Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God.
This is a review of the book Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God. It is written by John B. Metzger with a Foreword by Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum and first published in 2010 by Ariel Ministries (Hardcover 905 pages).
Metzger has also written two other books: God in Eclipse and Israel’s Only Hope: The New Covenant. According to his Bio:
John’s education includes a BA from Washington Bible College in Lanham, MD graduating in 1970. He earned his Masters in Biblical Studies in 2004 from Lancaster Bible College Graduate School in Lancaster, PA. John is currently taking courses from Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also has attended Camp Shoshanah for 14 years and sat under the teaching of Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum as well as taking a 5-week study tour with Arnold to Israel in 1998.
Any book endorsed by the likes of Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Walter Kaiser, Sam Nadler and Eugene Merrill needs to be taken seriously. You can read their comments as well as a description of the goals of the book HERE.
This is a massive book! It is a labor of love primarily undertaken by Metzger for his fellow unbelieving Jews. But Christians will profit from reading it as well. As Dr. Fruchtenbaum notes:
The concept of the triune nature of the God of Israel, as taught even by the Hebrew Scriptures, has traditionally been the hardest thing for Jewish people to believe and accept. Often, no matter how well it is explained, Jewish people still tend to conclude that “Christianity” actually teaches the concept of three different gods. Even among some circles of Messianic Jews, this is a difficult teaching to accept and is also denied by some who affirm to believe in the Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus). (Emphasis mine)
Metzger demonstrates that God is presented as One being yet Three Persons in the Hebrew Scriptures. He capably argues how the Hebrew Scriptures teach that Jesus is the Messiah, the Branch, the suffering Servant, the Angel of the Lord (the theophanies) and that He is Yahweh. The book contains over 1900 footnotes and references and Metzger often uses terms which are friendly to unbelieving Jews (Tanakh, B.C.E., C.E., and G-d etc).
Walter Kaiser writes:
I was delighted and fascinated with what I found in this book. [John Metzger] has produced a very careful, exegetical study of not only the names of God, plural descriptions of God, but also he has given a strong case for the tri-unity of God in the Old Testament.
It’s this strong feature of Metzger’s book which was one reason why I was disappointment in Michael Heiser’s The Unseen Realm. I felt that Heiser superficially assumed the “Divine Council” was present in most plural expressions of God. In some verses this is may be the case, but not all. On the plus side, Heiser’s book encouraged me to go back to Metzger’s Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God. Contrary to Heiser, Metzger closely interacts with rabbinic and Christian scholarship and provides compelling cases for the Tri-unity of God revealed within these texts. It was a delight to re-discover the Trinity in the Old Testament.
There are many more gems to be mined in this book. It is a treasure trove of information. For example Metzger’s interaction with the Book of Daniel also gives the reader an excellent breakdown and explanation of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel.
The book is never too difficult to follow even where it is necessarily technical at times. Unfortunately the price is also likely to be prohibitive for some. However, you can also get it from Ariel Ministries at about half the cost in PDF Format. We prefer books and you can get it slightly cheaper at Amazon.
In conclusion Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God by John Metzger is a delightful and valuable reference resource which we highly recommend.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Hebrew Alphabet
Books of the Hebrew Scripture
Chapter 1) Are Judaism and New Testament Faith compatible with the Mystery of the Unity of God?
Chapter 2) In the Image and Likeness of God
Chapter 3) Names for God
Chapter 4) Theophanies
Chapter 5) Pre-Sinai Theophanies
Chapter 6) Sinai and Wilderness Theophanies
Chapter 7) Shechinah
Chapter 8) Post-Sinai, Wilderness Theophanies
Chapter 9) Shema
Chapter 10) Plural Descriptions
Chapter 11) The Holy Spirit in the Tanakh
Chapter 12) Messiah Divine
Chapter 13) Messiah Divine in The Law
Chapter 14) Messiah Divine in The Prophets
Chapter 16) God has a Son
Chapter 17) The Branch
Chapter 18) “The Word of the Lord Came”
Chapter 19) Summary
Epilogue: A Special Word to the Covenant People of Israel
Appendices:
Appendix 1) How to Become One with G-d to be Reconciled to G-d
Appendix 2) References to Echad in the Torah
Appendix 3) The Word: Verbal Plenary Inspiration
Appendix 4) The Servant of the LORD
Appendix 5) Dual Covenant Theology: Inclusivism (the author does not hold to DCT)
Appendix 6) Judaism and Christianity
Appendix 7) Anti-Missionary Teaching Against Biblical Faith
Appendix 8) Jesus Before the Sanhedrin
Bibliography
Glossary of Terms for Christians and for Jewish People
Author Index
Scripture Index
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Discovering the Mystery of the Unity of God
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