The Year I Read the Bible with Laurie Larsen

Episode 2 -- The Holy Trinity Foreshadowed in the Creation Story?

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Laurie discusses the first biblical mystery that she uncovered in her reading journey, and it began in Genesis 1! She always assumed that the Holy Trinity evolved as the trio was introduced in the Bible ... God the Father was there for Creation, God the Son was born in a manger in Bethlehem, and God the Holy Spirit was introduced by Jesus to his disciples around the time of the Last Supper to be an Advocate when he was gone.

Boy was she wrong! The Holy Trinity existed before the earth began. Does that surprise you?  Not only that, there are clues to this fact throughout the Old and New Testaments!

Laurie's guest today is the very knowledgeable super-Bible scholar Beth Sprinkle.  Beth is a deacon at All Saints Church of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, as well as the founder and co-leader of the wildly successful and informative Women in the Word program.

Are you interested in checking out the ebooks, paperback, hardcover or audiobook? Click here:  The Year I Read the Bible?  

Speaker:

Hi, I'm your host Laurie Larsen, and this is The Year I Read the Bible. Welcome! A Lifelong Christian, I thought I was familiar with the Bible, but in 2023 I accepted the challenge of reading the whole thing, cover to cover. Whenever I encountered something I didn't understand or wanted to learn more, I jotted it down, but I kept reading to stay on schedule. When I finished reading. (Imagine confetti raining down on me and a huge sigh of relief.) I had more than 50 topics to research. In 2024. I started diving into all those topics. I did research, I wrote blogs, and I shared them with whoever might wanna learn too. And in 2025, the project continues. I published a book containing my essays, and now a podcast. Is there something you can learn from that dusty book that sits on all of our shelves? Yes. Yes, there is. Let's dive into The Year I Read the Bible.

Speaker:

Hello everyone. This is Laurie Larsen and I'm here with you today with another episode of The Year I Read the Bible, the second episode of this brand new podcast. The title is The Holy Trinity Foreshadowed in the Creation Story. Can you detect the question mark at the end of that title? If you are like me and you thought that God appeared throughout the Old Testament and then Jesus made his appearance in the New Testament with his birth, and then the Holy Spirit was introduced by Jesus when he was preparing for his crucifixion, then you're going to learn something new today because there are actually signs right in the creation story. That all three beings of the Holy Trinity were present from the very beginning. Let's dive into today's essay.

Speaker:

Prior to my straight through reading of the Bible in 2023, I always thought of God being the divine master. Of the entire Old Testament. Jesus was introduced in the Virgin birth story in the New Testament Gospels. And then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his apostles as an advocate after his resurrection and ascension as we read about in the second chapter of Acts. Thus, the members of the Holy Trinity I always thought were successive appearing one after another. I.

Speaker:

But one thing I noticed very early on in my reading in Genesis one, in fact, were clues that this might not be true. Genesis 1 26, then God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky. Later in Genesis three, after Eve has eaten the apple from the tree of good and evil, Genesis 3 22, and the Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us. Knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. One other reference. This one in Genesis 11 describes the story of the tower at Babel. At that time, the whole world had one language and common speech. All Earth's inhabitants were planning to build a tower as high as the heavens so they could all live together. God wanted them to spread their population across the earth. In Genesis 11, six and seven, the Lord said If as one people speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.

Speaker:

These three references seem to indicate that God was not alone in his creation of the world and overseeing its early days. There are times when he is referred to as singular and then these instances where he is included in a plural sense. One answer is that from the very beginning of creation, God existed as the Holy Trinity, God the father. Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. It was an interesting possibility, but not necessarily confirmed just because of the plural references I pointed out. The plural references could have been referring to one of his legions of angels who we know are mentioned throughout the Old Testament, but then.

Speaker:

Months later, I had reached the gospels in my reading schedule. In particular, the gospel of John has several verses that helped illuminate this question. In John chapter eight, the Jews are questioning Jesus about who he says he is. Are you a Samaritan? Are you demon possessed? Jesus denies that he is demon possessed and goes on to say that he is there to honor his father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death. John 8 51, the Jews speaking to him now get very upset at this outrageous comment and tell him that their esteemed ancestor Abraham had died and so did all their prophets by making the comment Jesus did. Is he saying that he's greater than Abraham? Let me quote the response, John. 8 56 through 58, Jesus is speaking. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad you are not yet 50 years old. They said to him, and you have seen Abraham very truly. I tell you, Jesus answered before Abraham was born. I am.

Speaker:

Wow. From Jesus's own mouth, he points out that he existed before Abraham was born, and Abraham knew that the coming of Jesus would come to earth eventually. And now that it has happened, Abraham was glad as if Abraham, after he died, joined the Trinity and learned of the future plans for the Messiah to come to Earth. And save the world. A concept all Jews, including Abraham, would be very excited about. This is an amazing revelation. It also helps define the holy trinity, a concept which is very difficult to grasp. They were referred to as they or us, but they acted as one in complete unity. Together. They planned out the creation, all the events in the Old Testament, and then the long awaited arrival of Jesus.

Speaker:

My friend Laurie Sibley, who is a fellow writer, gave me this feedback when she read what I wrote on this topic, and I so appreciate her insight. Another New Testament spot that reveals that Jesus was there with God from the beginning is John one. One through three. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made. That has been made. Later in verse 14, we learned. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth. The word is Jesus, and he was making things with God the Father at the beginning, just like you were saying. Thank you, Lori.

Speaker:

Another verse in John's gospel makes it even more clear. John 17, four and five, Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is to come with the torture. He'll have to endure his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection, and yet they still in their humanness, don't understand fully what he is telling them in their presence. Jesus looks towards heaven and prays to God. I have brought you Glory on Earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now. Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Speaker:

Mind blown twice before the world began. Not only was the Trinity present for creation, but they were there in what I imagined to be the planning stages of the great creation of the world. That's why Jesus was so sure during his crucifixion that he was going to sit on the right hand of his father's throne because that's where he'd been before. This little earthly jaunt he'd been on the last 33 years or so. He was comfortable with it because he'd been in God's presence and God's glory since the beginning of time.

Speaker:

Of course, Jesus was divine, but he was also human. He was born the way all humans are as an infant. He grew up with a loving earthly Jewish family, and it wasn't until he was an adult that he embarked on the divine quest that God had sent him for, but I often wonder, Jesus the son, the divine part of him, knew all along what he was sent for. But what about Jesus, the little boy, the teenager, and the young adult? When did he know?

Speaker:

You know that Christmas song Mary, did You know? Yes. I believe she knew what the angel had told her that she was going to give birth to God's son, and she was going to name him Jesus, and he was going to eventually save the world from sin. But did she know all the details? Did she know the miracles he'd perform and the healings he'd do and the sermons he'd preach? No, I don't think she knew. I think she supported him in his ministry and whatever he felt was right, but I think she was seeing it unfold just like the rest of the humans were.

Speaker:

But what about Jesus? Did God's plan for his ministry suddenly download like a computer program into his mind and consciousness when he was born? When he was 10, when he was 20? I don't know the answer to that, and that's okay. When he began his ministry, he definitely knew everything that would happen and everything that had happened. And in that, I take great comfort. God's got us all in his hands and there's no surprises to him or them. Let's end with a prayer.

Speaker:

God, thank you for not only the answers we get when we read your Word, but also the questions. The questions are the ones that increase our interest and our faith. We know that although we may not know all the answers in your divine plan, we certainly know that you do and we trust that all your plans are for the good of those who love. And believe in you. Amen.

Speaker:

All right. I am so excited about this special guest. I wanna introduce Beth Sprinkle, who is a pastor at All Saints Church and the leader of the Marvelous Women in the word Bible study, which is what in initially inspired me to dig deeper into the Bible. It's just a very inspirational, Thursday morning, which I look forward to all year round. So, Beth, welcome.

Speaker:

Beth: Thank you for having me, and congratulations on your book and your podcast.

Speaker:

Laurie: Oh, thank you so much. Can we start by you telling us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker:

Beth: Yes. Well, I've been here in Pauly's island for about 35 years. Came in my late twenties as a young congregant. Grew up in a Christian home, accepted the Lord as a teenager, but really didn't grow into the fullness. And what got me excited is your story was similar to mine, when, we had a daughter and having to get up for those early morning feedings, I thought, you know. I really was familiar with the New Testament, but I think I need to read the whole Bible. So because I got up, for the 5:00 AM feedings and I'm not an early person, I did exactly what you did and read through the Bible in a year. Just I thought, I'm just gonna read it like a book. There's so much that I didn't understand. I wish I was as organized as you and had written it down, for questions. But in God's providence, the very next year, the Reverend Aaron Barnum and her husband, the Reverend Thad Barnum, moved here to Paul's Island and I was invited to a small group that met in the home, but we had to commit for nine months. And I was like 34. I was like nine months a Bible study. And, she started at Genesis one and I had just read through the whole Bible and it was unbelievable and I had so many of the ahas that you, had that the Holy Spirit revealed to you, in your book? Yes. And especially the one with the Trinity, and that Jesus was not plan B. You know that like Oh my gosh, yes. From the beginning. It was mind blowing to me.

Speaker:

Laurie: It, and you know what? That, and that's of course the, the episode that we're gonna talk about today. And so many people have responded after reading that saying, what? I never knew that either. That's amazing.

Speaker:

Beth: And I think, now that I've had years to reflect back on that so many people, had the same reaction because I think churches do a wonderful job of presenting and, preaching Jesus, but can focus a lot of times only on the New Testament. So many of us we think of Jesus at his incarnation, at the birth at Christmas and I really had not visited the Old Testament. Since probably Sunday school stories growing up until going through that systematic study, with ER and it was like, oh my gosh. And seeing it's the same themes running throughout from Genesis to Revelation but discovering that the Lord Jesus Christ existed before the world began and that the Trinity was existent together. It's amazing. Was mind blowing. Yes. Yes. And so I wanna commend you because I think in your book what it reveals is, what it was told to me is you have a gift of very close reading of the scripture that you picked up things in Genesis where in your chapter you said you noticed where it said, let us make man in our own image and well,

Speaker:

Laurei: thank you so much. In fact, after. You read that section of my book and you saw me at church and said, oh my gosh, I wanna tell you about this or that, and I'm like, oh boy. I am just a casual lay person reading the Bible. You are so knowledgeable and educated in the Bible. So it almost made me nervous, but I want to be the. Spokesperson for other people who are just casual laypeople of the Bible. And if I can do it and if I can get that much out of it, then anybody can.

Speaker:

Beth: Yes. And that's why it's just such a rich book. And I think that we'll be learning it even in eternity when we're with the Lord, because there's so many layers and I remember that meeting with you. I was so excited after I read that first chapter and that you had discovered it when they said, let us make man. In our image that you notice the plural, and I remember saying to you, oh, Laurie. It's revealed in the fourth word of the first verse. You're like, what, what, what? It's really revealed in the first four verses. But, if you'd like for me to share that, absolutely.

Speaker:

Laurie: Let's dig into it. Beth has all kinds of insights into this topic that I missed out on, so let's get into it.

Speaker:

Beth: I think the reality is that, God, as Psalm 90 says, from everlasting to everlasting is God. He has been eternally existent in the Trinity trying God, father, son, and Holy Spirit from before I. The first word of creation was spoken, but in Genesis one, it says in the beginning, God. Well, there are many names of God in Hebrew that are used in the Old Testament, but God in Hebrew in the first, first is Elohim, which is a plural. Form for God used in a singular thing. So there's a hint of the trinity because it is a plural form for the name of God. Um, Elohim Elohim. And it's not used that often, but gives a hint to the plurality of the Godhead, but then it says in the beginning, God, so God is the creator, created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. What was hovering over the water? The spirit of God, spirit of God, who is, it's the spirit not only in creation, but helps us in recreation. God is the creator that the only word, creation is only spoken with God. And he creates out of nothing.

Speaker:

And then it says the Spirit was hovering, preparing over the waters of the deep, and God said. Let there be light. And so it was his word, which is the logos, which is Jesus Christ. It is his word that created because, the first thing he created is light. Jesus is the light of the world, bringing light, scattering the darkness.

Speaker:

But right there in the first four versus the trinity. Is revealed. And then of course you noticed it again in, in the creation of man and woman, let us make man in our own image. Mm-hmm. And it is, it's beautiful that you caught it there. But that they were existent before the beginning. Yeah.

Speaker:

Then Ephesians one, Paul's beautiful hymn appraised. I'm gonna turn that real quick. Shows that it was out of love, that creation was birthed. So similar to a male and female. When you're married, it's out of love that. A child is birthed, it's is created

Speaker:

Laurie: can you read that section? I know you're turning to it.

Speaker:

Beth: Yes. It says, blessed be God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, so before the foundation of the world, the Trinity. Chose us that we should be holy and blameless before him. And then here it is in love. He predestined us, or you could say, planned for us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of His glorious grace with which he blessed us in, the beloved in him.

Speaker:

And then it goes through that Jesus is our redeemer, and then that we're sealed by the spirit. So the Trinity is all there, but it was out of love that. Creation was birthed out of love that we were, called into being. But it was the action of the Trinity. And so the Trinity is, relevant throughout all of scriptures, not only in creation. The Trinity was involved in the incarnation.

Speaker:

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary. The Word God spoke the word to Mary. She birthed, obviously, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Trinity is involved in recreation when we are created, recreated. It's the spirit that generates us. It's God who calls us Jesus, who deems us, and the spirit regenerates and creates us. So the Trinity is continually revealed, throughout the scriptures, but it is a mystery because it's. One person, as the creed says, one substance, indivisible, but they're three persons. Co-equal, co-eternal, all the same characteristics. It's just a mystery of how to grab our mind around it.

Speaker:

Laurie: It's like supernatural.

Speaker:

Beth: We can't really. Associated with the earthly life, but it's part of our faith to believe and then to try to be receptive to the signals or the ways that each of the Trinity shows itself to us. Yes, so I love the part.

Speaker:

Laurie: In John eight, Jesus is speaking to, some of the Jewish leaders of the day, and he's saying, your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad. And then he said when they questioned him, before Abraham was born, I am. That's pretty amazing. That is amazing. Yes. And that he saw it, which is amazing. But yes, that he existed. That had to have shocked the Jews. I mean, imagine him saying that you know, that's why they wanted to kill him. Exactly. Sacrilege.

Speaker:

Beth: And I love the John 17 where he prays to his father the night before he goes to the cross saying that he brought glory to him and that he, well, I'm gonna paraphrasing, It's John 17. Yeah. John 17 four. I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do, and now father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I.

Speaker:

Laurie: Yeah, there's all kinds of clues. Why did we all miss that?

Speaker:

Beth: Right? And then to think that, when I was thinking about it this morning, at the very end of second Corinthians, Paul at a lot of his letters, would end it with a blessing or a prayer. But even though. The word trinity is not in scripture. It is revealed. And the people, by the time of the nice and creed, they were able to include that, that we believe in, the Holy Spirit, the giver of life. So Paul, I'm sure there are others, but I was thinking of this one.

Speaker:

At the end of second Corinthians, chapter 13, he ends it with a, blessing that he says, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Mm-hmm. So even he, back then, they had the revelation that it was God and three persons.

Speaker:

Laurie: So that's an interesting point that you brought up, the Holy Trinity, that term is never used in the Bible, correct. That is very interesting. That's something that theology, as the organized church of Jesus Christ was forming, it was decided upon to call it that.

Speaker:

Beth: Right, right.

Speaker:

Laurie: Okay, interesting. Well, and the other place I wanted to bring up was right at the beginning of John. John one, one through three. And it's just so poetic, you know? And of course, John considered himself the one that Jesus loved the most, the beloved. He keeps mentioning it whenever he writes something, the one that Jesus loved that made me laugh. But John one, one in the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning and later he says the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So if we thought it was just the word, meaning the Bible, for example, it was a imagery laden, couple sentences in the beginning was the word, like, okay, the word, but he makes it clear There the word became flesh and dwelled among us and that. Most certainly Jesus. So, John was aware that, what I was so surprised to find out, but he probably picked up on all the clues in the Old Testament.

Speaker:

Beth: Yes. And John is, his gospel is so full about imagery, but. Yes, that he was the word, as I said, the logos of God. And it shows the power of the word, not only the written word, which was inspired by him, but Jesus is the agent of creation. It was by the word Jesus that, creation happened.

Speaker:

And Paul, says it, it's coming to my mind here. It's in Colossians.

Speaker:

Laurie: You see why, listeners, why I was intimidated when she said, oh, I read your book. I'm like, oh my gosh. She knows the Bible inside now.

Speaker:

Beth: I just love it, you know, just a, i I always pray and I pray the same thing for you, Lord. Please don't ever take away the hunger for your word. You know that? Yes. You know, I love that, that blessed are those who hunger for they shall be filled with righteousness. And you have that same hunger. And I hope your listeners have that same hunger because, you know, if you seek me, you will find me. And he delights in our questions and for us to ask him and, and to reveal the truth.

Speaker:

But speaking of Jesus as the agent of creation in Paul's letter to Colossians in the first chapter starting in verse 15, it says, he meaning Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth. Visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. Wow. He is before all things and all things hold together. I mean, yes. That is the power of the word, of the spoken word. Yes. That just shows us that when we pay attention and we don't just gloss over. We really try to stop and linger and, understand what it's saying. We can learn so much more than just, yeah, let's read through it or, i'm reading the Bible in a year, so I only have, you know, this much time. I gotta keep going. But unless you really linger and dig deep, you're gonna miss stuff. Yes, yes, It's better to take small portions of scripture and read and linger and Right. Allow the spirit, to speak, and as you know, he will into our circumstances.

Speaker:

I could read one passage, it might speak to me in a certain way or maybe it doesn't, and then read it again. In a year. Yes, absolutely. And my circumstances are different and it jumps off the page and I'm like, what?

Speaker:

Laurie: I totally agree. Well, Beth, it has been such a pleasure to chat with you and to learn even more about this topic. I'm so excited. I hope that maybe as this podcast rolls along with all 40 episodes, I can call on you again to be a guest about another topic and you can share more of your insight.

Speaker:

Beth: Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure, and as I said, I'm thrilled about your book and your podcast, and I just pray that the Lord will, multiply the effects and the ripple effects will be huge for the kingdom of God.

Speaker:

Laurie: Thank you. That is definitely the goal. Okay. All right. Well, you have a great day. Okay? You too. Thank you. Thank you. Bye And that's it for today. Thank you very much for being here with me on The Year I Read the Bible Podcast. We'll be back with another episode next week. If you enjoy this podcast, please do all the normal things to spread the word: like it, review it, share it with your friends. If you are interested in additional The Year I Read the Bible resources such as the book, the video channel, and the blog, I will certainly include the links in the show notes. And I'd love to hear about your own journey to read the Bible cover to cover. Have you done it or are you doing it right now? Please reach out to me and let me know how it's going. Until next time, it's Laurie Larsen with The Year I Read the Bible. Bye.

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