In Exodus 3:14, Yahweh says to Moses when enquired of concerning His identity, "EhYah Asher EhYah" or "I will be who I will be", which leads up to the ultimate revelation of His Name, Yahweh, in verse fifteen. Yahweh means "I was, I Am, I will be: Existence in all three tenses: Eternal Being."⁽¹⁾ Like mankind whom He created in His image, Yahweh is composed of three primary dimensions or aspects:

• The Soul or absolute Being of Yahweh, from whence all else proceeds.
• His Spirit or character which is manifested to us in the ways He deals with sin and the standards of morality and worship which He has established.
• The bodily manifestation of Yahweh or the manner in which He chooses to reveal Himself to us.

    Although Yahweh is a Spirit (John 4:24), the means through which He chooses to reveal Himself are, nonetheless, those of human dimensions and terms, so that we, as human beings, can identify with Him. The most well known examples of Yahweh revealing Himself in human terms are those of 1) a Father, 2) a Husband, and 3) a Son -- all three masculine entities. In this study, however, we are going to go a step further as we discover just who the Father, Son, and Spirit really are.

    In Genesis 1:27 Yahweh creates humanity, male and female, in His image, or patterned after Him. "Male and female", therefore, must be a reflection of the image after which mankind was created, implying that the "image of Elohim" (allegorically) has both masculine and feminine dimensions or aspects. We will now take a minute to outline the three primary forms in which Elohim describes Himself, and see how they compare to the three previously identified aspects or dimensions of His essence.

1. The ABBA or Father aspect of Yahweh is the soul or being, from whence all else proceeds. This is the dimension of which Yahshua spoke when he said, "The Father is greater than I." (Jn.14:28)
2. The RUACH KODESH is the spirit or character aspect of Yahweh, as we read in Isaiah 40:13: "Who has meted out the Spirit (RUACH) of Yahweh, or as His counselor, taught Him?" KODESH (the Hebrew word for "set-apart" or "holy") is grammatically masculine, whereby we see that the Set-Apart or KODESH One (Yahweh) reveals Himself to us as a masculine entity. RUACH or Spirit, on the other hand, is grammatically feminine, whereby we receive the implication that the Spirit (or RUACH) of the KODESH One is a feminine aspect of the masculine Elohim (or Deity). In fact, throughout the Tanakh, Intertestament, and Apostolic Scriptures, the Spirit is depicted as the feminine or motherly aspect of Yahweh, and is personified in the "virtuous woman" of Proverbs 31, elsewhere known as "Wisdom".

    Wisdom Of Solomon 9:9-10,17. With You (Yahweh) is Wisdom, SHE who knows your works and was present when you made the world.; SHE understands what is pleasing in your sight and what is right according to your commandments. Send HER forth from the Set-Apart (KODESH) heavens and from the throne of your esteem, send HER that she may labor at my side,⁽²⁾ and that I may learn what is pleasing to you....Who has learned your counsel unless you have given Wisdom, and sent your RUACH KODESH (or Set-Apart Spirit) from on high? (Apocrypha)

    As Yahshua also says in:

    Matthew 11:19. The Son of Adam came eating and drinking....and Wisdom was declared right by HER works.

    And again...

    Luke 7:35. Wisdom is declared right by all HER children.

    Wisdom Of Solomon 7:22. For Wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me: for in her is a Spirit (RUACH) that is understanding, Set-Apart (KODESH), ONELY BEGOTTEN. (Apocrypha)

Sirach 6:22. For Wisdom is like her name--she is not perceived by many. (Apocrypha)

    In the book of Proverbs, Wisdom says, "Yahweh possessed me, the beginning of His Way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth ever was" (Proverbs 8:22,23). The phrase, "Yahweh possessed me", implies that Wisdom is a "bride" of sorts, since a bride is "possessed" by her husband. Additionally Wisdom is "the beginning of Yahweh's Way." Considering that the Messiah is identified in the Apostolic Scriptures as "the Way" (John 14:6) and John the Immerser was "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the Way Of Yahweh" (John 1:23) as he prepared the way before Yahshua, this brings us to the third form in which Yahweh has chosen to reveal Himself--that of the Only Begotten Son who was allegorically brought forth (or revealed) through Wisdom's womb in the primordial Light at the dawn of creation, and whom John 1:1 in the Aramaic identifies as the MILTHA (substance, manifestation, or body) of Yahweh.

    Genesis 1:3. And Elohim said, "Let Light come to be," and Light came to be. [4] And Elohim saw the Light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the Light from the darkness.

    Genesis 1:3. And He is saying, "Elohim shall become Light, and He is becoming Light." [4] And He is seeing Elohim ALEPH TAW, the Light that is good. --BHS Interlinear ⁽³⁾

    Malachi 2:15. Did He not make ECHAD (a composite unity)? And He had the remnant of the SPIRIT, and what is the One He seeks? A SEED of Elohim...

    The Torah speaks of this Seed of Elohim first in Genesis 3:15 where Yahweh foretells that the Seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

    Genesis 3:15. I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.

    Referencing this verse, one of the Jewish commentaries states that "Eve had respect to that Seed which is coming from another place. And who is this? This is the Messiah, the King."⁽⁴⁾

    In Psalm 110, David writes of this "Seed of Elohim":

    Psalm 110:3. Your people volunteer in the day of Your might, in the splendors of set-apartness! FROM THE WOMB, from the morning (i.e. the Light of Gen 1:3,4 & Rev 22:16) you have the dew of your youth (cf. Isa. 53:2).

    This manifestation of Yahshua from the womb is also spoken of by the prophet Isaiah.

    Isaiah 49:1. Listen to Me, O coastlands, and hear, you peoples from afar! Yahweh has called Me FROM THE WOMB, from My mother's belly He has caused MY NAME to be remembered.... [5] And now, said Yahweh who formed Me from the womb, to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him,... [6] Shall it be a small matter for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel? And I shall give You as a Light to the gentiles, to be My Salvation (YASHA) to the ends of the earth.⁽⁵⁾ [7] Thus said Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, their Set-Apart One, to the despised, to the loathed One (i.e. the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53)... [26a] I shall feed those who oppress you with THEIR OWN FLESH, and let THEM drink THEIR OWN BLOOD as sweet wine.⁽⁶⁾ And all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Elohim of Jacob.

    Isaiah 7:14. Therefore Yahweh Himself gives you a sign: Look! A VIRGIN (ALMAH) shall conceive and give birth to a Son, and He shall be called "El with us".

    "Two Jewish translations prior to the Common Era, the Septuagint in Greek and the Peshitta Tanakh in Aramaic, understood ALMAH to be a 'virgin' because both translated the word into virgin-exclusive terms. The reality was also that culturally speaking, a woman who was unmarried was assumed to be a virgin unless otherwise stated." ⁽⁷⁾

    Of the seven times the word, ALMAH, is used in the Hebrew Tanakh, it can ONLY mean VIRGIN, ⁽⁸⁾ and was translated as "PARTHENOS", meaning "1) a virgin: a) a marriageable maiden; b) a woman who has never had sexual intercourse" ⁽⁹⁾ by the 72 Jewish translators of the Septuagint a full 250 years before the common era.

    "It is acknowledged that Isaiah 7:1-11 (and specifically verse 8) refer to a 65 year prophetic window. However, the use of ptuchas and samekhs in the text clearly also indicate an embedded long term prophecy kicks in as the earlier smaller prophecy is 'sealed' (see Isaiah 8:16). The 7:14 reference then, while beginning as one pointing to Isaiah's own family, also contained within it a long term REMEZ pointing to Messiah. The reason is that ALMAH, in addition to meaning 'virgin/young woman' also can mean in Hebrew and Aramaic 'universe', and 'eternity', and these other definitions relate to the longer prophetic portion. By the time we get to Isaiah 9 and its reference to the Light and Galilee, [and the identification of the Child as 'Mighty El', 'Eternal Father', and His birth as 'Wonderful' or 'Miraculous'] it is clear that a final picture-linkage to Yahshua is offered." ⁽¹⁰⁾

    "The Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 9:7 is a final evidence from the original Hebrew words. The closed MEM () is always used at the end of a word. The only exception is where it is found in this prophecy. In Isaiah 9:7 the closed MEM is found in the middle of the word.... That word is 'LEMARBE' meaning 'to increase.' Normally (as any beginning Hebrew student would have learned), in the middle of the word the reader would find an open MEM (m). The Zohar says 'The closed MEM refers to the fact that the Messiah would be born from a "closed womb."' "⁽¹¹⁾

    Isaiah 9:6. For a Child shall be born to us, a Son shall be given to us, and the rule is on His shoulder. And His Name is called MIRACLE,⁽¹²⁾ Counselor, Mighty El, Everlasting Father, Prince Of Peace. [7] Of the increase (LEMARBE) of His rule and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with right-ruling and with righteousness from now on and forever -- the ardor of Yahweh of Hosts does this.

    "The Jewish Hebrew scholar, Professor David Flusser has said, 'And the virgin birth? Nor does that go against Jewish thinking.' Richard Wurmbrand, the Messianic Jew who survived the Holocaust, (commenting on this portion of The Zohar, as he shared this with a Jewish rabbi), [said] 'Isaiah put a closed MEM in the middle of the word to show the reader who was destined to understand it that the Divine Child of whom this prophecy speaks would be born of the closed womb of a virgin.'" ⁽¹³⁾

    "Even Rashi the hallowed and still revered Jewish Bible expositor, believed that the Creator would come to earth through a woman never having had intercourse." ⁽¹⁴⁾

    The apostle Matthew testifies that Yahshua was conceived "OF (not 'by') the Ruach Kodesh (Set-Apart Spirit)" (Matt. 1:20) and in the physical portrayal of this, He was conceived OF the virgin Miriam (Mary). So while Christianity portrays the "Holy Spirit" as a "male" who impregnates the "virgin Mary", this is actually not correct. As we read in the Gospel of Philip (3 C.E.):

    "Some said, 'Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.' they are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman?"

    What actually happened is that through the union of the soul or being of Yahweh (Fatherly aspect) and His wisdom or spirit (Motherly aspect), the Son (or bodily manifestation/substance of Yahweh) was conceived, ⁽¹⁵⁾ and eventually entered the world through the womb of a virgin who was overshadowed with the power of the Set-Apart Spirit or motherly aspect of Elohim. This then is why the apostle, Shaul (Paul), in Colossians 2:9, writes that "In Him (Yahshua) dwells all the completeness of the Elohim-head (Father + Mother / Soul + Spirit) bodily.

QUESTION:

    How can Yahshua be born of a virgin and be the seed of David when the bloodline follows the man?

ANSWER:

    It is the woman, and not the man, who gives the blood in conception, and Yahweh makes it clear in Genesis 3:15 that the seed of the woman, and not the man, is the Messiah who will crush the head of satan, as he saves His people from their sins. As for the claim that the bloodline can only be imparted by the man, this is utterly unfounded, and extremely hypocritical considering that Judaism itself bases one's tribal heritage exclusively on the ancestry of the mother. It is true that the genealogies in the Tanakh are typically recorded through the men, but equally true is that the Torah makes specific provision for those cases where there is no man capable of carrying on the family line.

    Numbers 26:33. And Zelophad, son of Hepher, had no sons, but daughters. And the names of the daughters of Zelophad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah.... [27:1] Then came the daughters of Zelophad.... [2] and they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders of all the congregation, by the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, saying, [3] "Our father died in the wilderness, yet he was not in the company of those who were met together against Yahweh in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin. And he had no sons. [4] Why should the name of our father be removed from among his clan because he had no son? Give us a possession among the brothers of our father...." [6] And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, [7] "The daughters of Zelophad speak what is right. You should certainly give them a possession of inheritance among their father's brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. [8] And speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'When a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter...' [11b] And it shall be to the children of Israel a law of right ruling, as Yahweh commanded Moses."

QUESTION:

    Virgin births of divine saviors who "drop out of the sky", admittedly, abound in pagan mythology, and because of this, some suggest that the entire concept originated there. What is your defense to this?

ANSWER:

    When focusing on the contrast between truth and falsehood, always remember that truth is self-sufficient and falsehood is not. Truth is a reaching out of Yahweh into our mortal lives so that we can travel a better way, and because Yahweh is eternal, truth will never cease to exist. Falsehood, on the other hand, is a distortion of truth, without which, it would cease to exist. Falsehood is therefore always built upon truth, and contains both truth and a lie. Consequently, truth often appears to contain falsehood, but only because falsehood has always produced a counterfeit for truth.

    Suffice it to say that, although in terms of Scriptural interpretation it is completely irrelevant, there are (in terms of numbers) far more pagan religions which promote either 1) a "son" conceived through sexual union between a woman and a god, or 2) A "son" who was a "prophetic man" who became a god, ⁽¹⁶⁾ than religions which promote a Son conceived in a heavenly realm, who entered the world through means of a TRUE VIRGIN'S WOMB. And NO RELIGION, with the exception of Judaism, has seen its fulfillment, even if they do teach it! Notwithstanding, some pagan, somewhere, has always made up a counterfeit for truth, and if it were up to the pagans to decide what we do and do not believe, we would not believe in Noah's flood either, because there are flood legends all around the world, twisted to fit the religion wherein they are found! (Amazingly though, almost everyone believes in Noah's flood - even science affirms the concept as fact!) And if it were up to the pagans to decide what we should and should not believe, there would be no Son conceived at all, point blank! So to deny the virgin birth, in spite of the Scriptural evidence, just because some pagan religion copied it -- THAT is what is properly termed "allowing paganism to influence your faith"

.

Endnotes:

1. <www.fossilizedcustoms.com/name.html>

2. Also see Jn 14:16,26 where we find a sode or mystical fulfillment of the helpmeet which Yahweh provided Adam (Gen 2:20-24), in the sending of the Set-Apart Spirit upon the disciples.

3. <www.scripture4all.org>

4. Midrash Rabbah 23

5. Cf. Isa. 42:1-8, Lk. 2:30-32, Acts 13:47

6. A DIRECT CONTRAST to the partakers in the Renewed Covenant who accept Yahshua as Messiah, and partake of HIS flesh and blood (Jhn. 6:54-56). Those who reject Yahshua consume THEIR OWN flesh and blood instead!

7. Roth, Andrew Gabriel; personal correspondence <andrewgabriel77@hotmail.com>

8. "There is no instance where it can be proved that this word designates a young woman who is not a virgin." (TWOT)

9. Grk. #3933 (Thayer's Lexicon)

10. Roth, Andrew Gabriel; personal correspondence <andrewgabriel77@hotmail.com>

11. Nydle, Edward; Look, A Maiden Conceives!, under "Closed Mem" (Messianic Believer's First Response Handbook, p. 131)

12. Heb. #6382, PELEH; "1) marvelous, wonderful, extraordinary, hard to understand thing; separate by distinguishing action" (Thayer's)

13. Nydle, Edward; Look, A Maiden Conceives!, under "Closed Mem"

14. Koniuchowsky, Moshe; First Response Handbook, p. 37

15. The conception in the spiritual realm was also pictured at the time of Yahshua's mikva or immersion, when the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove and Yahweh spoke from heaven saying "My Son, the Beloved, In You I did delight" (Luke 3:22), and again, "This day have I brought thee forth" (Psa 2:7, Acts 13:33) This verse tells us what the bringing forth of the Son is all about. It doesn't mean He never existed before; but only that He is being REVEALED, or in this case, He is beginning His earthly ministry.

16. This is the demonic doctrine of apotheosis, or the making of a god out of a person. In all truth, this same doctrine of demons is present in the theology of those which teach that we all "become the Messiah", and as most counterfeits, seems to be on an upward climb here of late.