B'reishit Bara Elohim (Genesis #4)

What is the first line of your favorite book?  Can you recall?

Moby Dick:  "My name is Ishmael."
A Wrinkle in Time:  "It was a dark and stormy night."
A Tale of Two Cities:  "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

English nerds say the opening lines are of utmost importance, and I agree.  We are going to examine the opening words of Genesis 1 which, of course, are also the opening words of the greatest book ever written.

The title of today's post is an English transliteration of the Hebrew for "In the beginning God created".

At those simple words the secular world flips out.  Game on.  God inserts Himself into the consciousness of mankind by declaring He is responsible for starting it all.

Let's begin with the word, Elohim.  Elohim is a plural word. One of the names for God, it represents the Trinity:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all of whom were present at "the beginning" during the creation of the universe, of all that IS.

1In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2He was with God in the beginning.

3All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being.

4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  

John 1:1-4 TLV

So, there is Jesus (Ben Elohim), the Son, the Logos, the Person of the Godhead who made all things.  He is called by John "the Word", because He spoke all things into existence.  In addition to John's testimony, we have Paul's as well in Colossians 1:15-17 (TLV) - - -

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

16For by Him all things were created— in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him.

17He exists before everything, and in Him all holds together.

We find the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:2, where He is called in Hebrew the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God).

So, Elohim - - Father, Son, Holy Spirit - - Three-in-One, holy perfection!

Elsewhere in Genesis, God gives us a glimpse into the interactions of the Trinity, when He reveals conversations the three Persons had with each other.  The clue is the word "us".

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! 

Genesis 1:26a (TLV)

Then Adonai Elohim said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil."

Genesis 3:22a (TLV)

And then, at the Tower of Babel . . . 

Come! Let Us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”

Genesis 11:7 (TLV)

Here are other passages in scripture where the word "Creator"/"Maker" would be more accurately translated  "Creators"/Makers:  Ecclesiastes 12:1, Isaiah 54:5 and Deuteronomy 6:4.  You may recognize that last scripture reference as The Shema, which Jews recite as the bedrock foundation of their faith.  They do so to affirm the "one-and-onlyness" of Jehovah.  But, this is quite curious... Here is the entire Shema from the Tree of Life version, a Messianic Jewish translation, publ. 2014:

Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad

4“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one .

5Love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6These words, which I am commanding you today, are to be on your heart.

7You are to teach them diligently to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.

8Bind them as a sign on your hand, they are to be as frontlets between your eyes,

9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4 (TLV)

When examining the Hebrew of this verse, it appears that a wrong word was used for "one".  The word God used here is from the Hebrew root "echad", which means "to collect", "to unify", a "united one".  A more appropriate Hebrew word, to signify "one, and only one God", would have been the Hebrew "yachiyd".  But, that is not the word God inspired Moses to use.   This has troubled many orthodox Jewish rabbis over the centuries.  Some of them, in fact, have called this a scribal error! Smh... no error!  Rather, it is a testimony to the Triunity of Adonai Elohim!

One of my favorite hymns is "Holy, Holy, Holy".  It was written, based on the spoken testimony of praise given by the angelic beings called seraphim, who surround the throne of God and call out night and day "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3)
Ever wonder why Isaiah witnessed them crying out "Holy" three times in succession like that?  Could they be praising each holy Person of the Triune God?  It would seem so.

Here's another mystery, though, as if the Trinity were not mystery enough.

"Bara" ("created and keeps on creating") is a singular verb, occurring 46 times as a verb in the Old Testament.  When seen in scripture this verb is always found with God as its subject, implying only God can "bara".  Would you not expect a plural verb, for the three Persons of the Godhead?  But no!  We worship One God, who makes it apparent from the opening words of His book that He is a plural being.  Hallelujah!  "Bara" is singular, because it conveys the Oneness, the perfect unity of the only true God.  Furthermore, and this is amazing also - - every time Elohim is used as God's name in scripture, it is paired with a singular verb.  In other words, the pairing is grammatically incorrect, although it is spiritually correct!
It is assumed by many evangelicals that Elohim created "creation" out of nothing.  But, implicit in the word "bara" is an opening up, a filling up, more like populating or bringing into tangible existence.  "Populating from what or where?", you might ask, and rightly so.  From Elohim, of course, from the Everlasting One, from The Alpha and the Omega (The First and the Last), who SPOKE the worlds into existence (again, the Word, John 1:1-4).  We see this use of the word "bara" in 1 Samuel 2:29.  The phrase "making yourselves fat" or "fattening yourselves" (depending on the translation you are using) is lə·haḇ·rî·’ă·ḵem, related to "bara".  (See biblehub.com reference.)

So, we see that God (Adonai Elohim) opened Himself and spoke all creation into existence, both seen and unseen.  To believe otherwise contradicts the laws (not the theories) of Science as well as the nature of the (3) Creator(s).

Astounding.  Incomprehensible.  Stunning.

In the next post....b'reishit.

Sources:

http://xwalk.ca/elohim.html

https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/nas/bara.html

https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/we-have-been-di/

http://www.wildbranch.org/teachings/word-studies/55bara.html

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/bara_1254.htm

God's First Creation

Proverbs 8 is somewhat of an enigma.  In this chapter an alternative is given to Vice, well-described in chapter 7, and that alternative is Wisdom (Truth).  That in itself is not surprising.  What IS fascinating is that Solomon personifies Wisdom, using pronouns which identify Wisdom as feminine, and beyond that, a created being.  In fact, Wisdom is described as The Creator's (Jesus') first creation.

Now, do I believe that there was (or is) an actual created being named Wisdom?  No.  I believe Solomon was using the poetic device of personification to prove a point and to make a feminine contrast of Wisdom with the Harlot (Vice) of chapter 7.  Personification is useful to help a reader see a truth concept more clearly.  In this case the device and contrast are very effective.

I also believe that the attributes Wisdom is given by Solomon are true.  So, in fact, I accept from this chapter that, when beginning the creative process, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4) created from His own nature the Truth/Wisdom which He then established as the first created element, and this godly body of Truth undergirds all of our created world.

We do not find the establishment of Wisdom explicitly mentioned in Genesis 1.  Creation there begins with the Spirit of God moving over the face of the deep waters (Gen.1:2).  Obviously, those waters were created prior, and then Wisdom established/created prior to that.  The Wisdom/Truth of God was present in every aspect of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

What a marvel!

In Luke 11:49, the writer calls Jesus "the Wisdom of God".  Some have wrongly equated the Wisdom spoken of here in Proverbs 8 as being Christ Jesus Himself.  But, verse 22 makes plain that Wisdom was created as the first of the Creator's (Jesus') mighty works of old, BEFORE "the watery depths" (Proverbs 8:24).  Truly, Jesus was and is the fully human embodiment of the fullness of God the Father and God the Spirit.  No doubt.  And, it is from Himself that He created and established the Wisdom mentioned in Proverbs 8, the Wisdom that frames our existence.

Proverbs 7 and 8 are contrasts in desire.  Chapter 7 is all about the lure of deception, falsehood, vice and temporal pleasures taken in secret.  Chapter 8 is all about desiring "a woman eternal and invaluable", worth more than any amount of riches (Prov. 8:22).

This is her invitation, which she shouts loudly and openly to all who would hear:

32“Now then, my children, listen to me;

blessed are those who keep my ways.

33Listen to my instruction and be wise;

do not disregard it.

34Blessed are those who listen to me,

watching daily at my doors,

waiting at my doorway.

35For those who find me find life

and receive favor from the Lord.

May we ever and always pursue her by adoring and following the One from whom she sprang!