Coninued from Chapter 22y
(Isaiah 63:7-10)
Some trinitarians believe that the idea of the existence of three divine personalities active in man’s salvation was declared by the prophet Isaiah.
He said: I will make mention of the mercies of Y-H-V-H, and the praises of Y-H-V-H, according to all that Y-H-V-H has bestowed on us; and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed on them according to His compassions, and according to the multitude of His mercies. For He said: “Surely, they are My People, children that will not deal falsely,” so He was their savior.
In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled, and grieved His holy spirit; therefore He turned to be their enemy, and Himself fought against them. (Isaiah 63:7-10) An examination of this passage will show that it describes God’s special relationship with Israel, acting as Israel’s savior and redeemer in times of affliction. It does not at all contain any reference or implication concerning a division in His unity. The phrase “angel of His presence” refers to the angel, which God chooses in any given incident to do His bidding.
Basing themselves on the Hebrew, which literally translated reads “angel of His face,” some trinitarians argue that this proves that the angel is a being in God’s likeness. They then infer that this angel is synonymous with the “angel of the Lord,” who, they claim is the second member of the Trinity. To say that the angel is a being in God’s likeness is an obvious distortion of the phrase because “of His face” is used in a possessive and not a qualitative sense. Furthermore, the term “face” (panim) is never used for tselem, “likeness” or “image.” Panim is used here to mean “presence” (cf. Genesis 4:16; Isaiah 59:2; Jonah 1:3, 10). In this passage, “angel of His presence” is simply the angel whom God appoints as His emissary to act as the representative of His presence in the cause of Israel.
Some trinitarians allege that the phrase “and grieved His holy spirit” (verse 10) indicates that the “holy spirit” is a separate conscious personality. How else, they ask, could it grieve? An impersonal manifestation cannot grieve! The fact is that “and grieved His holy spirit” is a figure of speech for the sorrow God felt at the children of Israel’s rebelliousness. Its usage is parallel to such statements as: “He tried my patience”; “He hurt my feelings”; “He broke my spirit”; “He broke my heart.” “Patience,” “feelings,” “spirit,” and “heart” are not entities in themselves and neither is “holy spirit.” The verse does not indicate that the holy spirit refers to a separate personality within the Godhead.
Continued