Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word

Joseph Herrin (06-18-2003)

What I am going to share here has come as a Rhema word from God. I did not figure this out with my rational abilities, for in truth I have been completely stumped as I have tried to understand the Trinity. I could not conceive in my limited mind how God could be both three persons and one person. Like all things that are truly profound, we receive them as a free gift as Yahweh gives us understanding. We are told to ask, seek and knock when we lack understanding, and it will be given to us, and in doing this I have done nothing more than any other saint could, and should, do. I take no credit for anything shared herein, though I consider it to be a tremendous revelation. The revelation is not from man, but from God. I am merely a scribe recording what I have received.

As this matter of the nature of God was on my mind, Yahweh led me to understanding by showing me a physical example that all of us are very familiar with. We are told in Genesis chapter one that man has been created in the image and likeness of God, and knowing this, we can conclude that if we understand man, we will know something about God. My journey into understanding began when someone wrote to me and asked “Where would you look to find man’s spirit.”

I had already done some study of the matter of man being comprised of spirit, soul and body, and the Scriptures do declare that man does consist of these three parts.

I Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah. 

I learned an interesting thing as I studied the Hebrew and Greek words for soul and spirit. Both words are derived from words that mean “breath,” “a current of air,” or “exhalation.” Most saints are very familiar with Yahshua’s discourse with Nicodemus. During this conversation we have recorded the following words of Christ.

John 3:8

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

Because we are reading this in English, rather than in Greek, we miss a very important point. The word that we read here as “wind,” and the word we read as “Spirit” are not two separate words in the Greek, but they are the same word “pneuma.” This entire matter of understanding the role of Father, Son and Spirit would be much clearer if the Bible translators had rendered this word pneuma as “breath” or “wind” in every instance. Instead of the Holy Spirit, we would be speaking of the “Holy Breath.” We would know then that the Holy Spirit is the Breath, or Exhalation of the Father whom we know as Yahweh. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Breath. A Scripture that reveals this in a very poignant way is the following.

John 20:21-22

So Yahshua said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Another passage is as follows:

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. 

It is apparent from these verses and many others that the Spirit is synonymous with wind and breath. The Spirit is the Exhalation of Yahweh. The passage in John above could be written, “He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Breath.” Similarly, the passage from Acts could read, “And they were all filled with the Holy Wind.” The words “breath” and “wind” are used to describe similar things in the English language. For example we might say, “There was not a breath of wind stirring.”

Understanding the relationship between Spirit and breath was building block number one in coming to understand the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit. The next building block came as I tried to answer the question regarding where man would look for his spirit.

We know that a spirit is invisible to the natural senses. We cannot take a picture of a man’s spirit. Not even an x-ray will show the spirit of man. Our spirit was formed in the image of the invisible God, and our spirit is likewise invisible. Yet we talk about seeing the spirit of another person very often. We might say, “He has a kind spirit,” or “She has a bitter spirit.” A commonly heard expression is “He is the spirit and image of his father” (Some areas have corrupted this expression and lost its true sense as they say “He is the spittin image of his father.” “Spittin” is a slang corruption of “spirit and.”)

If we do not see another person’s spirit, then how do we recognize their spirit? It is our words that express what is inside of us. Yahshua said:

Mark 7:20-23

And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

The things that are in man’s spirit will come out of his mouth. By listening to another person’s speech we can discern their spirit. We can easily tell if a father and a son have the same spirit by listening to their words. Are they both hateful? Are they both compassionate? Whatever is in their spirit will be revealed in their speech.

Now a light began to come on inside when I was led to consider how man forms words. We speak as our breath is exhaled and passes over our vocal cords. We only speak as we exhale, and we do not speak while inhaling. This is no accident. It is by Divine design. Yahweh is teaching us something about Himself in this simple example of the speech of man. We cannot see man’s spirit until his spirit is exhaled and forms words. A man’s spirit is revealed in his words.

In the same way, we cannot see God who is Spirit until He breathes out a Word.

I Timothy 6:15-16

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.

John 1:18

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared (revealed, expressed) Him.

Yahweh is Spirit, and as Spirit He is invisible to the physical senses of man. Yahweh would remain invisible to man had He not spoken a Word, and this Word is His Son.

John 1:1, 2, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

Even as man’s spirit is seen through his words, so Yahweh who is Spirit can only be seen through His Word, which is Yahshua the Son. In Yahshua, Yahweh has fully expressed Himself. To see the Son is to see the invisible Father.

John 14:8-9

Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Yahshua said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father'?”

As we look at Yahweh’s design of man, and the production of speech, we learn a great truth about the Father, Son and Spirit. The spirit of man is invisible, but it is who the man essentially is. The character of man is bound up in his spirit. His thoughts are formed in his spirit. Yet neither the character nor the thoughts of a man are evident until they are given expression. The chief way that God has designed man to express himself is through speech, and our speech is generated as we exhale the breath that is within us and this breath is given shape as it passes over our vocal cords. 

What a picture this is of the Trinity. Yahweh is also invisible, for He is Spirit. His character and His thoughts remain invisible until they are given expression. His expression is His Son, who is called “the Word of God,” and this Word was formed as the Spirit, or Divine Breath of God moved.

Luke 1:35

The angel answered and said to [Mary], “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

John 1:32-34

John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."

In these two verses an important truth is revealed. It required two distinct acts of the Spirit to fully form the Word of God. Yahshua could not begin His ministry of “declaring” the Father until the Spirit moved upon Him a second time. He was not yet the full expression of Yahweh until the Spirit descended upon Him and remained. In the same way, man requires two touches from God’s Spirit (the Divine Breath) to begin manifesting the character and thoughts of God to the world. We see these two touches from God in the following verses.

Genesis 2:7

Then Yahweh God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 

John 20:21-22

So Yahshua said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you."  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Twice the breath of God had to move upon man to make him into God’s new creation. With the first breath man became a living soul. With the second breath he became a life giving spirit.

I Corinthians 15:45-49

So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

As Yahweh breathes an image is formed, in the same way that we breathe and we form words that create an image of our spirit. We have born the image of the earthly, yet we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. At God’s first breath man became a living soul, a natural being that is earthly. At His second breath man became a life giving spirit, and the image of the heavenly being began to take shape in us. This process of being formed into the heavenly image is a process that will continue until Christ be fully formed in us.

II Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 

Returning to our focus on the Father, Son and Spirit, we are now prepared to answer the question, “Is God one God, or is He three?” We can also answer the question, “Is Yahshua God, or was He a created being?” Again, the answer can be found as we look at man who was created in the image and likeness of God. As a man I consist of spirit, soul and body. Does this make me three men, or am I one man? I am one man, though I exist in various states and have distinct parts. The Scriptures declare that Yahweh is one God.

I Timothy 2:5

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Yahshua...

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!”

We do not serve three Gods, we serve one God whose name is Yahweh. Yahweh has Breath which He sends forth to accomplish His will, and it is this Breath that we call the Holy Spirit who is pictured as a “rushing mighty wind,” and also as “a gentle stirring.” To aid our understanding, however, we would do better to think of the Father as Spirit, for this is what He is, and to think of the Holy Spirit as His Divine Breath sent forth to accomplish His will.

John 4:24

"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  

As we have seen, the word pneuma means breath, or wind. This Breath in turn forms the expression of Yahweh, which we know as Yahshua, the Word of God. When Yahweh forms a word and sends it forth, it is to accomplish His purposes, and His Word will accomplish all that it has been sent forth to do.

Isaiah 55:11

So will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, 

without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 

Yahshua is this Word that Isaiah has written about. He testified that He did not come of His own initiative, but the Father sent Him (John 8:42). He came to do the will of the Father, and He succeeded fully in accomplishing all that which He was sent forth to accomplish. As we have observed, our words reveal our spirit, and Yahweh’s Word reveals Him. For this reason Yahshua, the Word of God came, to disclose the Father. Because Yahshua is the Word of God that fully discloses Yahweh who is Spirit, there is no difference between them. They are One and the same. They are not two Gods, but One and the same God.

Yahshua is not some created being in the same way that man has been created. He is the very expression of Yahweh. My words express my spirit. They are not separate from me, though I form them. Instead they reveal who I really am. In the same way Yahshua, the Word, expresses who Yahweh is. In the Scriptures we see that no distinction is made between them. As Yahshua stated, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Let us look at some other Scriptures that reveal their intrinsic union.

Yahweh and Christ both called "the First and the Last":

Isaiah 44:6

"Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. 

Isaiah 48:12

"Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last."

Revelation 1:17

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last...

Revelation 2:8

"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this...

Revelation 22:13

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."  

Yahweh and Christ both called "the Rock":

Isaiah 44:8

'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'" 

I Corinthians 10:4

And all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. 

Yahweh and Christ are both called "I AM":

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you.'" 

Matthew 18:20

"For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I AM there in their midst."

Matthew 28:20

Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age."    

John 8:58

Yahshua said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM."  

Both are called "The Almighty":

Genesis 17:1

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.   

Genesis 35:11

God also said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply..."

Genesis 49:25

From the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you...

Revelation 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."

Revelation 4:7-8

And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." 

Revelation 11:17

"We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast begun to reign."

Revelation 19:14-15

 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

Revelation 21:22

And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.

Both the Father and the Son bear the name "Yahweh":

Joel 2:32

"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved."

Romans 10:13

For "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord (kurio) will be saved."

(We know it was the practice of the Jews to replace the sacred name Yahweh with the title Adonai which means "Lord.” Paul was quoting from Joel as he was referring to Christ. Compare this also with the following verse which says there is salvation in no other name. Joel says that those who call on the name "Yahweh" will be saved, and there is no other name. The Father and Son bore the same name.)

Acts 4:12

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

This substitution of names is seen in other places as well:

Psalms 118:26

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh...

John 12:12-13

On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Yahshua was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and began to cry out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel."

These Scriptures, and many others, reveal that there is no distinction between the Father and the Son. Even as a thought, and the word that expresses the thought, are one and the same, so the Father who is Spirit, and the Son Who is the Expression of the Father are One and the same. The Son arises out of the Father even as a word arises out of the spirit of man, and so perfect is the Son in His expression of the spirit of Yahweh that to see Him is to see the Father.

Yahweh then is One God, and He has three aspects. Yahweh the Father is an invisible Spirit, completely hidden from man. No man at any time has seen Him, and this includes Moses and the patriarchs. 

I Timothy 6:15-16

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. 

Yahweh has Breath, and it is this Breath that blows wherever it wills and accomplishes the purpose of the Father. This Breath produces the Word and in the Word is Yahweh seen and His attributes known. How indivisible are these three, Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word. We see this Divine Trinity revealed in the words of the Psalmist.

Psalms 33:6

By the Word of Yahweh were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the Breath of his mouth.

Here again we see the Trinity:

Isaiah 40:7-8

The grass withers, the flower fades, when the Breath of Yahweh blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever. 

II Samuel 22:16

“Then the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were laid bare by the Rebuke of Yahweh, at the blast of the Breath of His nostrils.”

A rebuke is expressed as a word, so we see here all three aspects of Yahweh revealed. The thoughts of Yahweh are expressed as a Breath and then they take form. This is true of man as well.

Psalms 94:11

Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are a mere breath.

We literally breathe out our thoughts and give them form as words. In the same way Yahweh is Spirit where His thoughts are formed, they are Breathed out and become an expression. His greatest expression is His Son who is “The Word.”

I Corinthians 2:11

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit (Breath) of God. 

So Yahweh who is Spirit forms thoughts, His thoughts go forth as His Divine Breath, and this Breath produces an Expression of Yahweh. This is the Holy Trinity, and yet we can see that there is only One God. A great simile of the nature of God is found in the formation of speech in man. Man has a spirit and it is in his spirit that thoughts are formed. Though these thoughts be spirit, they only come forth as man physically exhales. As his breath leaves his body the vocal cords are activated to form distinct sounds that are recognizable as words that give substance to the thoughts that were formerly invisible. 

A clear relationship exists between man’s spirit, his breath and his words. One flows into another. It is not as perfect a harmony as that which exists between Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word, for He alone is holy and without any shadow or influence of corruption. These three always agree, Yahweh, His Breath, and His Word.

By looking at this simile of man’s spirit, his breath and his words, we can see that the Father, Son and Divine Breath are not three different individuals dwelling together, for there is only One source and this is Yahweh. Yahweh is Spirit, and He has Breath and Expression.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

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Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063