Questions:

1)         I do not understand your belief in the triune godhead as stated 
               2)         Jesus refered to "the father" as being greater than he.

3)         Jesus stated that no man knew the time of the end, nor the angels in heaven, nor did he himself, but only "the father"

4)         When on the cross, he prayed to "the father" to save him.

5)         He stated that NO man had seen god, yet they saw Jesus. God stated to Moses that "no man may see me and yet live" Yet those who saw Jesus continued to live. Now, if Jesus was God, then the scriptures are full of contradictory statements. Even to the point of Jesus telling lies, which we know he didn't.

6)         Why must Christendom insist on continuing to insist on Trinity when eveidence shows that this is an adaption of ancient Egyptian beliefs in Triunes. Why can't Jesus be the "son of God", which is what is stated in the Bible, rather than being considered God himself? God said "I your god am ONE God" Seems pretty plain to me.....If the scriptures state one thing...and then to explain your way of believing one must adopt mystical beliefs...which one sounds more credible? Just my opinion. Everyone has the right to believe what they want...

From reading your email, it was unclear whether you are truly seeking information or just wish to argue a point. We will assume you are truly seeking information and therefore take the time to answer. It is never our wish to argue; simply to teach God’s word as He teaches us.

We’ll try to take this point by point, but there is some overlapping due to this centering around one point: “I your God am one God.” We have put numbers into your email for reference as to what part of your email we are addressing.

First, there’s a very important point to make and that is that it is quite dangerous to base your theology completely on the English translation of the Bible. It is much safer and much wiser to go to the original language and make sure that the word in question means exactly what the English translation says. The general meaning of the passage is translated into English, but Hebrew has some very unique properties, including deeper meanings to words than can be translated into our language. Therefore, a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and other study tools are extremely helpful with this if you are not familiar with the Hebrew language.

Borrowing some information provided by dancin4yeshua may help you understand some of the uniqueness of the Hebrew language. Hopefully by the time we are through you will understand our statement.

1)      Scripture actually gives us many names for and views of God. To look at these, we need to investigate the Hebrew language a bit. God chose Hebrew as the means to communicate to man what He wished man to know. We highly urge you to study this language. It is fascinating and not difficult to learn to read. Once you begin to study it, you begin to see why God chose it to communicate with us. It has the ability to portray much more meaning than English.

The Hebrew word translated “one” does not mean the number one, or a single unit. The Hebrew word is אחד echad meaning a unity. Strong’s Concordance says:

#259 אחד echad ekh-awd’ prop. united. Echad stresses unity/oneness but recognizes diversity within that oneness.

The word “one” translated from the Hebrew echad is used in Genesis 2:24:

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

And in Numbers 13:23 when the spies went into the land and returned with a cluster of grapes. The cluster is echad.

Then they came to the valley of Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs.

From these references, you can see that echad does not mean a single unit as we define one. Instead, it denotes a unity, with singleness of unity inferred; there is more than one grape in a cluster, yet they are a single cluster of grapes.

We see a unity at the creation as well:

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Genesis 1:26

This clearly shows that God is not 1, as in a single unit.

In order to get a clear picture of anything, we have to look at all the facts given. Jesus (Y’shua) also stated He and the Father are One:

21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 

22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; John 17:21-22

Yet, many things Y’shua did, He for our example in order to teach us how to walk obediently and appropriately with God. 1 John 2:6 tells us:

the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Y’shua subjected Himself to Yahweh as our example so that we would have a pattern, the example of His life, after which we could model our own.

This example is clearly seen in what is called “the Lord’s Prayer.”

            Pray, then, in this way;

                        Our Father who art in heaven…

Y’shua gave us an example of how we are to address God when we pray. Y’shua also told us not to pray to Him, but to the Father in His name:
           

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. John 15:16

Y’shua’s example of how we are to walk pleasingly with God does not make Him any less God. He made many “I am” statements to the Jews to let them know His identity. This was a connection someone from a Hebraic culture would immediately recognize. (However we, without this culture don’t see this and many other references in Scripture; it is a culture with which we haven’t familiarized ourselves and therefore, we miss important Scriptural pictures, as you’ll see in point 2.) Making these “I am” statements also motivated the religious leaders to kill Him; they felt He was blaspheming.

I am the bread of life; John 6:35

I am the bread that came down out of heaven. John 6:41

I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; John 6:51

I am the Light of the world; John 8:12

You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. John 8:23

for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. John 8:24

What does “I am,” and “I am He” mean? It means, unless you believe that I AM, (Yahweh)! This refers back to God first giving His name to Moses and these statements were clearly made to establish Y’shua BEING Yahweh:

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus 3:14.

I AM in Hebrew is יהוה pronounced Yahweh, literally meaning “to be.”(You shall tell them Yahweh sent you.)

Y’shua also said:

            And He said to them, "I was watching satan fall from heaven like lightning…

Luke 10:18

How could Y’shua have seen this if He was not God?

Y’shua equated Himself with the Father and the Spirit:

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me (John 15:26)

And Y’shua clearly proclaimed Himself equal with the Father:

            He who has seen me has seen the Father; (John 14:9)

2)  Jesus refered to "the father" as being greater than he.  

In context, the passage to which you refer is as follows:

            25..."These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 

               26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will
               teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 

27 " Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 

28 "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you. 'If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 

29 "Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.

John 14:25-29

In context, Y’shua is talking about what will happen when He leaves. He is referring to Himself in fleshly form, certainly a more limited position than the Father’s, who was still spirit and thus omnipresent (all present) while Y’shua could only be in one place at one time while clothed in flesh.

We’ll cover more on this under the “trinity.”

3) Jesus stated that no man knew the time of the end, nor the angels in heaven, nor did he himself, but only "the father"

This is a clear connection for the disciples (to whom Y’shua was speaking) to the Jewish wedding custom/ceremony. A very clear explanation is given in a booklet written by Richard Booker entitled Here Comes the Bride:

Before leaving the house of his newly betrothed, the eager young man announces to her that he is going to prepare a place for her. But as soon as it is prepared, he will come again for her. They will not see each other until he comes for her. This long period of separation will be hard, but definitely worth the wait.

The bridegroom then returns home and starts preparing a place for he and his bride to honeymoon. This is usually a room he builds onto his father’s house. (1) In Jewish weddings, the chuppah (tent under which the vows take place) represents this wedding chamber. (2) He wants to make the honeymoon suite as nice as he can. But he is also in a hurry to finish so he can go get his bride.

It might take a full year or more to complete the bridal chamber. Naturally the eager bridegroom works as fast as he can and is tempted to “cut corners.” So it is left to his father to decide when the place is ready. We can certainly see the wisdom here. If someone asks the young man the date of his wedding, he would reply, “I don’t know, only my father knows.” (p. 6)

[Footnotes are mine: (1) John 14:1-4. (2) Song of Solomon]

So, Y’shua is simply giving the disciples a picture they could clearly understand, one that was taken from their culture and tradition and with which they would be very familiar.

4) When on the cross, he prayed to "the father" to save him.

We’re not sure where you get this as this is not biblical. Y’shua never asked the Father to “save Him.” The closest thing to this statement happened in the garden of Gethsemane:

39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." 

40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, Matthew 26:39-40

Y’shua, God in flesh, knew the agony awaiting Him on the cross, yet still gave us the example of submitting to the Father, even if it costs us our lives.

On the cross, Y’shua said to the Father:

“At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI? which is translated, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAS THOU FORSAKEN ME?’” Mark 15:37; Matthew 27:46

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.’ (Psalm 31:5) And having said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 23:46; Matthew 27:50; Mark 15:37; John 19:30

The first statement is agreed by most biblical scholars as the point upon which Y’shua took on the sins of the world. Since the Father is holy, and sin is not allowed in His presence, it was at this point that Y’shua was separated from God the Father, taking our punishment upon Himself. However, there is no example of Him asking the Father to save Him.

5) He stated that NO man had seen god, yet they saw Jesus. God stated to Moses that "no man may see me and yet live" 

Actually, several people saw God. In context, in the passage cited above, God was telling Moses that no man could see His FACE and live. (Exodus 33:20-23) God let Moses see His back, so Moses did see God and live. Jacob also saw God and lived:

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Gen 32:24-25

"Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Gen 32:28

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders of Israel saw God and lived:

            Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,

            and they saw the God of Israel; (Exodus 24:9-10)

Job believed that he would see God in the flesh and yes, the Hebrew does mean in the physical fleshly form.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at the last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25-26)

Y’shua, even as God, took on a fleshly being. The unified Yahweh is spirit, yet Scripture clearly tells us that He took on flesh:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (more on this in the next section)

Therefore, since God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) then if these people did see God and live, so could the people of Y’shua’s day have been able to see Him, God in the flesh.

6) Why must Christendom insist on continuing to insist on Trinity when eveidence shows that this is an adaption of ancient Egyptian beliefs in Triunes. 

While it is quite true that many pagan religions have a triune god doctrine, it is our belief that these pagan triunes are satanic copies of how Yahweh chose to reveal Himself to man. Let us explain.

In Scripture, God actually has many names, most of which are given in the Hebrew portion of the Bible. Here are a few examples:

El Gibbor—Mighty God.  A powerful Warrior God who protects and defends His people.

  El Elyon—God Most High or strongest Strong One.

  El Roi—the Strong One who sees.

  El Shaddai—Almighty God.  It means sufficient or enough and refers to God as the

  One who sets constraints or limits in the universe.

  El Olam—Everlasting God.

  Yahweh Yireh—Yahweh will provide.

  Yahweh Nissi—Yahweh our Banner.

  Yahweh Shalom—Yahweh our Peace.

  Yahweh Sabaoth—This Name is translated in most Bibles as “LORD of hosts,” and it

  refers to Yahweh as the Leader of a great army. 
  Yahweh Maccaddeshcem—Yahweh our Sanctifier.

  Yahweh Raah—Yahweh our Shepherd.

  Yahweh Tsidkenu—Yahweh our Righteousness.

  Yahweh El Gmolah—Yahweh God of Recompense or Yahweh our Reward.

  Yahweh Nakeh—Yahweh who smites.

  Yahweh Shammah—Yahweh who is present.

  Yahweh Raphah—Yahweh our Healer.  A literal translation of this Name is Yahweh

  who is our doctor.

Yet, all of these titles/personality traits are encapsulated in the New Testament with three titles: Father, Son (Y’shua) and Spirit. We see all three “forms” of God appearing to man at Y’shua’s baptism:

After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, " This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17)

Y’shua referred to His Father often, and also referred to the Spirit. For instance:

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth…  John 14:16-17

[There are many more examples than just this one. Get a Strong’s Concordance and look up references to the Father and Spirit in the gospels highlighted in red, meaning they were spoken by Y’shua.]

Y’shua did as He promised in the above Scripture. When He ascended to the Father He sent the Ruach Yahweh (breath of Yahweh, also known as the Holy Spirit) who came at the Feast of Shavout (Pentecost) which is detailed in Acts 2.

Once again, these New Testament Scriptures are encapsulating God into three parts or personalities.

Y’shua is clearly portrayed in Scripture to be God:

            1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was  

               God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:1-3

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'" John 1:14-15

The Word is clearly the one who “dwelt among us” and John said He was of a higher rank and existed before Him. Taking the last point first, Scripture tells us that John was physically conceived before Y’shua, (John, chapter 1) so this has to be in reference to something else. As many other scholars, we believe this to be in reference to Y’shua’s preexistant state as God before becoming God in a fleshly form.

The Word was of a “higher rank” than John. This is found in all four gospels in reference to Y’shua. When something is listed in all four gospels, it is our contention that it must be an especially important piece of information.

Matthew 3:11-17, note v. 11;

Mark 1:7-11, note v 11;

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22, note v. 16;

John 1:29-33, note v. 30:

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

30 "This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'

John has now defined Y’shua as the “Word,” of higher rank than he; John tells us that the Word WAS God and that all things were created by the Word, clearly establishing Y’shua as the Creator. (who became flesh as we saw in the previous point)

For an Old Testament example, Psalm 96 also tells us that Y’shua is Yahweh:

            Before Yahweh, for He is coming,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

And the peoples in His faithfulness. Ps 96:13

How do we know who is the judge? Scripture tells us:

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead  2 Timothy 4:1

Remember that we’ve already stated that in John 17, Y’shua stated:

            “just as We are one;”

Again this lends validity to them being one, yet distinctly individual. After all, when Y’shua stated this, He was in fleshly form on earth while Father Yahweh was in heaven.

Since Y’shua spoke of the Father and the Spirit and the eye witness Hebrew writers of the New Testament also speak of the three as God, we choose to agree with the accounts of these eye witness sources. We are uncomfortable in labeling something pagan that is not portrayed thusly in Scripture.

So, we’ve seen that Y’shua can be God with no contradition since the Hebrew word echad is a unity; that Y’shua referred to the Jewish marriage tradition in relation to His return; that in the past, man has seen God and lived; and that Y'shua referred to the Father and the Ruach or Holy Spirit thus leading us to believe that pagan "trinities" are a satanic, pagan, copying of Yahweh’s revelation of Himself to man. The pagan copies were apparently to discredit His Word, and that the Bible clearly establishes Y’shua as Yahweh. Therefore, with this information we can see the mistake of the original premise that God is 1, as we define one as a single unit, and how this is not verified by either the Old or the New Testament. Hopefully, we have made clear how important it is to study the language in which God chose to communicate with man in order to avoid future mistakes.

These are our opinions based upon Scripture. It is your choice whether to accept this or not. It is never our intent to argue someone into belief, but rather to point out the truth of the Word of God and allow them to make their own – hopefully informed – choice based upon the facts established within God’s Word.

1Timothy 4 also covers that anything is now clean:

3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;

5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

Once again, thank you for this question since it as an issue of such confusion to “churched” Christians. There is a very detailed study covering every mention of “food” “meat” and “flesh” in the NT, so please be sure to read it to get the complete picture of what the NT is saying. You’ll find it at this link: Does the Bible Say We Can Eat Anything?

Now to see if we can’t give a short answer to your specific question. In the passage you cited, Paul is writing to Timothy saying that in the end times men will tell people to abstain from foods that God created to be received with thanks (gratitude) and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.

First, we can see that this instruction is in the context of what God CREATED to be food. How do we know what God created to be food? By going back to the Old Testament and reading the Torah (“law”) which tells us what is allowed and what is forbidden.

Is there a way to know exactly to what food is Paul referring? Our English word won’t tell us, but the Greek is quite specific. This word is Strong’s NT #1033:        

broma (bro'-mah); food (literally or figuratively), especially (ceremonially) articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law:

Therefore, this passage is NOT saying that “unclean” has now been okayed by God to be considered “clean.” In fact, quite the opposite is true. The Greek clearly tells us that what God previously said was allowed or forbidden according to the “law” is also the rule for the NT believer.

In reality, even you don't believe what you said, that "anything" is clean. What that statement refers to is what your culture says is clean. You consider shellfish, pork and catfish "food" but wouldn't consider rats, bats, roaches, turkey buzzards, and other things your culture calls disgusting, "food." Thererfore, even you don't really consider "anything" to be food. The true issue is whose definition you choose to live by: that of your culture or God's.

If we obeyed what Paul actually wrote, perhaps the prayer lists that seem to be miles long in most churches would get much shorter! Disobedience has it’s price, even if the disobedience is done in ignorance. God’s laws are not changed just because we don’t know:

            My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

…you have rejected knowledge …

Since you have forgotten the law of your God….

Hos 4:6

In "Circumcision for Believers" you say the Bible upholds circumcision for Gentiles, yet in Galations 2:3 Paul says that Titus, a Greek, was not circumcised.                                                

Actually, in Galatians 2:3 Paul says that Titus was not compelled to be circumcised. It is imperitive  that one understands just what the book of Galatians is actually addressing. In this epistle, Paul is addressing an issue which plagued him during his entire ministry and that was that the Jewish believers continually said Jesus /Y'shua+ something will save you. They wanted to follow in the footsteps of their forefathers by adding to what God said, thus adding requirements of things MEN had to do in order to be saved. Paul continually upheld that salvation was through Jesus/Y'shua's sacrifice ALONE and that men could do nothing to bring about their salvation; it is a gift of God, not a work of men. Paul reiterates this in Galatians 6:12, instructing the Galatians not to let the Jewish believers "compel" them to be circumcised for salvation. He says in 6:14, "But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." 

But in I Corinthians 7, Paul says that the circumcised should stay circumcised and that the uncircumcised should stay uncircumcised.

We agree that this appears confusing and we continue to stress that this passage is an example of why it is extremely important to study a subject in light of the FULL counsel of the Word of God. If Scripture cannot contradict Scripture and one Scripture doesn't seem to fit the rest, then we must pray and continue to study until we understand the difficult passage in light of all the rest.

That said, let's take a look at the passage you mentioned. Previously in this chapter, Paul is giving instruction for believers who are married to an unbelieving spouse. Then he says: