Understanding the OT & NT Concerning Yeshua

The following is a study by a Hebrew Israelite (woman) who believes that Yeshua/Jesus is not God. They do not believe the Old Testament/Tanakh (OT) supports it. 

Apologist Response to HIW (Hebrew Israelite Woman – Barbados)

Completed by TTGM – 12.08.2025
Go to page 2 for TTGM’s response

Hebrew Israelite Woman wrote (HIW):

Jesus is not God based on several key themes and texts that present God (YHWH) as a singular, indivisible being and make no mention of Jesus or a “Son of God” in the divine sense later taught in Christian theology.

Below are several Old Testament reasons often cited to support the claim that Jesus is not God, strictly from a Tanakh-only (Hebrew Bible) perspective:

1. God is One and Indivisible
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!”
• This foundational verse (the Shema) emphasizes the oneness of God, with no hint of a trinity or separate divine persons.
• The Hebrew word used for “one” is echad, which denotes singularity, unity, and uniqueness. There is no implication of multiple persons within the Godhead.

2. God is Not a Man
• Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.”
• This verse distinguishes between God and humans, implying that God does not take on human nature or limitations.

3. No One Can See God and Live
• Exodus 33:20 – “You cannot see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.”
• The idea that God could walk among people as a man (as Christians claim of Jesus) contradicts the notion that God’s presence is overwhelming and unseeable in human form.

4. God Alone Is Savior and There Is No Other
• Isaiah 43:10–11 – “Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior.”
• This passage stresses that YHWH alone is God and Savior—leaving no room for a second divine figure to appear later.
• Isaiah 44:6 – “I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God.”

5. The Messiah is a Human Leader, Not God
• In Jewish messianic expectation, the Messiah (Mashiach) is never described as God Himself, but rather as a righteous, human king from the line of David who will:
• Restore the Kingdom of Israel (Ezekiel 37:24–28)
• Rebuild the Temple (Ezekiel 40–48)
• Bring universal peace (Isaiah 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–4)
• Teach and uphold the Torah (Isaiah 42:1–4)
Nowhere in these prophecies is the Messiah portrayed as divine or an object of worship.

6. Sacrifice for Sin is Not a Human Being
• Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls.”
• The atonement system in the Torah involves animal sacrifices, not human beings. The idea of a human (Jesus) dying as an atonement is inconsistent with the Mosaic law.

7. God Does Not Change
• Malachi 3:6 – “I the LORD do not change.”
• The idea of God becoming a man would imply a change in essence—from infinite to finite, from spirit to flesh—which this verse seems to reject.

Conclusion:

The nature of God is unchanging, indivisible, and distinct from humanity. The Hebrew Scriptures:
• Make no mention of a divine Son of God who will become flesh,
• Emphasize that God alone is to be worshipped,
• Present the Messiah as a human leader (not divine),
• And reject any implication that God could die or be seen directly.

Therefore, based on the textual and theological framework of the Old Testament, Jesus cannot be God, as this contradicts the identity, nature, and uniqueness of YHWH as presented throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.
I therefore cannot defend that Jesus’s “sacrifice” means anything for our redemption…..

TTGM’s Response (TR):
I thank you for sharing your position

Go to page 2 for TTGM’s response

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