — to the glory of God the Father. (ISR)

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 the Name of YHWH, the "name above all names"! Y'shua has the Name and reputation of the Father YHWH in him (John 17:11) and the name means "YHWH is Salvation" (Matthew 1:21). (The angels, for instance, only have YHWH's title of ELOHIM within their names: GabriEL, MichaEL, RaphaEL....)

Proverbs 30:4 - Who has gone up to heaven and come down. Who has cupped the wind in the palms of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!

Hebrews 9: 24 For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God. 25 Further, he did not enter heaven to offer himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer death many times - from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, he has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, 28 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Toward the end of Yeshua's earthly ministry, at the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem (John 10:22-39), Jewish leaders asked him point blank, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly" (v. 24). Yeshua, in no uncertain terms, answered that he was more than the Messiah, He was ONE with YHWH! He was a human with a divine qnoma/nature! To this they "took up stones to stone him" (v. 31):

John 10: 22. And the Feast of Dedication occurred in Urishlim and it was winter. 23. And Y'shua was walking in the temple in the porch of Shleemon. 24. And the Yehudeans surrounded him and said to him, "How long will you hold our souls if you are the Mashiyach? Tell us openly." 25. Y'shua answered and said to them, I have told you and you do not believe! And the works that I do in the Name of my Father they testify concerning me. 26. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, just as I have told you. 27. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they come after me. 28. And I give to them life that is eternal and they will not perish and no man will ever snatch them from my hands. 29. For my Father who gave them to me is greater than all, and no man is able to snatch them from the hands of my Father. 30. I and the Father are one. 31. And again the Yehudeans took up rocks to stone him. 32. Y'shua said to them, Many pleasing works from the presence of my Father I have shown you. For which of them do you stone me?

33. The Yehudeans said to him, "It is not because of the pleasing works that we stone you, rather because you do blaspheme and that while you are a Son of man you make yourself Elohim![1] 34. Y'shua said to them Is it not written in your Torah that "I have told you that you are Elohim." 35. If those people he called Elohim because the Miltha of Elohim was with them and Scripture is not able to be broken 36. To him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world you say, "You blaspheme!" concerning that I had told you that "I am the Son of Elohim." 37. Unless I do the works of my Father, do not believe me. 38. If, however, I do them even if you do not believe me, you believe the works that you may know and believe that my Father is in me[2] and I am in my Father. 39. And they were seeking again to seize him, but he escaped from their hands. (AENT)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Y'shua states that the Ruach of YHWH is within him, (Isaiah 11:1-2, Zechariah 12:10). He taught that while his nefesh would die, YHWH would reanimate both his neshama (human spirit/ruach) and nefesh (soul). Y'shua never claimed his nefesh was anything other than human and that as such, it would die.

[2] In Isaiah 22:20-25 a priestly father is named Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH) and his son is Eliakim (Elohim raises) which foreshadows Mashiyach whose "portion" is YHWH, and who is raised up by Elohim. Mashiyach is the first begotten of YHWH who suffers, then is raised up and then is given governance over all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples as foreshadowed in verses 21-22: "And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."

In other words, Yeshua did not say that He and the Father are identical (in human form, he was accountable to YHWH); but rather, because he was the divine Messiah, he and the Father have essential unity together, BECAUSE of who he was! The Jews clearly understood this and tried to stone Him for blasphemy.

Romans 11: 8. As it is written: Elohim gave them a stupid spirit and eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, to this very day. (AENT)

Some want to believe that "man" is God because Yeshua told them so, using the following verse as proof:

Psalm 82: 5 They don't know, they don't understand, they wander about in darkness; meanwhile, all the foundations of the earth are being undermined. 6 "My decree is: 'You are elohim [gods, judges], sons of the Most High all of you.

Here YHWH is being facetious because man has become so enamored with himself, worshipping idols and "doing his own thing." However, notice the small "g" in "gods" and the fact that YHWH told them they would die like men and fall like any ordinary earthly "royalty." He wanted them to know that, although they were "sons of the Most High," they were still only men.

Many websites try to prove that Yeshua is not divine by employing plenty of Scripture twisting:

ALLEGATION: "Messiah is NOT, nor ever actually claimed to be, never was taught to be God by His original followers, nor was he ever prophesied to be, 'God in the flesh'."

Fair enough! But, we ARE clearly told that he was divine:

To begin with, who do you think Isaiah 53 is all about? This chapter seems to describe the life, trial, death and resurrection of MESSIAH.

And check this out:

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on his shoulders; And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Micah 5: 2 "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity."

Colossians 2: 8. Beware, or else any man make you naked by philosophy and by vain deception, according to the doctrines of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to the Mashiyach 9 in whom dwells all the fullness of Elohim bodily. 10. And in him you are also complete because he is the head of all principalities and authorities. 11. And in him you have been circumcised with a circumcision without hands, by casting off the flesh of sins by a circumcision of the Mashiyach. 12. And you have been buried with him by immersion; and by it you have risen with him while you believed in the power of Elohim who raised him from the dead. 13. And you who were dead in your sins and by the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has resurrected with him; and he has forgiven us all our sins: 14. and, by his mandates, he blotted out the handwriting of our debts which (handwriting) existed against us, and took (it) from the midst and affixed (it) to his stake. (AENT)

Matthew 16: 15"But what about you?" he (Yeshua) asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Yeshua replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

John 10: 30 I and the Father are One, He who has seen me has seen the Father....

John also tells us:

John 1: 1. In the beginning was the Miltha. And that Miltha was with Elohim. And Elohim was that Miltha. 2. This was with Elohim in the beginning. 3. Everything existed through His hands, and without Him, not even one thing existed of the things which have existed. 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5. And that light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. (AENT)

John 3: 1. And there was a certain man from the Pharisees. His name was Niqodemus, a ruler of the Yehudeans. 2. This man came to Y'shua at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you were sent from Elohim, for a man teacher is not able to do these miracles that you do, except he who Elohim is with. 3. Y'shua answered and said to him, Amen, amen I say to you, that if a man is not born from the beginning, he is not able to see the Kingdom of Elohim. 4. Niqodemus said to him, "How is it possible to enter the womb of his mother the second time and be born?"

5. And Y'shua answered and said to him, Amen, amen I say to you, that if a man is not born from water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the Kingdom of Elohim. 6. The thing, which is born from flesh, is flesh, and the thing, which is born from spirit, is spirit. 7. Do not marvel that I have said to you that it is necessary for you to be born from the beginning. 8. The wind will blow where it desires, and you hear its voice. But you do not know from where it comes or to where it goes. Likewise is everyone who is born from spirit.

9. Niqodemus answered and said to him, How is it possible for these things to be? 10. And Y'shua answered and said to him, You are a teacher of Yisrael, and these things you do not understand? 11. Amen, amen I say to you that the thing that we know we speak. We testify to the thing that we see, and our testimony you do not receive. 12. I have explained earthly things and you do not believe. How then will I explain heavenly things? 13. And no man has ascended into Heaven except he who descended from Heaven. The Son of man is he who is in Heaven. 14. And as Moshe lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus the Son of man is about to be lifted up 15. So that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have life that is eternal.

16. Thus, for Elohim loved the world so as he would give His Only-Begotten Son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but would have life that is eternal. 17. For Elohim did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to give life to the world through him. 18. He that believes in him is not condemned, and he who does not believe is already judged because he does not believe in his name, that of the Only-Begotten, the Son of Elohim. 19. Now this is the judgment: Because the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the light, for their works are evil. 20. For everyone who does hateful things hates the light and does not come to the light, because his works will be hidden. 21. But he who does truthful things comes to the light that his may be known that they are done in Elohim. (AENT)

John 4: 25. That woman said to him, "I know that the Mashiyach is coming, and when he comes, he will teach us everything. 26. Y'shua said to her, I am the one speaking with you.

John 17: 1. Y'shua spoke these things and he lifted up his eyes to Heaven and said My Father the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that your Son might glorify you. 2. Just as you have given him authority over all flesh that whomever You have given him, he will give to him life that is eternal. 3. Now this is life that is eternal, that they might know You, that You are the Elohim of Truth, and he alone whom You have sent, the Mashiyach Y'shua. *AENT)

ALLEGATION: According to Isaiah 42:21, any Messiah that "did away with" the Torah (Law) is a false Messiah since he would not fulfill this clear prophecy (Isaiah 42:21). If you consider the Eternal Torah of YHVH to be abolished you are not a follower of the true Messiah that embraced Torah, instead you are a follower of the anti-Messiah. It is this very point that rightly causes many knowledgeable Jews to reject the "Messiah" preached in churches. Unlike the majority of Messiahians, they are keenly aware of what the true Messiah's relationship to Torah is and realize the preaching of the abolishment of the Law (Torah) is blatantly unscriptural.

Yeshua never said He came to "abolish" Torah! He came to fulfill the promise of a New Covenant. (Fulfill never meant "abolish!") Yahweh never mentioned ANYTHING about abolishing His Divine Instructions in Righteousness! The websites that say otherwise are OFF THE MARK! They tend to ignore or twist Scripture. Here's what Yeshua actually said:

Matthew 5: 17. Do not think that I have come to loosen Torah or the prophets, I have not come to loosen but to fulfill. 18. For truly I say to you that until heaven and earth pass away not one Yodh or one stroke will pass from Torah until everything happens. 19. All who loosen, therefore, from one (of) these small commandments and teach thus to the sons of man, will be called little in the Kingdom of Heaven, but all who do and teach this will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds more than that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Have "heaven and earth disappeared?" Has "everything been accomplished?"

ALLEGATION: "What about the fact there is NOT ONE SINGLE EXAMPLE of conversion in the New Covenant where the converts acknowledge - or were asked to acknowledge - Yeshua as God? NOT ONE!"

Nowhere are we told that anyone had to "convert" nor accept a MAN as God! Yeshua simply went around telling everyone he met about "The Good News" of Torah AND Messiah. Check out Acts 2:38-47.

Acts 2: 38. Shimon said to them, "Repent and be immersed each of you in the name of Master YHWH-Y'shua for the forgiveness of sins, that you may receive the gift of the Ruach haKodesh. 39. For to you was the promise, and to your children, and to all those who are far away whom Elohim will call. 40. And with many other words he would witness to them and he would beseech them while saying, Save (yourselves) from this perverse generation."

41. And some of them readily received his word and believed and were immersed. And there were added in that day about three thousand souls. 42. And they were steadfast in their teaching of the Shlichim and they were fellowshipping in prayer and in the breaking of bread. 43. And fear came to every soul, and signs and many mighty deeds occurred by the hands of the Shlichim in Urishlim. 44. And all those who had believed as one, and everything that they had were held in common. 45. And those who had a possession would sell it and divide it to each one according to whatever was in need.

46. And every day they were steadfast in the temple with one soul. And at home they were breaking loaves of bread. And while they were receiving food, and rejoicing in the simplicity of their hearts, 47. they were praising Elohim while finding favor before all the people. And everyday our Master (Y'shua) would add to those who lived among the congregation.

Those who accepted his message and were baptized were JEWS! If you want to call their acceptance of Messiah Yeshua "conversion" that's fine, but not necessary.

ALLEGATION: What about the fact that worship of Yeshua as "God" is a direct violation of YHVH's clear command to avoid the worship of "other gods"?

How can anyone possibly say that Yeshua was NOT the DIVINE Messiah - the "arm" of YHWH - when He was foreshadowed throughout the Tanach, and has already fulfilled the first four feasts? He is the ONLY One Who ever has done, or ever will do the following, as He was:

  1. Conceived by a virgin whose hymen was broken from the inside, not by seed of man. (Yeshua was born to Miriam [Mary], virgin bride of Joseph, as foretold and/or evidenced in Genesis 3:15; Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 7:13-15; Jeremiah 31:22; Luke 1:34-35; and Matthew 1:17-20.)
  2. Born of an extremely rare bloodline that includes many of the fathers of Israel. (See geneology from Abraham to David in Matthew 1.)
  3. Born in Bethlehem; descendant of David, traced back to Abraham. (Matthew 1; Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:2.)
  4. Messiah was to a prophet like unto Moses. (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18, 19.)
  5. Messiah would enter Jerusalem in triumph, gentle, and riding on a donkey. (According to Daniel, there would be 483 years between the decree to rebuild the wall and the city of Jerusalem in troublesome times before Messiah would be cut off for the sins of the people. Exactly 483 years after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and its walls, Yeshua of Nazareth offered himself to the nation of Israel. He rode into the city on a donkey to the rejoicing of the people, just as the prophet Zechariah had predicted: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. See Zechariah 9:9.)
  6. Messiah would be rejected by his own people. (Most Jews to this very day reject Yeshua as Messiah. They believe He was just a good rabbi and prophet, and definitely NOT the Messiah. See Daniel 9:24-26, Isaiah 53:1, 3, and Psalm 118:22.)
  7. Messiah would minister mostly in Galilee. (Isaiah 9:1-2)
  8. Isaiah and Malachi predict Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner. (Yeshua was very much like Moses: Both were delivered from death as infants. Both were prophets. Both performed miracles. Both were leaders. And both were intermediaries between God and man. No other prophet is as much like Moses than Yeshua. Moses led the Jews out of the bonds of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land of Israel. Moses died shortly before the Jews entered Israel. Yeshua leads people - anyone who accepts Him as their Savior - out of the bonds of sin and into the Promised Land of Heaven. Yeshua died for our sins so that people could enter the Kingdom of Heaven. See Deuteronomy 18:15-18; see also Malachi 3:1-5; Isaiah 9:6-7).
  9. The Psalmists said that Messiah would be betrayed by a friend. (He was betrayed by Judas, one of his 12 disciples. See Psalm 41:9 and Matthew 26:47-50.)
  10. Zechariah said that Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. He adds that people will look on the one whom they have pierced. (Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver, then later committed suicide when he realized the enormity of what he had done. See Zechariah 11:12-13.)
  11. Messiah would be tried and condemned. (Isaiah 53:8)
  12. Messiah was to be silent before his accusers. (Isaiah 53:7)
  13. Messiah was to be smitten and spat upon by his enemies. (Micah 5:1, Isaiah 50:6)
  14. Messiah was to be mocked and taunted. (Psalm 22:7, 8)
  15. Messiah was to suffer with transgressors and pray for his enemies. (Isaiah 53:12.)
  16. Messiah was to be given vinegar and gall. (Psalm 69:21)
  17. The Psalmists prophesied that people would divide his garments among them and cast lots for his clothing. (Psalm 22:18)
  18. Messiah's bones were not to be broken. ( Numbers 9:12, Exodus 12:46. Often, the Romans broke the legs of their crucified in order to speed impending death, as the crucified could then no longer support their body weight, which would asphyxiate them. God the Father [YHVH] saw to it that Yeshua's bones were not broken.)
  19. Messiah was to die as an offering for sin. (Isaiah 53:5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12)
  20. The Psalms say he was to be raised from the dead/resurrected. (Psalm 16:10, Mark 16:19-20; John 20:1-10; Matthew 28:11-1; John 20:19-23; Mark 16:14; and Mark 16:14-18. Yeshua actually prophesied his own persecution, death and resurrection. He told his disciples that He would go into Jerusalem where He was suffer at the hand of religious leaders before being put to death. He also said that He would rise again on the third day. See Matthew 16:21-26)
  21. Messiah now at God's Right Hand. (Psalm 110:1)
  22. Isaiah 49:6 says God's salvation would reach the ends of the earth. (In Isaiah 49:6, the prophet speaks of a servant of God who would be a light to Gentiles (non-Jews) so that God's salvation could reach the ends of the earth. Messiahians and Messianic Jews believe that Yeshua is the fulfillment of this promise. Yeshua and his followers who helped spread Messiahianity about 2000 years ago have certainly been an inspiration to Gentiles - there are now about 2 billion Messiahians worldwide. And Messiahians believe that salvation is available to anyone who accepts Yeshua as their savior.)

The Jewish Messiah came 2,000 years ago! No one else could, or has ever, fit these particular qualifications besides YaHashua HaMaschiyach (Y'shua the Messiah), whose very Name means "YHWH is Salvation".

A final thought to chew on:

Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (which means "God With Us").

Matthew 1: 23. "Behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call his name Ammanuel, which is interpreted 'our El (is) with us'" (AENT)

To all the websites and so-called teachers who speak against Yeshua's divinity, The Refiner's Fire presents the following warning:

1 Timothy 4: 1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron....

If you are still not convinced of Yeshua's Divine Nature we invite you to check out the articles on the following pages of our website: Examining Christianity; Challenging the Anti-Missionaries; and What is the Netzarim faith? May the Ruach guide you as you continue on your journey.