(Isaiah 48:16) Don’t We See the Trinity in 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: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.” (Isaiah 48:16)

Here, it is claimed, that “the Lord GOD” is the Father, “his Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, and “me” is Jesus. It is interesting that in this supposed proof text for the trinity “the Lord GOD” is the Father only, disproving the trinity. Again we find that “His Spirit” somehow must be distinguished from the Father’s own Spirit” in order to find support for the trinity, but there is no basis to support this claim. “His Spirit” is the Father’s Spirit in this text. Yet, as it is written in the KJV it could be taken to mean that the Father and His Spirit both sent Jesus. However, in Young’s Literal Translation it says, “And now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and His Spirit.” This agrees with most other translations of this passage. The Bible in Basic English says, “the Lord God has sent me, and given me his spirit.”

There is nothing in this text that requires three persons to be involved. God sent His Son into the world and gave Him His Spirit without measure (John 3:34). In so doing He sent both His Son and His Spirit into the world. Jesus said, “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). God’s Spirit is His “own self” (John 17:5), not a separate person. This is why Jesus could say that His Father dwells in Him.

If God expected people for the first 4,000 years of this world’s history to believe that He is a trinity, He did a very poor job of explaining it in the Old Testament. Worse than doing a poor job, He just avoided it altogether. Even the supposed “hints” of the trinity in the Old Testament really gave no hints to the world that God is a trinity. If God’s people were expected to rely on such flimsy hints to the trinity, then they would be left to believe almost anything, for there is more evidence in the Bible for just about any theory a man may wish to believe. God said:

“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23, 24)

God wanted people in Old Testament times to understand and know Him, and He gave sufficient information in the Old Testament for people of that time to accomplish this. The information God provided did not include the trinity doctrine. God’s people at that time were able to know God enough to form strong relationships with Him and live holy lives without the trinity. The trinity is not a vital part of the Christian religion. In fact it is detrimental! To deny that Jesus is truly the Son of God and that He actually died, is not helpful in establishing a close personal relationship with God.

I pray that you will seek to know the only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, so that you can have eternal life (John 17:3).