Besides Me...

Malachi 2:10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?

That all passages in the New Testament which refer to the “one God” (Mark 10:18, 12:29, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Romans 3:30, Galatians 3:20, Ephesians 4:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, James 2:19) or “only” or “[only] true God” (John 3:33, 5:44, 17:3, Romans 3:4, 16:27 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 Timothy 1:17 1 John 5:20) either clearly refer to the Father or at least arguably refer to the Father lends credence to the idea that among the three divine persons who are equal in respect to divinity, the Father is preeminent in respect to His person. The Old Testament can also be used in this way.

In Isaiah 44-45, the speaker, YHWH, says multiple times and in various ways that “besides me there is no God.” I believe this to be the Father’s own testimony. Now, this would no more preclude one’s being able to call the Son [and the Holy Spirit] “God” in some distinct sense than would the idea that if the Father could say “besides me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:11), we would be unable to refer to the Son as Savior. It would simply require qualifications as to what it means to refer to Him as such.

That is, we know Jesus comes in the name of YHWH to do the work of YHWH. He may be referred to as YHWH, being the natural Son and, hence, perfect image of His Father, but He is not the same person as YHWH per se. That would be Sabellian. So too would it be Sabellian to say that the Father and Son are both numerically identical to YHWH, as in that case any alleged difference between Father and Son would be purely nominal.

Rather, the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). This fact is attested by both Jesus and His Father in conjunction with the OT law that the testimony of two [distinct] persons is true (John 8:17-18) and further evidenced in Christ’s work (John 10:37-38). Thus, while Jesus has clearly been ordained to be our Savior, Jude can conclude his epistle by referring to the only God, the Father, as Savior:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Further, while we see that the Father is called Savior even in the NT – and so in the context of Isaiah 44-45, YHWH certainly need not, as some think, refer to the Son – the Father is especially called the Savior or Redeemer of Israel in the OT (e.g. Psalm 106, Isaiah 63). So when He besides whom there is no God is referred to as the Savior of Israel in 45:15-17, the natural inference is that it is the Father who is in view (Hosea 13:4, cf. Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:15).

The previous chapters confirm this. YHWH is the Father in Isaiah 42:1-4 (cf. Matthew 12:18-20). In Isaiah 43:10, the servant of YHWH is mentioned yet again, this time as a witness to what YHWH, the Father, has done. What has the Father done? As noted before, is Israel’s redeemer (43:1) and savior (43:3).

Thus, it would seem the Father remains the speaker until Isaiah 44:8, relevant because by the next chapter it should be clear that it is the Father besides whom there is no God (44:6-8; cf. 45:5, 6, 14, 21). Tangentially, it may be pointed out that this is not an abstract being, nature, or essence – the speaker is a person. It is the Father who pours out His Spirit (44:3; cf. Acts 2:17-22).

The repetition in titles – Creator, Redeemer, Savior – and concerns – “who will be glorified?” “who chooses?” “who blots out transgressions?” – indicates that in Isaiah 44:21ff., YHWH is also meant to refer to the Father. Notice too that Cyrus is called YHWH’s shepherd (44:28) and anointed (45:1). Which makes more sense, that Cyrus is the shepherd of and anointed by the Son or that Cyrus is a type of Christ, the Father’s shepherd and anointed? But if it is the Father speaking in 45:1, then it is clearly the Father speaking in 45:5, 6, 14, 21.

Cumulatively, I believe these points forcibly imply the Father is YHWH in Isaiah 44-45. Just as the idea that one person can be the only true God and that a distinct person can also be the only true God butchers the meaning of the word “only,” so too the idea that besides one [person] there is no God and that besides this one [person] there can be another God – again, in a particular, hypostatic sense – is unintelligible.