Is the Trinity in Deuteronomy?

“Within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”—The Forgotten Trinity, page 23, by James R. White

“We hang a person’s very salvation upon the acceptance of the doctrine”—The Forgotten Trinity, page 10

Deuteronomy is the final division of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses. Originally it was on one scroll in ancient Hebrew, which did not have vowels. When the Torah was translated in the 3rd century BCE into Greek, which has vowels, it was divided into five books – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy reviews God dealings with Israel, and reviews and restates the Mosaic Law Covenant, which is ratified prior to Israel’s entry into the Promised Land. 

If the Trinity doctrine, as is stated above, is so vitally important and true, we should surely find some evidence of it in this review of Israel’s covenant with Almighty God Yahweh in the book of Deuteronomy.

“Yahweh has chosen you . . . to be his own people . . . This is what he showed you, so that you might know that Yahweh is the true God and that there is no other.” “Yahweh is the true God, in heaven above and on earth beneath, he and no other.” “Yahweh your God is the true God” (Deuteronomy 4:20,35,39; 7:9 NJB). “He, YHWH, [is] God; there is no one else besides Him.” “He, YHWH, [is] God . . . there is none else.”  “He, your God, YHWH, [is] God” (Deuteronomy 4:35,39; 7:9 LSV). Yahweh is presented as being exclusively the one and only “true God.” Nothing in the book of Deuteronomy is ever said about there being any kind of Trinity, or about there being three persons in any kind of “Godhead,” not even two. The singular pronouns, “He” and “Him,” describe the singular one “true God,” Yahweh. No three-in-one God is mentioned, nor implied. Jesus said that the “Father” is “the only true God” (John 17:1,3).

“Listen Israel: Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh” (Deuteronomy 6:4 NJB). “Hear, O Israel: Our God YHWH – YHWH is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4 LSV). “One” translates the Hebrew word “echad,” which is the numeral “one.” “Echad” means “one,” as opposed to two or more. In Deuteronomy 17:6, “one [“echad”] witness” is contrasted with “two or three witnesses.” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:4 at Mark 12:29, “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (NKJV), and agreed with the scribe (Mark 12:34) who commented on it, when he called Yahweh, “He” and “Him,” at Mark 12:32,33 (NJKV). “He” and “Him” are singular pronouns, and, in this case, describe the singular God, Yahweh. The Bible emphasizes that “God is only one” (Galatians 3:20 NASB), and is not ‘three-in-one.’

“Then Yahweh said to me, ‘What they have said is well said. From their own brothers I shall raise up a prophet like yourself; I shall put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything I command you” (Deuteronomy 18:17,18 NJB). Three times in these two verses, Yahweh uses the singular personal pronoun, “I,” to describe himself. The plural personal pronoun, “we,” is never used to describe God. The great “prophet” that God would raise up would be the Messiah, God’s Son, Jesus Christ (Acts 3:23 NASB). This is the only reference to Jesus in the book of Deuteronomy. But, notice that he was to be from among the “brothers” of Israel, that is, a man, “fully human in every way” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV). Since “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19), Jesus cannot be God. Additionally, the New Testament confirms that God has sons (Galatians 3:26; Revelation 21:5-7), but no brothers, whereas Jesus has “brothers” (Matthew 25:40; Hebrews 2:11), but no sons.

“Things hidden belong to Yahweh our God, but things revealed are ours and our children’s for ever, so that we can put all the words of this Law into practice” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NJB). Trinitarians claim that the Trinity doctrine is one of the “things revealed” by “Yahweh our God” to mankind. They are so sure of it that they claim a person has no relationship with God without acceptance of the Trinity doctrine. Notice their assertion: “A true and accurate knowledge of the Trinity is a blessing in and of itself” (The Forgotten Trinity, page 10). But, to cover up the fact that the doctrine is unscriptural and makes no sense, they say, “The church confesses the Trinity to be a mystery beyond the comprehension of man” (The Forgotten Trinity, page 173). – Wait a minute!!!! – Trinitarians talk out of both sides of their mouth. Out of one side of their mouth, they claim that one can get “a true and accurate understanding of the Trinity,” and, then, out of the other side of their mouth, they admit that “the Trinity” is “a mystery beyond the comprehension of man.”  Such double talk is so ludicrous, it is almost beyond belief.

“Do you act thus to YHWH . . . Is He not your Father – He who bought you? He who made you” (Deuteronomy 32:6 LSV). The Creator, Yahweh God, is shown to be the Father. Jesus said that his “Father” is “the only true God” (John 17:1,3).

“See now that I, I alone, am he, and there is no god besides me. It is I who can bring both life and death” (Deuteronomy 32:39 NAB). “I, I alone, am he,” emphasizes the uniqueness of the singular one-person God, Yahweh. 

The holy Spirit is never referred to in the book of Deuteronomy, nor is there any hint of a Trinity. Jesus is foretold to be a great prophet whom Yahweh would ‘raise up’ from among the brothers in Israel, which indicates he can’t be God. Yahweh, is shown to be the singular, one exclusive true God. The book of Deuteronomy provides powerful evidence against the Trinity doctrine!