A Sharp Observation

Introduction
Granville Sharp (1735-1813) was an English philanthropist who helped to abolish slavery in England.  His education was that of a common merchant.  He himself admitted that his academic experience "was just like the experience of other tradesmen and manufacturers, i.e. by no means classical" (Remarks, xvii; italics in original).  Granville Sharp was, nevertheless, a student of God's word.  Eventually he learned Hebrew and Greek so that he could read the Bible as it was originally written; through diligent study he became quite a capable linguist, really.  As he studied the original Greek New Testament, he began to observe a rule of Greek syntax that now carries his name: the Granville Sharp Rule.

The Rule
According to this rule, both nouns in a TSKS construction refer to the same person as long as both nouns are personal, singular, and neither noun is a name.  [TSKS construction is a phrase that has the Greek word "the" (ὁ), a substantive, the Greek word "and" (καὶ), and a substantive.]  Let me give an example of what I mean.  If I say "the Captain and the Commander" I am referring to two people.  One is the captain and the other is the commander. If I say "the Captain and Commander", I am referring to one person who is both the captain and the commander.  Keep in mind, we are thinking about things the way ancient Koine Greek refers to them.

Below are some examples of the Granville Sharp Rule in the New Testament.  I have given the original Greek and the English.  I understand that many of my readers may not be able to read Greek so I have underlined the Greek word for "the" and I have put the nouns in bold.

1. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (1 Peter 1:3)
   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
2. Ἐπαφρόδιτον τὸν ἀδελφὸν καὶ συνεργὸν καὶ συστρατιώτην μου (Philippians 2:25)
   Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier
3. κατανοήσατε τὸν ἀπόστολον καὶ ἀρχιερέα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν (Hebrews 3:1)
   consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus

In all of the examples above, it should be obvious that only one person is intended in each sentence.  There are nearly eighty verses in the New Testament that follow the Granville Sharp Rule; and ALL of them refer to ONLY one person being described with multiple nouns.  To put it another way, in the New Testament the Granville Sharp Rule is without exception.

"That is nice and all," you might say. "But why is this so important?"  I will tell you.  There are several religious groups---Unitarians, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses are a few---that claim that Jesus is not God.  This is where the Granville Sharp construction comes in.  Since Granville Sharp's rule is without exception in the New Testament, there are two verses that claim undeniably that Jesus is God.  Let's examine them one by one.

Titus 2:13

Paul told Titus that we should live our lives "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ".  I want to focus particularly on the phrase "glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ".  Notice how the original Greek is a Granville Sharp construction:

       ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν
       Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ

Since this is a Granville Sharp construction, Paul is talking about only one person.  This person is both the great God of the whole world and the Saviour of us who believe.  Paul tells us that this person is Jesus Christ.

If you read the entire book of Titus, Paul's point will make a little more sense.  In Titus 1:3 God is called "our Saviour"; in Titus 1:4 Jesus Christ is called "our Saviour".  In Titus 3:4 God is called "our Saviour"; in Titus 3:6 Jesus is called "our Saviour".  Paul keeps bouncing back and forth, describing Jesus and Jehovah the same way.  In Titus 2:10 God is called "our Saviour".  In Titus 2:13 Paul spells it all out.  Jesus is "our Saviour" because he is "the great God".  Only one person---Jesus Christ---is "the great God and our Saviour".

2 Peter 1:1
This verse is an even clearer example of how important the Granville Sharp Rule is.  To demonstrate, I want to look at the construction in 2 Peter 1:1 as compared to the construction in 2 Peter 1:11, just a few verses down in the same chapter.  Take a look:
       1:1---τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
                       (of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ)
       1:11--- τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
                       (of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ)
What I want you to notice is that these two phrases are exactly the same in the original Greek; the only difference is verse 1 uses the Greek word for "God" and verse 11 uses "Lord".  Nobody would argue that 2 Peter 1:11 is talking about two people; Peter is saying that only Jesus is our Lord and Saviour.  It should be obvious that the same grammar applies to 2 Peter 1:1; Peter is saying that only Jesus is God and our Saviour.

Conclusion
Granville Sharp's Rule was not Granville Sharp's idea; he just made an observation.  God is the author of the Bible.  Peter and Paul wrote as God inspired them (2 Timothy 3:16); he was the one guiding their hearts and pens.  God is the one who made it so clear for us.  Jesus is God.  He is the great God: "the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ"!  

The Ark Principle ~ Part 3

The Bible makes reference to three arks: the ark of Noah, the ark of Moses, and the ark of the covenant.  We have covered the first two, and now we move on to the last.  The ark of the covenant is a beautiful type, richly symbolic of so many great things.

When the ark of the covenant was being built, God commanded to "overlay it with pure gold, within and without" (Exodus 25:11).  In the Bible, gold is often symbolic holiness.  Again we see the principle that God wants his people to be holy on the inside and on the outside.  This same concept was reflected in Noah's ark.  If Noah's ark is a symbol of salvation, perhaps the ark of the covenant is a symbol of the Christian life.  We are called to reflect God's glory and God's holiness in our hearts and in our bodies (Psalm 51:10, Romans 12:1).

But the symbolic nature of the ark goes much deeper. The Bible says that within the ark were "the tables of the covenant" (Hebrews 9:4).  These tables were the stone tablets containing the ten commandments that Moses received on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 8:9, Deuteronomy 10:1-5).  And this divine law was within the ark.  On top of the ark, acting as a lid, was what God called "a mercy seat" (Exodus 25:17).  The mercy seat was what was seen on the outside.  This is where the blood of the ram was sprinkled on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:15-16).  Now follow the typology.  As Christians, we have the law of God on the inside and his mercy on the outside.

His law is in our heart; as Jeremiah said "but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33).  Pay careful attention to the wording of this verse.  God uses the word "covenant" and then talks about his law being "in their inward parts".  This is a parallel description of the ark of the covenant!  It is God's desire that his people have his law within them; as David said, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Psalm 119:11).

But that is not all.  His mercy is on the outside.  As Christians we are living proof that God is still merciful.  And how glorious this is!  Look at this passage in Romans: "and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles" (Romans 9:23-24).  Notice how God describes those who are saved as "vessels of mercy".  His mercy is on the outside, just as his law is on the inside!

There is one final thing I want to draw out of the ark of the covenant.  The Bible says that the high priest went once a year into the most holy place where the ark of the covenant was; and there he offered blood for himself and for the nation of Israel on the day of atonement (Hebrews 9:7).  The scripture goes on to say that this was all symbolic of the Holy Ghost (Hebrews 9:8).  Another thing we need to learn from the ark of the covenant is the need for God's indwelling Spirit in our lives.  2 Samuel 6:2 describes God as "the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims".  This verse is talking about the cherubims on top of the mercy seat.  The mercy seat is the place where God's sovereign spirit dwelt (Psalm 80:1, 99:1).  This is a type of God's spirit in our lives.

So let's summarize what we have learned from God's arks.  God desires to save us, and to change us inside and out.  He wants us to have a connection to him and his church with his abiding glorious spirit upon us and his law in our hearts.  This is truly what it means to be saved from this world and to be in covenant with him.    ~CJK

The Ark Principle ~ Part 2

In my last post I dealt with some of the symbolism in Noah's ark.  This time I want to talk about the second of the three arks mentioned in the Bible: the ark of Moses.  At the time Moses was born Pharaoh had commanded that all newborn Hebrew males be killed (Exodus 1:16).  To be more specific, "Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive" (Exodus 1:22).  But Moses had a mother named Jochebed (Exodus 6:20); and the Bible says that she hid him from Pharaoh's command as long as she could (Exodus 2:2).  "And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink" (Exodus 2:3).  This also is a great allegory concerning God's plan of salvation.

Let's focus on Moses' mother Jochebed for just a moment.  Jochebed is symbolic of the church.  Jochebed was the mother of Moses; and the church "is the mother of us all" (Galatians 4:26).  Jochebed was busy working to save her son Moses from the wrath of Pharaoh; and the church is busy preaching "to save them which believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21).  Jochebed was trying to save her son from death; so the church is trying to save sinners, "pulling them out of the fire" (Jude 23) of hell.  Notice this: Jochebed provided the environment for Moses' salvation.  If Jochebed had not made "for him an ark of bulrushes", Moses surely would have died.  In like manner, the church acts as God's earthly agent for salvation.  The church provides the environment for sinners to be saved; it acts as the place where God meets man and heaven meets earth.  That is why the Bible says that "the Spirit and the bride say come" (Revelation 22:17).  The bride is a figurative word for the church.  God says "Come", for he is the heavenly and ultimate agent of our salvation; but the church says "Come" in that she is the earthly agent of our salvation, working to bring the lost to God.

But let's continue the story.  Jochebed took Moses and put him in this ark, and placed it in the river.  The Bible says that Pharaoh's daughter found the Moses "and had compassion on him" (Exodus 2:6).  Moses' sister just happened to be close by, and asked Pharaoh's daughter if she would like a nurse to care for Moses.  And by an awesome turn of events Moses ended up right back at his mother's house!!  This demonstrates to me the nurturing care of the church.  Just as it was Jochebed's job to care for baby Moses before he went to Pharaoh's palace, so it is the church's job to care for "babes in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1) and help them to grow up in the truth.

The Hebrew name Jochebed means "the glory of Jehovah".  This furthers the allegory all the more, because the church is connected to God's glory in the scriptures.  Paul was talking about God when he said "unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21, emphasis added).  Paul was speaking to the church at Colosse when he said "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4, emphasis added).  When Paul described God's work of establishing a people and a church among the Gentiles he described it like this: "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27, emphasis added). At the end of time the church is described in Revelation 21:11 as "having the glory of God"!!  Jehovah intends for the church to be a reflection of his glory; and Jochebed's name is a perfect symbol of this.

So what does all of this teach us about salvation?  If we are going to be saved, we must have a connection with the church.  I know at this point I probably sound a little Roman Catholic: "If you are not a part of the church, and unless you do things just the way we tell you to, then you are a heretic!!!"  But that is not what I am meaning.  The church was God's idea.  He created the church to be his tool to save the world; it was the church that he told to "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations" (Matthew 28:19).  It is impossible to come to God the Father without coming to the Church the Mother.  Let me give a counterexample that, though imperfect, may explain what I mean.  Let us say that we are in a desert country and the only water in the area is a lake across the hill.  It is impossible to go to the water without going to the lake, because the water is IN the lake.  In the same way, this sinful world is like a desert land; and God dwells in the church (2 Chronicles 36:15, Psalm 22:3).  So it is impossible to come to God without coming to the church.  Perhaps this is why David cried "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary" (Psalm 63:1-2).

So, let's learn from this second ark.  God used Jochebed to give Moses salvation from death.  And let's allow the church to give us the salvation from death that God offers.       ~CJK

The Ark Principle

In the Bible we see only three arks mentioned: the ark of Noah (Genesis 6), the ark of Moses (Exodus 2), and the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25).  Beneath the surface of these stories are amazing truths about salvation and Christian living.  Each of these arks teach us something about salvation and holiness before God.

Let's start with Noah's ark.  When God told Noah of the flood that was to come on the earth, he also gave Noah a plan of salvation: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (Hebrews 11:7, emphasis added).  And again it is written that "the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1 Peter 3:20).  The ark was God's method to save Noah and his family from destruction.

God gave Noah very specific commands concerning how the ark was to be built; and one of them had to do with making the ark water tight.  "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch" (Genesis 6:14, emphasis added).  God commanded Noah to pitch the ark on the inside and on the outside.  This is not an arbitrary law that God imposed on Noah for no reason.  It has deep spiritual significance and great practical purpose.

The Hebrew verb "to pitch" that God used here is a very interesting word.  The Hebrew verb כָּפַר (kaphar) means "to pitch"; but it also means "to make atonement".  This is the same Hebrew verb that the Lord used when he said "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement (כָּפַר, kaphar) for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement (כָּפַר, kaphar) for the soul".  The Noah's act of pitching the inside and outside of the ark is crucial typology of our Christian walk.  In this allegory "pitching" and "atonement" are one and the same.

God expects us as Christians to follow Noah's example.  We are to make atonement on the inside and on the outside.  It seems that nowadays we are interested on only "pitching" the inside.  How many times have we heard people say "It doesn't matter how I live.  The Lord knows my heart."  That is only pitching the inside; that is only atoning the inside.  We can be as "holy" as we want to be on the inside; but we must also be holy on the outside.  God commanded Noah to pitch both sides of the ark; and God expects us as Christians to be holy on the inside as well as the outside.  Look at the scriptures:

• Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands [atoning outward], and a pure heart [atoning inward] (Psalm 24:3-4)
• Cleanse your hands, ye sinners [atoning outward]; and purify your hearts, ye double minded [atoning inward] (James 4:8).
• Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain [inward atoning], and washed my hands in innocency [outward atoning] (Psalm 73:13).

But God didn't just tell Noah to pitch the ark with any old sealer he wanted.  God said to "pitch it within and without with pitch".  The Hebrew noun for pitch is כֹּפֶר (kohper).  It actually comes from the verb כָּפַר (kaphar) we discussed earlier; כֹּפֶר (kohper) not only means pitch, but also means something on the order of "a substitutionary payment."

Again, we must follow Noah's example.  We must understand that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).  They are not suitable for ark-building at all.  God's plan of salvation, the ark that will save us from sin, must be pitched inside and out with the substitutionary payment of the blood of Jesus Christ; "he is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:2).  Remember what God said in Leviticus 17:11?  Just as an animal's blood made atonement upon the altar so Christ's blood made atonement for us on the cross.  His death was the substitute for our sins; as Isaiah said, "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities" (53:5).

But how are we to pitch the ark of salvation with his blood?  One part of God's plan of salvation for the modern church is baptism.  Is it any coincidence that the Bible identifies Noah's ark with baptism?  For it is written that "the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us...by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:20:21). 

This verse says that Noah's ark is an similar picture ("like figure") of baptism.  "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5); and again, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).  And again, Peter commanded "Repent, and be baptized" (Acts 2:38).  Noah was saved by grace but he had to build the ark; and we are saved by grace but "baptism doth also now save us" as Peter said.

We will talk more about the other two arks later.  But we need to realize that Noah's ark is not some simple story that we were told as children.  It is a rich analogy for salvation and holiness.  God expects us to be baptized and God expects us to be holy on the inside and on the outside.  He wants us to be covered with the atoning sacrifice of his Son's blood, watertight to a world of sin headed for destruction.       ~CJK

These Are The Gods

And the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said...Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness (1 Samuel 4:7-8).

The casual reader of these verses will probably be confused as to why the word "Gods" is capitalized. I know I was! Anyone who studies the Bible knows that monotheism is taught time and again in the scriptures. After all, there is "one God and Father of all" (Ephesians 4:6); "there is but one God, the Father" (1 Corinthians 8:6). It doesn't make sense to refer to Jehovah as "Gods"; Jehovah himself said "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4). So why is the word "Gods" capitalized in this passage?

The answer lies with the Philistines. You see, the Philistines were trying to refer to the God "that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues". We know that this God was the LORD Jehovah: "Thus saith the LORD...I will smite" (Exodus 7:17). But the Philistines were confused about Jehovah's nature. For some reason they saw him as multiple beings, or persons. "Gods" is capitalized because the Philistines were referring to the LORD; and it is plural (as "Gods" instead of "God") because they saw the LORD as more than one being (as "them" instead of "him").

I believe I know why the Philistines were confused. Unfortunately the same thing that gave the Philistines trouble is confusing the modern church world. It is a simple misunderstanding of one word (and a few scriptures); but the effects of this error are multiple and massive doctrinal issues.

The central element of confusion is the word Elohim (אֶלהִים), the Hebrew word for "God". Denominations that teach trinitarianism (the doctrine that the Godhead is made of three persons) or binitarianism (the doctrine that the Godhead is made of two persons) usually use the word Elohim (אֶלהִים) to support their doctrine. "Elohim is a plural word" they will tell us "and therefore God must have a plural nature". Technically, Elohim (אֶלהִים) is the plural form of the Hebrew word El, which also means "God". But, plural forms in the Hebrew language behave differently than in English; as a result, people holding to a pluralist view of the Godhead are confused by the nature of the word Elohim (אֶלהִים). The grammatical issues surrounding this Hebrew word have been described quite adequately by Rabbi Tovia Singer in a Q&A article he wrote for Outreach Judaism:

The word Elohim possesses a plural intensive syntax and is singular in meaning. In Hebrew, the suffix ים (im), mainly indicates a masculine plural. However with Elohim the construction is grammatically singular, (i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective) when referring to the God of Israel, but grammatically plural elohim (i.e. taking a plural verb or adjective) when used of pagan divinities (Psalms 96:5; 97:7).

For readers who may not be familiar with some of these grammatical terms, let me explain what Rabbi Singer is saying. When Elohim (אֶלהִים) refers to Jehovah, it has a plural form but a singular meaning. It has a plural form ONLY to intensify the meaning, not to state any sort of multiplicity in nature. It refers to only one being. When this word refers to pagan gods it has a plural form and a plural meaning. It refers to multiple beings. And lest anyone think that Rabbi Singer is twisting the facts because of his strict Jewish monotheism, we have abundant proof to bear out what he is saying.

Firstly, the word Elohim (אֶלהִים), when referring to Jehovah, ALWAYS takes a singular verb (1 Samuel 4:7-8 is an exception I will explain in just a bit). A perfect example of this phenomena (which occurs nearly 2350 times in the scriptures) is Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God [Elohim (אֶלהִים)] created [bara' (בָּרָ֣א)] the heaven and the earth." The word for God is a plural form, yet the verb "created" is singular. The verse is saying something on the order of "In the beginning Elohim created---he singularly/alone created---the heaven and the earth". This concept harmonizes perfectly with Isaiah 44:24, "Thus saith the LORD...I am the LORD that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself" (emphasis added). If God were comprised of multiple beings then we would expect these verses to say something like "In the beginning...they created" and "we spread abroad the earth by ourselves". But these verses, and countless others, speak of God/Elohim (אֶלהִים) as ONLY one person.

Secondly, the word Elohim (אֶלהִים) on occasion refers to people. For example, in Exodus 7:1 "the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god [elohim (אֶלהִים)] to Pharaoh". This reference is especially significant to people who say that the Godhead is composed of multiple people. Here we see the word applied to Moses. Is Moses multiple people? Of course not! The Septuagint translates the word singularly here as θεος (theos). The idea that Moses is comprised of multiple people is preposterous; and so is the idea of a multi-personal God.

Lastly, the word Elohim (אֶלהִים) can refer to pagan false gods. This is the word that the psalmist used when he said that "all the gods [elohim (אֶלהִים)] of the nations are idols". When this word refers to Jehovah it takes singular verbs, nouns, and adjectives. When it refers to pagan gods it takes plural verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Notice how the word "idols" is plural?

Knowing what we know, let's have a look back at what the Philistines said in 1 Samuel 4:7-8: "And the Philistines were afraid, for they said God [Elohim (אֶלהִים)] is come into the camp. And they said...Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hands of these mighty Gods [Elohim (אֶלהִים)]? these are the Gods [Elohim (אֶלהִים)] that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness." Now we see the confusion. To the Philistines, the word Elohim looked plural; so they naturally assumed that the nation of Israel worshiped multiple gods that were somehow united as one god. That is why the Philistines used the word Elohim singularly in verse 7 ("Elohim is come") and then plurally in verse 8 ("these are Elohim").

Modern trinitarians and binitarians are making the same mistake as the Philistines. They see the word Elohim and assume it is plural, though simple study of the facts demonstrates overwhelmingly otherwise. Unwittingly they adopt the king of polytheism that the Philistines were assuming about the nation of Israel. Isnt it interesting that a pluralistic interpretation of God/Elohim (אֶלהִים) comes from a pagan nation that was always the enemy of God and his people? God identifies the source of any pluralistic, multi-personal view of himself: it comes straight from pagan Philistine confusion. It is time to get back to the strict Oneness monotheism that the Bible teaches! ~CJK