Elohim (ABF Lesson)

Powerful God

We all come to the Bible with presuppositions.... Why? Because we have lived for 30, 40, 50+ years and a lot of data has passed through our brains.

Draw these:

Culture over Scripture vs Scripture over culture

Pre-understanding over Scripture vs Scripture over pre-understanding

Let’s do our best today to set aside our tendency to look at Scripture from the perspective of what we already know..... and come to our study today with no pre-suppositions.... no pre-drawn conclusions.... no front loading (past the Pentateuch)! (define if needed)

Intro:

G.K. Chesterton was an English writer, poet, lay theologian, and Christian apologist who lived during the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s.

Listen to this quote from Chesterton, think about what he is saying.

“Nobody can imagine how nothing could turn into something. Nobody can get an inch nearer to it by explaining how something could turn into something else. It is really far more logical to start by saying ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and earth’ even if you only mean ‘In the beginning some unthinkable power began some unthinkable process.’ For God is by its nature a name of mystery, and nobody ever supposed that man could imagine how a world was created any more than he could create one.”

Why is it reasonable to assume that something or someone has always existed? (Or, why would it be unreasonable to assume that there was time when nothing or no one existed?)

Some common responses:

- The step from “nothing” to “something” requires a non-rational leap of faith.

- You can’t get something out of nothing.

- It is more reasonable to assume that there was an eternal living being who brought something into existence than to believe that something came out of nothing.

It is true that however we approach the issue of “the beginning,” faith is required.

In its opening statement, the Bible addresses the most basic issue of human existence by declaring that the something or someone who has always existed is God.

In the beginning God…

Which of these statements are true?

— The Bible begins with an attempt to prove the existence of God.

— The Bible begins with the assumption that God exists.

The Bible begins with the assumption that God exists.

Following the example established at the very beginning of the Bible we can approach studying the Bible as well as defending the faith in two different ways.

Rational apologetics: Defend God’s existence with rational arguments.

Presuppositional apologetics: Recognize that our foundational beliefs (such as regarding God’s existence) cannot be proven with rational arguments; they must be accepted by faith.

The Bible approaches the existence of God presuppositional. And that is the way we approach God’s existence, as well as the authenticity of the Bible.

In the ancient Near East (ANE) almost everyone believed that there were gods, although the Bible itself says that there were some people who did not (Ps. 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God,’”). Different cultures had different views of deity.

Panthiesm — God is the world, the world is god.

Panantheism — God is in everything, everything is in god.

Polytheism — There are many gods

Henotheism — Many gods exist, but one is worshipped above the others

Monotheism — Only one God exists

It would have been irrelevant to the original audience to attempt to prove the biblical God’s existence. It would have been important in the polytheistic ANE culture, however, to show who was the most powerful and beneficial God or what was the realm where he ruled. For example, people believed that a specific god operated only in one locality, be it large or small. From a modern (and post-modern) perspective, if a deity were to “prove” his or her existence, it could be done practically, by speaking and/or doing. Providentially, in Genesis 1 the biblical God does both.

Why do you think the Bible introduces God this way? (God is revealing Himself not trying to prove Himself) —> Tie this into the ANE culture/context.

Who wrote Genesis?

Original Audience?

Context?

What was God preparing His people to do?

What was He reminding them of as they went into the promised land?

What are some possible words that some people might use instead of “God” to describe what they think was in the beginning?

energy, matter, spirits, mind, universe, nothing, bird, tree, water, gas, darkness, aliens, etc…

As we read through the early part of the Bible that we call the “Old Testament”, we see that God is referred to by different names. There are three basic names for God in the Old Testament.

Who is the “God” to whom the Bible refers?

The God of the Bible has multiple names.

Different names express different aspects of his character and relationships. For example, one man may be called, “Mr. Smith” in a PTA meeting, “Colonel Smith” at work, “Bob” by his friends, “Bo” by his brother, “Junior” by his father, “Dad” by his children, “Hook” by former teammates, and “Dear” by his wife. Each name expresses a different relationship or activity, or both.

The first name of the biblical deity encountered in Gen. 1:1 is “God”, the English translation of the Hebrew word, Elohim.

Etymology is the study of the origin and history of a word. The exact etymology of Elohim is debated by scholars, but many have concluded that the core of the word’s meaning is “power, might, strength,” so that Elohim means “powerful one, mighty one, strong one.” So, it is appropriate that this name would be used when describing Him creating the world.

Etymology is interesting, but not the best way to study a word. For example, from the etymology of the English word “nice” we find it meant “ignorant, not knowing,” but when we say “Joanne is nice,” we do not mean she is ignorant. “Artificial”, formerly meant “artistic”, but if we say a Rembrandt is artificial, we man it is not a genuine Rembrandt.

So, while the etymology of Elohim is strength, and this fits the concept in Genesis 1, we will learn more about God the other way words are studied, which is the better method: usage.

The word is used around 2750 times in the OT. So as you study through the Bible, you get to see how the Bible reveals who and what God is.

Original Name: Elohim

English Word: God

Meaning: Strong One

1st Mention: Gen. 1:1

# of Times: 2,750

Original Name: Yahweh (Jehovah)

English Word: LORD or GOD

Meaning: Eternal, Self-existing One (Personal Name)

1st Mention: Gen. 2:4

# of Times: 6,823

Original Name: Adonai

English Word: Lord, Sovereign (when used with LORD)

Meaning: Ultimate Lord or Master or Owner

1st Mention: Gen. 15:2

# of Times: about 300

Out of these 3 names, why does Moses choose to use the name Elohim when he does..... Yahweh when he does… and Adonai when he does?

Elohim:

Yahweh:

Adonai:

The name Elohim, is in the plural form. In Hebrew one of the common endings to show that a noun is plural is —“im". Does this mean that there is more than one deity involved in Genesis 1?

Is the Bible teaching polytheism?

Let’s look at English to get a comparison of the idea. We have some nouns that are the same in the singular as in the plural. How can we tell whether the nouns are singular or plural?

The deer is in the orchard./ The deer are in the orchard

The fish swims in the river./ The fish swim in the river.

The sheep comes into the fold at night./ The sheep come into the fold at night.

You could tell immediately whether one or more than one animal is meant, because of the accompanying verb. The same is true with the name Elohim.

While Elohim is the name of God used in 1:1, it is also used to describe pagan gods. So how do you tell the difference? Context, normally. But also you can tell by looking at the grammar.

The Hebrew verbs used in Genesis 1 are singular, that is, they are the kinds of verbs used with a singular subject. So, only one deity is in view. When plural verbs are used, we know that “gods” plural are meant.

A plural noun used for only one person is not unusual in biblical Hebrew. In Gen. 40:1, the pharaoh is one person, but is called in Hebrew “their lords.” This is translated as “their lord, their master”. Pharaoh is referred to in the plural to show his high rank and power. Some Hebrew scholars refer to this phenomenon as the “plural of respect, plural of majesty.” The point is that Elohim in Genesis 1 is not referring to more than one God.

What is the God of the Bible like?

Some common responses:

He exists He is a “Strong One” (all-powerful) He was in the beginning He is eternal He is intelligent He is one, not many He is all-knowing He is self-sufficient He is self-sustaining etc…

The Bible is God’s written revelation to mankind. It reveals many truths about God, progressively (gradually more and more) from the very first verse of the Bible to the very last verse of the Bible.

tell the story of the preacher and the farmer… and not dumping the whole load on one cow

Similarly, God will not dump the whole truckload on us, but will gradually reveal more and more about himself as time goes on.

Since God progressively revealed Himself to us, this is why we have chosen to study and teach the Bible chronologically, as God has revealed Himself.

As we read about and study the different Bible events, we need to intentionally look for the many things that we can learn about the being that the Bible calls “God” (Elohim).

Studying the Bible this way helps us too know a lot more about the God of the Bible and helps us be able to more effectively help others know that they can know the God of the Bible personally.