The God of Jesus and the Identity of Israel’s God

Introduction

Who is the God of Jesus?

The New Testament repeatedly states that Jesus has a God — and that God is the Father.

Trinitarian theology argues that this presents no difficulty because Jesus has two natures: He is 100% God but he took on a second nature, a human nature. In this nature he is 100% man.

As man, Jesus has a God.
As God, he shares the divine essence, that of being God.

However, this explanation only addresses the question of nature.
It does not yet address the more fundamental question of identity.

The issue is not merely whether Jesus can have a God within a two-nature framework.
The issue is who that God is.

If Israel’s God is understood to be triune — Father, Son, and Spirit —
and Jesus consistently identifies the Father alone as his God,
then the questions become unavoidable:

1) If the God of Israel is triune, father, son and Holy Spirit but the God of Jesus is the father alone, do Jesus and Israel have different Gods?

2) Is the God of Jesus identical in covenantal identity to the God of Israel?

That is the theological issue this study seeks to examine.

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I. The Biblical Data: Jesus Has a God

The New Testament speaks plainly.

Jesus’ own words

John 20:17

“I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Revelation 3:12

“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God…”

Apostolic testimony

Ephesians 1:17

“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory…”

2 Corinthians 11:31

“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

And centrally:

John 17:3

“That they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Jesus has a God.
That God is the Father.
The Father is called the only true God.

This is explicit biblical language.

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II. The God of Israel

Jesus was a Jew:

• Born under the Law (Galatians 4:4)

• Circumcised under Torah

• A worshiper in the Temple

• A confessor of the Shema

The foundational confession of Israel:

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear O Israel, YHVH our God, YHVH is one.”

YHVH  is the covenantal God of Israel.

Exodus 6:7 “And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

Exodus 34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

Deuteronomy 4:13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

Deuteronomy 29:12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: 13That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

In Second Temple Judaism:

Israel’s God = YHVH
YHVH = the one God

This is foundational. The God of Israel is YHVH the one true God. Israelites were to have no other God. Thus all Israelites were to have the same God, the God of Israel YHVH.

That one God was personally identified as the Father.

Paul echoes this:

1 Corinthians 8:6

“To us there is but one God, the Father…”

Thus:

Israel’s covenantal God = the one God
That one God is identified as the Father.

As an Israelite, born as an Israelite man under the covenant with Israel, Jesus would have shared in the same covenantal God. Jesus could not have a different God than his brethren.

The Messiah and the Name of YHWH (Micah 5:4)

The Old Testament itself anticipates a Messiah who operates in the name of YHWH while still having YHWH as his God.

Micah 5:4 (KJV)

“And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.”

This passage is explicitly Messianic (cf. Micah 5:2). Its language is precise.

The coming ruler:

• Stands in the strength of YHWH

• Ministers in the majesty of the name of YHWH

• Has YHWH identified as “his God”

The Messiah bears the divine name in majesty — yet YHWH (not personalised to the father)  remains his God. YHVH is stated as the God of Jesus, this is not simply the father but YHVH the God of Israel. While in trinitarian theology the father is a person of YHVH and is fully God, he is not fully the God of Israel alone. The father is YHVH but YHVH is the father, son and spirit.

This is exactly the same pattern we see in the New Testament.

Jesus is:

Philippians 2:9

Given the name above every name

John 17:6

The one who manifests the Father’s name

Colossians 1:15

The image of the invisible God

And yet after his resurrection he still says:

John 20:17

“I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”

Even in resurrection glory, the Father remains his God.

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Standing in the Name vs. Being the Name

Micah clarifies an important distinction.

To stand “in the majesty of the name of YHWH” is not to be YHWH.
It is to act with His authority, to represent Him, to embody His rule.

This is covenantal agency language.

The Messiah rules on God’s behalf.
He shepherds in God’s strength.
He carries God’s name.
But YHWH remains his God.

This fits the broader biblical theology of representation:

• The Angel of YHWH speaks in God’s name.

• The Davidic king rules as God’s anointed.

• The Messiah bears divine authority.

  1 Samuel 17:45 “Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”

2 Samuel 6:18 “And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.”

1 Kings 17:1 “Elijah the Tishbite… said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Deuteronmy 10:8 “At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi… to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name.”

Yet in each case, YHWH remains distinct as God.

Micah 5:4 therefore establishes a prophetic pattern:

The Messiah will bear the divine name in majesty,
yet YHWH will still be the God of the Messiah.

That distinction is not erased in the New Testament — it is fulfilled.

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III. The Immediate Theological Problem

Now we must state the issue plainly.

If Trinitarianism is correct, then:

Israel’s God is not the Father alone.
Israel’s God is Father, Son, and Spirit.

That means:

Israel’s covenantal God = a triune being.

But Jesus repeatedly identifies:

His God = the Father.

Therefore, unless carefully explained, this yields a theological fracture:

Jesus’ God = the Father
Israel’s God = Father, Son, Spirit

If those are not identical in covenantal identity,
then Jesus — as a Jew under Torah — would not be worshiping the same God Israel confessed.

That would be a serious covenantal discontinuity.

This is not about Christ’s divinity.
This is about whether Jesus and Israel share the same God.

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IV. The Classical Trinitarian Response

Trinitarian theology responds in two major ways.

1. One Essence, Three Persons

At the First Council of Nicaea, it was affirmed:

The Son is homoousios (same essence) with the Father.

Thus:

• There is one divine being.

• That being subsists as Father, Son, and Spirit.

• Each person is fully God.

• The Father is not one-third of God.

So when Jesus says:

“My God”

He refers to the Father personally.

And since the Father is fully the one divine being,
Jesus’ God is still YHVH.

2. Two Natures

At the Council of Chalcedon:

Christ was defined as one person in two natures.

Thus:

• According to his human nature, he has a God.

• According to his divine nature, he does not.

This is the orthodox framework.

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V. Even If We Grant the Trinitarian Position

Now we assume, for the sake of argument:

• The Trinity is true.

• The Son is fully divine.

• The two-nature doctrine is correct.

The question remains:

What is the covenantal identity of Israel’s God?

If Israel’s God is triune,
then covenantally Israel’s God includes:

• The Father

• The Son

• The Spirit

Yet Jesus’ human nature relates covenantally to:

• The Father alone.

The divine nature of Christ does not have a God.
So the only God Jesus has is the Father.

This means:

Jesus’ covenantal God = the Father
Israel’s covenantal God (in Trinitarian definition) = Father, Son, Spirit

The Trinitarian must argue:

The Father is not a subset of the triune God.
The Father is fully YHVH personally.

But this depends on a distinction between:

• “God” as divine essence

• “God” as personal referent

A distinction not articulated in the Shema itself.

Thus even granting all of Trinitarian metaphysics,
the covenantal language of Scripture still overwhelmingly identifies:

God = the Father
Jesus = distinct from that God
Israel = worshipers of that one God

The theological question therefore remains:

Is the triune definition of YHVH preserving Israel’s covenantal confession,
or redefining it at the level of personal identity?

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Conclusion

The issue is not simply:

“Can Jesus be divine and have a God?”

The deeper question is:

Do Jesus and Israel have the same covenantal God?

If:

Israel’s God = the Father
and
Jesus’ God = the Father

Continuity is seamless.

If:

Israel’s God = Father, Son, Spirit
but
Jesus’ God = the Father alone

Then a theological explanation is required to preserve identity continuity.

Classical Trinitarianism offers such an explanation.

Whether that explanation reflects the biblical identity of YHVH —
or represents a later metaphysical harmonization —
is the question that remains.

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