Does Phil. 2:10-11 describe Jesus Christ as God?

Question

This verse seems to obviously say that Jesus Christ is to be worshipped, not only by people but by all of creation.

 ...so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10–11, ESV)

Not only is Jesus Christ to be worshipped by all of creation but acknowledged as Lord of all creation. That seems strange to describe anyone other than God. The phrase "the name of" is often attached to YHWH in the Old Testament. Is this not describing Jesus Christ as God?

Note: this previous question is similar but of a more limited scope: What does Paul mean when he states "that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord?"

Appendix

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, (Phil. 2:9, ESV)

What about the name YHWH? That is who the Jews refer to as the Name that is above every name.
What is the title above all titles in Philippians 2:9-11?

In Phil 2:6-8 what did Jesus empty himself from? Does ισα το θεου refer to the role of Jesus as κυριos in Philippians 2:6?

These are Appendix questions already asked here.

Answer 1

Phil 2:9-11 is one of a series of NT texts that take OT passages about YHWH or God, and apply them directly to Jesus. The table below lists some of these texts.

OT passage about YHWH or God	NT Passage about Jesus
Deut 32:43 - Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; ... (LXX)	Heb 1:6 - And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
Ps 45:6, 7 - Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.	Heb 1:7, 8 - But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
Ps 102:25-27 - In the beginning You, O Lord, did lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They shall perish, but You remain: and they all shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture shall You fold them, and they shall be changed. But You are the same, and Your years shall not fail. (LXX)	Heb 1:10-12 - And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”
Isa 45:23 - By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.	Phil 2:9-11 - Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (See also Rom 14:11)
Isa 40:3 - A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.	Matt 3:3 - This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah [about John]: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord [= Jesus], make straight paths for Him.’ ”
Joel 2:32 - And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved;	Rom 10:13 - for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (compare V8-12 - Jesus is "Lord")
Ps 31:5 - Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.	Acts 7:59 - While they were stoning him, Stephen appealed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Isa 52:6 - Therefore shall my people know my name in that day, for I am he that speaks: I am present	John 4:26 - Jesus says to her: "I Am; The [One] speaking to you."

In the particular case of Phil 2:9-11, it concludes the sequence of thought begun in V5 which is outlined below

• V6 - Jesus is (originally) in the form of God
• V7, 8 - Jesus humbled/emptied Himself to take the form of humanity and even died
• V9-11 - Jesus exalted back to glory and all beings worship Him

Thus, Phil 2:5-11 affirms the full deity of Jesus by two literary devices

1. Explicitly declaring His divinity in V6
2. Quoting an OT passage about the worship of YHWH and applying to Jesus as in other places in the NT.

Further, "the Name of Jesus" is a common phrase in the NT and is used in an almost sacred way to perform miracles, worship (as in Phil 2:9-11), baptize, teach, etc, such as: Acts 2:38, 3:6, 16, 4:10, 5:40, 8:12, 10:48, 16:18, 19:13, 1 Cor 1:2, Heb 13:15, etc. That is, Jesus' name held a similar place in the NT as that of God/YHWH in the OT.

Answer 2

The triune God is a mystery and we can at best hope to get just a partial understanding or revelation until we see Him face to face.

Only God is worthy of worship, thus the deity of Jesus is without question. Anything less would make the bowing of the knee and confessing Him as Lord (supreme) an act of idolatry and violation of God’s commandments. Exodus 20:3 (NASB 95): You shall have no other gods before Me.

Answer 3

Did the opening post just answered its own question? After all, if every knee should bow down and worship Jesus, this is pretty strong proof of Jesus' divine authority. No human authority can receive worship like that.

I notice that there are some who answer this question from a non-trinitarian perspective. I do not agree with them, but the point is whether the text itself supports Jesus' divinity. I find the support very strong from Philippians 1-2:

(1) Jesus and the Father are juxtaposed as true source of peace and grace (1:2)

(2) "the Lord Jesus Christ" is the only one Lord that the people of God should acknowledge (Deut. 6:4)

(3) The day of Jesus Christ (1:6) is equivalent to the day of the LORD in the Prophets

(4) Before incarnation, Jesus was in the form of God (2:6), from there he decided not to count equality with God but humbled himself, born in the likeness of men. Now, without Jesus being God in the first place, Paul could not be able to talk about Jesus humbling himself as human.

(5) Jesus has the name above every name.

(6) Jesus deserves worship from all. One can continue reading Phillipians and find no reason to say that Paul thought that Jesus is not God. Indeed no such thinking can be found in any of Paul's writings.

Answer 4

Yes, necessarily, because to “bow knees” is to worship and in the Biblical perspective only God can be worshipped. If one worships a human or even an angel or an archangel and bows his knees to him, such a one will be an idolater according to the first commandment of the Decalogue and it is utterly preposterous to suppose that Paul teaches and celebrates idolatry in this passage. What he celebrates and acknowledges is divinity of Christ to whom all angels and all men bow their knees.

Moreover, by adding “to the glory of the Father” Paul teaches that only by worshipping Christ, the Son of God can one worship God the Father, to the effect that those who deny divinity of Christ and do not bow their knees to Him, neither can they bow their knees to the Father. It will be a total nonsense to suppose that Paul claims that there are two bowings of knees: a) to the Son in a relative sense as showing a relative respect to a non-divinity and b) to the Father as to the only true divinity. No! Begone such a preposterous impropriety! Paul speaks here about one act of worshipping one God, which is impossible without a simultaneous worshipping of the Father and the Son.

The same is attested by John that whoever does not have Son (that is to say, does not worship the Son and has Him as God) has neither Father (1 John 2:23), because the condition of worshipping Father as Father is to co-worship the Son of the Father, for how can the latter be Father unless having the Son?

When a sun-tan lover lying on a beach says “I adore the sun!”, is it possible that he adores the dun-disc without co-adoring the rays sent from the sun-disc that provide this suntan to him? Far more impossible to worship Father without co-worshipping the Son, who after the Incarnation is called also Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

That seems strange to describe anyone other than God.

Reading one verse and using it to override hundreds of other verses from the same author, Paul, who persistently does not confuse God with Jesus, is quite the opposite to the hermeneutic process.

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

The glory here goes to the Father, who is also definitely stated as Jesus' God by no less than Jesus, and also his Apostles. So to make some unfounded assumptions on one verse while others say the opposite and refute such an idea is without merit.

Jesus is glorified because he is the obedient son who overcame the world. God rightly calls the angels to worship him - not because he is God, but because he has earned the right to sit next to God. Just as the type of Joseph and Pharaoh who was made second in charge and was AS Pharaoh within Egypt. But Joseph was not Pharaoh.

Jesus, the firstborn of the new creation, the first to transition from physical life to spirit life 1 Peter 3:18, the first of many others/brothers, who would follow Rom 8:29.

All creation/every knee will bow just as they did for Joseph. Not because he was Pharaoh, but because he represented Pharaoh.

Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you over all the land of Egypt.” 42Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put the gold necklace around his neck. 43And he had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

Phil. 2:10-11 does not describe Jesus Christ as God.

Paul opens Philippians with several comments saying that Jesus cannot be God.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 1:2

having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God. v11

God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name

That doesn't sound like Jesus is God either. As God is the one doing the exalting and the renaming. Jesus doesn't do this to himself.

Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ John 8:54

Answer 6

Overview

⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10–11 ESV)

Without considering the Old Testament (see below) it is difficult to maintain the Philippians would not understand this is meant to deify Jesus. In fact, based upon what is known about the church in Philippi, one may argue Paul is simply affirming his earliest teaching:

²⁰ And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. ²¹ They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” (Acts 16)

Since Judaism was a legal religion and Jews were permitted to worship their God, the Gentiles at Philippi ("us Romans") would not be violating Roman law if they were worshipping like the Jews. However, if they worshipped Jesus as Paul describes in these verses, then the claim Paul and Silas were engaged in unlawful practice would be valid. They were converting Romans, in a Roman colony to accept and practice worshipping Jesus Christ as the one Lord (not the Roman emperor).

Gerald L. Stevens makes an important observation about first-century Christianity:

We need to listen with first-century ears to hear how the language that honors Christ in Revelation is the subversion of the language honoring Caesar integral to this imperial cult patronage system.¹

This is true for the entire New Testament as Richard B. Hays observes about Peter's statement Jesus is πάντων κύριος, Lord of all to Cornelius. (cf. Acts 10:36):

For the Roman centurion, the ascription of the title "Lord of all" to Jesus can only be heard as a frontal challenge to the imperial propaganda that assigns exactly this honor of universal lordship to Caesar. For example, an imperial inscription from the time of Nero refers to him as ὁ τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου κύριος Νέρων. And Epictetus wryly puts into the mouth of his interlocutor the boast, "But who can put me under compulsion except Caesar, the lord of all (ὁ πάντων κύριος)."²

An historical reading by a first-century Christian in a Roman colony, reaffirms worship to Jesus Christ as Lord, and not Caesar. Moreover, if Paul was writing from prison in Rome as is commonly accepted, the statement takes on greater significance; as he is preparing to face Caesar he reminds the Philippians to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord: exactly what he will say to Caesar.³

Old Testament
The Old Testament requires monolatry: the worship of YHVH as God (cf. Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 5:6-7). Paul's language not only affirms Jesus Christ will be honored and worshipped as God; it implies identification as YHVH. This connection is impossible to avoid in Paul's phrases every knee should bow and every tongue confess which Isaiah uses to identify YHVH:

²³ By myself I swear, "Verily righteousness shall go forth from my mouth; my words shall not be turned back, because to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall acknowledge God, ²⁴ saying, Righteousness and glory shall come to him, and all who separate themselves shall be ashamed." ²⁵ By the Lord shall they be justified, and all the offspring of the sons of Israel shall be glorified in God. (LXX-Isaiah 45 NETS)

It is significant Paul never admonishes the Philippians, or any believer, against connecting the Lord as YHVH.⁴To the contrary, Paul's claim Jesus is Lord is the lynch pin to his Gospel: Lord Jesus is the means by which salvation is received. As Gordon D. Fee says about Philippians 2:

Second, not only shall very creature bend the knee and offer the worship that is due Christ's name, but 'every tongue' shall express that homage in the language of the confessing - but currently suffering - church: Jesus Christ is Lord. In Pauline occurrences this confession always takes the form, 'the Lord is Jesus', to which he here adds 'Christ'. For Paul this confession is the line of demarcation between believer and non-believer (Romans 10:9). In Romans 10:9, this confession is linked with the conviction about the resurrection of Jesus: that same combination is undoubtedly in view here.⁵

In addition, as Benjamin D. Sommer says about Isaiah (45:18-25), this passage speaks to the universal recognition and worship of the YHVH:

18-25: Universal recognition of the LORD. The vv. again rely on the argument from prophecy, which Deutero-Isaiah uses to show the whole world that the LORD is the true master of history. The predictions made to earlier Israelite prophets were not secret, but were made public long ago.

23: The nations of the world are invited to share in the worship of the true God and the benefits it brings. 25: Israel's vindication leads other nations to worship the LORD as well. The mixture of nationalism and universalism here is noteworthy: A universalist outcome results from a particularist victory.⁶

Based upon the Old Testament requirement of monolatry and Paul's use of phrases from Isaiah, it is clear Paul is making a deliberate connection between Jesus and YHVH and deliberately draws from a passage in Isaiah which speaks to YHVH as controlling history.

Paul's Application of Isaiah 45
Paul identifies Jesus with YHVH and the manner in which he does so serves as instruction for the Philippians to be doing now what all creation will do in the future: worship Jesus as YHVH. In his essay, "Paul and the Trinity," Gordon D. Fee makes this analysis of Philippians 2:10-11:

First, 'at the name of Jesus', who in his exaltation has been given the Name (i.e./the Lord), 'every knee shall bow'. The whole created order shall give him obeisance. The 'bowing of the knee' is a common idiom for doing homage, sometimes in prayer, but always in recognition of the authority of the god or person to who one is offering such obeisance. The significance of Paul's using the language of Isaiah in this way lies with his substituting 'at the name of Jesus' for the 'to me" of Isaiah 45-:23, which refers to Yahweh, the God of Israel. In this stirring oracle (Isa. 45:18-24a), Yahweh is declared to be God alone, over all that he has created and thus over all other gods and nations. And he is Israel's saviour, whom they can fully trust. In vv. 22-24a Yahweh, while offering salvation to all but receiving obeisance in any case, declares that 'to me every knee shall bow'. Paul now asserts that through Christ's resurrection and ascension God has transferred this right of obeisance to the Son; he is the Lord to whom every knee shall eventually bow.

Also in keeping with the Isaianic oracle, but now interrupting the language of the citation itself, Paul declares the full scope of the homage Christ will receive: every knee 'of those in the heavens and of those on earth and of those under the earth' shall bow to the authority inherent in his name. In keeping with the oracle, especially that 'the Lord' is the creator of the heavens and the earth (45:18), Paul is purposely throwing the net of Christ's sovereignty over the whole of created beings.⁷

Jesus is Lord. Jesus will be worshipped by all creation. Jesus is God and to be worshipped now.

Conclusion
Fee summarizes Philippians 2:6-11:

Such a passage thus affirms the deity of Christ in unmistakable terms: equal with God, he became incarnate; in his humanity he became obedient to the point of death on the cross, all the while nver ceasing to be God; raised and exalted, he is given The Name, so that the Lord is none other than Jesus Christ, at whose name every created being shall eventually do obeisance.⁸

This passage demonstrates the deity of Jesus; it also demonstrates the equality of His deity with that of the Father:

God, Father, Son, Spirit, ὁ θεὸς, exalts Jesus Christ as Lord to the glory only of Father-God, θεοῦ πατρός

Only when one ignores the actual text can one claim ὁ θεὸς is equal to θεοῦ πατρός; an assertion contrary to Paul's letter to the Romans for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All except Jesus, fall short of the glory of ὁ θεὸς. But the one who was without sin yet made to be sin, brings glory only to θεοῦ πατρός

---

<sub>1. Gerald L. Stevens, Revelation, Pickwick Publications, 2014, p. 293
2. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, Baylor University Press, 2016, p. 254
3. In his letter to emperor Trajan, Pliny the Younger wrote of Christian worship of Christ as to a God. Those who failed to recant, curse Christ, and worship the image of Trajan were executed.
4. The argument for the Hebrew text rather than the Greek demands Paul taught the Gentiles Hebrew and expects them to interpret κύριος to mean יהוה. There is no support for this assumption. Rather, Paul's exclusive use of κύριος is another Old Testament way to deify Jesus.
5. Gordon D. Fee, "Paul and the Trinity," in The Trinity, Edited by Stephen T. Davis, Daniel Kendall SJ, and Gerald O'Collins, Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 61-62. This agrees with Peter's preaching on Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:14-41). He calls Jesus Lord and quotes Joel that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
6. Benjamin D. Sommer, The Jewish Study Bible, Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 876-877
7. Fee, p. 61
8. Fee, p. 62</sub>

Answer 7

I think the conundrum that is overlooked in regards to not simply accepting that Jesus is God (which John, the apostle strives to make known at the first verse of his account) is answering who Jesus is. The Bible declares consistently and firmly throughout Scripture that there is one God and even forbids all forms of polytheism. The creation consists of God as the supreme ruler on His throne, the angels, people (and animals, etc.) We can tell from Scripture that Jesus Christ was not an angel, and He was as well not a mere man (because all men have fallen short of the glory of God.) So who do we say Jesus is? By Scripture we can deduce that He can not be an angel and He can not be a man. Do we say that He is merely a god or a demigod and absolutely forfeit explicit Scriptures warning against polytheism? I am not going to do that. This is something to seriously think about and chew on for a bit as this might be quite an eye-opener.

How about we just believe John, the Apostle who was taken up to the third Heaven and saw the Throne room worship? That man (John) said point blank and simply Jesus is God (in John 1:1 Jesus is called the Word and in Revelation 19:13 Jesus is called the Word of God) he as well walked with Jesus and talked with Him in person. If that is not enough, we have Thomas who was a doubter just like you were (and just like I was before I came to the Lord), he saw the risen Lord and he declared a two-fold statement "My Lord and my God".

Who are you going to believe? I am going to choose to believe the people that walked with the Lord, closer than you (the one reading this) and I. How about we just believe the people that actually walked with the Lord and saw the miracles and lay the debating to rest?

Answer 8

This verse seems to obviously say that Jesus Christ is to be worshipped, not only by people but by all of creation.

Does Phil. 2:10-11 describe Jesus as God?

To say yes would be to force on Jesus what he refused, Philippians 2:6. Thus, the exact opposite of what the verse is saying.

There is no record of Jesus being worshipped as God from Genesis to Revelation.

To be worshipped as the only true God? which he also worshiped?

Examining Philippians 2:5-11 we find, that Christ “humbled himself and became obedient unto death”. To whom was he obedient? To the Father, his God. (Matt 26:39). Paul tells us that “God also hath highly exalted him”. This does not make sense if Jesus is God, because the verse does not say God exalted himself. In verse 11 we are told that “every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. To acknowledge the exalted Jesus Christ as Lord is to give glory to God, who is “the Father” Notice that it does not say to the Glory of Jesus. It is the God of Jesus who raised him from the dead and appointed him to judge the world. Acts 17:30-31

Does Jesus Christ is Lord mean he is God/YHWH?

The word Lord in Philippians 2:11 does not mean YHWH/God. Biblehub shows it as kyrios.

is] Lord,
ΚΥΡΙΟΣ (KYRIOS)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2962: Lord, master, sir; the Lord. From kuros; supreme in authority, i.e. controller; by implication, Master

Why is confessing Jesus is lord to the Glory of God the Father? Because God made Jesus both lord and Christ as Acts 2:36 shows.

Peter narrated God's plan based on the truth of Psalm 110:1 in Acts 2:33-36:

³³ Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. ³⁴ For David ascended not into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, ³⁵ Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. ³⁶ Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.

The fulfillment of Psalm 110:1 as shown in Acts 2:33:36 shows us that Jesus is not YHWH/Yahweh/Jehovah/the LORD. Jesus is the one that Jehovah made lord and Christ.

"LORD” or “the LORD” in the OT represents (YHWH) God. This is not to be confused with the Greek word Kurios, which is used for Jesus and is a title of respect, honor, and authority. The title “Lord” is used by many people in the Bible not just to God and to Jesus. God made Jesus both lord and Christ. Nobody makes God lord.

Young's Literal Translation shows Psalm 110:1 as

A Psalm of David. The affirmation of Jehovah to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.'

The 1st LORD in Psalm 110:1 is Jehovah/YHWH. The second lord is translated from the Hebrew word adoni as Biblehub shows it.

to my Lord:
לַֽאדֹנִ֗י (la·ḏō·nî)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

My Lord.--Heb., adoni, an address of honour to those more noble than the speaker, or superior in rank: to a father, Genesis 31:35; to a brother, Numbers 12:11; a royal consort, 1Kings 1:17-18; to a prince, 1Kings 3:17; with the addition of the royal title, "my Lord, O king," 2Samuel 14:19.

The word adoni is a title which never refers to God.

OP asks, The phrase "the name of" is often attached to YHWH in the Old Testament. Is this not describing Jesus Christ as God?

Was Jesus given the name YHWH? No. Jesus or Jehoshua is his name. It is not YHWH /Yahweh/Jehovah. Young's Literal Translation shows YHWH, LORD as Jehovah in ISAIAH 45:5 YLT we read,

I am Jehovah, and there is none else, Except Me there is no God, I gird thee, and thou hast not known Me.

The construction of theophoric names, starting with the letters “Jeho” is evidence that God’s name is actually ‘Jehovah’ (and that Christ’s name is actually Jehoshua)”– Smith’s 1863 “A Dictionary of the Bible” Section 2.1

1 Corinthians 15:27-28 shows that even if everyone confesses Jesus Christ is Lord, he still is subject to God.

²⁷ For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him. ²⁸ When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.

Some claim Hebrews 1:6 means that all God's angels were to worship Jesus and this worship indicates he is God, but this verse refers to the risen Jesus, the firstborn out of the dead, and the angels must bow down to him not because he is God, but because he became superior to them when he sat down at the right hand of God. God is not the firstborn that is brought into the world.

Is it true that just because people bowed to /worshipped Jesus, then Jesus must be God?

The word translated as bow in Philippians 2:10 is κάμψῃ (kampsē), which bible hub show as Strong's 2578: To bend, bow. Apparently a primary verb; to bend.
It does not mean worship or sacred service.

To say that bowing to Jesus means that he is God is untrue. It is also not true that proskyneo "worship" of Jesus means he is God. There are examples of proskyneo "worship" of people in the Bible. The servant in Matthew 18:26, Lot did it, Genesis 19:1. The Israelites "worshipped" David 1 Chronicles 29:20.

If by worshiping or bowing down always mean worshiping somebody as God, do we then take Revelation 3:9 to mean that Jesus is advocating idolatry? Revelation 3:9 ERV

Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them which say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Does Phil. 2:10-11 describe Jesus as God?

No, it does not. The disciples never believed that Jesus was their and their forefathers' God as Acts 3:13 shows. Is it any wonder why none of the prophets, apostles, and disciples worship him as God? Jesus himself prayed to the Father whom he calls the only true God.

Acts 3:13 NASB

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

Answer 9

You would probably be better off realizing Jesus is God. If we don't ever come to that reality, then we will NEVER understand any of the issues you have spoken of. God is a Unity and NOT a trinity. (Yahweh-Elohim-and the one you call Jesus) That would be the first problem to overcome. Since no man can understand Yahweh as spirit, then He must come down to our physical level and say things and do things, so we will understand something about His purpose and plan of salvation. So Yahweh comes from a pure spirit state and takes on shape and form as a Super Incorporeal Man (Elohim). In this state, He created the heavens and earth and everything in it. Then he came further down into his creation as the first Man (Adam).

Deu 6:4 Matthew 19:4 (At this point, we will need to go into our bibles and find out 'WHO' actually said what Jesus is referring to) Gen 2:19-24

Paul confirms the SAME MAN (Jesus) was also in the days of the Isrealites coming out of Egypt. Since HE is the Creator, He does have to power to pick up HIS life and lay it down at will.

1rst Cor 10:4.

I can go further but I think if you take the time to go over what I stated so far, you can began to see what I am saying.