We do not find the word trinity in the Bible, but the truth underlying this term is declared plainly in the New Testament, and it lies hidden also, like a precious gem, in the pages of the Old Testament. In Prov. 25:2 we read, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter." The revelation of the three Persons in the Godhead could not be openly declared until redemption was accomplished. It was when Jesus was risen from the dead that He made known to His disciples the "name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 28:19).

It is not surprising that the enemy has made this glorious truth an object of attack, nor that it should be misunderstood and misrepresented by those who have relied upon the power of human intellect rather than upon God's revelation, in the understanding thereof. In this, the Lord has spoken of the safety and assurance of the "babes," who receive in the simplicity of faith what God makes known, whereas the "wise and prudent" stumble and fall. Indeed, in the Lord's eyes, it was a matter for thanksgiving to the Father that it should be so (Luke 10:21, 22).

It would be difficult to trace the history of this doctrine from the beginning of the Christian era. In the early centuries great controversies were raged over this and related doctrines. What is known as "Arianism" was a subtle and elaborate denial of the truth as to the Person of the Son. But it is plain that if anything affects the doctrine of the Son, it must of necessity also affect the truth as to the Trinity; for they stand or fall together.

Thank God, He stood with His faithful servants who defended the truth at that time, among whom Athanasius was conspicuous, and the devices of the enemy were frustrated, at least as far as the doctrine itself was concerned.

The various names and titles by which God manifested Himself before the coming of His Son into the world tell some of His qualities and attributes, but they could not fully reveal Him. He is called the "Almighty," the "Most High," "Possessor of heaven and earth," "Creator," "Redeemer," "Everlasting God," etc. But the two names most often used are god, 1:e., The Mighty One (Elohim), and Jehovah, or "I am," 1:e., The Self-existing one. In the revelation of Himself to Moses and the children of Israel, He declared His name Jehovah, the great "I am." Implied in this name is His unchanging character, as when He says, "I am Jehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6).

In revealing Himself to Israel as the one true and living God, in contrast with the "many gods" of the Gentiles, He said, "Hear, 0 Israel, the lord our God is one lord." Whatever is contained in these words, they in no way contradict the declaration given by our Lord in Matt. 28:19. The doctrine of the Trinity is the full development of what is declared of God in the Old Testament Scriptures. To begin with, there was no other god than He who was then manifesting Himself in the deliverance of His people Israel. Although Satan and his demons were shrouded beneath the many forms of Egyptian worship, they were powerless to prevent the judgments of Jehovah against those who worshiped them and who cried to them for help. Neither could they defend themselves against the power of the Almighty One who was working to save "His people."
Of the family of Abram in Mesopotamia, we are told that "they served other gods" (Josh. 24:2). But the Lord revealed Himself as the living and true God to the patriarch, and he was delivered from idolatry, never returning to it. Not only so, he also "commanded his children and his household after him, to keep the way of Jehovah." So Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve sons, whatever their failings, we find cleave to the true God. Indeed, this is shown in what God said to Moses at the bush:"I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Is not this threefold declaration a bright foregleam of truth as to the Trinity? To these men God made Himself known along the line of this very truth, though fulness of revelation must wait till "God was manifested in flesh." The truth of the Father and the Son is certainly foreshadowed in what we read of Abraham and Isaac, especially in connection with the offering on Mt. Moriah. In Abraham we see the Father's love for the "only-begotten Son;" in Isaac we see the perfect submission ?o the Father's will, "obedience unto death;" while in Jacob is shown the transforming power of the Spirit, taking one who was a "deceiver," and making of him a "prince with God." It illustrates the work of the Spirit in New Creation.

During the time of the Egyptian bondage, the people of Israel lost the knowledge of the true God, and became swallowed up in the worship of the gods of Egypt. It was, in part, to deliver them from this idolatry that the lord god of their fathers revealed afresh to them His promise through Moses. In declaring Himself anew, Jehovah made known in fuller measure than before the meaning of His covenant Name. But the history of that people from that day till the Babylonish Captivity bore sad witness to perpetual "backsliding," until they found themselves engulfed in the sad and awful results of their wicked choice. Driven out of their own land, which God had espied for them, they had to learn what it was to "be filled with the fruit of their own devices." Many prophets had been raised up to them, who had borne faithful witness to the past dealings of their God with them, working for their deliverance; but though stirred for a little time, they soon sank back into the worship of evil gods, shamefully denying Him who had loved them and sought to have them cleave to Him. Through Isaiah especially, Jehovah made appeals to them, unsurpassed in eloquence and majesty; but all to no purpose. In these prophecies we have declarations implying His triune Being, such as that recorded in Isa. 48:16.

The Captivity seemed to be the turning-point in the history of Israel, so far as idolatry is concerned. At that time the pendulum of their national career seems to have swung to the opposite extreme. After their return to their own land, and especially since our Lord's sojourn upon the earth, they have been zealous Monotheists. The Four Gospels witness how strong was their defense, as they understood it, of the doctrine that "God is One." But they did not see that even the demons believe as much, and "tremble," as James declares; they did not see that mere "orthodoxy" was no guarantee that they loved the truth; in fact, they hated Him who was the perfect manifestation of it. Their misconception of God led to their rejection of His Son.

Whether through an inherent unbelief of the truth, or whatever the underlying cause, the Jews did not profit by the revelation of God to them in the sending of His own Son into their midst. With far less light, Abraham's faith was an open rebuke to them. The Lord Jesus declared:"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." The expression "My day" refers in some sense to the manifestation of the Son in manhood. Whether or not it was at the time of the sacrifice of Isaac that he perceived this, Abraham discerned in the relationship between Isaac and himself something of the truth as to the Father and the Son.
In what is called Church History we find, as noted above, much controversy over the doctrine of the Trinity and related truths. This was especially the case in the latter part of the third, and the early part of the fourth century. But there has ever been among some sections of the professing Church an adherence to what corresponds to the Jewish unbelief in regard to Christ and His place in the Godhead. Where His Deity is denied, there logically follow the denial of the Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit, as distinct from the Son and the Father. Yet the statement in Matt. 28:19 makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is to be owned as god along with the Father and the Son. It will not do to give a subordinate place to the Holy Spirit, or to the Son, any more than to the Father. Wm. Huss

(To be concluded in next number, D.V.)