If you do not have a Bible Study software, I would like to suggest a free one you can download from the internet. It is called “E-Sword.” It is not difficult to navigate, but if you find you need a little help with it, there are plenty of Youtube videos that will explain the different functions. Personally, I do not think you will. If I can use it, anyone can. There are many bibles, commentaries, maps, etc. (that are free) that you can download into this program (E-sword) from their website.³⁵

   So we have learned in the Hebrew culture Jesus could rightly be called “god,” not in an ontological sense [of or relating to substance], but in the representative sense [Jesus represents God to us], and therefore can understand Thomas’ statement to Jesus after the resurrection, which he doubted, and says to the risen Messiah, “My lord and my God. “

   Remember, the resurrection did not prove that Jesus is God. Only God is immortal (1 Tim. 1:7) and God cannot die!

 The Lord Said To My Lord

   Okay, now we can learn something that will help clear up a lot of confusion. We are going to discuss Ps. 110:1 because this is a prophecy about the future Messiah.

   When we read the Old Testament, you will notice that when scripture speaks of God, it uses LORD in all capital letters. This word in the Hebrew is ADONAI (for LORD God, Yahweh, or YHVH). This is the supreme LORD.

   The other Hebrew word translated “lord” is “ADONI” (pronounced “Adon-nee”). It refers to non-Deity, a human superior.

• ADONAI =the supreme God – LORD, Yahweh or YHVH

• ADONI = a non-Deity superior

   The bible in Psalm 110:1 actually gives the Messiah the title that never describes God. The word is “adoni” and in all of its occurrences in the Old Testament, it means a superior who is human (or occasionally angelic) and not God. Therefore, Psalm 110:1 presents the clearest evidence that the Messiah is not God, but a supremely exalted man.³⁶

   The word “Adonai” (the supreme LORD) consistently refers to the One God. There is one instance in Genesis 18:3, where one of the three men (angels) who stayed behind was addressed as the LORD. Why? Because we have established the angel was a direct representative who spoke God’s words. Remember, no one saw or spoke directly with God.

   Now comes the part where people are often confused. Psalms 110:1 is often quoted in the New Testament (Ex. Matt. 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34-35; Heb. 1:13 and many other passages that allude to Ps. 110:1) which shows that the “adoni,” refers to the non-deity.

   After Jesus confirmed the Unitarian creed (“the LORD our God is one LORD”) in Mark 12:29, we see a little further in the chapter where Jesus is in the temple and he asks a question:

35 Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

36 For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”37 Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly. (Mark 12:35-37)

   Did you see how the second “lord” in verse 36 is capitalized? Many trinitarians try to use this to prove Christ’s deity. But they are incorrect, because that second lord (“adoni”) refers to non-deity. It has to do with a human superior. The NET (New English Translation and a few others) has it stated correctly:

Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!”.

So in the Old Testament, it would read like this:

The LORD said to my lord.

   Therefore, the prophecy “my lord” (adoni) is the Messiah. Jesus describes that the “my lord” is the one destined to “sit at the right hand of the LORD (his God). Peter confirms this about Jesus after his death and resurrection in Acts 2:34-36:

34For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, 35until I make your enemies your footstool. 36Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

   The Messiah was to be David’s biological descendant through Mary. It is not David’s LORD, but David’s “lord.” (Master) The second “lord” in most translations is very misleading because they spell it with a capital L. God is not speaking to God. What we have is a trinitarian dilemma:

In the end, Trinitarians find themselves in the same dilemma as those first century Pharisees. When examined carefully, one finds that the Trinitarian is faced with an inescapable dilemma. He wants to have it that a pre-existent second person of the Trinity, Jesus according to his divine nature, is David's Lord. The problem here is that the one who is David's Lord is also David's son, David's descendant. Logically, the pre-existent second person of the Trinity was not David's son! Otherwise, one would need to say David was the father of his son: God. Absurd. David's son can only be a future human being, Jesus according to the flesh. ³⁷  

   God Almighty is not talking with God Almighty. Since Ps. 110:1 is often alluded to in the New Testament by Jesus and others, it is important that we do not get confused, especially by trinitarian teaching.

 My Lord And My God

   This ought to help us understand Thomas’ statement when he saw the risen Christ. In John 20:24-29, we read:

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them.

The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing." Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

   It has clearly been proven that God (Yahweh) and Jesus are not the same. It should then be obvious that Thomas using the words “my God,” does not mean that he is addressing him as the One LORD of Israel (Deut. 6:4-6).

   We have already discovered that to refer to men by the title “god” (see Ps. 82:6) was not inappropriate, nor did it mean they are God. Angels aside, the Old Testament does refer to men as “god” when they stand in place of God, and to speak for Him, e.g. Moses in Ex. 7:1 ("Listen! I've positioned you as God to Pharaoh”), and the “judges” (the Hebrew word “Elohim” - Exodus 21:6; 22:8; 22:9).

   Throughout Jesus’ ministry, God speaks. God has spoken to us by His Son (Heb. 1:1-2). In this sense, Thomas acknowledges Jesus as “my God.” He confesses Jesus as “my lord” (as in Ps. 110:1, the Messiah), and to say “My God,” reveals that Thomas undoubtedly understands that the Messiah stands in the place of God. “My lord, and my God.” In other words, all the puzzle pieces came together for Thomas.

   Also, do not forget that the purpose of John writing this gospel was to show us Jesus is the Messiah, the “Son of God.” (John 20:31)

   I will end this by suggesting a little exercise by author Greg Deuble:

For readers wishing to follow further this little-recognized distinction between the two Lords in the Hebrew Scriptures, the following will supply a good springboard for thoughtful reflection. There are many examples scattered throughout the OT. One or two examples of quite heavy concentration should be sufficient. The first interesting example concerns the time Abigail begs David for mercy on account of the stupidity of her husband Nabal. I quote from the NASB which makes the correct distinction between God and man. The Hebrew text actually has the Tetragrammaton — YHWH — which is God’s personal name Yahweh (or Jehovah) but is usually translated into English as though it were Adonai as “the LORD.” The human lord (in this case the man David) appears in lower case as “my lord”:

When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David, and bowed herself to the ground. And she fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal... but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now let your enemies, and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. And now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord. Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you all your days. And should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God and it shall come about when the LORD shall do for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint you ruler over Israel, that this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD shall deal well with my lord, then remember your maidservant” (1 Sam. 25: 23-31).

The reader is encouraged to take a highlighter and continue on through the rest of chapter 25 and on into chapter 26. Some surprises are no doubt in store. Note particularly verses 15 to 19 of 1 Samuel 26 where King Saul is called “your lord the king” and “my lord the king” and even (as per Psalm 110: 1) “your lord, the LORD’s anointed” (that is, Jehovah’s Messiah/ Christ), which is significant when we come to the New Testament with its designation of Jesus as “our Lord the Messiah/ Christ/ king.” The astute reader should also note the correlation between this very Hebrew way of designating a human superior and Thomas’ affirmation that the risen Jesus is “my Lord and my God.” It may well be that the second title “my God” shows Thomas finally grasping that to see Jesus means to see God in him (see John 14: 5-11). Should the reader still require more evidence of the two Hebrew Lords, she/he could try 2 Samuel 14 or even 2 Samuel 19. The highlighter will get a good workout! ³⁸

_____________________________________________________