Hello Beloved,
As we have moved from discussing the attributes of God to discussing his names, we begin with the most used name of God in all the Bible, Elohim. We find the first form of this name in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.” This word is found in the book of Genesis some 200 times and some 2570 times in the whole Old Testament, being used of God Himself 2310 of those times. You might be wondering, what about the other 260 uses of the word? What was Elohim describing in those passages? The simple answer is: the gods of the nations. You see Elohim is the generic name for God in Hebrew much like we use “God” or “god” in the English, considering whether we are referring to the Biblical God or a false god of another belief system.
Let’s look at the make-up of the word, Elohim. It comes from two Hebrew root words, “El” and “Alah.” “El” signifies unlimited strength, energy, might, and power, while “Alah” signifies to swear, declare, or make a covenant. When one brings the two roots of these words together and forms “Elohim,” he or she receives the characteristics of infinite strength joined with absolute faithfulness. God, the Elohim, is infinite in might and power. He is the strong One, the mighty Leader, the supreme God who always keeps His covenant with man. Therefore, he is to be feared, reverenced, and worshiped.
The meaning of “Alah,” in Elohim means “to swear.” We see a clear picture of this characteristic in Numbers 23:19 (ESV): God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Other passages with reference to Elohim speak to the veracity or truthfulness of God’s word. In Genesis 6:15-18 and 8:1, God delivered Noah from the flood as He swore by Himself. As Elohim, God stood in covenant relation to Noah, pledging to protect him and his family from the threatened destruction. In Genesis 17:1-8, God, as Elohim, bound Himself to Abraham with an everlasting covenant, having done so with an oath.
As Elohim, God remembers His covenants and every promise is affirmed by His will and assured by the claims of His name. God will most certainly fulfill His promises. Genesis 8:1; 19:29; 30:22; 50:24; Exodus 2:24; 6:2-8; Leviticus 26:42
Please note that Elohim is in the plural form of the Hebrew even though it is used with single verbs and adjectives. This form of the name for Elohim is relegated to the Old Testament Scriptures, and interestingly enough, it is not used in this manner with other Semitic languages. There are various explanations that scholars have given for this anomaly. One potential claim is that the plural form of Elohim with singular verbs signifies the Trinity (one God revealed in three persons), but this would seem to be reading the New Testament back into the Old Testament. Others have claimed that the plural use of Elohim communicates a majestic or intensive sense to the name of God. This view seems to be the best explanation. The plural form of Elohim denotes God’s unlimited greatness and His supreme qualities that cannot be adequately conveyed in finite words.
In His book, The Power of God’s Names, Tony Evans explains the connection in God’s use of Elohim with His function as Creator. Evans illustrates:
God’s act of creation makes all of life religious. God invites science to study His creation in order to learn and discover more about Him (Job 12:7-9). Evolution holds that nobody plus nothing equals everything. It ultimately seeks to get rid of God. But watches have watchmakers, paintings have painters, designs have designers, and creation has a Creator.
In 1997, the Hubble telescope took flight to give us a look through its powerful lens into places we had never known or seen before. Through this mammoth telescope, we discovered a staggering number of other galaxies out there beyond our own. Our tiny earth is just in one tiny galaxy. And our Milky Way galaxy is just a little disk-shaped spiral when compared with the expanse of other galaxies. Sure, we have our sun and moon—our little spot along with the planets that surround us. Yet the Hubble telescope revealed that we are just one of many. In other words, we aren’t quite the center of the universe we once thought we were.
In fact, scientists reported that each of the 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies they believe they have discovered has up to 100 billion stars in it. And if 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies each containing up to 100 billion stars is too large for you to grasp, just consider the galaxy Andromeda.
Andromeda is roughly 2.5 million light-years away from us. (Light travels at about 186,282 miles per second.) So if you had friends living in Andromeda and you sent them a message at the speed of a radio wave (which travels at the speed of light), you could receive their reply in about 5 million years. You can’t send a text message to Andromeda regardless of how intelligent your smart phone might be. And all God— Elohim—did was say something. He merely spoke the word, and worlds were formed. (I’m glad He didn’t shout.)
So before God shows us His gentleness, His fatherhood, or His grace, God introduces Himself to us as Elohim, the great and powerful. He wants to establish right from the start that He is the all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present one.
Until next time, this is Pastor Daniel writing, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
*Material for this newsletter article are taken from the notes of Jim Smith, Professor of Bible and Theology at Brookes Bible College.