Scripture states that God has always been two divine Beings—God, who became known as the Father, and the Word, who was also God, who became Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3; John 1:14). And the One who became Christ interacted with the Israelites as God on behalf of the Father.

Yet the apostle Peter in Acts 3:13 said, “The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus . . .” He further said in Acts 5:30, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus.” Does this mean that the God of the patriarchs was God the Father exclusively—and not Christ at all? No it does not.

The patriarchs were able to have a relationship with the Father through the intercessory work of the Word who became Christ—as we do today.

The verses in Acts are not meant to parse the divine nature of the Father and Christ or to declare the Father alone to be the God of the patriarchs. The focus is on the resurrected Christ and faith in the power of His name for salvation, forgiveness and healing. Furthermore, while Jesus was already recognized as God at this point (John 20:28), more complete understanding may have come later. The verses cited above from the apostle John about God the Word were not written until very late in the New Testament period. Nevertheless, the statements in Acts are completely accurate in what they say.

We need to keep in mind that there were two Beings who together were the God of the patriarchs—the Word and the One He served who became the Father. When the Word came to the earth as a man and died, only one of the two was at that moment acting as God to resurrect the other—the Father. This does not mean that Jesus was not one of the two who together had been the God of the patriarchs.

It’s evident that the patriarchs understood that there were two who were God from references to the Angel (or Messenger) of God who was also God (see, for example, Genesis 16:10-13; Genesis 22:11-12). This Messenger of YHWH (that is, of Yahweh, the Eternal) was also identified Himself as YHWH. This makes sense only if there were two who were God or Yahweh.

We should note that it was specifically the Angel or Messenger of YHWH who appeared to Moses at the burning bush and referred to Himself as “I AM,” as YHWH, and as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:2-6; Exodus 3:14-15; Acts 7:31-32). The One who became the Father could never be referred to as the Angel or Messenger of YHWH. So this was clearly the Word who became Christ. And indeed Jesus later identified Himself as the “I AM” who was alive before Abraham (John 8:58).

Abraham clearly dealt with this Being, as One who was called God and YHWH appeared to Him and, in Genesis 18, even ate a meal with Him. That could not be God the Father, whom no man has ever seen (John 1:18; John 5:37; John 6:46; 1 John 4:12). It had to be the One who became Christ.

But we should not think of the God of the patriarchs as exclusively the Word who became Christ either. For while the Word was YHWH God, He was also the Messenger of another in a higher position who was also on a few occasions referred to distinctly as YHWH. Jacob mentioned “the Angel of God” who declared Himself “the God of Bethel,” where Jacob had made a vow to God (Genesis 31:11; Genesis 31:13). So in recognizing that this God was a Messenger for another who was also God, Jacob must have understood that there were two who were God.

Furthermore, in Genesis 14 Abraham met with Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” who stated, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18-19). And it’s evident from other passages that this Priest-King was an appearance of the Word who became Christ. (See “A Mystery Solved: The Identity of Melchizedek” in our free study guide Who Is God?) So the God of Abraham here necessarily included the One who became God the Father. But Abraham also knew Melchizedek as the Lord or YHWH His God who later ate and spoke with Him (Hebrews 7:1-3; Genesis 14:18-20).

In all this we see that the God of the patriarchs and of Moses was two Beings—one they directly encountered and another who was higher, for whom the first was Messenger and Priest. Both divine Beings—later known as the Father and Christ—were the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The patriarchs were able to have a relationship with the Father through the intercessory work of the Word who became Christ—as we do today. Certain other people in the Old Testament period, such as the prophets, had this understanding as well. Yet it does not seem that this was well understood by the general populace of the Israelites, thus necessitating Christ’s later revealing of the Father (Matthew 11:27; John 1:18).

All of this provides the needed context for proper understanding of the statements in Acts about the God of the fathers resurrecting and glorifying His Servant Jesus. The God of the patriarchs included both the Father and the Word—with the Word as Servant of the Father, being His Messenger and Priest. But when the Word came to earth as a man and died, only One member of the patriarchs’ God was alive in heaven and functioning as God—the Father. He then acted directly as God to raise up and glorify Jesus. This was not a different God—it was the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Father was certainly their God—and when Christ died it was only the Father acting as God. But this does not mean that Christ was not the God of the fathers. We’ve seen ample evidence that He definitely was—along with the Father—while also being the Servant of the Father.