The name ‘Elohim’, from the Old Testament, addresses God in the singular but is grammatically a plural word, and many proponents of the Trinity use this as a proof of their doctrine. But today, in our language, we say “the person we want to pay our respects to”, or “we address one emperor with ‘Your (in the plural sense) Highness’”.
This is called the plurality of majesty, and every educated Jew will give that answer to the question of why Elohim is in the plural, and categorically reject any attempt to prove that he is plural in person. But this is not the only time that a Hebrew word written in the singular has a plural. The word heaven – amajim – is in Hebrew in the plural. And the words water – majim is in the plural.
- “The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.“ {Daniel 2:47}
In the original Hebrew, instead of “God of gods” stands Elohim! We have just seen that the Son of that God manifested Himself before Nebuchadnezzar. What did the Babylonian king call the Father? Elohim. What did he call Jesus? Son. God Elohim, Who in creation turned to His Son to create the world, and to Whom according to the 10 Commandments worship belongs, is only Father Elohim and not a Trinity! The plural of the term Elohim represents the plurality of authority and not of person!
- “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god (Elohim) to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.“ {Exodus 7:1}
Is Moses three persons or one? Of course one, but he was appointed to be Elohim to Pharaoh. In this context, we could get confused because the word Elohim represents plural, but Moses is one. But although the word Elohim means God, in this context it is used for false gods:
- “Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god (Elohim)” {Judges 16:23}
Are there maybe three Dagon gods? No, the Philistines worshiped their god Dagon as one person!
– “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” {Deuteronomy 6:4}
In Hebrew, this sentence reads:
“ə-ma‘ yiś-rā-’êl; Jehovah ’ĕ-lō-hê-nū Jehovah ’e-ḥād”
’ĕ-lō-hê-nū – God
Jehovah
’e-ḥād – [is] one
Note that the word one (‘e-ḥād) is applied to the word Jehovah which is grammatically singular, and not to ‘ĕ-lō-hê-nū (Elohim) which is grammatically plural. The Hebrew word one (ehad) never has the connotation of the unity of the plural.
- “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.“ {Genesis 2:24}
In Hebrew, the end of this sentence reads:
“wə-hā-yū lə-bā-śār ’e-ḥād.“
wə-hā-yū – and they shall become
lə-bā-śār – flesh
’e-ḥād – one.
The word one – ehad, as in the rest of the Bible, is applied only to the singular. In this case, it is applied to the word (one) body, which is singular, and not to the plural, i.e. to the human Beings of Adam and Eve.
The Creator Elohim = holy Spirit participant of creation?
– “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness“ {Genesis 1:26}
Since God says “let us make” in this verse, it is claimed that God is a Trinity. The statement, “said Elohim”, has the plural formulation, but as we saw in the chapter “Elohim and Ehad” it is used in the plural only as an expression of respect, and certainly does not represent “proof” that “the Triune God” spoke “with Himself.”
- “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god (Elohim) to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.” {Exodus 7:1}
Is Moses three persons or one? Of course one, but he was appointed to be Elohim to Pharaoh. In this context, there is a misinterpretation that the plural was used because Moses represents the Elohim Who is the “plural”. The word Elohim means God, and is used in this context for false Gods in the singular:
- “Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god (Elohim)“ {Judges 16:23}
Who created everything? Does the phrase “let us make” “after our likeness” refer to three people? It can equally mean two or four individuals! Does the holy Spirit, if He were one Being, have the same form and image as the Father and the Son? He does not have a physical form or image, by the definition of His nature. For that reason, He could not participate in that conversation “after our likeness”. God, as the Ruler of the entire Universe, in His infinite power, is personally present in the entire Universe, and of course was present even before the creation of the Earth.
The presence described in this verse before the creation of life on Earth does not mean the participation of the holy Spirit as the third Being in creation, because it was God the Father who called Jesus alone, and told Him “let us make man in our image“. In creation, God the Father and Jesus were physically present and created everything on Earth. The holy Spirit, on the other hand, was Their personal spiritual presence, even when the Earth was without form and desolate! Ellen White writes quite clearly that the holy Spirit has no connection with the creation, which would be illogical for the Trinity.
- “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” {Genesis 1:2}
- “The Father and the Son engaged in the mighty, wondrous work they had contemplated, of creating the world.… And now God says to His Son, ‘Let Us make man in our image.’” {Ellen White: Spirit of Prophecy Volume One, p. 24, 25, 1870}
- “God, in counsel with His Son, formed the plan of creating man in Their own image.” {Ellen White: RH, Februar 24, 1874 par. 3}
- “In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after Their work of creation.” {Ellen White: DA, p. 769}
Through these clear words, we can recognise that the teaching that the holy Spirit was the third participant in creation, is a completely false teaching, and it represents another attempt to defend the Trinity. God certainly does not need physical rest, but he was a symbol of creation through the Sabbath. Why, then, did the holy Spirit not rest symbolically, if he was a participant in creation, and a Divine Being worthy of glory? There are other claims in this doctrine that say that the name and function of the “holy Spirit” is “only” for the plan of salvation, and that the holy Spirit is “the same” in everything as the Father and the Son are, because we read in the Bible that the Father is also a Spirit and that the Son is also a Spirit.
But, at the same time, we read that the Father and the Son have a body, which we don’t read about the holy Spirit. Why didn’t the holy Spirit, as an “equal”, participate in the conversation about creation in “His own image”? This doctrine can lead to deeper error, because the claim that the image of God that He gave to his people is only a symbol so that we can “imagine” it for ourselves, without having anything to do with reality! Revelation says something else, and describes the Divine Being of the Father in bodily form on the throne! God’s revelation also makes it clear that this great Creator is God the Father:
- “The great Creator (God the Father) assembled the heavenly host, that he might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son.” {Ellen White: 1SP, p. 17, 18 1870}
- “The Son of God (the Father, and not the Trinity) had wrought the Father’s will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God (the Father), their homage and allegiance were due.” {Ellen White: PP, p. 36.2, 1890}
Jesus was the Son of God even before the creation of the angels, and not just while He was on Earth, as the doctrine of the Trinity claims!
- “The Father and the Son engaged in the mighty, wondrous work they had (just Them!) contemplated, of creating the world.” {Ellen White: 1SP, p. 24.1, 1870}
- “After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God (the Father) says to His Son, “Let us make man in our image.” – ” {Ellen White: 1SP, p. 24.2, 1870}
- “Jesus had united with the Father in making the world.” {Ellen White: 2T, p. 209, 1869}
- “God, in counsel with His Son, formed the plan of creating man in their own image.” {Ellen White: RH, February 24, 1874 par. 3}
- “Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.“ {Ellen White: PP, p. 34.1 }
- “BEFORE the fall of Satan, the Father consulted His Son in regard to the formation of man. They purposed to make this world, and create beasts and living things upon it, and to make man in the image of God, to reign as a ruling monarch over every living thing which God should create.” {Ellen White: 3SG, p. 36, 1864}
- “The Father wrought by His Son (even then!) in the creation of all heavenly Beings. ‘By Him were all things created, … whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him, and for Him.’ -” {Ellen White: Letter 256, 1. August 1906}
What does our teaching say today? That “three” Beings spoke and created. What does the Spirit of Prophecy say? That it was only the Father and the Son who spoke! There is not a single quote that says that the holy Spirit participated in the creation or that he spoke to the Father and the Son. If Ellen White did not “mention” the holy Spirit, it means something, because it would be humiliating to him if he was really present and wasn’t mentioned/included.
Advocates of the Trinity use Genesis 1:26 from the beginning of the chapter as a proof that the world was created by the “Trinity.” One prophetic vision contains complete truth, regardless of whether the prophet understood it or not, as in the case of John or Daniel. This description of God’s decision on the creation of man does not give an insight into time, or whether man was created before or after Satan’s rebellion against God. But it does explain their intention to create man, which Lucifer was jealous of. Does the God of the Trinity have a Son? God means God, and not a Trinity in one place and God the Father in another place!
Ellen White writes quite clearly that only God (the Father, Elohim) and not the holy Spirit spoke to the Son and said to Him, “Let Us make man in Our image.” It is God the Father through Jesus who create, not the Trinity! He is also listed in the 10 Commandments as the original Creator, the Creator of the law! The Son did it in the Father’s name and with the Father’s power!
- “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.“ {Exodus 20:11}
- “But to us there is but ONE God, the Father, OF Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, BY Whom are all things, and we by Him.“ {1 Corinthians 8:6}
- “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.“ {Colossians 1:16}
- “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.“ {1 Timothy 4:4}
- “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man ChristJesus; “ {1 Timothy 2:5}
We see quite clearly that only the Father and the Son participated in the creation, as well as that only the Father, i.e.. one God that original Creator. But what does the following verse mean, which is used as “proof” that the holy Spirit also participated in creation? It should certainly be viewed in harmony with the rest which is clear:
- “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.“ {Genesis 1:2}
Through these words we can understand that the holy Spirit is in fact the Spirit of God and not “God the Spirit” and that, even before creation, as God’s presence, he was around the Earth that was without form and desolate. Since we know from previously read quotes that the holy Spirit is the omnipresence of the Father and the Son, then it becomes completely clear that They were present here, as in all other parts of the universe, before they came physically and personally to create our world.
This Text is part of the book First Commandment OR Trinity? – Encyclopedia of Evidences of the Old Trampled Truths of All Areas