The Father Spoke through the Prophets; the Son did not
The Scriptures not only inform us that it was the Father who spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament, they inform us that God did not speak to us in a Son until "these last days."
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning His son.... Romans 1:1-3.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in a Son. Hebrews 1:1-2.
The above verses obviously refer to the Father speaking through the Old Testament prophets. Not only so, despite the claims of Trinitarians, we are told God did not speak to His people in a Son in the Old Testament and did not speak to us in a son until "these last days." And indeed, Jesus is the prophet promised by God, the prophet about whom God said, "I will put My words in his mouth." Jesus testified many times that his words were not his own but the Father's who sent him. So we can see in the above verses that it was the Father who was speaking through the prophets of old. But that is not all. The Bible tells us more, much more.
The Scriptures also unambiguously identify the Father as the one making some very significant promises in the Old Testament Scriptures which were fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus in the first century. And when we look at these promises, we also find that the Father Himself declares He alone is God and no one else.
The Father Himself Testifies
Deuteronomy 18:15-18
In the passage below, it is quite clear that "the Lord God" and "God" is the Father:
Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23 And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 For you first, God raised up His servant-son (pais and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
At Acts 3:22-26, we find Peter referring to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 where Yahweh, the God of Israel, is speaking through His prophet Moses. Here God promises to raise up a prophet from among the people of Israel. Peter confirms that prophet is Jesus who the Father sent (3:26). Peter is referring to Jesus as God's pais which means a servant and a child in one word. Also, Peter refers to Jesus whom God sent (3:26) and we know it is the Father who sent Jesus. Hence, Peter's testimony informs us unambiguously that it was the Father who made this promise at Deuteronomy 18:15-18.
The interesting feature of this promise at Deuteronomy 18:15-18 is the reason behind it. When God gave the Law to Israel out of the fire on the mountain, the people were terrified at hearing the voice of God and feared they would die. And so they begged God not to speak to them directly because it terrified them. In response, God promised to raise up the prophet Jesus so that His people would not need to hear the voice of God. Rather, God would put His words in Jesus' mouth and speak in His name, that is, on His behalf. Jesus himself testified many times that his words were not his own but the Father's who sent him. Since God promised to raise up a prophet so that the people would not need to hear the voice of God, and that prophet was Jesus, we know that by definition Jesus cannot be that God. Otherwise, the people were hearing directly from God and God did not keep His promise to them.
The Father speaks
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your kinsmen, you shall listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their kinsmen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.
So Jesus was a prophet who the Father raised up and sent so that His people would not need to hear directly from God. By definition, God's promise means Jesus is not God. Also notice that God would raise up this prophet from among the human kinsmen of Israel. But it gets even more interesting. Since Peter has informed us that the Father made this promise, we also need to notice verse 16 where we find it was the Father who spoke out of the fire on the mountain to the people of Israel. Now notice what Moses says about the Father who spoke out of the fire on the mountain:
Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him. Deuteronomy 4:33-35.
The Bible clearly shows us two unambiguous truths: (1) Jesus cannot be God because he is the prophet whom God raised up so that people would not hear directly from God, and (2) that only He who spoke out of the fire, the Father, is God and no one else is God.
2 Samuel 7:11-14
At Hebrews 1:5, the writer refers to the promise God had made to David at 2 Samuel 7:11-14 and confirms that Jesus was the fulfillment of this promise. The significant words here are, "I will be a Father to him and he will be a son to me." Not only is this promise in the future tense, showing that God was not yet Jesus of Nazareth's Father, it shows us clearly that it was the Father who made this promise to David. Only God the Father could have said this about Jesus.
David then immediately responded to the Father's promise to him. The context of his response also makes it very clear that David is responding to the Father concerning the promise He had made to him (7:22b, 25-29). And David responded to the Father by saying, "You are great Yahweh God for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You" (7:22). Here the Scriptures make it perfectly clear that God the Father is God, there is none like the Father, and there is no God besides the Father.
Once again, the Scriptures clear show us two unambiguous truths: (1) David in the Spirit responds to the Father who made this promise to him concerning the Father's son Jesus (7:11-14), and (2) speaking to the Father, David says, "there is none like You and there is no God besides You." No one is God but the Father alone.
Joel 2:27
In Acts 2, Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost and announces the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as had been promised by the God of Israel through the prophet Joel. Jesus had described this outpouring as the "promise of the Father" (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5). Peter also tells us that Jesus himself had also received this "promise of the Father" (Acts 2:33). Hence, we know it was the Father who made this promise in Joel chapter 2. Peter quoted Joel to illustrate how God the Father had made this promise.
And when we turn back the pages to read this prophecy, we find the Father making this promise and saying, "Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is no one else and My people will never be put to shame. It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams..." (Joel 2:27ff.) Since we are informed that it was the Father who made this promise, it is also clear that the Father said, "I am Yahweh your God and there is no one else." The Father declared that He alone is God and nobody else.
And again, the Scriptures clearly show us two unambiguous truths: (1) Jesus testifies this promise is the the Father's promise, and therefore(2) the Father declares He is God and no one else.
These are not the only passages of Scripture which indicate that only the Father is God. There are many. But because they were raised in Trinitarian circles, many people do not even realize that the Bible does indeed tell us that only the Father is God in the passages above, and elsewhere. And the Scriptures do this for us clearly and unambiguously. In fact, we find that God the Father Himelf informing us that only He is God and nobody else. Why do people refuse to believe Him?
He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God. John 8:47.
Created: July 28, 2015
Last Revision/Update: Feburary 9, 2016
