The Creation by James Tissot
One of the most astounding things I heard when I began to
really study the Bible was that there were many gods. Not in the sense of the ancient
Greeks and Romans looking towards Olympus - although that could hold some
answers as well - but in the sense that God-God, the Highest One, needs other mighty
beings to implement His intentions.
Take for instance the first words in the Bible,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
In Hebrew this text goes like this,
“Bereshit bara Elohim
et hashamayim ve'et ha'arets.”
The word translated into English as God is Elohim. Who is
this Elohim character? For the Hebrews God was Jehovah or YHVH, but they also
had other gods as described in Wikipedia:
El Elyon ("Most
High God"), El Shaddai ("God Almighty"), El `Olam
("Everlasting God"), El Hai ("Living God"), El
Ro'i ("God of Seeing"), El Elohe Israel ("God, the
God of Israel"), El Gibbor ("God of Strength")
It will be no
accident that there are seven. Then there is Moses’ famous conversation with
God at the burning bush, when Moses asks God what his name is (Exodus 3:14) and
the response is Ehyeh asher ehyeh, I am that I am. In the New Testament, Jesus refers to this I Am often
using the Greek words ego eimi. Notably when he was
challenged about where his authority came from in John 8:58
“Very truly I
tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
Landscape with Moses and the Burning Bush by Domenichino 1600-10
Understanding the I Am can provide answers to questions we
may have about God. link to I Am post.
Amidst all this confusion, it is perfectly understandable when people
say, “I don’t believe in God.” They have the courage to admit that, so far, they
have no information to assist them to have any plausible understanding of God.
Blind faith doesn’t do it. When they come across ideas about God they do not
experience any inner confirmation that the information makes sense.
When I first heard that about the Elohim-God I felt liberated. The
Elohim are one level of the nine levels of spiritual beings that put the
highest God’s intentions into action. These nine levels of spiritual beings
were described by Dionysius the Areopagite and using his list we can find them
identified throughout the Bible, specifically when the words, power, authority,
might, principalities, among others, are used.
The Greek word for Elohim is Exousiai and is rightly translated as
power – the power to create. Furthermore, the word Elohim is plural and
feminine. I have come to understand why this is. They are the creators of form,
like a pregnant woman, and we see their work in every form on this earth. This
is like seeing the finished house from the architects plan.
It is clear that no one can explain God to us, we must remove the
blindfold ourselves and intelligently discover not just one God but all the
Gods who uphold this universe and keep it in order.
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