Divine Titles and Their Meanings
Table of Contents
Divine Names and Titles
1. Elohim—God.
Remarks upon some of the occurrences thereof. (Continued from Vol. 2 p. 421)
This name occurs unconnected with any other name, in the portion of scripture, Gen. 1:1, to 2:3, which contains the recital of the creation. The diversity of the Divine action and glory, as there recorded, is very great; but all of it is expressive of that which is simply Elohim-glory.
In Eden, He calls Himself "Jehovah-Elohim," and never anything else; that is, as to the book of Genesis, from chap. 2:4 to 3:24, inclusive. But no sooner are we out of Eden, than the name of Elohim (God) is dropped; and we read, as to the Divine action which follows, neither of Elohim (God), nor of Jehovah-Elohim (Lord-God), but simply of Jehovah (or Lord). See chap. 4:4: "The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering;" and ver. 6: "And the Lord said unto Cain;" so, also, ver. 9, 15, etc.: in connection with which we may remark, that (ver. 26) it was said in Seth's family, "Then began men to call upon (or call themselves by) the name of the Lord."
That the Spirit of God should have used "Elohim" as the designation, while describing creation—"Jehovah-Elohim" while describing the Eden scene—and "Jehovah," for the designation after man's expulsion from paradise, is remarkable, to say the least; and, certainly, it was intentional.
I have said, that in Eden He calls Himself Jehovah-Elohim, and never anything else.- In contrast with this, I notice, that in the temptation of man in Eden, the tempter drops the former title altogether-never uses it; so that he speaks only of God: "And he (the serpent) said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Gen. 3:5); and, " Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day' ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open; and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil" (ver. 4, 5). This, and the counterpart of it in Eve, whose answer to the tempter, in like manner, only records the name of " God," is to be observed: " The woman said unto the serpent.... God hath said," etc. (ver. 3).
To the rest of creation, as in Gen. 1, Elohim had not set Himself in Jehovah-Elohim relationship. On Adam and Eve alone, in Eden, that relationship bad shined forth; and it was under the power of the additional blessing found under the compound title, that man was blessed and set upon responsibility. Part of Satan's guile was thus to throw the mind back, out of its present, full, distinctive portion, to another portion, which, though it flowed from the same Person, as Source, and was a blessing to Adam and Eve, was not the distinctive one, upon the ground of which He that had blessed them stood toward them, or held them toward Himself in blessing and in responsibility. It was on this ground, therefore, that the intelligence and affection of Adam and Eve were placed, fed, and sustained. To let this slip, and sink back to the lower ground, was injurious to themselves in the extreme. Here was woman's weakness found; and the stepping back, even if all that the adversary suggested that their Blesser had said had been correctly given, might have suggested a lie; and the admission of the suggestion might have been the acceptance of a lie. It might be true in itself, without being the whole of truth as to themselves.
Elohim and Jehovah-Elohim are one and the same Being; but the display of the manifestations of Elohim-glory is different from the display of the manifestation of Jehovah-Elohim-glory. The privileges capacities, and responsibilities of being under the two differ, though they may both be combined, as they were in Eden, in one and the same party-the human family; but then, and necessarily so, it is the distinctive part of the portion which becomes separative. I cannot doubt but that this, as a principle, is overlooked by the large mass of believers; and that their overlooking of it is to them a mischievous weakness, resulting from a malicious wile of Satan. For it is always true, that if we merge what is distinctive to ourselves in what is common to others, we not only lose our own places, but displace all that is above us, and misplace all that is around and below. Dispensational privilege constitutes dispensational responsibility always; and the first assailant of distinctive privilege, blessing, and responsibility-the first successful attempter of entanglement to the human mind, as to its present subjection and responsibility, by means of merging that which was distinctively peculiar in that which was general and in common-is here presented to us in the serpent.,
- Eternal power and Godhead manifested in the origination of a system; that is what I see in Gen. 1:1; 2:3. The human race set at the bead and as the center of that system, in intelligent dependence and subjection to Jehovah-Elohim; that is what I see in Eden. Had Eve known in herself one proof of power to originate? No; not one. How came she to assume that it was in her then? I should say, " By forgetting her distinctive and peculiar place." She was made to be a help-meet for him into whose hand, to dress it and to keep it, the garden had been given-the honored creature of Jehovah-Elohim. Intelligence in that which is the Divine testimony to us, is power and blessing; the forgetfulness of it, or the corruption or the dilution of it by us has, on the other hand, its corresponding results of ruin and 'weakness.
As to that which is Divine: it had been well-pleasing that, in the midst of that which was to be an expression of Elohim-glory, there should yet bud and germinate something more bright, a fair expression of the Jehovah-Elohim glory. None could stay the blessing, or prevent it. Beguiled, Eve forgat her peculiar connection with and place in the latter, and blindly assumed to herself that she had merely the former.
Let me remark here, ere passing on, that as man's extremity is God's opportunity, so just in this betrayal to Satan, by man, of the charge entrusted to him (for it was man's sin which let Satan into the place of power over man, and, in a certain sense, over man's inheritance, namely, the earth), that the occasion arose for God to show forth the unsearchable depths of His own infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He could originate that which would meet the needs of His own glory, even in such a case as this; and He could introduce that which would, without any compromise to His own character, eject the power of the adversary, and place man (and man able to stand, too) in fuller and more developed relationship with a heaven and an earth of this globe. And (worthy expression of that Elohim-glory) the seed of the woman, who was beguiled, should bruise the head of the serpent who beguiled her. Redemption by Christ will bring in a full, a perfect display of Elohim-glory; and present, too, a full, a perfect display of Jehovah-Elohim, in blessed relationship with man on the earth—-yet in a new phase from what was at first, be-cause God manifest in the flesh will be the pillar of the tabernacle, the dispensing Sun of blessing in that day. And this will necessarily affect and modify everything. The very display of the Trinity will be modified; for the display will be of Jehovah-Elohim-Shaddai and of the Lamb (see Rev. 21;22). And that name, Shaddai, as expressive of power (Almighty), will circle and close in the fruits of redemption-toil in everlasting blessing.
The first place in which we find the word used in a subordinate application, is in Gen. 5, when, in Eden, Satan suggested, " Ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." It was true; for the Lord God said, when they had done as the serpent suggested (ver. 22), " The man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." But it was truth apart from God as its giver or suggester; and a truth taken out of God's system and order, and misplaced, is not for blessing: The possession of the knowledge of good and evil might be in itself incompatible with man's blessedness, as standing in creation-blessedness; the mode in which it was obtained, certainly, ensured its being a curse, for it was gained by an act of practical independence of God-by positive disobedience. God could know good and evil, and hate the evil and love the good. Satan might know good and evil, to hate the good and to love the evil. Man has known it; and what to him has been the benefit of this knowledge in itself? It came with disobedience; and there in Eden, near to God, it taught first of nakedness, and then of God-a God of judgment.
Out of God's presence, the balance-beam of conscience may go up and down, up and down, quivering in judgment upon right and wrong; but the heart, far from God, loves its own way still, and will take it. But con-science, fruit of the fall, never had power to make a man love the good and refuse the evil. It is to be observed, that the effects of the acquisition of this knowledge were more than one. It did lead into a perception of man's nakedness, and of that nakedness exposing him to God's holiness. God's holiness and man, as he then was, could not meet, save to man's discomfort; but this discovery was attended also with a power of ingenious blending of circumstances around man, so as to meet, as best he might, the difficulties of his own sin-produced needs. The fig-leaf apron, the hiding in the bushes, if foolishness as remedies to the Divine mind, and if sure to pass before His presence more quickly than the dew before the sun, yet told of man at work for himself, blending his own circumstances to meet his own thoughts of his needs. The amelioration of the world, its steam-ships, its railroads, its electric telegraphs, etc., etc.-all that the pride of highly-cultivated civilization now boasts in -is fruit from this root. Just so is all the religion of fallen human nature. Fallen man at work for himself, to alleviate his own misery, or fallen man at work to fact that after chap. 9 the word Elohim does not occur again until chap. 17.
The use of the word occurs also in chap. 19:29: " When God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow " etc., etc.; so (in chap. 20, in the inter- course of God with Abimelech in the matter of Abraham's wife) we find the word largely used; also in chap. 21, the subject being Sarah's conception and Ishmael's rejection; and in chap. 22, which gives the trial of Abraham's faith.
These four chapters, viz., the nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second, deserve a special study.
The connection of this name with any particular person, people, place, etc., gives to that which is thus spoken of a peculiar and sometimes a distinctive honor. Thus He calls Himself constantly "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob;" but we read not of Him as the God of Lot, the God of Esau, of Ammon, or of Moab. So, again, we read of "the God of your fathers" (the address is to Israel). "The God of Israel" is faith's language. Again we hear of "the God of David;" "of Elijah;" "the God of heaven and of earth" (Gen. 24.3), etc.; and (2 Kings 19.16) of "the living God."
In many places the word is used as an adjective, and the force is then vague; the more so, perhaps, because it-is then rarely used by faith. Thus (Gen. 23.6), " Hear us, my lord," said the children of Heth; "thou art a prince of God among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead." Again; Rachel said (chap. 30:8), "With wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my Sister, and I have prevailed." See, also, Ex. 9:28: "Intreat the Lord for us," said Pharaoh, "that there be no more thunderings of God."
There are a few passages to be at least noted by the Christian reader: "Thou [Moses] shalt be to him [Aaron] instead of God" (Ex. 2.16). " I have made thee a god to Pharaoh" (chap. 7:1).
In Exodus it is the word translated judges; see chap. 22:8(7), 9(8), 20 (19), 28 (27); so, also, in 1 Sam. 2:25: "The judges shall judge him."
In Psa. 8:5 it is translated angels: "made him a little lower than the angels."
These citations may throw light upon Psa. 82:6: " I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High: but ye shall die like men." This passage is of peculiar interest from its citation in John 10:34,35.
The following terms I also notice:-
The mount of God (Ex. 3.1 and 4:27, etc.). The rod of God (Ex. 4:20).
The God of gods (Deut. 10.17).
The hill of God (1 Sam. 10:5).
The God of my rock (2 Sam. 22:3, etc.).
The temple-the footstool of our God (1 Chron. 28.2). The name does not occur in the books of Esther, the Song, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum.
The comparison is interesting of Psa. 78:56, " They [Israel] tempted and provoked the most high God;" and 1 Cor. 10:9, " Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents."
For the most part, the scene and circumstances in which a name is first introduced give best of all the general ideas intended to be presented in that name. This I believe to be the case as to the name " God," as given in the first chapter of Genesis. Its connection with another name, as in the second chapter, may help the mind to apprehend the peculiarities distinctive either to the one taken alone, or to the two as combined. The student of Scripture will also find help by marking passages in which one name is contrasted with another name; or in which a portion of Scripture, which has one name in it in one place, is found in another place with another name substituted for it.
But to learn the force of any name, and really to profit from this study, the Christian must read for himself the whole Bible, and mark the scenes and occurrences in which each name occurs and is contrasted with others.
I pass on now to the names of "El" and "Eloah."
2. El.
The first occurrence of this name is in Gen. 14:18-22. When Abram heard that Lot was taken captive,
he led forth his servants against the victorious hosts of the four kings, and pursued unto Hobah, and brought back all the goods, and. Lot and his goods, etc. " And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh. And (ver. 18) Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high El. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high El, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high El, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he (Abram) gave him (Melchizedek) tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram," etc. The scene was a remarkable one in the annals of faith, as much so as in the life of the father of the faithful.
The four victorious kings were-
1St, Amraphel, king of Shinar. The land of Shinar extends from the Persian Gulf, occupying thence upward, the whole land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Faith's estimate of it is easily seen in these texts:-Gen. 10:10. The grandson of Ham (whose posterity were cursed by Noah), Nimrod, had " Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar," as the beginning of his kingdom. It was in the plain of Shinar (chap. 11:2) that the tower of Babel, which was man's defiance of God's power, was reared. Again, in Isa. 11:11, in the deliverance given to His people by the Branch out of the roots of the stem of Jesse, it is said, " The Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and.... from Elam, and from Shinar." Again, in Dan. 1:2, we read, that " the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with part of the vessels of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god." And in Zech. 5:11, it is in the land of Shinar that wickedness has her house built, and is established and set upon her base. Mesopotamia, out of which Abram was called, was comparatively very small, yet formed part of the same territory, geographically, and was to the left furthest from the Persian Gulf.
2ndly, Arioch, king of Ellasar. Ellasar was in Arabia, extending along the Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf, at its mouth.
3rdly, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in Persia. Elam was of Shem's branch (Gen. 10:22). But the captives of the beloved people, as we have just seen (1 Chron. 1:17), are delivered from "Elam," as much as from Shinar (Isa. 11:11); for " Go up, O Elam; besiege, O Media," had been the call (chap. 21:2) and (22:6) " Elam (in response) bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen." In the general desolation predicted, the kings of Elam have to drink of the wine-cup of the fury of the Lord God of Israel (Jer. 25:25). Its judgment was a most solemn one (chap. 49:34-39). The Shushan (of Dan. 8:2) was in the province of Elam. And Ezra tells us (chap, 4:6), that the Babylonians, the Susanchites.... the Elamites, counterworked God's people in the restoration from captivity.
4thly, Tidal, king of nations; that is, Galilee of the nations. The king of the nations of Gilgal (or Galilee) is the thirtieth king smitten by Joshua and the children of Israel, on their taking possession of the land (Josh. 12:23); and it is remarkable for another prophecy concerning it: " Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" (Isa. 9:1,2). Compare Matt. 4:12-16, as showing how it regulated the blessed Lord's movements at one time.
The first of these four kings was lord of the land out of which the father of the faithful had been called by the God of the whole earth, when Lot accompanied him. Neither his land nor that of the next two lay in the Land of Promise. Tidal's land was therein, and was, perhaps more likely to be in collision with the cities of the plain. But the immediate cause of this war, and the inroad of foreign armies, was rebellion against Chedorlaomer (ver. 4). These four kings' kingdoms were large, and all lay within the conquests of Nimrod. Distant as they were the one from the other, they show the power of the confederacy of that day.
The five kings against whom they came were kings of cities, which all lay within the territory possessed by David and Solomon, though the first (Sodom) was in the land of the Amalekites, and the last (Zoar) in that of the Edomites. All five cities are but too notorious in Scripture. 1St, Bera, king of Sodom; 2ndly, Birsha, king of Gomorrah; 3rdly, Shinab, king of Admah; 4thly, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and, 5thly, the king of Bela or Zoar.
"Lot had seen all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest to Zoar.... and he dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." So we read in Gen. 13:10-13; and again in chap. 18:20: "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know."
The God of mercy had prepared an intercessor for His own sake (that His mercy might appear), and for the sake, too, of Abraham, and of Lot, and of the poor sinners; and Abraham was he. But what a state the city was in, when (ver. 26) we read, " And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes"; and then (ver. 28), " If I find there forty-and-five, I will not destroy"; and (ver. 29) "I will not do it for forty's sake"; and (ver. 30), " will not do it if I find thirty there"; and (ver. 31), " I will not do it for twenty's sake"; and then (ver. 32), " I will not destroy it for ten's sake." But there were not ten righteous persons in this city, chief in wickedness, towards which Lot pitched his tent. Lot entered into Zoar. " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground" (chap. 19:22-25). And Abraham "looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace" (ver. 28).
This accounts for the prestige of these two places, and for such words as those used where the Lord is describing His plagues Deut. 29:23: "The whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the over-throw of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath." And when utter destruction is intended, no phrase serves the turn better than, " As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbor cities thereof." See this, as to Babylon, in Isa. 13:19, Jer. 1:40; as to Edom, Jer. 49:18; as to Moab and Ammon, Zeph. 2:9.
Two other most striking passages on this subject are (Isa. 1:9), " Except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah"; and (Rev. 11:8), the great city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
As to the last three of the cities: " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?" (Hos. 11:8). Zoar was spared at Lot's intercession, when doomed: " See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken" (Gen. 19:21). And we find, as to Moab, it is written, in after-days, " His fugitives shall flee to Zoar" (Isa. 15:6); and, " They uttered their voice, from Zoar unto Horonaim" (Jer. 48:34). Mercy is a very self-consistent thing.
To sum up that which we have seen.
Abram, the father of the faithful, called by God out from his country and kindred, was dwelling as a pilgrim and a stranger in the land promised to him. He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God; and God was not ashamed to be called his God. Lot had come out with him, but kept not up the wayfaring man's character, and settled down in the city of Sodom. The power of darkness brings in _three kings from the lands external to that of promise, and one king in the land, to punish the five kings in the land who had rebelled against the king of Elam. So far as the kings were concerned, Lot was nobody in the position of the war. His residence, however, as being in Sodom became so, and so did his goods, and the women and the people. In God's moral government, and in Satan's wiles, Lot in Sodom might be a very leading item in all this history. Abraham no sooner hears of this, than he goes forth with his own servants, and with Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, pursues, and after a forced march overtakes the foe, and recovers the spoil, with Lot and all that was his. What a position was this friend of God in, when the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of the king of Elam, and of the kings that were with him! A Lot, a Jonah, is oft a cause of trouble to a city, a ship: an Abram is oft a deliverer even of the wicked and their goods!
If Abram's deed was but natural to such an one, still it was a deed of a mighty man-one of valor and of disinterestedness. The king of Sodom came out to own it; he " went out to meet Abram"-this is given us in the 17th verse; but ere he can speak (as in the 21St verse), there is found to be another person present, who takes the lead and precedence of him: " And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high El. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high El, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high El, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all" (ver. 18-20).
The man who here wandered as a pilgrim and whose heart, formed to God, could content itself with no house, no city, no land, until he came to the house, city, and land prepared by God for Himself and for them that are His, wandered not from inward fickleness or weakness. That heart was bold enough to go forth and slay the four victorious oppressors of the strangers among whom he dwelt. The God of might was with him, and sends in His testimonial of approval in His own high priest-type, as we know, of another King of Righteousness, and Prince of Peace. Melchizedek meets him, on his return, with bread and wine; blesses him according to the name of Him the Mighty One of the most high places, Possessor of heaven and earth, whose servants they both were; praises the Mighty One for the honor put on Abram; and lets Abram show his might in tithing all unto himself as priest of God. Nothing could have been done to mark more distinctly God's thought of His own connection with the deed of might of His servant.
Now, the introducing, for the first time, this name to us here, is most sweetly significant. Abram had just been showing might in his own circumstances-might of no ordinary character. He who is the Mighty One, sends in one that can identify Himself with what His servant had just done, and His servant with Him in it. The king of Sodom is then allowed to speak, which gives to Abram an occasion of showing that his mastery was over himself, as much as over his circumstances. The spoil he had taken he would not keep, lest his God's faithfulness should be hidden among the children of men. This, as we know from the next chapter, had its immediate reward. For if Abram would be a Nazarite unto God, and so act that man should not say, even unjustly say, " I have made Abram rich," God would Himself be the shield and exceeding great reward of such a one And what a string of blessings does He pour out! Alas! poor Jacob had no such zeal for God, and fared accordingly. It is a great thing for us if we can think of God's name, and of what, in our circumstances, our being of the number of His called ones, makes meet for us.
Gen. 31:29. "It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt," said Laban to Jacob.
Deut. 28:32. "There shall be no might in thine hand," said to Israel in warning of the effects of sinning against God.
Neh. 5:5. " Neither is it in the power of our hand." Compare Prov. 3:27; Mark 2:1.
Psa. 82:1. " God standeth in the congregation of the mighty."
89:7. "Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord!"
Ezek. 31:11. " The hand of the mighty one of the heathen."
32:21. " The strong among the mighty shall speak.")
Observe, as to the originating of this name, Melchizedek is the introducer of it. Man far from God may invent names, fashion titles for Him, misapply and misappropriate, to his own hurt and God's dishonor, names and titles of divine origin; but when the introducer of a name or a title is such an one as Melchizedek, that alone gives authority to the name.
The spring of the patriarch's strength was in another; his power to use that strength was in his own separation individually and as to circumstances, to that other.
The name is one of the most peculiar interest to us as Christians, because of that cry from the cross, "Eli! Eli! lama sabacthani!"
" There power itself and weakness meet;"
when He, who was the Power, as well as the Wisdom of God, was crucified through weakness.
A Nazarite in service was He, self-emptied, perfectly dependent, who alone could say, in the truthful sense of the words, " Lo! I come to do Thy will, O God!" and, " The cup which my Father Lath given me, shall I not drink it?" He would not speak or seek for Himself, for how then could the work have been accomplished? The patriarch got his heart cleansed by the exercises of faith; Christ, by the circumstance of exercises, got the occasion of showing how pure and perfect he was, while doing the work given to Him to do. I conceive that the use of this name in the first and in the tenth verses (" Thou art my El from my mother's belly") is full of force; and the feeling of weakness, forsaking, and desertion, in contrast with might and power, which are present, is sorrow indeed. Such was His when He tasted death for us.
The needs-be of it was in His own self and name. If His will and heart led to His name being Immanuel (the Mighty One with us), how should He be that, and hide His face from human woe? Or how, if He hid Himself from the human woe (the very core of which was guilt on account of sin), how, I say, could He ever, holily and justly, be God-with-us, to bring man into circumstances fitting to Himself? (Matt. 1:21-25; Heb. 2:9-18). The name of Immanuel is, in its application, earthly; yet in the connections of the truth found in it (as may be seen in the passages referred to of Matthew's gospel and the epistle to the Hebrews), it is of much wider application. A crucified Jesus was a Jew-rejected Messiah, who might be found by whosoever should call upon His name. Immanuel, though the very One in whom and in whose work we trust, is, Himself, once rejected by the Jew, yet to bless the Jew in the land. And what though the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory, shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks, and shall pass through Judah, shall overflow and go over, shall reach to the neck? Is the blessing hindered? Can a deluge breaking up from below prevent it? No: as Isaiah (8:7-9) goes on to say, El-with-us is our banner in that day; " the stretching out of His wings shall fill the breadth of Thy land, O Immanuel!" and therefore, " Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for EL-with-us." That is, this very name Immanuel is the solution, in that day, of all the sorrows of the Jewish people (see, also, Isa. 9:5-7).
Thus we find this name of El at the cross, where God let man measure out his wickedness against Him who was crucified in weakness; so opening a door to the whosoever, etc.: and we fins' the same name of El when God takes up His controversy with the infidel faction of the last day, and by this name the Jew gets blessing upon earth.
There is another combination of this name of El, besides that of Immanuel, which is also one of peculiar interest. For if Immanuel be a personal name of the blessed Lord, El-Shaddah'y is a name in the which much of Divine grace is presented to us in the word.
The first occurrence is in Gen. 17:1: "The Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am [El Shaddah'y] the Almighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect, and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly," etc. Then, again, when Isaac is sending Jacob to Padan- Aram: " And El-Shaddah'y [God Almighty] bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham" (chap. xxviii. 3, 4). And accordingly, when God appears to Jacob again, after he had come out of Padan-Aram, and blessed him, He said (chap. 35:10), " Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and He called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am El-Shaddah'y [God Almighty]: be fruitful and multiply: a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land."
It is the name which Israel uses when he has to send Benjamin into Egypt (chap. 43:14): " And God Almighty give you mercy before the man," etc.; and uses, when, dying, he speaks to Joseph: " God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and I will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession" (chap. 48:3, 4); " and now Ephraim and Manasseh are mine," etc. Compare, also, his most beautiful blessing of Joseph, in chap. 49:25.
If God be for us, what is he, or what the circumstances, which may be set in opposition to us. El Shaddah'y was for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was known, too, to each of them to be for him, for his posterity and circumstances, and all was felt to be right. Ruth, on the other hand (chap. 1:20, 21), felt bitterly, through unbelief, the sorrow of having "the Almighty" against her. Job's friends knew how to use the name of the Almighty against him and his own unbroken spirit lent itself to the same folly.
That there is something distinctive and characteristic in the name El-Shaddah'y is clear from Ex. 6:3: " I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of El-Shaddah'y; but by my name of Jehovah was I not known to them." A most important passage, as showing the force of the names used in Scripture. And in accordance with this -indeed, as confirmatory of it-I remark, that in the Song of Moses (Ex. 15), the name of LORD, or Jehovah, occurs twelve times; El, twice, viz., " He is my El" (ver. 2), and (ver. 11) "among the gods;" and the name of Elohim but once, " my father's God " (ver. 2).
Some of the passages in which this name of El occurs are of too much interest in themselves for me not to cite them; e.g.-
Ex. 34:5: " The Lord) descended in the cloud, and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah-El, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear (the guilty); visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation."
So, again (Num. 23.8), in Balaam's testimony: "How shall I curse whom El has not cursed?" Again (ver. 19), " El (is) not a man, that He should lie;" and (ver. 22), "El brought them out of Egypt;" and (ver. 23), " What hath El wrought!" See, also, chap. 24:4, 8, 16, 23.
In the songs which record the triumphs of grace over all that was outside and inside of David-the way in which grace, mercy, and compassion express themselves in the circumstances and persons of the beloved of God-this word occurs, 2 Sam. 22 and 23.
Chapter 22 " As for El, his way is perfect" (ver. 31).
" Who is El, save the Lord?" (ver. 32). " El is my strength and power" (ver. 33). " It is El that avengeth me."
And chap. 23. " Although my house be not so with. El, yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure; for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although He make it not to grow."
In Daniel we find the word in two remarkable places, namely, in chap. 9 "the great and dreadful El " (ver. 4), and (in chap. 11) " The king... shall magnify him-self above every El, and shall speak marvelous things against the El of Els, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished " (ver. 36).
Observe also these passages where the word is connected with the thought of sonship.
In Psa. 89:26, speaking of Solomon, the son promised to David, " He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my El, and the Rock of my salvation." Also, " I will make Him my First-Born, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for Him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with Him."
Hos. 1:10: " It shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall it be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living El." A passage of peculiar interest to us, from its moral connection through the heavenlies with our-selves.
3. Eloah.
Is the singular number of the word Elohim.
The singular number is comparatively of rare occurrence. The plural form is that which is used in Genesis, and so generally throughout the Bible, as the name of Him who is Creator of heaven and earth, and Arranger and Disposer of all things-that the occurrences of the form in the singular number demand a special consideration. For instance, the singular form is found fifty-seven times, of which forty are in the Book of Job; the plural form about 2,700. In neither of these do I include the Chaldee, where singular and plural occurrences are altogether under ninety-six.
It strikes me, that in many of the occurrences of the singular form, there is a contrast presented more between the thought of One God and many gods, than between the who, of the true God (who is the One only God) and what the so-called many gods are. This is not a distinction without a difference; for in the one case the abstract notion of Deity (which certainly excludes plurality) is contrasted with the absurdity of having many "one firsts and one lasts," and in the other case the Eternal power and Godhead, the traces of whose power and beneficence are seen in creation and providence, are set in contrast with demons and demoniacal characteristics.
Having made this suggestion, I will now cite the passages which suggested the thought to my own mind.
Deut. 32:15 (This is the first occurrence of the word): " Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God [Eloah] which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils not to Eloah: to gods [Elohim] whom they knew not, to new, [gods] that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not."
Is there not here a contrast between the one God and the so-called gods many? The song is of the Lord's own inditing (2 Chron. 32.13-15). The language is the scurrilous blasphemy of Sennacherib: " Know ye not what I and my Fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? Were the gods [Elohim] of the nations... able to deliver... out of mine hand? Who among all the gods [Elohim] of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver out of my hand, that your God [Elohim] should be able to deliver you out of mine hand. Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you nor persuade you... for no god [Eloah] of any nation... how much less shall your god [Elohim] deliver you out of mine hand?"
Not one god of the many gods that Sennacherib could think of was a match for himself; so be thought, who saw not that himself was but a slave of Satan, and a scourge in the hand of the only true God.
Neh. 9:16-19: " Our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks... but thou art a God [Eloah] ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God [Elohim] that brought thee out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocation; yet Thou, in Thy manifold mercies, forsookest them not in the wilderness."
Psa. 18:30,31: " As for God [Elohim] His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried; He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. For who is God [Eloah] save the Lord [Jehovah]? Or who is a rock save our God [Elohim]?"
Psa. 50:21, 22: " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, all ye that forget God [Eloah], lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."
Isa. 44:8-10: " Ye [Israel] are even my witnesses. Is there a God [Eloah] beside me? Yea there is no Rock; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit: and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god [El], or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing." And see the vivid description of the making of the idol, and of the use of the residue of the materials out of which it is taken, in vers. 12-20.
Dan. 11:37-39: " Neither shall he regard the God [Elohim] of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God [Eloah]: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God [Eloah-a god] of forces [Mahuzzim]; and a god [Eloah] whom his fathers knew not... Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange god [Eloah], whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory.
Hab. 1:11,12: " He shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god [Eloah]. Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God. Mine Holy One? we shall not die, O Jehovah, Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O Mighty God [Rock], Thou hast established them for correction."
Hab. 3:2, 3: " In wrath remember mercy. God [Eloah] came from Tertian, and the Holy One from Mount Paran."
It is worthy of note that Eloah occurs in Job alone forty times; Elohim less than twenty.
Elah is the Chaldee form of the word Eloah. Of the occurrences which do not number ninety-six, there are not more than ten in the plural, the rest are in the singular form. It is worthy of notice, that here in Chaldee, the singular form is the common one for the Supreme Being, "the God of heaven," as He is here constantly called, and the plural form is used as connected with unbelief.
Jer. 10:11. The Spirit is speaking of idol-makers: " Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens."
"The gods, whose dwelling. is not with flesh" (Dan. 2:11), would not, could not aid the magicians. "Your God is a God of gods" Or. 47), was the king's tribute of homage to Daniel. Dan. 3.12: The Jews, "O king... serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image;" and (3:18) "We will not serve thy gods," is the confession of the three servants of God. " The fourth is like unto the Son of God" (3:25) [a son of the gods]. 'Twas the thought of the king when he saw Him who is God and Son of God in the furnace: " and praised the gods of gold" (v. 4), " In whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods-the wisdom of the holy gods" (v. 11),
The spirit of the gods is in thee" (v. 14), " Thou hast praised the gods of silver" (v. 23).
Yet in the days of Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah, Elohim was a common title of God. Whether the non-use of the plural form, when speaking of Him, was connected with the idiom of the Chaldee language, or rather with the peculiarity of the circumstances and state of things and subjects, which the use of it by the servants of the living God supposed, I cannot say positively.
The three words, Elohim, El, Eloah, seem in common to present the idea of power as their meaning. They appear to me also evidently derived from the same root. Yet the abstract idea of power and might found in each, may be presented by them severally with a peculiarity distinctive to each particular form.
In re-perusing what I have written-and also the occurrences in. full in the " Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance"-I think three shades of meaning are presented, namely, that He whom we adore alone has creatorial power, victorious power, and stands thus in His very being, in contrast with all that are called gods.
These remarks contain, I am aware, little positive instruction-they are those of an inquirer rather than of a teacher; if others have not observed the fact, that this name of El exists, as well as those of Elohim and Eloah, the paper may serve a turn for good in calling the attention of some to these facts: it may serve also the good turn of calling the attention of those who have more light than has the writer of these remarks, to the general need for information upon this subject.
Divine Names and Titles*: 2
It would suppose great want of even natural observation in a reader of the Bible, to imagine that he had not noticed that there are many names used by the Spirit; who, through the inspired writers, indited Scripture, for the God with whom we have to do. God; Lord God; Jehovah; Jah; I AM; God Almighty; God of Abraham- of Isaac-and of Jacob; God of -Israel, etc. etc., occur in the Old Testament; and those of God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; LORD GOD Almighty, etc. etc., are too observable in the New Testament for any one that at all knows the book not to have noticed them.
The believer, moreover, will be conscious of there being, not only many names, but of a difference in the variety which the number presents. He may have thought of God, in time past, merely as " GOD all-mighty," and of the Lord Jesus as "the appointed Judge of quick and dead"; but now he knows, as having tasted, the grace of this Almighty Creator, and Jesus is owned by him, not only as Judge for a day to come, but now, as Lord and Savior. His earliest lessons in the school of Christ have enabled him to discern the difference between the God of Righteousness at Sinai, proposing that, which, while it described the Perfect Man (and, there never was since but One such) measured and condemned every mere child of fallen Adam,- and, the God of Grace at Calvary, sheaving Divine Perfectness in the seed of the woman, the Man Christ Jesus on the cross, and there teaching the remedy for ruin, as it is written:-" But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: and not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished.: but their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:7-18). His early lessons thus have taught him a difference between the glories proper to God as the Creator, as the Upholder (God of Providence), and as the Savior-God; while his very possession of salvation supposes some knowledge, at least, as to the places, and offices, and works respectively peculiar to the Father, the Son, and the. Holy Ghost, in the work of redemption: and, further, the plain teaching of the double glory to be given to the person of the Mediator, God manifest in the flesh, a glory celestial and a glory terrestrial, a new heaven and a new earth, in [both] which [ἐν οἴς, wherein, or in which] which, in plural] dwelleth righteousness, must, early in his learning, have come before him:-"Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him" (Eph. 1:8-10). " For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven" (Col. 1:19,20).
That some names, as being descriptive of that which is essential, are and must, in the nature of things, be incommunicable to any save Deity; and that others, descriptive of offices or works, or even a parts of character or attributes, may, in a secondary sense, be communicable, will not surprise us. Perhaps name would be the more accurate appellative for the former, and title for the latter; for, correctly, a name should describe its subject, and it alone; whereas a title has a more adjectival character, as being descriptive of a known subject, and frequently, therefore, shared by that subject in common with others. The Jews considered, correctly as to the fact, that the name of Jehovah, or LORD, was a name of essence, and incommunicable to any other; and the facts as to the use of the name prove this (as we shall see), and prove the Deity of Jesus of Nazareth, too; for this name belongs to Him, as the Messiah prophesied of as both to come and suffer about the time that man crucified Him, who is now the Lord Jesus. But of this more in its place; compare Zech. 10:12, 13; Matt. 26:15 and 27:3-10; also Zech. 13:6, 7; Matt. 26:31; Isa. 6:6, 10; and John 12:40, 41, as showing that Jesus is Jehovah.
On the other hand, our Lord's own word will show us that the title "God" is not always a title of the Supreme Being. " Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods. unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John 10:34-36).
Now, whether, or not, we understand this " calling of them gods, unto whom the word of God came," matters not for the argument: " the scripture cannot be broken," and the term " gods" is used, by our Lord Himself, concerning those to whom the word came.
The list of names might easily be given, and the distinctive peculiarities of each (as likely to have been felt by the believer) noticed; but this would be to anticipate: enough has been said to bring before the mind of any simple person the two thoughts, that names divine are many, and that they vary in their significancy.
It is this subject, however, into the details connected with which I desire to enter, persuaded that, blessed as are the vague thoughts which the Scripture reader feels to attach to these various names, yet much blessing is to be found in the clearing away the vagueness and obtaining the power of presenting our thoughts definitely with " Thus saith the Lord," or " It is written," as the known basis, the firm stones in the pavement, beneath our imaginings. It is not, however, as a teacher, that I would write; but rather I would seek, as being myself, on this subject, really an enquirer still, to hold that place while writing; the place of an enquirer with those who will inquire with me. And blessed is it to know the fullness of the field of revelation, the richness of the harvest, and yet know our liberty either to reap or glean in it, under the hand of the Boaz to whom it belongs. No human heart or mind, though divinely fed and taught, could, surely, ever contain all the fullness of the testimony which the word of God presents as to our Lord: and yet it is the blessed privilege, of even the least of the saints, to glean their individual modicum, and to enjoy it, too, in the renewed affections they have received; and, conscious of their Lord's sympathy in their joy, to communicate the little they may have observed to their brethren. I would present, then, my own observations in the word, thankful, if I state the thoughts of my own mind instead of the truth of the word, to have this pointed out; and thankful if the perusal of this leads others to add 'fuller and more perfect instruction, or even only awakens, in some, inquiry upon subjects, surely blessed subjects in themselves, to which attention had not been awake.
1.
The divine name which meets us first in Scripture is that of "God:"- "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).
Without denying that the word אלחים (Elohim, God); may be significant (according to the meaning of the root) from which it is and ought by us to be derived), of certain things which it is more particularly the pleasure of God to present, as connected with Himself, when He so names Himself,-I do question the propriety of deriving our first and leading thoughts about this, or any other divine name or title, from the root from which we sups pose the word derived. The subject is too high, and we are too foolish for such a process; and, moreover, He who is the subject, in gracious consideration to us in our littleness, has made the understanding of His names and titles to hang upon faith in His word (which all His people have), and not on skill in the analysis of Hebrew words. Man loves to define; but He who made man, if) He would teach man concerning Himself, gives, not a definition of His being, or various displays of Himself, but presents to man a record of His actions and doings, and they teach to faith its lessons. Let us, at all events; examine the Scriptures first, even plain passages of Scripture, in the light of their contexts, before attempting to analyze the meaning of the name. There are passages enough for our instruction, if we find grace to be teachable and, in trust upon God, expect His Spirit's guidance.
The whole of the first chapter of Genesis speaks only of the title "God," or Elohim; so also the 1St, 2nd, and 3rd verses of chapter ii. In this portion we have the origin of the world traced up to Elohim; and we may say, boldly, " that which may be known of God is manifest to men; for God has spewed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead;" so that men are without excuse. But the portion which follows, flews us other truth; for in Gen. 2:4, and onward, man is not looked at, as in the preceding portion, as merely a part of creation, but man's distinctive position, as a center in a system, is the subject, his position and relationship in Eden with Elohim; and here a new and another name is added, and Jehovah-Elohim (יהוה אלהים) is the name in the Garden of Eden. It is no longer "Elohim," nor is it "Jehovah," but "Jehovah-Elohim," that the scene presents.
Much learning, and no little reading, would it require ere a simple mind could feel that it understood at all what the meaning of the words Elohim and Jehovah might be, according to the words whence they are respectively derived;-very little observation does it suppose to say, I see that Gen. 1:1, to Gen. 2:3, present A Subject, A Part of which is taken up in Gen. 2:4, and onwards in a different aspect; the shoot of this latter portion, found folded up in the former portion, is here A Subject, germinating, and has peculiarities distinctive to itself-it is man's portion and place in Eden, the center of a system, as distinguished from-the rest of creation; and if Elohim's glory is proclaimed by the six days' work, and the rest of the seventh day.... Eden's tale, speaks forth something concerning Jehovah-Elohim, or LORD-God.
If any one doubt whether there is weight in this remark, let him consider what it is which his doubt implies? To me it seems to be nothing short of this,-a doubt of the accuracy and intelligence of the Spirit in the use of the language of man as his medium of presenting truth. I know the Spirit's accuracy and intelligence must be perfect, with them that are "perfect"-I observe that this use of names has varied. Is there not a reason? What is that reason? To any inquirer pausing at this step, I would suggest two questions for examination.
1St. What is the difference of Psa. 14 and Psa. 53?
2nd. Why is it the rule in the Gospels to speak of "Jesus," and in the Epistles to call the same person "The Lord Jesus?" By the rule I mean the common and more frequent custom, one from which indeed the exceptions are comparatively few.
To my own mind, the invariable use and oft-repeated occurrence of " God" in the portion Gen. 1:1 to 2:3, i.e. in the history of the creation or origination of the world, and of " Lord God" in Gen. 1;14-25, i.e., in the account of the owning and placing of man in his peculiar sphere in Eden, has great weight, as pointing to a difference between the two names.
To look, now, more closely at our subject, as presented in the former portion, the history of the creation or origination of the world-
1. ORIGINATION seems the peculiarity of the chapter. " By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water" (2 Peter 3.5). This passage is distinct. So, perhaps, on the same subject, is, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:3).
That which human wit could never ascertain with certainty [though one may have argued, from creation works, of One first great Cause of all, and written with the clearness of a Paley upon it, and sealed it with his blood, too, though he forgot not, ere he died, to pay his vow of a cock to Aesculapius, and though many may have had traditions of the same, the corrupted reports of that which was truth] God here reveals to us. And He reveals it, not as solving the riddle, "Whence are we?" but, in revealing part of His own glory, as the Creator, to us: that so, knowing what was done, and how it was done, we may see and learn about the God from whom the world proceeded, and consider whether or not we are to Himward now as His glory requires.
It is one thing, to be "creating;" another to be blessing Abram, as he wandered a pilgrim and a stranger, seeking a city which bath foundations whose builder and maker is God, amid a people amongst whom he was as a sojourner; and it is a third thing to take up a people under circumstances of oppression and resourcelessness, and to make them an irresistible and successful people, under relationship to a self-existent Blesser, as was the picture of those whose exodus from Egypt, led to a march through a waste-howling wilderness, into a land flowing with milk and honey. And there were three names for these three displays: "Elohim" (God); "El Shaddai" (God Almighty); and "Jehovah" (Lord).
Surely the variety in the way pursued during the process of originating is observable:-
Ver. 1. "God created the heavens and the earth;" ver. 3. "God said, Let there be light;" and ver. 6. "Let there be a firmament," etc.; and ver. 26. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."
In all that bursts into being, while it bespeaks the Eternal power of its Originator, how do Wisdom and Beneficence likewise find their place of testimony? "He saw that it was good" (vers. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25); "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1.31);- "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Gen. 2.2, 3); -bespeak his goodness; and the little phrase, "and it was so," after his "let there be," was spoken, presses home his power; and the testimony of Wisdom-is it not, as in other things, so in the marvelous oneness of the whole.
POWER IN ORIGINATING is the first thought of this Elohim character, of whom are all things. But, then, not only was the plan, the counsel, the originating OF Him, but all also was through him likewise; for no power, save His own, was used, He subserved himself of none that we read of. His Spirit brooded on the face of the waters, and by His word it was-all was through him. And, further, it was all for Himself: "The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof" (Psa. 19.1-6).
And, more than this, His sympathies were in His works of creation; and he rested and blessed, and set apart on it, a season for His own honoring; when man, in its weekly return, remembering His joy, rest, and blessing of the earth, might rest in hallowed remembrance of it. " Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Power, eternal power, displaying itself wisely towards the end sought and beneficently, combined with an exclusion of all power save itself, and having the honor of Him from whom the new scene flowed-is my thought of the name Elohim (God), as derived from this Scripture. I would presently show how this harmonizes with one derivation of the word Elohim, though not the one most commonly, perhaps, adopted. But first I would desire to say a little upon the first verse, more in detail.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (verse 1).
How important a clue, context is in interpretation, may be seen by comparing, "In the beginning," as here found, with the same expression in John 1:1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In Genesis, "the beginning" is limited by "creation of the heavens and earth;" in John there is no action or thing done to limit, and the "In the beginning" (of John 1:1), refers to the being of the Word. "In the beginning was the Word." The same remark is confirmed by a comparison of Luke 1:2, " from the beginning," with 1 John 1:1, "from the beginning,"-the beginning of Christ's course here below in the former, but in the latter we are out of time, in eternity; out of humanity, in deity.
On the word "God" see below: only let me remark here, 1St, that the three persons in the godhead were all engaged in this, as in every other of their works. The plan and counsel may, in the Divine economy, be attributed to One Person; the agency to bring forth that counsel to another; and the accomplishment of the work be ascribed to the agency of the third. The eighth of Proverbs with John 1:3, "all things were made by," (or rather through δἰ αὐτοῦ), refers it to God (even the Father) as to counsel; the -rest of John 1:3, " All things were made by Him: and without Him was not anything made that was made;" and Col. 1:16, " For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him," attributes it to the second person in the Trinity, and other Scripture to the Holy Spirit; as says Job; " By His Spirit He bath garnished the heavens" (Job 26:13). " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (Psa. 33:6). 2nd. And further, in answer to a question thus put to' me, " Does the plural form of the word Elohim' (the Hebrew word rendered by God) mean the Trinity?" I would make a remark or two.
1. While there may be in Hebrew what is called "a plural of excellence," by which the use of a plural form in connection with a subject in the singular number would be justified, such a theory would not, in Gen. 1, meet the difficulty. Because, while all the verbs, "created," "moved on," "said," "saw," "made," etc., etc., are in the singular number, we have, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (ver. 26), in the plural number. Now, instances cannot be adduced from Scripture, I think, that royalty or dignity was wont to express itself in the plural by such expressions as, " we will," or " it is our pleasure that," etc. The contrary, I think, is the- ease, viz., dignity loved to individualize itself as much as possible. See Pharaoh in Egypt in the Book of Genesis, and the language of the heads of the Gentile image, in Daniel, or that of Cyrus, 2 Chron. 36.23, and Ezra 1.1, 2, etc.
(2) For the sake of emphasis, the Hebrews commonly employed most of the words which signify Lord, God, etc., in the plural form, but with the sense of the singular. This is called the pluralis excellentice.
" Examples- Lord, in all the forms of the plural except my masters [as in Gen. 19:2, and perhaps also 19:18 the same, only in pause-En.]; the form is always used, with the sense of the singular, for God. (b) God, in all the forms of the plural. (c) lord, in all its forms. (d) the most Holy One (Hos. 12:1; Prov. 9:10; 30:3; Josh. 24:9). (e) the Almighty, is probably of the plural form, § 325, b. (f) household god, as singular (1 Sam. 19:13,16). (g) Occasionally, in a few other words, as Job 35:10, God, my Maker '; (Eccl. 12:1) thy Creator.' (See also Isa. 22:11; 42:5; Psa. 149:2; comp. § 484).
(3) The plural, especially in poetry, is not infrequently used where we might expect the singular.
E.g. Job 6:3, 'The sand of the seas'; i.e., of the sea. Even where only one can possibly be meant, is this the case; as Judg. 12:7, he was buried, 'in the towns of Gilead; i.e., in a town. Gen. 8:4, the ark rested, 'on the mountains of Ararat,' i.e., on the mountain; Job 21:32, 'the graves,' i.e., the grave."
The references in the above are these:-
1. " § 325, b. [Under unusual forms of the plural], (b) Jer. 22:14 ... which coincides 'with the Chaldee and Syriac plurals.' The word in Jer. 22:14, is rendered my windows.'
2. "§ 484, [The article is headed, "Anomalies in the concord of verbs"-Ed.] 1. As to number. The pluralis excellentice commonly, but not always, takes a verb in the singular. § 437, b.
E.g. Gen. 1:1, God created; Ex. 21:29, his owner shall be put to death. But, in a few cases, the pluralis excellentice takes a verb in the plural; e.g., Gen. 20:13;31. 53; 35:7; Ex. 32:4, 8; 2 Sam. 7:23."
But he adds-
§ 425. Plural nominatives of the feminine gender (which relate to beasts or things, and not to persons, frequently take a verb singular, whether it precedes or follows them."
E.g., Ezek. 26:2, broken is [are] the gates; Joel 1:20, the beasts cries [cry]; Gen. 49:22; Jer. 4:14; 48:41; 51:29, 56; Psa. 119:98; 87:3; Job 27:20, etc."
* This construction of the feminine plural with a verb singular is technically called the pluralis inhuntanis. (Compare, in Greek, the neuter plurals joined with the verbs singular.)
2. To suppose that the Trinity is so alluded to here, as to be legible' without further Scripture, would be to underrate the value of Scripture, and to overrate the measure of illumination vouchsafed by the Spirit to the reader of Scripture. He, the Holy Ghost, had not here revealed that truth, neither was the time come to do so. On the other hand, though this blessing on the word to those that have it, is a secondary blessing, quite distinguishable, and to be kept distinct in our minds, from His grace in giving Scripture, for the written word is the alone perfect standard of truth,-it does seem to me,
3rd. That he so wrote as knowing what is now a matter of revelation to us; namely, that the persons in the Trinity were, though One, yet more than one; and all interested in Creation.
Passages might be adduced, showing the term אלהים used as equivalent to Deity, as contrasted with humanity, or to other beings of a spiritual nature. " Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of' man.; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it" (Deut. 1:17). " There is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me... tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is none beside me" (Isa. 45:6 and 21). "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me" (chap. 46:9). So also I think, that passages may be adduced in which this term is predicated of each of the respective persons in the blessed Trinity. E.g. compare Psa. 45:7, which is quoted in Heb. 1:9. "God, thy God, anointed thee;" i.e. the Redeemer spoken of; also Psa. 78:56, with 1 Cor. 10:9, and Ex. 6; and 2 Sam. 23:2, with 3.
To some minds a reference to the New Testament uses of the term God, in the highest sense, may be a help here. It is used as of Deity,—(John 4:24) God is a Spirit." And the Father is God,-(Eph. 1:3) "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus:" the Son is God. (John 1:1), "the word was God:" and the Holy Ghost is God (Acts 5:3,4). While, if I may with reverence say it, officially the Father is God, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit-that is, God, Lord, and Spirit are the distinctive names, as connected with redemption to the church, of the three persons in the Godhead (see 1 Cor. 8:6, and 12:4).
This may be a good place for me to advertise the mere English reader, that in all the places in the English Bible where he finds "God," he would not, if he turned to a Hebrew Bible, find the word I am now speaking of-Elohim. Part III. of the Englishman's Hebrew Concordance will show him, page 1543:-
1St. That there are three, four, or more Hebrew words rendered "God;" and
2ndly. That the idioms of the two languages so far differ, that there are expressions in English which contain the word God, the equivalent expressions to which do not contain any such word in Hebrew, e.g. "God forbid" in Hebrew חלילה profanity (ad profana i.e. absit) rendered "far be it" (Gen. 18:25: 1 Sam. 2:30). Compare Rom. 3:4. μη γενοιτο (may it not be so) "God forbid!"
As to the word Created:
Observe: 1St, that it is not the order or circumstances of the heavens and the earth—but the heavens and the earth themselves, which were spoken of as created.
Secondly, in Hebrew there are three verbs which appear to be synonymous in meaning, 1. יצר yatzahr, 2. עשה ahsah, and this verb 3. ברא barah. That is, in some contexts they might be interchanged; but yet each has a meaning distinctively peculiar to itself-1. would mean to make or "to mold like a potter," 2. to make or "fashion," as one's beard in trimming, etc. 3. to make or "create." This third verb is sometimes confounded with another in which the last letter is ה (signifying to cut out) and not א. That there are some verbs the third or last letter of which may be ה or א, I do not dispute, but I doubt whether this is the case here. Be this as it may in other occurrences of this verb ברא,-to state that in this passage it means to cut out (so implying that Gen. 1 is not the account of creation, properly so called, but of a remodeling of an old thing) seems to me nonsense. It is contrary to Scriptures before adduced; contrary to the old Hebrew school of lexicography; and to my mind savors of a love of novelty worthy of the neologian German school whence it came the Jews, in their new translation of Genesis, (sold at Bagsters', Paternoster Row), have this note on the word in question: "Create, to produce something out of nothing." If it ever means to "cut," then Josh. 17:15, 18; Ezek. 21:19 (24); 23:47, Piel, are the ensamples: and so our translators, perhaps, thought. But I see not why in Josh. 17:15,18, "cut down" the wood should not be rendered " make it (your portion)." And Ezek. 21:19 (24), "choose thou a place, choose (it)," I should read "make" and Ezek. 23:47, "the company [of the righteous men] shall stone them with stones and dispatch them [Query, why not make them (scil. for a booty and a spoil)?] with their swords."
In the same way, I should have rendered 1 Sam. 2:29, not "to make yourselves fat," but "to make yourselves;" but this others must judge.
That there is peculiar force in the word ברא in many passages, seems to me obvious; take for instance Num. 16:30, " created a new thing," the earth swallowing Korah, etc.; so, in Jer. mod. 22, "a woman compassing a man;" and Isa. 4:5, " a cloud and a smoke by day"; and Isa. 41:20, " trees in incongruous places"; and " a clean heart." Psa. 51:10 (12).
Lastly. With regard to the meaning, by derivation from the root of the word Elohim; the clue to its meaning being taken from the Scriptures, which relate, as I judge, to the scene chosen for its first display as to man, I have no difficulty in supposing it derived from אלה or אול bearing, as many derivatives do, from some such word a sense of Power.
Divine Titles and Their Meanings
It has pleased God to instruct man concerning Himself, by the record put into man's hand of things done, or being done, or to be done by God. God thus presents Himself, as it were, in action before man-that man, standing in the position of subjection and dependence, may learn and know the God that made, upholds, blesses, and redeems. The way, I am persuaded, in which we ought to study the Divine titles, is by studying the Scriptures of truth, which present God in the various actings and glories proper to those titles. The simplest saint might thus learn to profit, and learn with certainty. The wisest would learn with humility and deference, for God would be his study. Man likes not a way so open to all, so calculated to humble and abase himself. We accordingly find, that most works on the Divine names and titles are founded upon the etymological meanings of these titles and names; the learned -differ upon these; the mass make no pretension to the learning which can enable them to tread that field, or form a judgment even upon the gleanings of their more erudite brethren. I propose, God willing, to say a little upon this most interesting subject, and would speak first on the title, Elohim-God.
Y.