What is the Relationship Between the Messiah and God?

There is a big differences between Christianity's messiah and Judaism's messiah. Islam's version of a messiah / Mahdi - the reappearance of the Twelfth Imam, is so far out into left-field that other than having to deal with the Iranian president and nutcase Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who thinks he was chosen to hasten his Mahdi's return with nuclear war, it can't be taken seriously.

Judaism's concept of the End of Days messiah (meshiach in Hebrew) is strictly Hebrew in origin, including the relationship between the End of Days messiah and the God of Israel.
Christianity's concept of the End of Days messiah is also Hebrew in origin being that its very foundational concept is directly based upon the Hebrew Scriptures. However, Christianity's concept of the relationship between the End of Days messiah and the God of Israel is Hellenistic /Roman in origin rather than Hebraic.

There is a growing movement within the American churches to "discover" the Church's Hebrew roots of Christianity. When I hear of this, I want to say, "You ought to discover the Church's "Hellenistic roots" of Christianity"! Other than Jesus not fulfilling the prophesied accomplishments of the End of Days messiah,1 what splits Christianity from Judaism is the god-man (demigod) concept that originated in ancient Babylon, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.2

Christianity's make-up consists of Greek and Roman mythology being blended into the Hebrew scriptures, and the evidence of this can be found in today's Christmas Day (December 25 - Mithraism) the Christmas Tree (see Jeremiah 10:2-4) and Easter Bunny (Oestre' - the goddess of fertility).3 Notice, there is a very deep spiritual reason as to why there are no Gentile pagan-based nor pagan-influenced 'Jewish' holidays within Judaism!

No where within the Hebrew scriptures does it even come close as depicting the End of Days messiah as holding the status of a demigod, or where God personally fathers a son through a mortal woman. These concepts are foreign to the Hebrew prophets, and could only be included into the text by additions and going outside the prophecy context from what the Hebrew prophets intended to convey to the Hebrew people. For example, why does the Hebrew Bible need to warn the Son of God (the Word made flesh)?:
"And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men." - 2 Samuel 7:12-14

Notice in the prophesy above that there are three elements concerning the everlasting kingdom of God that is to be ruled by David's seed:

1. It is seed from David's loins (not God's - see also Psalms 132:11) that God's everlasting kingdom will be based.
2. The seed of David will have (as David himself had) a "father and son" relationship with God, but not in a Hellenistic-type relationship consisting of human-divinity.
3. The seed of David is very special to God, but they are not infallible. They can (as did David) suffer from their own sin. Therefore, there is a necessity within the Hebrew Bible concept, for them to be warned even though the prophesy is that their kingdom will be everlasting.
   

One particular method that the Gentile Christian Bible translators did to help the blending effect between God and the messiah was to avoid translating the very personal name of God throughout the Hebrew Bible while placing great emphasis on the pronunciation of the name of Jesus (see Luke 1:31 / Philippians 2:10). By translating the very name of God (YHVH - pronounced Jehovah in English) as "The Lord" instead of His actual name,4 it becomes easier for Christianity to insert "Jesus" into the position of "The Lord".

There is a huge difference between God's declaration (spoken hundreds of times throughout the Hebrew Bible) "I am the Lord" verses "I am YHVH (Jehovah)". As James Tabor puts it in his book entitled "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" "The later is personal and direct. It immediately calls for a unique and singular understanding of the ONE GOD -identifying the ETERNAL ONE by Name".5 Also, which is more of a "pure" translation of Amos 9:6: "The LORD is His name." which taken literally, doesn't make sense, or "YHVH (Jehovah) is His name"?

Notice how the "Judaism is the correct religion" effect becomes more potent when the Hebrew Bible texts properly includes the very proper name of the God of Israel within prophecy texts:

• O YHVH, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto THEE from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is YHVH! - Jeremiah 16:19-21

• Behold, the "Day of YHVH" cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. - Zechariah 14:1

• I am YHVH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. - Isaiah 42:8

• Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to YHVH, to serve HIM, and to love the name of YHVH, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant. - Isaiah 56:6

• ...they shall call on MY Name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, YHVH is my God. - Zechariah 13:9
  

What is amazing to me is that the Christian Bible, be it a Greek translation (including the Septuagint) or the standard 1611 King James Version, does not (not even in one single place) carry this very special and personal name of YHVH throughout their entire New Testament! κυριος (pronounced "Kurios" meaning "Lord") is used in its place. It is like they believed that the God of the Hebrew Bible didn't convey His personal-proper name to His Hebrew chosen people, giving them only a reference-title of Himself, even though the text of Exodus 3:15 along with Exodus 6:3 are quite clear in spelling out His distinct and personal Name.6

Given this fact, is becomes easy to see (through a translation compared to an original) the different doctrines of salvation between the Greek Christians and the Hebrew Jews:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of "the Lord" shall be saved" - Romans 10:13
"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on "the name of YHVH" (Jehovah) shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as YHVH (Jehovah) hath said, and in the remnant whom shall call." - Joel 2:32 (Joel 3:5 in the Hebrew Bible)

When the Name of God is recognized as being God's Name forever, as God Himself declared (Exodus 3:15) then it becomes much easier to distinguish the relationship between the End of Days Hebrew messiah and YHVH:
"And he (the meshiach) shall stand and feed in the strength of YHVH, in the majesty of the Name of YHVH his God" - Micah 5:4
"And the Spirit of YHVH shall rest upon him (the meshiach) the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of YHVH. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of YHVH." -Isaiah 11:2-3

It is from the Nicean Council of 325c.e. that the doctrine of the Trinity attempts to merge the End of Days messiah into the same substance of God as the "second person of the Godhead" even though the Hebrew "meshiach" - as the scriptures clearly indicates above - is separate from God and will fear his God. Given this Hebrew scripture fact, how then, could it be possible for the second god-person of the Godhead to fear the first god-person of the Godhead - as God, when the second god-person of the Godhead is supposed to be of the same god-substance as the first god-person in the Godhead to begin with? To ask it another way, how can the one true God (in the singular) fear Himself?

The New Testament describes Jesus' divinity as the following:
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." - Philippians 2:9-11

Notice, that the Hebrew name of God is not mentioned within this and all New Testament context! Notice also, that it implies that Jesus now takes the position of "Lord" - the very title that the KJV replaced the Name YHVH with throughout its translation. This was done in order to glorify Christianity's foundational God while at the same time kept His personal name out of every context throughout the Christian Bible! How anti-Hebrew Bible can the Christian text get? Perhaps, having His proper Name placed within their text would create too many theological problems and therefore the ambiguous no-named title of "God the Father" was used instead?7

The Hebrew scripture from where the Christian text in Philippians quotes from tells a very different story in a very different context:
"Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I YHVH? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in YHVH have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In YHVH shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Isaiah 45:21-25

From the Hebrew text above I always like to ask contain questions:

• Which person of the Godhead used all nine of those personal pronouns in YHVH's declaration?"
  
• Why is it, that Philippians describes a second Godhead-person sharing glory with the first Godhead person, when YHVH wanted to make it very clear by repeating Himself, that there are no other god(s) besides Him who was speaking and using those personal pronouns nine different times?

It also should be stated that unlike the Philippians context of every knee bowing to the second-person of the Godhead, YHVH makes it very clear His glory is not to be shared or given to another god: "I am YHVH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another" - Isaiah 42:8
Also according to the Philippians text, it is the name of Jesus that is exalted and not the Name of YHVH. This is not the case according to the Hebrew scriptures:
" And YHVH shall be king over all the earth: in that day YHVH shall be one, and His name one" - Zechariah 14:9
This means that there will be no other gods worshiped by another name than that of YHVH, and that YHVH will be the only one worshiped with that Name throughout the whole earth! Oh, Christian, can you look directly into this holy Hebrew scripture that you claim as the Word of God, and say with a hardy Amen - SO BE IT?

Since Jesus clearly didn't fulfill the most prominent and vindicating messianic prophesies,1 Christianity does one of two things (sometimes both based on convenience):

1. Look for a "Son of David" heavenly-angelic form of Jesus to fulfill the messianic prophesies that he didn't accomplish in his human "Son of David" form 2,000 years earlier.
2. Apply all, or most all messianic prophesies as being fulfilled "spiritually"8 through the virgin-born Jesus, giving birth to Christian Preterism that denies all, or most all, aspects of physical Israel and the everlasting covenant.9

Whether Christianity views the fulfillment of the messianic prophesies through "human-form" as stressed by Christianity's proof text of Zechariah 13:6, or more of an angelic form as seen in Zechariah 14:4, Christians seem to take the physical "seed of David" requirement as just a mere reference rather than a very physical key-element of the "YHVH to physical Israel - everlasting covenant" (Psalms 105:8-11).

The context of Zechariah 13:6 (of which this one verse missionaries use to for Jewish conversion) reveals that the one with wounds between his arms (not in the hands) is indeed a false prophet, and was beaten by his own relatives for being a false prophet at the unfolding of the Messianic Age. (see verses 1-5 of the same chapter)

All Christians view Zechariah 14:4 as Jesus setting his feet upon the Mount of Olives. However, this text does NOT include the mention of the End of Days messiah. It is describing the Spirit of YHVH as referred in Ezekiel 43:1-7 descending just to the east of the Temple Mount - literally returning in the same manner and fashion as His spirit left in Ezekiel 11:23-24. This descending of YHVH Himself (not the human 'seed of David' His messiah) is in correlation with YHVH entering His Temple in Ezekiel 37:26-28. David, YHVH's meshiach, (mentioned in Ezekiel 37:24) is noted separate from YHVH in the Ezekiel 37:2-28 text and is the same "nasi" meaning "prince-president" that is found in the temple description text - Ezekiel: chapters 44-48 (see Ezekiel 44:3 as a start reference).

In order to stay with the true Hebrew prophecy text as it was given to the Hebrew people, a Christian must first be willing to give up their Gentile-influenced New Testament preconceived idea that the End of Days messiah is YHVH Himself in the form of virgin born Sonship. According to the Hebrew Bible, YHVH is not the messiah, and the messiah (physical offspring of David) is Not YHVH.

NOTES:
1. The End of Days Hebrew messiah will fulfill the following prophecies:
A. In-Gathering of the House of Israel exiles - Jeremiah 16:15 / Ezekiel 37:24-25
During Jesus' time, there was a Jewish diaspora - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
B. Building of the third and final temple - Ezekiel 37:26-28 / Ezekiel chapters 40-48 / Isaiah 33:20 / Amos 9:11. During Jesus' time, the Jewish temple was torn down - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
C. Universal knowledge of the God of Israel - Isaiah 11:9 / Jeremiah 31:33 / Zechariah 14:9. During Jesus' time, a very small percentage of the world's population knew anything about him, or about the Torah and God of Israel - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
D. World Peace - Isaiah 2:4 / Isaiah 11:6-8
During Jesus' time, the Jewish nation was being subjugated by Rome which led to the greatest Jewish tragedies in 70CE and 132 CE. - just the exact opposite of the prophecies.
E. Resurrection of the Dead - Isaiah 26:19 / Daniel 12:2 / Ezekiel 37:12-13
Though the New Testament claims that some graves of the saints were opened (Matthew 27:52-53) the Hebrew prophecy is that "all" the graves are to be opened, and not just "all" the saints, but "all" the wicked as well, unto everlasting shame and abhorrence - Daniel 12:2
F. From the Tribe of Judah - Number 1:18-44 / Numbers 34:14 / Leviticus 23:10
Bible based "tribal affiliation" came directly from the father, not the mother. In order for Jesus to even be considered a Dividical king-messiah, he would have to be a "seed" from the Judean tribe - not a virgin born demigod, who of such origin, would be bypassing the Biblical requirement and prophecy of Genesis 49:10.

2. A. "The "sky gods," patriarchal male figures who resided on mountaintops such as Olympus, often came down to Earth to take human wives. "Virgin births" were common-a union of the "Father god" with a human maiden." - Answers.com > http://www.answers.com/topic/greek-gods-and-goddessess

B. The mythical story of the foundation of Rome (7 1/2 centuries before Jesus) starts with the god of Mars fathering the human female (Vestal) Virgin Rhea Silvia with two human males Romulus and Remus.

C. "The Ancient Egyptians believed that their Pharaoh was the god Horus, son of Re, the sun god. When a pharaoh died he was believed to be united with the sun and then a new Horus ruled on earth." > http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/pharaoh.htm

D. Alexander the Great, though having an earthly father named Phillip, believed as did his own mother to be fathered by a god, and called himself the "son of god"!

3. Web-sites regarding Christmas Day, Christmas tree, and that egg-laying Easter Bunny:
A. http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_sel.htm
B. http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm
C. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre

4. The name YHVH (Jehovah) has no grammatical connection nor translational link to the Hebrew meaning of the word Lord (Adon). YHVH is a compound name taken from the Hebrew root-verb "hayah" meaning "to be" connecting and linking His proper revealed name (His eternal being) to the past, present, and future.

5. "Restoring Abrahamic Faith" by James D. Tabor - page 17 > http://genesis2000.org/

6. "And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YHVH (Jehovah) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: THIS IS MY NAME FOREVER, and this is my memorial unto all generations." - Exodus 3:15
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddi, but by my name YHVH (Jehovah) was I not known to them." - Exodus 6:3

7. The Early Church baptized in the "personal" name of "Jesus" that according to traditional Christian doctrine, more-less replaced the Name of YHVH. See Acts 2:38 / Acts 8:12,16 / Acts 19:5.
Today's modern Trintarians baptize using the "office-titles" name - (singular) of Father - Son - Holy Ghost. See Matthew 28:19

8. One example: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old" -Amos 9:11
Compared to the "New Testament" text:
"Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:" - Acts 15: 14-16

Of course, such an interpretation of spiritual "fulfillment" negates the entire Ezekiel vision of the very physical third and final temple as depicted in chapters 40-48 and Ezekiel 37:27-28. It also negates the very words of the prophecy that the book of Acts referred to. In Amos 9:11 YHVH states, ''I will build it (the tabernacle) as in the days of old". A "spiritual" tabernacle that the book of Acts referred to, could certainly "not" be described "as it was in the days of old"! Notice, it was these "exact words" from the book of Amos 9:11 that the Acts 15:14-16 quote leaves out! I wonder why?

9. Christian Perterism and other forms of Christian "replacement theology" attempts to change every fundamental basis and concept of the Hebrew scriptures, in the name of "fulfillment". Their changes include the following:

1. The one true God of Israel YHVH (Isaiah 45:21) - changing His proper and personal Name to the non-Hebrew title "The Lord" via Christian translations, then changing His very nature of oneness (Deuteronomy 6:4) to a three god-person Trinity (1 John 5:7).
2. The Physical and covenant land of Israel (Ezekiel 37:25 / Joel 3:2 ) - changing it to an angelic-heavenly land (Galatians 4:25-26 / Revelations 21:2,10)
3. Israel, YHVH's chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6) - changing them to a "new" (Gentile) Israel (Romans 2:28-29 / Galatians 6:16).

Notice, all three changes, change the whole spiritual DNA system and foundational base of the Hebrew scriptures in order to reflect and fit the Gentile concept of Gentile God(s) the Gentile spiritual dwelling, and the Gentiles as a specially selected people. Christianity is certainly a religion fitted and designed "for" it biggest base - the Gentiles!