The Bible is the only sacred book in the world that presents the character of the Supreme Being as one of love and light, of goodness, compassion, tenderness, of inflexible holiness and righteousness. On the other hand, the sacred writings of the heathen present a plurality of gods, male and female, generally vindictive, cruel, tyrannical. The heathen live all their lives in terror of what may happen to them through the supposed agency of these malevolent gods.
As to cruelty, we read that Ahaz, king of Judah, " made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen " (2 Kings 16:33But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. (2 Kings 16:3)). Manasseh, the grandson of Ahaz, in spite of a godly father, King Hezekiah, " reared up altars for Baal [the deity of the Thoenician and Canaanitish nations],... and he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards" (2 Kings 21:33For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. (2 Kings 21:3) and 6). The customs attending the worship of these divinities were of the most licentious and abominable kind. That familiar spirits and wizards were invoked shows that the powers of hell were behind idolatrous worship. All this was most sternly forbidden to the Jews.
We may well ask, How was it that the Israelites, surrounded by nations practicing these debased and evil heathen rites, had such an exalted and elevating conception of the true God? It could only have been by revelation. The history of the Israelites was that when the people were drawn aside to the worship and abominations of the heathen divinities, they got into trouble and were punished by God allowing them to be overcome by their enemies, and their country brought under tribute to them. Whey they turned to the Lord, He raised up deliverers, who by the help of God threw off the yoke of the enemy.
The true knowledge of God is elevating. Mankind is measured by its conception of God. Wherever this conception has gripped a man or a nation, there you find qualities that command respect. Reflections like these impressed me mightily in my young days, and time has only strengthened the impression made.
Divine revelation tells us of a triune God, that is three Divine Persons yet One God. The Bible presents three in One and One in Three—Father, Son and Spirit, the Triune God, completely One in power, will, and knowledge.
We shall see how wonderfully this was revealed. And the very manner in which it is first intimated is most impressive.
The Hebrew language possesses three numbers—singular, one; dual, two and only two; plural, three at the least or more. Why did Moses in the Pentateuch write the name of God nearly 700 times in the plural? Could such a conception have ever come of itself into his mind? Must it not have been by revelation, and that revelation could only be from the Triune God? Who can reveal but God alone? Moses wrote the name of God in the singular nearly 50 times.
The very first verse of the Bible, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," gives us the name of the Supreme Being in the plural.
One very striking instance of the singular and plural use in employing the name of God is found in Deut. 6:44Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear, Ο Israel: The LORD [Jehovah, singular] our God [Elohim, plural] is one LORD [Jehovah, singular]." So that in the very affirmation of the Oneness of God, we have the truth of the three Persons in the Trinity carefully preserved. It surely is past the wit of an uninspired man to have recorded this. Nor is it Moses alone who differentiates between the name of God in the plural and in the singular. Scattered right through the Old Testament the name of God is 2,500 times in the plural, and a little over 300 times in the singular.
Perhaps the clearest unfolding of the Triune God in the Old Testament is found in Isa. 48:1616Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. (Isaiah 48:16): "Come ye near unto Me, hear ye this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time that it was, there AM I [the assertion of Deity]: and now [1] the Lord God, and [2] His Spirit hath sent [3] ME." We are left in no doubt who the ME is. Verses 12 and 13 say, "Hearken unto Me, Ο Jacob and Israel, My called; I AM HE; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens."
All through the Gospel of John the Lord continually refers to Himself as The SENT ONE. Take one chapter only as witness. " Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:33And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)). "They have believed that Thou didst send Me" (verse 8). "As Thou hast sent Me into the world" (verse 18). "That the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (verse 21). "That the world may know that Thou hast sent Me" (verse 23). "These have known that Thou hast sent Me " (verse 25).
John the Baptist had a very clear testimony as to the Triune God. When he baptized our Lord prior to His coming forth into His public ministry, John saw the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove and alighting upon our Lord. He heard the voice of the Father, saying, "Thou art My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased " (Mark 1:1111And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:11)). John the Baptist had both ocular and aural demonstration.
We find Father, Son, and Spirit linked up together again and again in the Scriptures. We all know the well known benediction: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor. 13:1414The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. <<The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.>> (2 Corinthians 13:14)). The risen Lord, before His ascension, told His disciples to " teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28:1919Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Matthew 28:19)).
THREE A BASIC NUMBER There is a very remarkable book written by an American author, Nathan R. Wood, D.D., who died in 1937. Its title is the Secret of the Universe. The work is the fruit of twenty-five years' labor. The theme of it is to trace how the number three is basic throughout nature, and is the reflex of the great Trinity of trinities, even of the Triune God. It is so very striking that I append a few examples.
You cannot have a solid without length, breadth, and height—three dimensions. There are three persons in grammar—first, second, and third—these exhaust all the relations of mankind. Man is composed of three parts, spirit, soul, body. There are three spheres of life—earth, sea, air. There are three types of life—terrestrial, aquatic, aerial. Substances are three in kind—inorganic, vegetable, animal. Three forms of matter are solid, liquid, gaseous. There are three times—future, present, past. Family consists of three - father, mother, child. Mankind is separated into three divisions—Caucasian, Semitic, Ham-itic. Man is made up of three qualities—mind, affections, will. Without mind man would be an idiot. Without affections man would be like a devil. Without will man would be a mere clod. There are three degrees of comparison—positive, comparative, superlative. The least possible support for an upright position is a tripod, three legs for a table, or three guy ropes to support a pole. A syllogism is the simplest form of reasoning. It consists of three parts - the major premise, the minor premise, the conclusion.
Many more might be enumerated, but I have reserved till last a very striking example, and one that supports Dr. Nathan Wood's theme in a very remarkable way. There are three basic colors—red, yellow, blue. Every other color is a blend of these three. All the glowing colors of the sunset are variations of these three.
It is an extraordinary fact that light is not only color-less, but broken up by a prism is full of vivid color. None but God could conceal vivid colors in what is colorless, nor combine vivid colors in such a way as to produce colorless light.
God is light. He dwells " in the light which no man can approach unto: whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting" (1 Tim. 6:1616Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:16)). " Now unto the King eternal, immortal, INVISIBLE, the only wise God, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen " 1 Tim. 1:1717Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)).
If God is invisible, has never been seen, nor can be seen, how are we to know God? Just as light is broken up into its component parts, so the blessed God has been pleased to reveal Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit, yet one God, blessed forever.
As we shall see, the three basic colors lend themselves as an extraordinary illustration of the Holy Trinity. Red is the heat ray, the source of life. It is invisible. Without heat we should perish. We have heat in our bodies. Without heat there would be no ripening of crops and fruits. Yellow is the light ray. Without light we should be in perpetual darkness. Not only are the yellow rays visible, but they make everything visible. The blue rays are the chemical or actinic rays, and are invisible and only known by the effects they produce.
The illustration is very extraordinary. Of these rays the red and the blue are invisible. So the Father and the Spirit have not become incarnate, have not come in flesh, are invisible. The yellow rays are visible. Our Lord came in flesh and blood. He was visible. Man saw Him, heard Him, witnessed His miracles, even handled Him. He Himself said, " I am the light of the world: he that followed! Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:1212Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)). "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men י י (John 1:44In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)). Not only are the yellow rays visible, but they show everything up in its true colors. So we read of the Lord, "That was the true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world " (John 1:99That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9)). He is the true Criterion of all men. He is the Standard by which all must, if wise, measure themselves.
The red rays are invisible, yet their influence is life-giving and life-sustaining. The Father is invisible. The Son has revealed Him. He is the Source of life and blessing. Everything flows from Him.
The blue rays are invisible and are only seen in the effects they produce. The Holy Spirit of God is invisible, but we know His presence by His effect in the lives of men.
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are equally God. The order in which the names are put in Matt. 28:1919Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Matthew 28:19) does not indicate any difference in status, but is casual: the Father sent the Son; the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
The foregoing thoughts as to the Triune God helped me much in former years. May they be a blessing to many readers.