NONE GREATER: THE CHARACTER AND NATURE OF GOD

NONE GREATER: February 3, 2021

God’s Being

We can know God - He is Unique maintaining a separation from us, yet He is for us

Jehovah never denotes merely a mode in which the true God is revealed or appears, but God as the absolute, unconditioned, or God according to the absolute independence and constancy of His actions (see pp. 45–47). Hence what is predicated here of Jehovah (Jehovah one) does n

ot relate to the unity of God, but simply states that it is to Him alone that the name Jehovah rightfully belongs, that He is the one absolute God, to whom no other Elohim can be compared. 1

1 Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 884). Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson.

  “On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth —Yahweh alone, and His name alone.” (Zechariah 14:9, HCSB)  

 But at another important level, verses 4 and 5 can also be seen as a monotheistic confession about God himself, based on the Lord’s redemptive actions in the past (4:32–40; 5:6–7; 6:20–25) in answer to the question, ‘Who really is God?’ (cf. Exod. 5:2; 15:11). The answer to this question is, ‘Yahweh our God is God, he is the one (unique God); besides him there is no other’ (4:35, 39; 5:6–7; Harman 2001: 88).1

Woods, E. J. (2011). Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. (D. G. Firth, Ed.) (Vol. 5, p. 135). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press.  

 It is possible to understand v. 4 in several ways, but the two most common renderings of the last clause are: (1) “The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (so NIV) or (2) “The Lord our God is one Lord.” The former stresses the uniqueness or exclusivity of Yahweh as Israel’s God and so may be paraphrased, “Yahweh our God is the one and only Yahweh” or the like. This takes the noun ʾeḥād (“one”) in the sense of “unique” or “solitary,” a meaning that is certainly well attested. The latter translation focuses on the unity or wholeness of the Lord. This is not in opposition to the later Christian doctrine of the Trinity but rather functions here as a witness to the self-consistency of the Lord, who is not ambivalent and who has a single purpose or objective for creation and history.78 The ideas clearly overlap to provide an unmistakable basis for monotheistic faith.1

1 Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 163). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

how does this help us understand the character and nature of God?

we have seen over the past few weeks:

We Can know God

He makes Himself known...

who is He? What kind of being is He?

These are some of the thorniest and most difficult questions. Even Moses, with whom God spoke as face to face only saw God’s back - as He passed by Him on the mountain. Isiaah only describes the throne room and how the hem of the robe filled that space.

So, how can we expect to describe and understand God?

  There are two primary tools we use to help us ‘know’ God:

a). descriptions of God’s nature and character from those who experience His presence;

b). acts of God - the specific things God does for His people...  

Let’s begin with the first category -

WE CAN KNOW GOD

Jeremiah 9:23-24

God Reveals Himself -

Exodus 3; Exodus 33; Isaiah 6

There are two primary tools we use to help us ‘know’ God:

a). descriptions of God’s nature and character from those who experience His presence;

b). acts of God - the specific things God does for His people...

NONE GREATER: February 3, 2021

God’s Being

We can know God - He is Unique maintaining a separation from us, yet He is for us

Jehovah never denotes merely a mode in which the true God is revealed or appears, but God as the absolute, unconditioned, or God according to the absolute independence and constancy of His actions (see pp. 45–47). Hence what is predicated here of Jehovah (Jehovah one) does n

ot relate to the unity of God, but simply states that it is to Him alone that the name Jehovah rightfully belongs, that He is the one absolute God, to whom no other Elohim can be compared. 1

1 Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 884). Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson.

  “On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth —Yahweh alone, and His name alone.” (Zechariah 14:9, HCSB)  

 But at another important level, verses 4 and 5 can also be seen as a monotheistic confession about God himself, based on the Lord’s redemptive actions in the past (4:32–40; 5:6–7; 6:20–25) in answer to the question, ‘Who really is God?’ (cf. Exod. 5:2; 15:11). The answer to this question is, ‘Yahweh our God is God, he is the one (unique God); besides him there is no other’ (4:35, 39; 5:6–7; Harman 2001: 88).1

Woods, E. J. (2011). Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. (D. G. Firth, Ed.) (Vol. 5, p. 135). Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press.  

 It is possible to understand v. 4 in several ways, but the two most common renderings of the last clause are: (1) “The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (so NIV) or (2) “The Lord our God is one Lord.” The former stresses the uniqueness or exclusivity of Yahweh as Israel’s God and so may be paraphrased, “Yahweh our God is the one and only Yahweh” or the like. This takes the noun ʾeḥād (“one”) in the sense of “unique” or “solitary,” a meaning that is certainly well attested. The latter translation focuses on the unity or wholeness of the Lord. This is not in opposition to the later Christian doctrine of the Trinity but rather functions here as a witness to the self-consistency of the Lord, who is not ambivalent and who has a single purpose or objective for creation and history.78 The ideas clearly overlap to provide an unmistakable basis for monotheistic faith.1

1 Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 163). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

how does this help us understand the character and nature of God?

we have seen over the past few weeks:

We Can know God

He makes Himself known...

who is He? What kind of being is He?

These are some of the thorniest and most difficult questions. Even Moses, with whom God spoke as face to face only saw God’s back - as He passed by Him on the mountain. Isiaah only describes the throne room and how the hem of the robe filled that space.

So, how can we expect to describe and understand God?

  There are two primary tools we use to help us ‘know’ God:

a). descriptions of God’s nature and character from those who experience His presence;

b). acts of God - the specific things God does for His people...  

Let’s begin with the first category -

The other words in this family also refer either to the one God or to a polytheistic deity. These are Hebrew אֵל‎ (el, “god”; e.g., Num 12:13; Deut 32:12), Hebrew אֱלוֹהַּ‎ (eloha, “god”; e.g., Job 11:7; Dan 11:38), and Aramaic אֱלָהּ‎ (elah, “god”; e.g., Ezra 6:3; Dan 6:7).1

1 Klippenstein, R. (2016). Names of God in the Old Testament. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.