142) I Share my Glory with No Other. "See, Jesus is God!"

Isaiah 42:8 I am YHVH (Yahweh, Yehovah), that ismy name; my glory (cavod, כָבוֹד) I give to no other,nor my praise to graven images.

Deityof Christ theologians claim that since Jesus has (God’s) glory, or was given glory by God, he must be God, because God doesn’t give His glory to anyone else.

That claim is a philosophical, rationalistic kind of claim that no one in the Bible makes. It’s kind of an end around claim that runs into dead ends.  For instance, if Jesus is God, why did God have to give him glory? Can God lose his glory and than someone else who is God give it back to him.

This kind of claim really reveals a certain kind of biblical ignorance, or a willing ignorance. It’s the kind of claim that reveals a desperate search for some evidence to make Christ into God. It’s contrived “evidence”. 

To understand what Isaiah 42:8 and 48:11 are really saying, all we have to do is look a bit at the context of the statements. There are two parts to that context that shows that deity of Christ claims about these passages completely miss the point.

The statement in Isaiah 42:8 “I give my glory to no other” are in the context of Israel’s idolatry.

1. God DOES NOT give His glory AS GOD to anyoneelse. Specifically, God does not share His glory with other gods or idols. God will not allow Israel to believe that someone or something else is their god.God warned: “I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Exo 20:5).

2. God DOES give glory to others the nation of Israel, notto show that these others are God, but to show that the God who gives the glory is their God, the only God.  

Deity of Christ interpreters totally miss the meaning of these passages in the Book of Isaiah.

Note to listeners: After I publishing the podcast, I see that the quote, translation and interpretation of Romans 5:2 is not as clear-cut as the translation I quoted (RSV). The Greek is more ambiguous. The Greek does not have the word "sharing". The Greek is more literally "we boast(glory) in(with) hope of the glory of God".

Because of the ambiguity, the RSV supplied "sharing". But it should be italicized that "sharing" is not in the text. I see another translation (CJB) supplies "experiencing the glory of God". Most translations, which is probably better, just render "we rejoice in the glory of God".I feel I over-stated the case after seeing that word "sharing" is not in the Greek. I would edit that section, but YouTube won’t allow editing since it apparently has already made the video available in other languages (?). So, I’d just encourage people to think about what Paul meant by writing “we rejoice with hope of the glory of God”.The other famous verse in Romans about us having something to do with God's glory is Rom. 3:23, "we all fall short of the glory of God". This verse suggests some human participation or expectation of believers in/with God's glory. Romans 2:7 says we "seek for glory and honor and immortality". 2 Cor. 4:6 describes the "knowledge of God's glory".Unfortunately, most translations are inconsistent (probably with theological bias) on Psalm 84:11. Instead of translating "the LORD (YHVH) God gives grace and glory", English translations make it "favor and honor". But the second word is the same word cavod כָבוֹד as Isaiah 42:6.Another point I would make about “giving glory”: In the Bible to give glory is often an idiom for giving recognition where recognition is due. This is why God won’t give glory to idols in His work of creation or with Israel.