Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Trinitarian Apologist: Numbers 23:19 is not about God's Ontology but His Moral Character

Ken Ammi, a Trinitarian, in his interaction with Jewish objections to the Incarnation, wrote the following about Num 23:19:

 

One last issue to consider within this context is the oft raised objection that Jesus cannot be God because, after all, “God is not a man” (Numbers 23:19). There are various points to ponder in which regard including that one cannot build an entire doctrine upon five words. Also, the five words are not stated as such in the Bible, as stand alones, but are part of a complete thought which is, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

 

Thus, the text is not about God’s ontology but about His character. God is not like humans in that He does not lie, etc. (Ken Ammi, Is Jesus the Messiah? A Judaism vs. Judaism Debate [No End Books, 2017], 151, emphasis in bold added)

 

Such comments about Num 23:19 and the words of the false prophet(!) Balaam is similar to those of Latter-day Saint apologists when responding to critics who raise this passage: it is not about the ontological nature of God, but instead, about His moral character in comparison to fallen man. For more, see:


Lynn Wilder vs. Latter-day Saint (and Biblical) Theology on Divine Embodiment

D. Charles Pyle on Hosea 11:9 (cf. Numbers 23:19)