Defining God According To The Torah
Psalm 138:2
Testing the Claim That Jesus Was 100% God and 100% Man
Introduction
One of the most defining claims of later Christian theology is that Jesus of Nazareth was both fully God and fully man at the same time. This doctrine—formalized centuries after the first century—asserts that the eternal, immutable God of Israel entered into corruptible human flesh without ceasing to be fully divine. While this idea has become foundational within Christian orthodoxy, it does not originate in the Torah, nor is it framed in the language of Moses or the Prophets.
If Yahuwah has already revealed who He is, how He exists, and what is possible within His nature, then any later claim about God must be tested against that revelation. The Torah is not silent on the nature of God. It defines Him with clarity, precision, and consistency. This study therefore examines the claim of Jesus’ full divinity not through creeds or philosophical abstractions, but through the Torah itself—the original standard Yahuwah gave to Israel.
When the portrayal of Jesus in the New Testament is carefully examined and measured against the Torah’s definition of God, serious and irreconcilable contradictions emerge.
The Nature of God According to the Torah
The Torah presents Yahuwah as eternal, self-existent, and unchanging. When He reveals Himself to Moses, He does not describe a being who evolves or adapts. He declares, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), identifying Himself as absolute existence. This name is not a title of role, but a statement of nature. Yahuwah does not become; He simply is.
Moses later affirms this truth when he declares, “The eternal God is your dwelling place” (Deuteronomy 33:27). Eternity, in the Torah, is not a quality that can be suspended or entered into temporarily. It defines who God is. To move from infinite to finite, from immortal to mortal, or from all-knowing to limited would constitute a change in nature—something the Torah explicitly rejects.
Closely tied to this is the Torah’s teaching about God’s holiness and glory. Yahuwah tells Moses, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20). Even Moses, who spoke with God more intimately than any other prophet, could not endure the fullness of Yahuwah’s presence. This establishes a firm boundary between the infinite holiness of God and the frailty of human flesh.
For this reason, the Torah repeatedly warns Israel not to imagine God in physical form. “You saw no form,” Moses reminds the people, “lest you act corruptly” (Deuteronomy 4:15–16). God’s self-revelation deliberately excludes embodiment. The idea that the fullness of Yahuwah could permanently dwell within corruptible human flesh runs directly against these foundational principles.
Limited Knowledge and the Question of Omniscience
Another defining attribute of Yahuwah in the Torah is complete knowledge. He declares the end from the beginning and speaks with absolute certainty about what will come to pass. Nothing is hidden from Him.
Against this backdrop, the New Testament presents a striking admission from Jesus himself. Speaking about the timing of future events, he states that no one knows the day or the hour—not the angels, and “not even the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32).
This admission cannot be dismissed lightly. According to the Torah, Yahuwah does not possess partial knowledge. A being who lacks information known to another is, by definition, not fully God. If Jesus did not know what the Father knew, then by Torah standards, he cannot share the same divine nature.
The Crucifixion and the Inviolability of God
The Torah consistently presents Yahuwah as sovereign over life and death. “I kill and I make alive,” He declares in Deuteronomy 32:39. He is never depicted as vulnerable, overpowered, or subject to human authority. Yahuwah does not stand trial before men; men stand before Him.
Yet the New Testament records that Jesus was arrested, beaten, mocked, and executed by human authorities. He is bound, struck, and nailed to wood. If Jesus is claimed to be Yahuwah Himself, this narrative presents a profound theological problem. The God of the Torah cannot be restrained by ropes, struck by soldiers, or executed by finite creatures.
To suggest that Yahuwah submitted Himself to human violence requires a complete redefinition of who Yahuwah is—one that finds no support in the Torah.
The Death of an Eternal God
The Torah does not contain the concept of a dying God. Yahuwah declares, “I live forever” (Deuteronomy 32:40). Death is the fate of created beings, not the uncreated Creator. An eternal God cannot cease to live, even temporarily, without ceasing to be eternal.
If God truly died, even for a moment, the implications are staggering. Creation would be without a sustaining Creator. Eternity would have an interruption. The One who declares Himself everlasting would, for a time, not exist. These conclusions are not merely uncomfortable—they are incompatible with Torah theology.
Contrasting the Torah’s God with the New Testament Portrait
When the Torah’s description of Yahuwah is placed alongside the New Testament’s portrayal of Jesus, the differences become unmistakable. The God of the Torah cannot be seen and lived; Jesus is seen, touched, and handled. Yahuwah possesses all knowledge; Jesus lacks knowledge. Yahuwah does not change; Jesus grows in wisdom. Yahuwah depends on no one; Jesus prays. Yahuwah lives forever; Jesus dies and is buried.
These are not minor distinctions. They describe fundamentally different categories of being.
“God Is Not a Man”
Perhaps most decisive is Yahuwah’s own testimony concerning His nature. Through Balaam, He declares, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent” (Numbers 23:19). This statement is not metaphorical. It is ontological. Yahuwah explicitly distinguishes Himself from humanity.
To later assert that God became a man is to contradict His own declaration about who He is.
Conclusion
When the claim that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man is tested against the Torah, it collapses under the weight of Scripture. The Torah defines Yahuwah as immutable, omniscient, inviolable, eternal, and wholly distinct from corruptible flesh. The New Testament portrayal of Jesus, however, presents a figure who grows, learns, prays, suffers, and dies.
These traits describe a human servant of God—not Yahuwah Himself.
Measured by the Torah’s unchanging standard, the conclusion is unavoidable: Jesus, as described in the New Testament, cannot be the eternal God of Israel and therefore could not have been both fully God and fully man at the same time.