Recently I had a discussion with a Mormon friend of mine; we were talking about the Mormon belief that Jesus Christ, and God the Father are “separate and distinct” gods and that Mormons believe that Jehovah (YHWH) is Jesus’ name and that Elohim is God’s name.
I had forgotten about this discussion until doing my morning reading. I was going through Deuteronomy 32, and I noticed that Lord and God are presented as equivalents within the parallelisms. Parallelisms are common in the OT and are characteristic of Hebrew poetry.
Here is the passage:
My teaching will drop like the rain, my sayings will drip like the dew,
as rain drops upon the grass, and showers upon new growth.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; you must acknowledge the greatness of our God.
As for the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just.
He is a reliable God who is never unjust, he is fair and upright.
Aside from being a beautiful passage, what do we see? Clearly, Moses is speaking of God here. There is a lot of parallelism going on because this is in song form. The first line and the second line of each couplet are equal and complimentary.
teaching = sayings
drop like the rain = drip like the dew
drops on the grass = showers upon new growth
Proclaim the name of the Lord = Acknowledge the greatness of our God.
His work is perfect = His ways are just.
Never unjust = fair and upright
But what’s notable is that “Lord”, and “God” are aligned in the Hebrew parallel style just as all of the other synonyms. This song is written from Moses’ point of view…he is referencing one God; the God of the burning bush.
Not only that; before our passage, it says that Moses writes the words of this song down and commands them to put it in the Ark of the Covenant. He tells them:
31:26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God.
The phrase “Lord your God” in Hebrew is:
“YHWH attem Elohim,” clearly speaking of one entity. Just as in the preceding song of Moses; Lord and God are synonymous; one is the proper name of God, the other is the generic term for God, as in “Fred, your teacher.”
If the words YHWH and Elohim are to be understood from the Mormon point of view (that YHWH is the name of Jesus and that Elohim is the name of God the father) then none of this would make any sense, it would become:
31:26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Jesus Christ your God the Father”
That turns the verse into gibberish.
In fact; a simple search of the words “YHWH” and Elohim” reveals that the reference “Lord God” or “Lord your God” is found 562 times in the Old Testament in the context of referring to God.
So, where does the evidence lead us? To the idea that “YHWH” is Jesus’ name, and that “Elohim” is God’s name and that they are “separate and distinct gods” or that both words refer to the same being?
In other words; does the Mormon belief hold up under scrutiny?
No.
If you are Mormon, do you have any thoughts on what I’ve written here?
Your comment has been deleted for the following reasons:
1.) It was a “red-herring.”
2.) It was a cut/paste from the internet.
If you have some thoughts that are your own, and they DIRECTLY the point of my post, then I’d like to hear it…otherwise, start your own blog.
bob
Jane,
The question addressed above is this:
Does the term “Jehovah” refer to Jesus, while “Elohim” refer to God the father?
Nobody is arguing that God and Jesus Christ are exactly the same being…I WAS arguing however that the Mormon belief that THESE WORDS REFER TO TWO DIFFERENT BEINGS is false.
You’ve read my post; does Mormonism have a case or not?
Great post, Bob. This, and MANY other things, will always show that Mormonism isn’t true. Problem is, you still have to try to convince the Mormons…
Brad,
Thanks for the kind words!
I know what you’re saying about converting Mormons…
I realize that Mormons are converted the way all rebellious men are…by the preaching of the gospel. They aren’t Mormons because they lack some vital piece of information and that once they get it they will convert…no…they are blinded and need their eyes opened and only the Holy Spirit can do that.
I just want to get them to think for a second about what exactly they are saying and believing…that’s all.
I pray that God will open the eyes of any LDS folk who visit here….
bob
Jeff,
Your comment has been deleted because you didn’t stay on topic…true to LDS form; you didn’t engage my point in the post.
If you’d like to address the point of my post directly, I’ll approve the comment, if not…start your own blog.
Jack,
Once again comment deleted due to wandering off topic.
If you’d like to contact me through email; use the contact form. Be advised, though, that what you write has the possibility of being used in a post for the world to see.
bob
From Romanists to the WatchTower… you just have to admire how these cults try hard to “spin” you with a whole lot of nonsense. Good luck getting a straight answer from Mormons, Robert.
I’ve failed to get one yet!
Rand
Rand,
Unfortunately, I’ve not met a Mormon yet who would directly interact with the content of a discussion or a blog post…they just deflect, and confuse.
bob