The Names of God: Elohim
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God The Creator
God The Creator
1 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
We are studying together, the Hebrew names of God found in the Old Testament. This study isn’t merely academic, we’re not studying these names together so that we might be furnished with more theological trivia to impress our Christian friends with. However, in learning these names together we are going to be doing theology. And theology is a discipline which I believe is never to be purely academic. Since it is the study of God, theology is properly an act of worship. Whenever theology becomes disconnected from worship it is being practiced incorrectly, it is being abused. Theology has been so abused in this way that it has now become an object of derision for many. You’ll hear things like this from the pulpit; ‘I don’t need theology, just give me Jesus.’ or ‘God isn’t interested in your theology, he’s interested in your heart.’ But how can you know Jesus apart from theology? How can you love someone you don’t know anything about? The reason we do theology, the reason we study God is because we love Him, we want to know Him more. Don’t you think it would be strange if a husband said he loved his wife so much he didn’t need to know about her personality, her preferences, her desires? I’d say that would be a marriage that was destined for ruin! So we study about God because we love God, and this process of knowing Him more through His word is worship. So we are learning these names together so that we might worship Him all the more because of them.
God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in scripture using a number of names. He identifies Himself as YHWH, but He is also referred to throughout scripture by other divine names.
The Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck divides these names into three groups; Proper Names (YHWH, Elohim) , Essential Names (Attributes) and Personal Names (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). Today we are focussing our attention on one of God’s proper names in scripture. This name for God appears in the very first verse of the first book of the whole Bible, Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1 (ESV)
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The word translated God here is the Hebrew word Elohim, and this name is repeated 28 times in the first chapter of Genesis alone and a further 2,500 times in the rest of the Old Testament. Whenever you see the words ‘The LORD God’ in the Old Testament you are reading the English translation of the words YHWH Elohim. So this name, Elohim carried a high level of honour and significance amongst God’s people.
The actual word Elohim is so ancient that there is debate amongst scholars as to it’s origin. The word ‘El’ was a name used for God by many ancient semitic peoples. Scholars believe this word El (which does appear a handful of times in the book of Job) derived from the words ‘ul or ‘alah meaning ‘strong and mighty’ or ‘one to be feared’. But only the Israelites called their God Elohim.
The name Elohim is actually plural, not singluar. This has led some scholars to claim that the plural name shows that the Israelites originally worshipped many gods and the name Elohim just kind of stuck. But there are other words which appear as plural in the Hebrew language but refer to singular entities, like Shamayim (heaven) or mayim (water). So rather than this name indicating that there is a plurality of Gods, it is to indicate the greatness of God over all, His fulness, His power.
Hebrew scholars typically describe this as a “plural of majesty” rather than a true plural. That is, this plural does not suggest that there are several gods, but rather that the one God so indicated is to be exalted above all. In fact, the Hebrew noun Elohim is consistently used with singular verb forms, singular adjectives, and singular pronouns.- Larry Richards, Every Name of God in the Bible
Deuteronomy 6:4 (BHS)
4 שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה׀ אֶחָֽד׃
What is interesting though, is how in Gen 1:26 (Let us make man in our own image) there does seem to be a little glimpse ahead at the revelation of the trinity. That though Elohim is one entity, not many, He is at the same time able to converse within Himself, indicating a plurality of persons.
What is special about the plural Elohim is that in this word we have a term capable of communicating the unity of the one God while also allowing for a plurality of persons. While the nature of Scripture’s one God as a trinity of persons was unveiled later in Scripture, here in the first chapter of Genesis God is identified by a plural name found in no other Semitic language!
No single name of God reveals all that may be known about Him. But the name Elohim identifies God as the Creator, and in its uniqueness sets the stage for future revelations of His nature and character. - Larry Richards
The fact that God is identified first by this name and in relation to creation is no accident. In studying your Bible there is an important principle called the ‘law of first mention’. The first time something is mentioned in scripture is usually significant in terms of how we are to understand it. In this case, the name Elohim tells us about God’s power in creation. That He was before all creation, nothing pre-existed Him, He wasn’t brought into being by something else, but it was He that brought all things into being. He is the creator of the cosmos, He is the great designer, He is the origin of all life, the master of the universe. The things that exist all around us; mankind, the animal kingdom, the oceans, the jungles and indeed the things that exist outside of this planet, the stars, the galaxies, the planets, the nebulas exist only because God intended for them to exist.
All these things did not arise naturally all by themselves. They are not the products of blind evolutionary processes but are instead the products of a great designer, The God of the Bible; Elohim. This is something that we know to be true instinctively. When we look at nature, we see it’s complexity, it’s beauty, it’s functionality we know that this must be the handiwork of an artist.
When we look at an art piece by Monet, we know that this painting did not arise out of millions of years of random events, the canvas eventually being splattered by just the right mix of paints to produce the masterpiece! No, we know it was the work of a master painter.
When we look at the inner workings of mobile phone technology, we don’t ask how many millions of years it took for these circuits to evolve, we know instinctively that they were designed. And yet when people look at nature, which is infinitely more complex than a painting or an iphone they say ‘huh, must have happened by accident!’. Think of the complexity of the human cell packed full of DNA, which contains literally millions of pieces of specific, codified information at a microscopic level. We know intuitively that this kind of complexity doesn’t occur randomly! The appearance of design in the universe is overwhelming, even many scientists are ready to admit this.
“The laws of physics seem themselves to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design…There is for me powerful evidence that something is going on behind it all…It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the universe…The impression of design is overwhelming.” Paul Davies - Physicist
“A super intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with the chemistry and biology.” Fred Hoyle - Astronomer
Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose. - Richard Dawkins
In fact the mathematical chances of life evolving out of nothing are so, so remote that it is to all intents and purposes a statistical impossibility.
The molecular biologist Douglas Axe wanted to calculate the mathematical probability of just one positive evolutionary change happening at random at a molecular level. If the chances of this happening were good, then it would be good evidence to support the theory that life evolved from simple to complex life forms without any Divine assistance at all. He found that the chance of getting just one positive mutation at a microscopic level was roughly 1 in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion. Judging by those statistics the universe hasn’t been around long enough for blind, evolutionary forces to do anything at all.
“You can’t get remarkable things by accident. That is an intuition which is solid and empirically confirmed.” - Douglas Axe
So if Elohim is the creator of all that exists what does this mean?
It means there is no place in the cosmos where He is not God. There is no planet, now galaxy, no star, no person for which He is not the ultimate cause of their existence. This means that everything and everyone has a purpose. That purpose is greater than whatever purpose that creature might think it has in this world, it is a purpose which was foreordained before the beginning of time in the very mind of God! It is through YHWH Elohim that every life and every thing has meaning and purpose. Whether people believe in God or not has no bearing on the fact that He created them for a purpose. Whether you like it or not, Elohim is your creator and He has a purpose for your life. The only question is whether you will acknowledge this.
It means that all life, and all creation has inherant value and worth. Just as an original Monet painting has a high value because of who painted it, so all life has infinite value because of Who created it. This is especially true of the human race, which is elevated above all creation because it is we who bear God’s image, not the mountains or seas, not lions or bears, or any other animal but us. We were chosen as God’s image bearers in all creation. This gives every human life inestimable value and worth, life is precious, it is to be honoured, it is to be protected. All human life, regardless of colour, culture, size, age or ability is to be treated as precious because all human life bears the very image of Elohim.
It means that every other thing apart from Elohim in this universe is not God, it has it’s existence only because of Him.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
There is nothing else in this whole cosmos that is worthy of being worshipped as God. Everything else is created, it’s life is derivative, finite, passing away. YHWH Elohim is the one true God, and we must always be sure to worship the creator and not the creature.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
So any worship that is not directed to Elohim our creator is actually idolatry, whether it is worship of the stars, the sun, false gods, or of people, or even self it is all idol worship. Elohim gets to demand our worship because we are all His creatures, whether we choose to ackowledge it or not.
All creation speaks of Him. Although not perfectly owing to the fall, He is revealed to us through nature. We can know something of His existence and of what kind of God He is by looking at what He has created.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
All creation is ultimately for Him - Romans 11:36
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
You were made for God. Your purpose is to enjoy Him, to know Him, to love Him and be loved by Him. That was what Adam and Eve were originally created for; fellowship with God. The fall destroyed our fellowship with God, and Christ came to set that right again. Just as God has left His fingerprints in all creation, He has made His home on the earth His church, His chosen people, living in them through the Holy Spirit. He is reconciling creation to Himself through Christ, redeeming and restoring this fallen world.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
We know that one day, not only the church, but all creation will acknowledge that Elohim is God.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Don’t wait until that day to acknowledge Him as God, do it now.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
Come to the throne of grace today. Don’t wait, don’t put it off for another day, but come to Jesus now, just as you are. God’s word says that if we repent of our sins and turn to Christ He will give us life, new life. That we who were once spiritually dead become a new creation, born again of the Holy Spirit. And that this new life we are given is to be lived no longer in the weakness of the flesh but in the power of the Spirit.
Elohim is still creating new life today, new life in the most inhospitable of environments, the sinful unbelieving human heart. Perhaps this miracle of creation is even greater than the one detailed in Genesis 1! Do you have this new life in you today? Are you born again? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.