Bob wrote:
> Ok, I questioned a Rabbi about this subject. He stated that Gen 1:26
> ("Let US make...")refers to God conferring with the angels as a
> courtesy to them during the "planning stage" for man's creation.
> However the actual creation of man in 1:27 is done singularly by God,
> as only He can do.  Makes sense to me! Case closed.
>
What kind of "rabbi" was he?  For instance, was he a Torah teacher?  If
you really and truly spoke with a legitimate rabbi, then tell
specifically, what kind of rabbi was he.

I doubt with near absolute assurance he was not a "rabbi with
authority" such as Maimonides.  He wrote a creed in which the second
article states:

I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name,
is a Unity, and there is no Unity in any manner like unto His, and that
He alone is our God, who was, is and will be.

Now obviously that last phrase has relationship to Rev 1:8.  But that
is not my point (just yet) in quoting "Rambam."  It is his obvious
reference to Deut 6:4, which every Jewish scholar notes, which is
specific to the point of your argument.  But Rabbi Rambam changed one
of the original Hebrew words in Deut 6:4, which reads in the Hebrew:

Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.

IF you know even a little Hebrew, you will recognize that all the nouns
are plural.  That this IS the case, if we translate the verse with an
absolute literalness, then it would read thus:

Hear, O Israel, the Lords our Gods, the Lords (are) One.

Now back to Rambam.  In the Deut 6:4 text, the last word in the Hebrew
which is translated into the English to read, "one", is the word
"echad."  In Gen 2:24 we see it first used when the Torah declares that
a husband and wife are to become "basar echad"  (one flesh).  It is
used else where in the Jewish Scriptures when speaking of  the nephesh
of Israel as being "one people" or "one nation"  (am
echad).  Echad
speaks of a **compound** unity.  And Rambam knew this and deliberately
changed his rendering of the Shema, exchanging "echad" for
"yachid,"
If you don't already know, "yachid" is the Hebrew terms which denotes a
singlular entity.  It denotes the grape whereas echad denotes the
cluster of grapes.

Now in Gen 1:26, again, the plural form of El is used, being Elohim.

Let US make man in OUR own image, and after OUR own likeness.

It is ruinous to render this as including God and angels.  There is no
reading out of the text to gain that appreciation, only a reading into
the text.  The plural noun, Elohim, is used with a singular verb, bara.
 This is the exact same manner of describing the Spirit's role in
creation in Gen 1:1-2.  So at the very opening, the very first verses
of the scriptures, God reveals Himself as having at least 2 persons,
that of Elohim and that of v'Ruach Elohim.

Now don't run away!   What of Isa 63:9 & 10?

v 9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His
presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them; And
He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
v10 But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned
Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.

"He" is YHVH, "angel of His presence" is none other
than the Angel of
YHVH, and then there is the personage (only a person can be grieved) of
the Holy Spirit.  So here you have all three persons described in the
same activity.

Still here?  What of Isa 48:16.  Again, all three Persons of the
Godhead are listed together.

Come near to Me, listen to this:
>From the first I have not spoken in secret,
>From the time it took place, I was there.
And now the Lord YHVH has sent Me, and His Spirit.

THIS is John's Logos.  "YHVH and His Redeemer, YHVH of hosts."

Is. 44:6  "Thus says the YHVH, the King of Israel And His Redeemer, the
YHVH of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God
besides Me.

now compare this to

Rev. 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He
laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first
and the last,

Rev. 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end."

WHAT's THIS?  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega?  But wait.  Doesn't
John write of this elsewhere.  Oh ya!

Rev. 1:8  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

So Jesus is the "Lord God Almighty!"   Imagine that!  Apparently, Bob,
you have not read your bible thoroughly enough!

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