The Godhead in Isaiah 40-49

    The Bible is abundantly clear that God is absolutely one to the exclusion of any other concept. The 4 words one, only, himself, and myself appear 290 times to describe Him. When Jesus was asked what the most important passage in the Bible is, He replied, "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (Mk 12-29-31)." God is one Spirit (Jn 4:24, Eph 4:4). He is not limited by space or time, because He created them (Gen 1, Is 57:15). He has all power (omnipotent), all knowledge (omniscient), and is everywhere (omnipresent) (Ps 139).

The nation of Israel was supposed to represent the worship of this one God to the world (Is 43:10-11), but they kept falling into idolatry. They worshipped idols before they went down to Egypt (Gen 35:4, Josh 24:2), while they were in Egypt (Ex 12:12, Lev 17:7, Josh 24:14, Eze 20:5-10, Eze 23:3 &19), in the wilderness after they left Egypt (Ex 32, Acts 7:39-43 (Amos 5:25-26), in the promised land (Eze 23:8 &27, Deut 31:16-18, Deut 32:15-21 & 37-40, Jud 2:2), in captivity (Deut 28:36 & 64), and in exile (Eze 20:39) .About 700 BC, the prophet Isaiah spoke to Israel to turn them back to God. The Assyrians invaded and destroyed northern Israel because of their idolatry (2Ki 17). About 100 years later, the Babylonians would come and destroy Judah (2Ki 25).

1saiah 40-49 describes God challenging Israel to compare their idols to Him (Is 40-18-28).

He brings forth the following arguments:

     1. He alone is Creator and Lord over the creation (Is 40:18-28, Is 41:17-20, Is 42:5 & 15, Is

         43:7 & 21, Is 44:2 & 24 & 27, Is 45:7-12 & 18, Is 48:13).

     2. He accurately predicts the future (Is 41:21-24 & 26, Is 42:9, Is 44:7-8 & 26, Is 45:11 & 20-

         21, Is 46:5-10, Is 48:1-8 & 16). Through Isaiah, He specifically predicted about 100 years

         in advance the rise of Babylon, their conquest of Judah and taking of captives, the fall of

         Babylon, and Cyrus the Mede allowing the captives to return before he was even born (Is

         43:14, Is 44:28-45:7, Is 47:1, Is 48:14 & 20, Is 49). Also see other references in Isaiah –

         13:1 & 19, 14:4 & 22, 21:9, 39:6-7).

     3. He rules the nations (Is 40:23-24, Is 41:1-5, Is 41:9-16, Is 41:25, Is 42:13 & 24-25, Is 43:3-

         6 & 13-17, Is 44:28, Is 45:1-7 & 13-14, Is 47, Is 48:14, Is 49:1-5 & 22-26).

     4. There is no comparing Him with idols (Is 40:25, Is 41:27-29, Is 43:12, Is 45:20-21, Is 46:5-

         9, Is 48:1-8).

This passage has many clear passages which confirm the absolute unity of the Godhead:

     1. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One (Is 40:25).

     2. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy

         redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Is 41:14).

     3. He is the Holy One (Is 40:25, Is 41:14 & 16 & 20, Is 43:3 & 14-15, Is 45:11, Is 47:4, Is

         48:17, Is 49:7).

     4. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may

         know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed,

          neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour

         (Is 43:10-11).

     5. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none

         else (Is 45:22).

     6. To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like (Is

         46:5)?

     7. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and

         there is none like me (Is 46:9).

Many parallel citations in the New Testament about Jesus Christ show that He is Yahweh, the one God:

     1. John the baptizer said Isaiah 40:3-4 was about him (Mt 3:3). He was preparing the people

for Yahweh, the God of Israel, to come. Also see Isaiah 40:9-11.

     2. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD,

         the first, and with the last; I am he (Is 41:4). This is Jesus (Rev 1:11 & 17, Rev 2:8, Rev

         22:13). Also see Isaiah 44:6 and Isaiah 48:12.

     3. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise

         to graven images (Is 42:8).

     4. Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the

         first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Is 44:6). This is Jesus (Rev 1:11 &

         17, Rev 2:8, Rev 22:13).  Jesus is this Redeemer (Gal 3:13, Titus 2:14, 1Pet 1:18-19, Rev

         5:9).

     5. Yahweh is the Savior (Is 43:3 & 11, Is 45:15 &21, Is 49:26). This is Jesus Christ (Lk 2:11,

         Jn 4:42, Acts 5:31, etc.)

     6. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not

         return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (Is 45:23). This is

        Jesus (Phil 2:10-11).

The message of the entire Bible is that there is only divine being. To provide for our salvation without violating His justice, God manifested Himself in the flesh as the man Jesus Christ (Jn 1:1-14, Jn 14:7-11, 2Cor 5:19, Col 1:16, Col 2:9, 1Tim 3:16). He died, was buried, rose again, and ascended to heaven (Mt 26-28, Mk 14-16, Lk 22-24, Jn 19-21, Acts 1, 1Cor 15:1-5). His blood paid for our sins so we can be saved (Mt 26:28, Rom 3:24, Rom 5:9, Eph 1:17, Col 1:14). Our response to this unmatched demonstration of love and forgiveness through faith is to apply His death, burial, and resurrection to ourselves by repenting of our sins (Lk 13:1-3, Rom 6:1-4), being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:12-17, Acts 10:43-48, Acts 19:1-7, Col 2:8-12), and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (same scriptures in Acts).