There are three ways that God reveals Himself to us: General revelation, special revelation, and direct revelation.
He shows us Himself through general revelation, by which we mean creation and indirect providence. We can look at creation and see that SOMETHING was a First Cause, is infinite and balanced and beautiful, fair and just and favoring people. Many religions have come to some common conclusions about how all of this got here and what our relationship is to that divine source. Of course, the problem there is that there are others who look at that same creation and see meaningless, purposeless, evolutionary survival of the fittest, with unfair results, suffering and sickness and death, and conclude that the nature of that Creator is indifferent, or powerless, or even immoral. So natural revelation can collude with other means of revelation, but by itself, natural revelation does not tell us all we hope to know about the nature and character of God.
He shows Himself to us through special revelation, by having communicated clearly with some people and having them write down what He showed them. That gives us enough to be able to interpret the general revelation that we see. Without special revelation, we might conclude that God is finite, or dead, or preoccupied or uncaring. So we need the book of Genesis to reveal to us His nature, His character, and His relationships, specifically His relationship with evil. We see that He is holy and hates evil. Yet somehow He allows evil. And ultimately punishes it. (Death, flood, etc.) But we don’t have enough specifics to put it together all the way.
The third kind of revelation is direct revelation, where God speaks directly to an individual to bless, or assure, or guide, or call that person. Without direct revelation, we could not have special revelation, for the Bible is the recording of what God told someone (in this case, Moses) by means of direct revelation. Genesis describes to us several incidents of direct revelation, which helps to give us clues for how God might speak with us today, if He were to choose to do so.
One of the things that we discover about God’s direct revelation as recorded in the book of Genesis is that God reveals Himself progressively. He did not start with Jesus of Nazareth. He didn’t even start with Nazareth. He seems to reveal Himself in layers, as we are able to understand and our circumstances have prepared us for what He has to say. God might be saying, “The truth? You want to know the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” Not yet. Not until you are ready.
So let us do our due diligence with the book of Genesis and see what we can know about how to interpret all of the ways that God reveals Himself. Our goal here is to worship Him because we know who He is and what He is like. Ready? Let’s dig in!
What do we know about God?
He is infinite. Beyond time (in the beginning), energy (God created), matter (the heavens and the earth). This is a phenomenal statement, since the First Law of Thermodynamics discovered that time, energy and matter must exist together, and one cannot exist without the other. They all had “a beginning,” which means that there is Something that goes beyond them. He pre-existed before “the beginning,” He is greater than all that “God created,” and He goes beyond “the heavens and the earth.”
The whole of creation is a series of cause-and-effect. Something causes every effect, and we cannot imagine anything outside of that system. Even if you believe the universe is self-created in a Big Bang, there had to be a First Cause to get it all started. We know what it was because an ancient man named Moses was told what it was.
What do we know about His character?
He communicates, and is not silent (and God said)
He speaks with authority, and not merely wishful thinking (Let there be light)
He is active, and His will prevails (and there was light)
He is moral, and He chooses good (the light was good)
He is holy, and is set apart from evil (separated the light from the darkness)
He has personhood, and initiates relationship (make man in image)
He has conscience, and is sinless (knowledge of good and evil)
He speaks truth, and does not lie (you will surely die)
He has emotions, including regret (God was sorry)
He is timeless and (alone) knows the future in perfect detail (at this time next year)
What do we know about His relationships?
He is plural, and has multiple facets to His personhood (let us . . . In our image)
He loves mankind, and made us to live in relationship with Him (walking in the cool of the evening)
Mankind is the crown of God’s creation, and the purpose of it all (given to you, rule over it)
He sometimes tests someone’s character (Abraham and Isaac)
He communicates, rather than being mysterious (and the Lord said)
He allows us to confess, rather than distantly destroying (Where are you? Who told you you were naked?)
He initiates relationship, including restoring us to Himself (made skins for them)
He wants to bless and flourish (I will bless you)
He is a friend and receives friendship (Abraham was called a friend of God)
He delegates His authority to mankind (rule over the earth and subdue it)
He shares His thoughts and love with mankind (all mankind will be blessed through you)
He notices individuals, speaks to them by name, and blesses them (Hagar and Ishmael, Joseph, Leah)
He shows up when He chooses to, and is not subject to our conjuring Him up (Jacob at Bethel)
When He communicates, it is clearly enough to change trajectory of a life (leave your family, go)
He gives big dreams, and desires to bless His people. (Abraham, Joseph)
He initiates covenants and keeps His word (rainbow, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph)
What about His relationships with evil?
God Himself is holy and righteous, but somehow He has allowed His creation to be less than holy (Serpent, Sons of God with daughters of men, Cain, Canaan, Moab, Ammon)
God Himself is sinless, but aspects of His creation have actively chosen evil (sons of God and daughters of men, have you eaten from the tree)
The serpent is an enemy who is against God and therefore against people (you will be like God)
The serpent is able to communicate directly with people (the serpent had more wiles, and the serpent said)
The serpent is the father of lies (you will not surely die)
He made us for relationship, but mankind often rebels (Cain, Lamech)
He is both just and loving. He punishes sin and disobedience, yet He is the one who pays to restore the relationship. He joins us in our brokenness and delivers us from it. (Animal skins, animals with Noah through the flood)
YOUR ENCOUNTER
Names of God
The encounter for today involves reflecting on the names and consequent attributes of God.
The book of Genesis uses two words for the name of God, plus the combination of the two words. In English, most translations use the words God (Elohim), LORD (YHWH) and LORD God (YHWH Elohim). Obviously, they are closely related, and you might say that the difference among the words is inconsequential. But names are very important in the Bible—remember how the angel did not permit Jacob to know his name?—so let’s spend a bit exploring the name of God, that we might understand His nature.
Elohim
The word 'Eloha' means God, and its plural 'Elohim' means 'gods'. In English translations, it is almost always translated “God.” Not too complicated, so far, thought the singular/plural is a surprise to many, and makes a literal translation awkward.
YHWH
“The LORD” is often written in capital letters, in deference to the Hebrew letters that translate YHWH. It’s a long story, but basically the scribes wanted to avoid using the name of God in vain, so they wrote it without vowels. So some have completed THE NAME by saying Jehovah, and most today say Yahweh, but most translations honor the capitalized 4-letter tradition by using LORD in the place of YHWH. Here’s another layer of complication: In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT), the word used for YHWH was Adonai, which is the word “Lord.” So that’s another reason to use the word LORD instead of YHWH. In the New Testament, the word Adonai (Lord) is used as the title of Jesus, in which case, only the first letter is capitalized (“Lord”). Of course, the word “lord” is also a verb or an improper noun, so sometimes none of the letters are capitalized. Got all that?
So, when you see the word LORD, you know it is used where the original Hebrew says YHWH. Now, what does the name mean? The meaning is not given until the book of Exodus, but the word is really a verb that means “to be” or “I am,” or more accurately, “He causes to be, He brings into existence.”
YHWH Elohim
Other places in Genesis and beyond use the name “the LORD God.” The meaning is what you would expect it to be. Simply “I AM” “Gods.” Or, better, it means “God brings into existence.”
Now, let’s ponder the nature of God as reflected in His names. Notice the combination of His name with a sense, or an action. It is a clear description of His personhood. Here is a partial list:
1:1 God
1:2 Spirit of God
2:4 the LORD God
4:1 the LORD
4:26 began to call upon the name of the LORD
6:6 the eyes of the LORD
1:3 God said
21:17 God heard
8:21 LORD smelled
6:7 Lord felt sorry
18:8 (the men) ate
8:1 God remembered
9:16 I will remember
Which quality or attribute of God is most striking to you? Record what it is, and then tell about its significance to you. Now call upon that name, and fall upon that attribute. Considering what it says about Him, what will you say to Him or ask of Him in light of what that term or phrase says about God? Share your insight, and then write about your experience.