By Roy B. Blizzard
We find it troublesome to accept that God has no beginning. In Isaiah 44:6 God says "I am the first and I am the last and aside from Me there is no other God." It’s difficult for us to understand what God is and therefore even more difficult to understand how He can exist and that He is the sole cause of everything we see. What is God? He is the sole cause of the universe and the reason for our existence. Deuteronomy 4:39 says "God is the Governor of heaven above and earth below. There is nothing else."
Based on the revelation that God made to Moses at Sinai, He has no beginning. In Exodus chapter 3, when Moses is standing before God at the burning bush, he asks God "When the Israelites in Egypt ask me what is the name of the one who sent you, what shall I say to them?" Then the Lord says to Moses "Ehyeh asher ehyeh". "I will be what I will be." "And He said ‘thus you shall say to the children of Israel YHWH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you and this is my name forever. This is my memorial for every generation forever.’ " From a careful reading of the Hebrew text, we should have known that. In Genesis 4:25, Adam and Eve had another son and called his name Seth. In verse 26, an important passage, "and to Seth also was born a son and called his name Enosh" (meaning simply man). "At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord" (YHWH). From the Hebrew biblical text we see that from the earliest times, God’s name is simply YHWH which is vocalized as Yahweh.
As we continue, we need to keep in mind that the bible is a Hebrew book. It came to us by way of the Hebrews, was written in Hebrew, and does not always say exactly the same thing in English as it says in Hebrew and therein lies the problem. For instance, a Hebrew word could have a host of closely related synonyms for the same word that doesn’t exist in other languages: the word sin would be an excellent example. In Hebrew there are over ten words for sin and all have subtle differences. Also, some words have been transliterated instead of translated meaning words look and sound the same but don’t necessarily carry the meaning of the original. For example, in the book of Matthew when Jesus asks John the Baptist to baptize him, the Hebrew word is tovel meaning to immerse completely and translated into Greek the word is baptidzo which also means to immerse completely. However, when the Bible was translated to the King James edition in 1611, the word baptidzo was transliterated to baptize instead of translating the text to say immerse completely. As a result, unfortunately today baptize does not necessarily mean to immerse completely, but rather whatever a particular denomination interprets it to mean whether it be immersing, sprinkling or pouring water. As can be seen, confusion and misunderstanding arise when we are reading the Bible in translation because we assume it says things that it really doesn’t say.
To further complicate things, when the German version of the Bible was introduced by Martin Luther in the 16th century and the King James version in the 17th century combined with the relatively recent (~1450) invention of the printing press, the Bible became available to everyday people like never before. During the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries people read the Bible and took it at face value and there was no discipline that we know today as science. It wasn’t until the 19th century when Charles Darwin sailed around the world on the HMS Beagle that scientific discoveries had their beginning. Soon after, it became fashionable to explore and question everything, and of course the Bible did not escape notice. From the inception of the various scientific disciplines such as geology, anthropology, paleontology, etc., there were great conflicts with the Bible, or at least with what the Bible seemed to say. These conflicts, due to misunderstanding in the translation from Hebrew, have raged on until this very day. For instance, in the last few years particle physics has come to the fore and physicists are trying to explain the origins of our universe.
Particle physics is a field of study where physicists study and try to explain our complicated universe in terms of its most basic building blocks and how they function. First there were atoms, then protons, neutrons, electrons, quarks, leptons and bosons. In July of 2012, scientists in Meyrin, Switzerland working at CERN (the European organization for nuclear research) announced that they had found a particle called the Higgs Boson named after Peter Higgs. This particle was given the nickname "the God particle" which is thought to be a carrier particle that acts upon matter, and its existence would explain all the other known particles and how they fit together. Scientists have spent years and millions and millions of dollars building what is known as the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, to search for the Higgs Boson particle. The idea is that the universe is composed of matter, but also, the universe contains forces that act upon matter and the Higgs Boson would be the only visible manifestation that there is a secret invisible force field running the universe. In July of 2012, scientists working with the Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of a new particle that acts the way the Higgs Boson was supposed to behave. As a result, it’s being called "the God particle" because of the possibility that this particle is responsible for all the mass in the universe. It is not my purpose here to discuss the subject of particle physics or to attempt to explain the discoveries being made today in that realm, but simply to point out what is happening in the field of particle physics. Additional information can be found through online research.
After all these many centuries, at least some scientists are still talking about God. It’s interesting to me and perhaps significant that centuries before there was ever a discipline called science, the Hebrews spoke of God simply as Mi Sheamar meaning simply, the One who spoke and the universe came into being. In Genesis 1:1 when it says "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", in Hebrew the meaning is at first, God created the totality of the universe. Centuries before we had any knowledge or even an idea about the expanse of the universe, the simple words used in Genesis 1:1 refer to the totality of the universe whatever it was then, whatever it is now, or whatever it ultimately winds up being. The point is that there is really little difference between what is being said today in particle physics and what is happening at CERN, and what is being said in the Hebrew text of Genesis 1 and 2. I wish that I had time to delve much deeper into these subjects with you but let me refer you to some excellent study material that will enlighten you as well as confirm the point that I’m trying to make. First of all there is a two-volume Commentary on Genesis 1 and 2 by Umberto Cassuto who was the Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University. His commentary was first published in Hebrew in Jerusalem in 1944 and the first English edition appeared in 1961. Then there is also Bereishis Volumes 1 and 2 published by the Artscroll Tanach Series by Mesorah. Plus if you want to delve further, there is Onkelos on the Torah by Gefen (five volumes)--I recommend at least Volume 1 on Genesis. If you will read these works that approach the subject from the Hebrew perspective, you will be surprised to learn that what the Hebrew says and what is being said today in particle physics is surprisingly similar.
Although God ultimately transcends the bounds of human explanation or definition, we can understand something of His nature by looking at the names by which He is called. Many of you are perhaps aware that a large portion of my academic work has been in archaeology and anthropology. Since the mid 1960’s, I, and several of my colleagues, have wrestled with the question: "Who and/or what is God?" I first began to ask such questions as the result of some ongoing archaeological work that was being done at the Carmel Caves in Israel. Several of my colleagues and acquaintances were working there. In the excavations at the Carmel Caves they found over 200 burials of early man, including Homo Sapien Sapien that dated back as early as 100,000 years ago. Many of these burials I have personally observed. The oldest of the archaeological finds discovered in the three principal caves and one rock shelter can be dated to over 150,000 years ago. The skeletons from the rock shelter known as Skhul were Homo Sapien Sapiens and had been buried on their side in a flex position with knees bent under the chin and most with burial offerings indicating a belief in an afterlife or a possible need in a future life in the world to come. The excavations at the Carmel Caves were begun back in the 1930’s and had been ongoing, off and on, from that time down until the time of my first visit in 1966. Then in the early 1970’s additional discoveries were made in Africa that sent shockwaves throughout the field of anthropology. One such discovery was made in southern Africa in a cave known as Border Cave between Swaziland and Natal. In the excavations at Border Cave, skeletons of Homo Sapien Sapiens that were also possibly as old as 100,000 years were found. Not only did these early humans manufacture a variety of sophisticated tools, as well as count and keep primitive records; they also held religious convictions and believed in an afterlife. As a result of these findings, anthropologists concluded as early as the 1970’s that it may be that we did not evolve from any of the previously known human types, but descended in a direct line of our own. Much more information was recently published to which I want to refer you: One article published by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History entitled "What Does it Mean to be Human?" has a wealth of pictures and scholarly articles. Another is from the Scientific American, Volume 311 Issue 3, the principal article being "The Origin of Humans is Surprisingly Complicated." Both articles attempt to illustrate that all known precursors of modern man -- and notice that I say "precursors" rather than "ancestors" -- that illustrate the origins of modern man may date back 6,000,000 years. All of this causes a problem that I now want to briefly address before moving on to the subject of the names of God. First of all, if Homo Sapien Sapien is 100,000 years old or more, what does that say about God? Notice from the skeletons that we have excavated both in Israel and Africa, widely separated one from the other, that both cultures buried their deceased in a flex position with burial offerings -- provisions in some cases for the afterlife -- indicating at least a knowledge of a higher power. So we ask the question, "What did these people who lived 100,000 years ago, thousands of years before Abraham and Moses, believe about the world to come? If they believed in a God, and all indications indicate that that they did, who or what was their God? Unfortunately we have no written evidence. The origin of writing came many thousands of years later.
The earliest of writings date back to the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians who lived in the fertile crescent area of Mesopotamia -- the land from which Abraham migrated. These languages were complex and complicated although we have thousands of examples of their writings, their literature, their laws, and their beliefs. The first of the alphabetic languages do not appear until shortly after the time of Abraham, about 1500 B.C.E., at a site known as Ras Shamra. Or more familiarly, Ugarit, which happened to be an alphabetic cuneiform very similar in kind to Hebrew --that is, it was a Semitic language and therefore made the translation of the Ugaritic texts much easier. The interesting fact is that all three ancient languages adopted the same word for God -- simply El. And of course, the word El in its singular form and in a myriad of additional forms appears in Hebrew as well. So if we want to know something about what the ancients might have thought about deity, we need to begin with the name by which He was known. In the many thousands of texts we have from ancient Mesopotamia, the name El is used many times in ancient Sumarian, Akkadian, as well as Ugaritic. By the time this word is actually written down and used in a language, it appears that the word has the simple meaning of power. It’s not as if it’s anything clearly defined, but simply as something out there, something in control of everything, something in control of all. To revert to modern science fiction, we might even designate it as "The Force." But who says that that’s not understandable? For after all, who can define God?
Although he defies definition, the most important word in the Hebrew text to define God is simply the word One. We could go as far to say it is one of the principal words in the Bible, reflecting one of the most important concepts of the God of the Bible. That God concept is monotheism. Monotheism comes from two Greek words, mono (one) and theos (God) and means "one God." The central theme of biblical faith is that God is one. Monotheism is such an important biblical God concept, and is so radically different from the God concepts of the other great nations and peoples of the Bible, that it stands as a marvelous indication of the internal evidences for inspiration contained within the text itself. In other words, this concept of monotheism is so radically different from all other prevailing religious systems that it cannot be accounted for on purely natural grounds. It demands the supernatural to explain such a lofty concept. And it is this concept that becomes the foundational tenet upon which biblical faith is based. "Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One." The ‘Shema’, as it is known, is still recited twice each day by religious Jews.
However, this one God has manifested himself in history in so many multifaceted ways. He is known by a myriad of names, during many varied circumstances, and for many different reasons or purposes. A clear picture of him begins to emerge only when we examine the names by which he is known, as each will reflect some aspect of his nature.
Although God is known by many names, it is of the utmost importance to stress that He is One. Many parallels can be found in this concept of oneness. For example: Law. Law is one, and it is God’s revelation of himself and his will for man to man. However, there was the Law God gave to Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel before the flood. There was the Law God gave to Noah after the flood. There was the Law God gave to Abraham and his seed, and there was the Law God gave to Moses at Sinai. Notice the Law God gave to Moses at Sinai.
It consisted of:
- The Written Law
- a. Moral (10 Commandments)
- b. Ceremonial
- c. Civil
- The Oral Law
- a. Hagadah (Legends)
- b. Halachah (Laws)
But it was all ONE. The One Law of the One God.
As God is One, so His Law is one, and so also man is one. The biblical concept of man is that God created man in his image. Therefore, as God is, so man is. God is one, so man is one. Although man consists of a body (of the earth) and a spirit (of the heavenlies), the two form an inseparable unity. The spirit and the flesh will never be separated but both are made for eternity. This idea of man constituted a basic belief of Jesus, the Pharisees, and the Apostle Paul, who all taught on the resurrection of the dead. Although flesh and blood will not enter the eternal realm of the world to come, "we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruptibility." (1 Corinthians 15). Scientifically we know that once matter has been created it can never be destroyed--only its form can be changed.
This concept of One as the coming together of two or more parts to constitute a whole is first introduced to us in the first chapter of Genesis: "And there was evening and there was morning. One day" (Genesis 1:5). Notice it takes both the evening and the morning, two parts, to come together or to be joined together, to form the ONE day.
Let’s look now at some names I have chosen to share with you. Each reflects some attribute or characteristic of the ONE God of the Bible.
The first name for God we want to note is the simple Semitic name El. The word El in Semitic languages seems to reflect strength or power. El is the God of strength and power.
YHWH, the tetragrammaton (4-lettered) name for God is often transcribed and vocalized in English as Yahweh and transliterated as Jehovah (an incorrect transliteration as there is no letter J in Hebrew). However, the name YHWH was not to be pronounced except on special occasions, so the four letter name of God is usually vocalized as Adonai, or Lord. As used in the Bible, YHWH reflects the covenant attribute of deity, as it is always YHWH who is entering into covenant relationships.
Elohim is a plural masculine noun used for the one God of the Bible. Some scholars have associated Elohim with the singular El but this association is not without problems. However regardless of the root, Elohim is used of the one true God, the omnipotent creative God. It is Elohim who in the creative aspect of His nature is calling the universe into existence simply by the words of His mouth in Genesis 1.
In many instances YHWH and Elohim are joined together in construct as in Genesis chapter 2. YHWH Elohim. When used thusly, it appears to reflect the totality of all the God is. It is used hundreds of times in the Bible. An even more expressive form is the union of all three of the most commonly used names in the name El Elohim YHWH, the all-powerful, creative, covenant God.
A host of construct names follow, each beginning with the word El and joined with another word that reflects an attribute or characteristic of God which serves to illuminate our understanding of His nature.
El Brit: the God of the covenant. The God who makes covenants with his people, i.e., Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Israel, and also with us. Although the proper name El Brit appears in Judges 9:46, possibly as the name for a Canaanite god; nonetheless, in Psalm 78:10 and again in 2 Chronicles 34:2, God is seen as one who makes a covenant with His people.
Ha El HaNe’eman, used with the definite article: the faithful God. The One who is faithful to His word, His covenant, His creation, His people. (Deut. 7:9)
Ha El Hagadol: the Great God. (Deut. 7:21, 10:17; Jer. 32:18; Dan. 9:4, Neh. 1:5, 9:32; Ps. 95:3)
Ha El Hakadosh: the Holy God. (Is. 5:16)
El Yisrael: God of Israel. (Ps. 68:36)
El HaShamayim: God of the heavens. (Ps. 136:26)
El Sali: God is my rock. (Ps. 42:10)
El Simchat Gili: God who is the joy of my exaltation. (Ps. 43:4)
El Ro’i: God who allows me to see Him; to understand, to know Him. How? Through His word, His deeds, and in the lives of His people. (Gen. 16:13)
El HaKavod: God of glory, respect, or honor. (Ps 29:3)
El De’ot: God of knowledge; omniscience. (1 Sam 2:3)
El Olam: Eternal, or everlasting God. He who is without beginning and without end. (Gen. 21:33)
El Ha’oneh Oti Beyom Tzarati: the God who answers me in the day of my trouble. (Gen. 35:3)
El Emet: God of truth. (Ps. 31:6; 2 Chron. 15:3)
El Emunah: God of faith. (Deut. 32:4)
El Yeshuati: God of my salvation. (Is. 12:2; Ps. 88:2)
El Chaiyai: God of my life. (Ps. 42:9)
El Echad: One God. (Mal. 2:10)
El Rachum: God of compassion. (Deut. 4:31; Ex. 34:6; Ps. 86:15)
El Nashah: God who forgets (forgives). (Gen. 41:51)
El Chanum: Gracious God. (Jonah 4:2; 1 Chron. 19:2)
El Kana: Jealous God. He is a God who demands love, worship, honor, and praise. There is no room in our lives for anyone or anything else (as an object of worship). (Deut. 4:24, 5:9, 6:15; Ex. 20:5, 34:14)
El Tzadik: Righteous God. Only God is holy. But, man can be righteous and He demands we be righteous, as He is righteous. Often, this righteousness is reflected in not what we do to or with God, but what we do to our fellow man. (Is. 45:21)
El Shaddai: The all-sufficient God, or possibly the God who nourishes and sustains me by suckling me from His breasts. If so, this would reflect the female aspect of deity in a very profound way. (Gen. 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3; Ex. 6:3)
El Elyon: The Highest God. (Gen. 14:18-20, 22; Ps. 78:35)
Elohay Kedem: The God who was before, or the pre-existent God. (Deut. 33:27) Elohay Tzur: God of Rock. (2 Sam. 22:47)
Elohim Kedoshim: Holy God. Again, only God can be holy… A place or a thing, or a person can be holy only if God is there and abides there. It is He who makes the place, thing, or person to be holy. (lev. 19:2; Josh. 24:19)
Elohim Chaiyim: Living God. (1 Sam. 17:26; Jer. 10:10)
Elohay Tzva’ot: God of hosts. (2 Sam. 5:10; 1 Ki. 19:10, 14; Jer. 5:14, 15:16; Amos 3:13; Ps. 89:9)
Elohay Mishpat: God of judgement. (Is. 30:18; Mal 2:17)
Elohay Selichot: the God of forgiveness. (Neh. 9:17)
Elohay Marom: God of heights (on high). (Micah 6:6)
Elohay Mikarov: God who is near. (Jer. 23:23)
Elohay Chasdi: God of my kindness (of men to men, piety). (Ps. 59:11, 18)
Elohay Meuzi: God who is my strength. (Ps. 43:2)
Elohay Tehelati: God who is my praise. (Ps. 109:1)
Elohay Yishi: God of salvation. (Micah 7:7; Hab. 3:18; Ps. 18:47, 25:5, 27:9)
Elohay HaElohim: God of Gods. (Deut. 10:17)
Elohay Kol Basar: God of all flesh. (Jer. 32:27)
El Elohay Haruchot Lekol Basar: God, the God of the spirits of all flesh. (He is the one who gives life to all flesh.) (Num. 16:22)
Ruach Elohim: Spirit of God, i.e., the Holy Spirit. The empowering aspect of deity. Found in such places as: Gen. 1:2, 41:38, 2 Chron. 24:20; Ex. 31:3, 35:31; Num. 24:2; 1 Sam. 10:10, 11:6, 16:15, 16:23, 19:20, 23)
Adonai YHWH: Lord God, i.e., the God who is ruler or master over my life. (Gen. 2:4, 5, 7, 8, 3:8)
YHWH Mekadesh: God who causes me to be holy. (Ez. 37:28)
YHWH Yireh: the God who sees, i.e., the all-knowing or omniscient God. (1 Sam. 16:7)
YHWH Nisi: God who is my banner or standard, or the God who is my miracle. The God who leads me and in so doing sustains me by his miracles. (Ex. 17:15)
YHWH Shalom: God who is peace, i.e., wholeness and/or completeness. (Judges 6:24)
YHWH Tzidkenu: God who causes us to be righteous. (Jer. 23:6, 33:16)
YHWH Shamma: God who is there. Actually a synonym for the city Jerusalem. However, it reflects the omnipresence of God. He is there, He is everywhere. (Ex. 48:35)
YHWH Tzva’ot: Lord of Hosts. Again, the one who leads His people into battle and to victory. (1 Sam. 1:11, 4:4, 15:2, 17:45, 2Ki. 19:31; Jer. 11:17, 20:12, 27:18; Zec. 12:5)
Yah: an abbreviated form of YHWH used in poetry, especially in the Psalms, as in Psalm 104:35, hallelu-Yah, "Praise ye Yah, i.e. the Lord."
Moshiah: Savior. This word is used in dozens of forms and reflects the saving or redeeming aspect of deity. In Exodus 14:13, and in 2 Chronicles 20:17, we see the phrase alluded to in Luke 3:6: Ve ra’u kol basar et yeshuat Elohim (And all flesh shall see salvation of God, or God’s salvation). In Exodus 1-4:13, we read, Re’u et yeshuat YHWH. (See the salvation of YHWH.) In this context Yeshuat Elohim and Yeshuat YHWH are construct names for God, referring to the redemptive or saving aspects of His deity. In Psalm 149:4, God is known as the one who will beautify the meek with salvation.
Yefaer anavim bishuah: In the context He is called the one who will beautify the humble or meek, i.e., those who are "righteous," with His salvation. (Ps. 149:4)
I hope this special study will be beneficial to you in assisting you to understand more about the nature of God. We have noted over fifty different names for God in this study and have not nearly exhausted all the possibilities. In addition, in Hebrew there are many euphemisms that are used for God, such as Hamakom, the place, or Hashamayim, the heaven. Even after having studied all of the various names and examining the various aspects of deity indicated in His names, in the end, there can be only one conclusion at which we can ultimately arrive, one final and ultimate truth: Our God is more than all we can know or say about Him, and He is more than enough!
