H.
Leo Boles: Christ, the Word, is the agent (deputy,
broker) through whom God created all
things; the Holy Spirit gives life, enacts laws, and
organizes (establish, institute, construct) the material
universe.
Creation
was not finished (full-fledged, done) until
the third member of the Godhead functioned. (H. Leo
Boles, H. Leo, The Holy Spirit, p. 37, Gospel Advocate)
We best honor God's Word when
we believe what He says about Himself. Throughout the Old
Testament He declares that "I was alone, I created it by
myself, there was no other god beside me."
Despite dozens of Biblical
claims to the contrary, semi-charismatics (or neo-trinitarians
or tritheists) insist that the personal Holy Spirit, as a
third family member, restored order after Father and Son
created a "totally worthless thing." The clear fact is that
spirit (Hebrew ruwach in Genesis) does not identify a
separate person. Rather, it is the wind as a symbol or parable of God's
power to defeat, restore or refine the "chaff from the wheat."
In Genesis, the wind is a parable for God's power to create
earth or dry
ground by removing the waters from off the face of the globe to make earth which means a
"fruitful place." Genesis does not speak of the creation of
the "globe" we call earth in English.
According to Job, the spirit of God is just one of the "body
parts" of God (the Word was God). Hands, arms, shoulders,
face, breath and snorting nostrils explain His reach into the
physical dimension by using human-like, anthropomorphic
symbols. His "spirit" is the figure of speech to explain the wind blown from His double-edged sword or mouth to propel the word. Jesus said that His spoken words
were spirit
and life. By looking at the symbols of God's power we enrich
our understanding of God's creative means and methods.
By looking at what may be an
extreme position we will be better prepared to see how God's
often-symbolic revelation must be prayerfully used for
personal growth rather than for writing creeds to include or exclude:
H.
Leo Boles: The Divine Family... suggests
the close relation that exists
between the members of the Godhead, and also that they
constitute a family (clan,
kith, lineage, race); it
suggest that they are closely related, that they are akin. (relatives,
same lineage, same tribe) This
term expresses an interest in each other and a cooperation (teamwork,
collaboration, partnership) in
activities. P. 21
"In the
beginning, the head of the Gods called a council
of the Gods; and they came together and
concocted a plan to create the world and people it....In all
congregations when I have preached on the subject of the
Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods." Joseph Smith,
(Founder and First Prophet), History of the Church, Vol 6,
pp. 308,474.
H.
Leo Boles: Personality in God is the sum
total of the infinite attributes resident in the
inmost depth of his one divine nature;
the
three
persons in the Godhead are the three individualities (distinctiveness),
the three
personal centers of consciousness,
the three separate (apart,
divided, independent, disconnected, distinct) self-conscious and self-determining (self-deciding) persons or selves. P. 33 (self
means appearance, exterior, form like humans)
"The
universe is filled with vast numbers of intelligences, and
we further learn that Elohim is God simply because all of
these intelligences honor and sustain him as such...if He
should ever do anything to violate the confidence or "sense
of justice" of these intelligences, they would promptly
withdraw their support, and the "power" of God would
disintegrate. He would cease to be God." W. Cleon Skousen
(Former BYU Professor & founder of Mormon-based National
Center For Constitutional Studies), The First 2000 Years ,
p. 355. "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as
tangible as mans," Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22. "If God
possesses a form, that form is of necessity of definite
proportions, and therefore of limited extension and space.
It is impossible for Him to occupy at one time more than one
space of such limits." James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith,
page 43.
H.
Leo Boles: The three are distinctly (clearly,
sharply, plainly) separate beings (persons,
mankind, humanity, man, mortality).
However,
they are one (single,
sole, solitary, unique) because they
share the same purposes, intentions and desires.
The
Godhead is one in the same way that a husband
and wife are one (Mal 2:14-15)
(H. Leo Boles in Sept. 1, 1966, p. 2, Fall Quarter,
Foundations, Gospel Advocate.)
H. Leo Boles set the stage
for the radical falling away of the early American
Restoration Movement's view of the Spirit of God. The charismatic revival of
the 60's further took tongue speaking away from the snake
handlers (keep 'em cool and confused) and dressed them in city
slicker clothes. The cute "urbans" usually end up ridiculing
but then adopting the ideas of the "rurals."
One "fallen away" from the
ancient and the Restoration Movement writer defends the "three
persons" of the One God by noting that the Babylonians and all pagans had a triad of gods at the top of the
pantheon. If the people at the Tower of Babel had a triad then
surely we must have a similar triad.
And this is exactly why God
was so clear in rejecting the 2000 year old Babylonian triad
by declaring -- over and over -- that "Yahweh is the One
Elohim."
However
There is Only One Spirit God Up
God as Elohim defined by Movement
Leaders
God
as Elohim is defined by Jewish scholars:
Another
symbolic use of terms literally could mean that "In the
beginning, the gods created."
However, elsewhere we will find abundant proof that God
identified Himself as an El so that He could reveal that
"Yahweh is our El." And He said: "The Els have not made" anything.
In looking for three Gods in creation it is always advisable
to ask what the ancient and modern Jews understood:
"We would
do well to pose another question: The Torah makes use of
several names to identify the Creator, the loftiest of which
is the Tetragammaton (the four letter name consisting of the
Hebrew letters Yud, Heh, Vav, Heh, known also as the "Shem
Havayah," "The Name of Existence"). The narrative in the
first chapter of Genesis, instead of using the more direct
form of the Tetragammaton, uses the term Elokim. This term,
in its connotation of "lordship," is often used to identify
humans who possess
authority, such as judges (as in Exodus
21, 6). It is frequently used to identify other, pagan
gods.
"The Shem
Havayah, on the other hand, is
exclusively associated with the God of Judaism, Creator of
Heavens and Earth. Why would the Torah choose to use the
less specific Elokim over the more specific, more obvious
choice, of Shem Havayah?
"The
answer lies in the meaning of the term Elokim. It is
derived from the word "el," that means
"strength," or "force." An Elokim
is a "Master of Forces."
Any
individual or deity that possesses authority is a "Master
(or Mistress) of Forces." When God is identified as
Elokim, we are really describing Him as the ultimate "Master of
Forces." (Rabbi Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer in In
His Image)
In the view of H. Leo H. Leo
Boles, The Holy Spirit took over, cleaned up the mess and wrote
laws so that it wouldn't happen again. However, Isaiah said
that God did not create the earth vain and empty.
"The best
linguists translate this term 'In the beginning of God's
creating [or when God began to create the
heavens and the earth], the earth was without
form and void." (Willis, John, Living Word Commentary, p.
79)
If God did not create the
earth (the dry, fruitful lands above sea level -- not the
globe) vain and empty then the earth must have become that way
by the life which lived then. We have Jesus and Job declaring
that the creation story was put in symbolic language to hide
the truth from those who hated truth and the idea of One God.
Remember that the
Babylonians, whose stories were written perhaps 2000 years
before Moses, thought of many gods and most of them were evil.
Rather than honoring the self-evident God of creation, they
honored dead heros and primarily the planets -- astrology.
These "gods" really existed as long as people were controlled
by their myths.
Therefore, Jeremiah used the
same language of the creation story. However, He said that
the Elohim (three gods) did not
create anything:
Thus shall
ye say unto them, The gods (elohim) that have not made the heavens and the earth,
even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens. Jeremiah 10:11
He hath made the
earth
........by his power,
he hath
established the world
........
by
his wisdom, and
hath stretched out the heavens
........
by
his discretion. Jeremiah
10:12
When he thunders, the waters in
the heavens roar; he makes clouds
rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the
rain and brings out (to and fro) the wind (spirit) from his storehouses. Jeremiah 10:13
God was not an elohim in the Babylonian sense
of a family. His Power, Wisdom, thunder, Discretion and Spirit
speak of His intellectual power understandable by the things
He created.
While the "us" in Genesis
1:26 is not understood by anyone, God corrects any confusion
over and over. He said that there were not "three gods" or
"three persons" during the creation. John said that the Word Who was
now Jesus was the God who created, formed and organized all
things. Without Him means that there was no space between
Himself as the Word and the Wind as His Spirit.
The One God was manifested or "imaged" in the
flesh as Jesus Christ. However, Jesus was not triplets.
Jesus died in the flesh but
was alive in the Spirit. The Word laid aside His full Deity and put on the
garments of flesh. Before He died, He promised that He would
come again as both Father and Son as the Comforting Spirit (Jn
14:16-18). In His Deified form, God is One God (Deuteronomy
6:4).
And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God (not just the
second person) was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
The Word was not manifest in the flesh but
God (full
Deity Col 2:9) was manifest in flesh. Full Deity which dwelled
within Jesus put off His glory, laid it aside and took on the garments or tent
of shame.
Manifest means "to make apparent" to "shine externally" or to
become visible. Jesus always treated the Father as within
Himself as the Son. In the same way, we might imagine that a
"ghost or spirit is visible in its materialization." Yet the
"invisible" being is not different from His "visible"
manifestation. The flesh died but God was still alive in the Spirit.
However, the trinity may be
explained in ways which confuses most of us. God sends God and
God swears by God or speaks to God--just as we speak to
ourselves. That is our spirit and our mind agree before we speak words.
The confusion occurs when the
hundreds of clear statements about God's nature are
interpreted much as the Babylonians might:
H.
Leo
Boles: These (three) members, (parts, components, divisions, portions) of the
Godhead held a council (committee
meeting) at the creation of man;
they are
divine, one in substance, purpose, and design;
yet they are three distinct (different, disunited,
dispersed) persons
and
(distinct) function (capacity, utility) in the work
of creation. H. Leo Boles, Gospel Advocate, p. 46
However, as Jesus warned, it
is easy to trip up on parabolic language. God often speaks of
Himself as plural. When there is no one else, He swears by
Himself and He sends His own right arm as His Redeemer:
Thus saith
the Lord the King of
Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside
me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6 (
45:21, 22)
And who, as I, shall
call, and shall
declare it, and set
it in order for me, since I appointed the
ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall
come, let them shew unto them. Isaiah 44:7
Fear ye
not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that
time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is
there a God beside me? yea, there
is no God; I
know not any. Isaiah 44:8
Beside
is:
Biladey (h1107)
bil-ad-ay'; constr. plur. from 1077 and 5703; not till, i.
e. (as prep. or adv.) except, besides: - beside, not (in), save, without
This word is made up of two
parts:
bal (h1077) bal;
from 1086; prop. a failure; by impl. nothing; usually (adv.)
not at all; also lest: - lest, neither, no,
none (that...), not (any), nothing.
Ad (h5703) ad;
from 5710; prop. a (peremptory) terminus, i. e. (by impl.)
duration, in the sense of advance or perpetuity
(substantially as a noun, either with or without a prep.):
- eternity, ever
(-lasting, - more), old, perpetually, / world
without end.
The Lord and His Redeemer are
not two: the "and" is not cumulative:
This is
what the LORD says--your
Redeemer, who formed
you in the womb: I am
the LORD, who has made all things,
...........
who alone stretched out
the heavens, who
...........
spread
out
the earth by myself Isaiah 44:24
If Father, Son and Spirit all
stand outside each other and are related only as a husband and
wife are related then God missed dozens of opportunities to
say it clearly. He did not. He always makes it clear--to
combat paganism--that He is self-contained, self-sufficient
within Himself.
Neo-trinitarianism developed
in the nineteenth century. Before that the Trinitarian
understanding was that God was three persona or manifestations but not three,
co-equal, mutually derived members of the god family. They are
not ranked one, two and three.
Alone means that God is
separated from the pagan gods. There were tens of thousands
of els but there was only One Jehovah:
bad (h905) bad;
from 909; prop. separation; by impl. a part of the body, branch of a tree, bar for
carrying; fig. chief of a city; espec. (with prep. pref.) as
adv., apart, only, besides: - alone, apart, bar,
besides, branch, by self, of each alike,
except, only, part, staff, strength.
God was alone just as Adam
was alone before Eve was created:
The LORD
God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a
helper suitable for him." Genesis 2:18
Adam was not triplets acting
as a family or committee. Adam and Eve as two totally separate
persons became
one flesh
emotionally and sexually. However, because God had not created
lesser gods He was still alone. If the members of the God family
are related as Adam and Eve are related then it is correct, as
many claim, that the Son proceeds from the Father perhaps like
a rib.
God is the Caller or Word, He spreads the Word and
He sets in order for Himself. Everything physical is really a
parable or picture of the true spiritual nature:
And I (God) will give thee
the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of
secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the
Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the
God of Israel. Isaiah 45:3
I am the
Lord, and there
is none else, there is no
God beside me: I girded thee, though
thou hast not known me: Isaiah 45:5
That they
may know from the rising of the sun (east), and from the
west, that there is none beside me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else. Is.45:6
I form
the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create
evil: I the Lord do all these things. Isaiah
45:7
None in Isaiah 45:6 is:
Ayin (h369) ah'-yin;
as if from a prim. root mean. to be nothing or not exist; a non-entity;
gen. used as a neg. particle: - else, except, fail,
[father-] less, be gone, in [-curable],
neither, never, no
where, none, nor (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past,
unsearchable, well-nigh, without.
Declare
what is to be, present it--let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the
distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there
is no God apart from me, a righteous
God and a Savior; there
is none but me. Isaiah 45:21
The One enthroned in
heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Psalm 2:4NIV
The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I
will trust; my buckler, and the horn
of my salvation, and my
high tower. Psalm 18:2
God is the motive power (body with "arms and legs") and
He is life
and mind (the
intellectual power) and He is Spirit (has a Divine mental
attitude as
pure or holy Spirit). However, as God created Adam in His own
image and not as triplets, God is contained within Himself and
is not a committee of relatives.
A Jewish source speaks of the
anthropomorphic
ways God is described like a human who has body, soul or life
and spirit. This leads many to assume that God has a body
which would look like us if we could see Him. We just don't
know:
"That is,
man was created in the image of God (and other heavenly
beings). Thus we see that God has a figure form, a head,
etc. An anthropologist or a philosopher might say that man
was not created in the image of God but vice versa, but this
concept - not necessarily modern - is not attested to in the
Bible, and even contradicts it.
"It is not
surprising, therefore, that the prophet said ( Isaiah
48:13): 'my hand laid the
foundation of the earth',
...........
since
by hand man creates new artifacts.
This
concept continues, if God has a hand and a body, He has also a
bow, as it is
written (Genesis 9:13): 'I set my bow in the cloud'.
Therefore, one who has a bow has also arrows and a sword (Deuteronomy
32:42), especially when 'The Lord is a man of war' (Exodus
15:3). Not only do the hands of God make war, but they also
write as is written
that the Tablets of the Covenant were 'written
with the finger of God' (Deut
9:10). We also find that God has feet (Exododus
24:10), and He stands (Exodus 17:6),
or sits (Psalm 2:4), on
His throne (Isa 66:1). It
goes without saying that God has a face (Deuteronomy
31:17), eyes (Proverbs
15:3), a nose (Numbers
11:33), and a back (Exodus 33:23).
However, according to an ancient belief it was forbidden to
see God (Exodus 33:20): 'for man shall not see me and live'.
The
Hand
of God
The
Nature of the Spirit in Creation Up
While there are many passages
which show that the creative process in Genesis 1:1 was a
recreative or forming and establishing of a "globe" which had become chaotic and the dry
land or earth
was covered with water so that mankind could not live on it.
In all of the other remembrances of this process the sky or
clouds were so crushing against the see that no life could
exist until a space was created by lifting the firmament up.
However, for now we will look
at some of the views about the process and some passages which
seem to support a recent re-creation. Genesis begins:
IN the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1
And the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep. And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the
waters. Genesis 1:2
For, lo, he
that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind
(spirit), and declareth unto man what is his thought, that
maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high
places of the earth,
The Lord, The God of hosts, is
his name. Amos 4:13
Josephus and others
describe the common view of his time by writing:
>
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. But when the earth did not come into sight, but was
covered with thick darkness, and a wind moved upon its
surface, God commanded that there should be light: and when
that was made, he considered the whole mass, and separated
the light and the darkness; and the name he gave to one was
Night, and the other he
called Day: and he named the
beginning of light, and the time of rest, The
Evening and The
Morning, and this was indeed
the first day. Josephus Genesis 1:1
>
"the earth was a shapeless, chaotic
mass, with the Spirit of God
brooding over the dark vapors. Genesis 1:2LIV
Note: or "The earth
became." a
shapeless, chaotic mass, or "shapeless and void." over the
dark vapors, or "over the cloud of darkness," or "over the
darkness and waters," or "over the dark gaseous mass."
There is not one correct way to translate these words.
>
"Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:2NIV Note: Or
possibly 'became'
>
"The best linguists translate this term 'In the
beginning of God's creating [or when God
began to create the heavens and the earth], the earth was
without form and void." (Willis, John, Living Word
Commentary, p. 79)
>
"God in the beginning created the substance of
the heavens and the substance of the earth. Adam
Clark
>
"In the beginning of God's
preparing the heavens and the earth
the earth
had existed waste and
void, and darkness is on the face of the deep and the
Spirit of God fluttering on the face of the waters.
Robert Young.
>
"When God began to form the universe,
...........
the
world was void and vacant. Moffat
>
"When God began to create the heavens and the
earth
...........
the
earth was a desolate waste with darkness covering the abyss
...........
and a
temptuous wind raging over the surface of the waters. Meek
>
"Now as the earth lay there, a waste and empty--
...........
and
darkness.... Procksch
>
"In the beginning when God created the heavens
and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness
covered the face of the deep, while a wind
from God swept over the face of the waters..... Then God
said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the birds of the air and over the cattle, and
over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." Note: A wide variety
of scholarly opinion has been expressed about this use of
the plural in God's
speech, unique to Genesis. Some think it reflects an earlier
polytheism (an argument
rejected by most scholars because of the otherwise insistent
monotheism of the narrative), as an exalted "royal" use of
the pronoun (but no other examples are known from this
culture), as addressing the angels (previously unmentioned
in the story ), or even--in the Middle Ages--as the members
of the Trinity speaking among themselves (a fanciful
interpretation flatly rejected by Jews as incorporating a
uniquely Christian belief). No general agreement exists on
this question. (Reading About the World, Volume 1, edited by Paul
Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Michael Myers Michael
Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan
and published by American Heritage Custom Publishing.)
The things which we can see
or feel were made or framed. They were put together by God from invisible matter. The earth was a watery
chaos and the clouds masked the face (that which turns) of the
dry land or earth. Therefore, it was not fit for human
habitation. The Genesis account is of God drying off parts of
the "globe" to create earth which is defined as the dry
land. The earth
is not the globe. He has also "buckled" the crust to form
"pillars" to move dry ground above the waters.
Genesis is written as a
parable to hide the truth of God from the "crowds" from
the foundation of the world which is defined as the age and also the dry
land.
As Jesus explained many
parables and Paul was guided into all truth he explained the
creation parable as a framing operation:
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. Hebrews 11:3
While all things were created
by Christ as the Word, they were not all created out of
nothing in all cases. Framed is from the Greek:
Ginomai (g1096)
ghin'-om-ahee; a to cause to be ("gen"erate), i.e. (reflex.)
to become (come into being), arise, be
assembled, be brought to pass, be finished, be published, be showed
God used the wind (spirit)
and water as His agents to make the earth or a section of land
stand out of water. As the winds blew the waters over the
earth it involved a "birthing" process. The resulting waters
and other forces buckled the earth and caused dry ground to
emerge above the surface of the waters. Peter wrote:
For this
they willingly are ignorant of, that by the
word of God the heavens were of old,
and the earth standing
out of the water and in the
water: 2 Peter 3:5KJV
But,
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and
a thousand years as one day. 2
Peter 3:8
God does not need time to
create. However, He does use time to reveal because we cannot
understand God speaking and a thing just existing. To think
that God needs a full day to create a man totally misses the
point and even belittles God. Peter used terms which means one
thousand years is zero time with God. Perfection (1000 years) comes in a
comparable time (1 day) because we don't understand zero time.
John defends the idea that God reveals
just a token of His power because it is infinite. Therefore,
one day or "day journal" or "chronicle" must stand for an
infinite power at work:
And many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book: John 20:30
But these
are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have
life through his name. John 20:31
And
there are also many other things which Jesus did, the
which, if they should be written every one, I suppose
that even the world itself could not contain the books
that should be written. Amen. John 21:25
Peter also defends the "parable" idea.
He did not say that one day equals a thousand years. By the use of
the word as
he showed that God does not count time as we do.
Paul agreed with Jesus that
the truth was hidden from the foundation of the world:
But we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory:
1 Corinthians 2:7
But as it
is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart (thoughts or feeling) of man, the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1
Corinthians 2:9
But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searcheth (finds and
belches out) all things, yea, the deep (profound) things
of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10
The heavens include the sky,
air, stars, horizon, mid air, places above or higher. It
includes everything including the billions of stars in
billions of galaxies which are above the surface of the
earth. God both
created, made and formed even the huge mass of galaxies by his
Logos or Word spoken by projecting spirit or breath from His
Mouth:
By the word (dabar
is same as logos) of the LORD (Jehovah is I
Am not We are) the heavens were made, and
all their
host by the breath (h7307 spirit) of his mouth (means of
blowing wind or double-edged sword). Psalm 33:6
He gathereth
the waters of the sea together as an heap: he
layeth up the depth in storehouses. Psalm 33:7
Except for the brief creative
account in Genesis 1:1, the other accounts speak of a two step
process. God created the entire universe. Then, to make earth or dry land for mankind to live
upon He put the seas together separated from the dry ground.
To the Psalmist the earth seemed to float upon the water.
Jeremiah used identical
language to describe a spiritual re-creative process when the nation became
void and empty in a spiritual sense. The Psalmist gives
another creative process which shows that God, the Potter,
made mankind a heart or intellect not given to the animal
kingdom:
The Lord
looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. Psalm
33:13
From the
place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Psalm 33:14
He fashioneth
their hearts (feeling,
understanding and intellect) alike; he considereth all
their works. Psalm 33:15
God "squeezed" the hearts of all mankind in exactly the
same way He "squeezed" Adam's body into shape like making an
idol on a potter's wheel.
And the
Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul. Genesis 2:7
Neshamah (h5397)
nesh-aw-maw'; fr. 5395; a puff, i. e. wind, angry or vital
breath, divine inspiration, intellect. or (concr.) an
animal: - blast, (that) breath (-eth), inspiration, soul,
spirit.
The word for spirit in the Old Testament either speak
of God Himself or the intellectual skills which He gives to
mankind. Spirit means "the spirit of a rational being" or
wind, breath, or blast of air. In Greek, spirit means "the
mental disposition" of a person's own mind.
Therefore, the scriptures are
right in saying that
- the heavens were of
old
- and at some time the earth
stood out of the waters.
These, including the
"globe" or our chaotic planet were part of the original
creation. When He caused the rock crust of our planet to be
folded like wet clay what "stood up" or projected above the
waters (out of water and by water) God called that dry spot
the earth. Before this time, what became earth was waste and
empty.
And God
called the dry land Earth; and the
gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw
that it was good. Genesis 1:10
God then caused the earth to
bring forth
plants which contained seed which, in turn, brought forth
identical plants:
And God
said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the
fruit tree yielding fruit after
his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon
the earth: and it was so. Genesis 1:11
After the original creation
of the universe God used different words to describe the
natural laws. The plants were not "created out of nothing in
an instant" but were allowed to grow. That which He created
sprouted, produced and reproduced according to the genetic
code He wrote in them. All of this happened in a "day." Bring forth is from:
Dasha (h1876) daw-shaw'; a prim.
root; to sprout: - bring forth, spring.
Moses used a word to describe
a natural process which continued:
Be not
afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the
fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
Joel 2:22
Out of the existing kosmos or world which had become chaotic and
unfit for human habitation, God's spirit or fire, wind and
water as His agents brought forth sections of dry ground out of the waters and in the waters. Science agrees that
the dry land "stood up" out of the covering waters to stand on
"pillars" or folds of rock. The land which the Son created was dry
land and not the globe:
And, Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation (erect a basis)
of the earth; and the
heavens are the works of thine hands: Hebrews 1:10
Ge (g1093) ghay;
contr. from a prim. word; soil; by extens. a region, or the solid part or the whole of
the terrene globe (includ. the
occupants in each application): -
country, earth (-ly), ground, land, world.
This word is used to speak of
a certain region and does not speak of the kosmos or complete "globe" which we now
call earth:
Saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into
the land of Israel: for
they are dead which sought the young childs life. Matthew
2:20
If all of the land removed to
their original flat place, the entire globe would be covered
with water. The rain of the flood and "breaking up the
fountains of the deep" speak of a great catastrophe and not
just a rain storm:
Whereby the
world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished: 2 Peter 3:6
But the
heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day (age or period) of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7
Creation involves--
Ktizo (g2936)
ktid'-zo; prob. akin to 2932 (through the idea of the
proprietorship of the manufacturer); to fabricate, i.e.
found (form originally): - create, Creator, make.
However, framed in Heb 11:3 is--
Katartizo (g2675)
kat-ar-tid'-zo; from 2596 and a der. of 739; to complete
thoroughly, i.e. repair (lit. or fig.)
or adjust: - fit, frame,
mend, (make) perfectly
join together, pre-pare, restore.
Artios (g739)
ar'-tee-os; from 737; fresh, i.e. (by impl.) complete: - perfect.
That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works. 2 Timothy 3:17
Jewish views are an
important source of insight:
"Genesis
1:1 notes In the beginning... Others translate this, "In the
beginning of God's creation of heaven and earth, the earth
was without form and empty..." (Rashi). Still others combine
the first three verses: "In the beginning of God's
creation....when the earth was without form and empty....God
said, "Let there be light." (Bereshith Rabbah).
"Genesis
1:2 God's spirit Others read "God's wind."
"Genesis
1:26 Let us God was
speaking to all the forces of creation that He had brought
into existence (cf. Targum Yonathan; Ramban).
Now
that all the ingredients of creation had essentially
been completed, all would participate in the creation of
man, the crown of creation.
Others
interpret "we" in the majestic sense, and
translate the verse, "I will make man in My image"
(Emunoth veDeyoth 2:9; Ibn Ezra).
"with our
image and likeness Man is thus a microcosm of all the forces
of creation. A major part of the Kabbalah deals with
explaining exactly how this is so (see Nefesh HaChaim 1:1).
Moreover, of all creation, only man resembles God in having
free will (Maimonides, Yad, Teshuvah 5:1). Others explain
"image" and "likeness" here to refer to a sort of conceptual
archetype, model, or blueprint that God had previously made
for man (Rashi). This "model" is seen as the primeval man" (Adam
Kadmon).
In other words, Adam didn't
"look" like God. Rather, God "imaged" Adam in His Mind and He came into being by His
word. In the same way, we can never create a bookshelf unless
we first "make in in our own mind."
Tri-theists see the earth as
created as a totally worthless thing so that the Holy Spirit as
a spiritual being could clean up the mess:
Tohu (h8414)
to'-hoo; from an unused root mean. to lie
waste; a desolation (of surface), i.
e. desert; fig. a worthless thing; adv. in vain:
- confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, thing
of nought, vain, vanity,
waste, wilderness.
However, the Father and
Son did not create the earth vain and empty:
For everything
God
created is good, and nothing is to be rejected
if it is received with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy 4:4
Thus saith
the Lord, the Holy
One of Israel, and his
(Israel's) Maker, Ask me of things to come
concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my
hands command ye me. Isaiah 45:11
I
have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my
hands, have stretched out the
heavens, and all their host (mass of persons or things) have
I commanded.
Isaiah 45:12
For thus
saith the Lord that created the heavens;
God himself that formed the earth and
made it; he
hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it
to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there
is none else. Isaiah 45:18
Isaiah and Peter agree in
saying that the creative process involved the heavens which
could involve the universe. Then God made (asah) the earth. He
accomplished, advanced, brought forth or restored the solid
mass to cause the dry ground (earth) to stand up:
For this
they willingly are ignorant of, that by the
word of God the heavens were of old,
...........
and
the earth standing out of the water
and in the water: 2
Peter 3:5KJV
Therefore, the "earth" God
created was not the "globe" He created "in the beginning." The
earth became void and empty and God restored it:
I beheld
the earth, and, lo, it
was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had
no light. Jeremiah 4:23
...........
I
beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the
hills moved lightly.
Jeremiah 4:24
...........
...........
I
beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the
birds of the heavens were fled. Jeremiah 4:25
When God formed the earth he squeezed it into shape like a potter making a clay
vessel. This certainly explains the plastic nature of the land
mass as the earth or dry ground popped up like toothpaste out
of a squeezed tube. This symbolism was also used to describe
making man like a little clay figurine. Then God made the earth or advanced it to a
higher level. When He established the earth He made it stand errect
or perpendicular. Science knows that if none of the land was
standing up in a perpendicular way there could be no dry
ground or earth.
By allowing God to create the
dry ground or earth and the sky by "lifting" it up when and how He wished
we get a much more glorious understanding of God whose
creative power is from everlasting to everlasting.
Jehovah, Who is our Elohim,
is presented as the One True God Who made all of those things
the pagan, Babylonian gods were credited with. However, God
would be less than God if He shared the creative credit:
THE heavens declare (keep a
tally or record) the glory (expansiveness) of God; and the
firmament (visible arch) sheweth his handiwork (occupation).
Psalm 19:1
This means more than the
evidence of God seen in things which can't come into existence
by accident. Rather, as science knows and tries to understand,
the universe has kept a record of the expansive nature of God
reaching out into billions of stars in billions of galaxies.
For since
the creation of the world (tended or taken care of world
order) God's invisible qualities--His eternal
power and divine nature--have been clearly
seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20
While the heavens speak to us
and tell us how ancient God and majestic God is, the heavens
are not persons. The heavens also roar, proclaim and sing but they are not persons. In
exactly the same way, the wind or spirit of God comes out of God's
storehouse, hovers and makes great physical changes on the
face of the earth, but the wind or spirit is not another
person:
Thus shall
ye say unto them, The gods (elohim or
three eloah) that have not made the heavens and the earth,
even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens. Jeremiah 10:11
He hath made the
earth by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by his discretion. Jeremiah
10:12
When he thunders, the waters
in the heavens roar; he makes
clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends
lightning with the rain and brings
out (to and fro) the wind (spirit) from his storehouses. Jeremiah
10:13
In all of the examples of God
recreating out of vain and empty conditions a people Who
ignored His Word, the creative force of God is His breath, His
words, or the wind.
To whom
then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy
One. Isaiah 40:25
Lift up
your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things,
that bringeth out their host
(mass of people or things) by number: he calleth them all
by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is
strong in power; not one faileth. Isaiah 40:26
Why
sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is
hid from the Lord, and my
judgment is passed over from my God? Isaiah 40:27
Hast thou
not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no
searching of his understanding. Isaiah 40:28
Who
hath wrought and done it, calling the
generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with
the last; I am he. Isaiah
41:4
The Creation Parable Up
To say that the creation
account is a parable is not to say that it is a myth.
"Parable" simply means a "superior form of speech." God uses
ordinary words but they define physical things which we can
understand to define spiritual things. The parable is a mystery or a hidden language to hide God's power source from
evil people who do not love the truth and would use it for
their own enrichment and honor.
Frederick
A.
Filby, professor of Chemistry and author of Creation Revealed. wrote:
"The
sciences which probe most deeply into the ultimate facts of
matter and life are probably astro- and modern physics and
biochemistry. But these sciences are written, not so much in
language as in symbols. It takes many
pages of symbols to discuss the nature of a single atom of
hydrogen. It has been estimated that to give a complete
account of the position of the group and bonds in a single
virus of molecular weight 300 million would take a 200 page
book. If the scientific description of a single hydrogen
atom, or of a virus too small to be seen without a
microscope, takes a book, what hope is there of ever giving
a scientific account of the creation of man and the
universe?
"Yet
Genesis 1...uses only 76 different root words. If Genesis
1 were written in absolute scientific language to give an
account of creation, there is no man alive, nor ever has
there been, who could understand it.
"The
answer is...Genesis 1...the most amazing composition in
all the world's literature, using only 76 different word
forms fundamental to all mankind, arranged in a wonderful
poetical pattern, yet free from any highly colored figures
of speech.
There are many parallel
accounts of literal or spiritual creation or recreation. In
the other accounts it is clear that God used the wind and fire as the "angels" or spirit agents of various creative or
destructive forces in the physical world. For instance, the
use of Elohim as the "us" in creation is figurative language.
There were up to ten thousand els or elohim in the Babylonian
pantheon--
But as for us, the
Lord (Jehovah) is our God (Elohim),
and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which
minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the
Levites wait upon their business: 2 Chronicles 13:10
The three-fold work of the
One God is explained by the Psalmist as a poem or song. Parables were written as a
superior but figurative way to teach those who cared to hear
from God. Unfortunately, many of these hymns (speaking to self
or one another) were put to tunes to be sung with musical
instruments often for entertainment. The parable-like or
"superior speech" of the creation story shows that God speaks
the word by blowing spirit from His mouth.
By the (1) word (dabar
is same as logos) of the (2)
LORD (Jehovah is I Am not We are)
the heavens were made, and all their host by the (3)
breath (h7307 spirit) of his mouth
(means of blowing wind or double-edged sword). Psalm 33:6
He
gathered the waters of the sea as in
a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. Psalm 33:7
Let all the earth fear the
LORD, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of
him! Psalm 33:8
...........
For
he spoke, and it came
to be; he
commanded, and it
stood forth. Psalm 33:9
Karen Armstrong, in A History
of God, says that "God had His word and wisdom with Him. Because we are created
in His image, we have our mind or spirit, word and wisdom,
breath or wind with us:
IN the
beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
The same
was in the beginning with God. John 1:2
All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing
made that was made. Without is from Choris
(g5565) which means that there was no one at a space
from Him. He was by Himself) John 1:3
In him
was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:4
O Lord,
how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all:
the earth is full of thy riches. Ps.104:24
He hath
made the earth
by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by his discretion. Jer 10:12
He hath
made the earth by his power, he hath established the
world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heaven by his understanding. Jer 1:15
The words He spoke were the spirit, life and light of men:
It is the spirit
that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
The Jews never understood Jehovah as three or
more els. Tritheism suggests that Father and Son created the
earth as a totally worthless thing. The Holy Spirit person
then brought law, light and order. However, Isaiah records
God's own message:
I am the
Lord, and there is none else, there is no
God beside me: I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me: Isaiah 45:5
That they
may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
that there is none beside me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else. Isaiah 45:6
I form
the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these
things. Isaiah 45:7
Drop
down, ye heavens, from above, and let
the skies pour down righteousness: let the
earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let
righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have
created it. Isaiah 45:8
The Israelites, like us, could not understand the symbolic
language of creation because God knew that they would use the secret
knowledge to form workshops, gather everyone around, write
books and have the elite reveal the secrets for a price or for their own glory. Until
they turned to the Lord they would never understand. God told
them why:
HEAR ye
this, O house of Jacob, which are
called by the name of Israel, and are come forth
out of the waters of Judah, which
swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God
of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. Isaiah 48:1
- I have declared the former
things from the beginning;
- and
they went forth out of my
mouth,
- and
I shewed them;
- I did them suddenly,
and
- they
came to pass. Isaiah
48:3
-
- Because
I
knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron
sinew,
- and thy
brow brass; Isaiah 48:4
- I
have even from the beginning declared it to thee;
- before it came to pass
- I
shewed it thee:
- Lest
thou
shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them;
- and
my
graven image, and
- my
molten
image, hath commanded them. Isaiah 48:5
Even though the mercenary
clergy heard and taught the prophecy they never understood.
Only after the prophecy was fulfilled would the common people
believe in God and not the clergy. Click Here to read Alexander Hislop.
The greatest proof for Deity
is fulfilled prophecy. If I know the full truth of God's plans
and prophecies then, perhaps, I can pretend to predict them and you will
believe that I am God. However, God delights in fooling fools.
The biggest fools were those who had a god for every occasion.
The Babylonians had three at the top who died or were murdered
by the next crew. The only way that Yahweh could prove that He
was the only elohim was through prophecy:
They are created
now, and not from the beginning;
even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou
shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. Isaiah 48:7
Yea, thou
heardest not; yea, thou knewest
not; yea, from that time that
thine ear was not opened: for I knew
that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast
called a transgressor from the womb. Isaiah 48:8
Hearken
unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I
am he; I
am the first, I also am
the last. Isaiah
48:12
The First
and Last, the Alpha and Omega is Jesus Christ whose name is
Jehovah-Saves:
And unto
the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things
saith the first and the last, which
was dead, and is
alive; Revelation 2:8
In the next verses God's
hands are anthropomorphic. As a Spirit, God does not have body
parts as we do. God and His hand and His right hand created the
heavens and earth. However, when my hand does something it is me doing it
by my reach into another area.
Mine hand also hath laid
the foundation of the earth, and my
right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they
stand up together. Isaiah 48:13
Of
Messiah:
And he saw
that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought
salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
Is.59:16
The Lord God and His Spirit sent the Lord God. In a similar way, because we are
made in God's image, my self and my spirit tell my body to get
up and go. However, God makes it clear that the God and His
Spirit which sent the Lord God is the Lord God and not separated
into people:
Come ye
near unto me, hear ye this; I (Jehovah) have
not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that
it was, there am I: and now the Lord
God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. Isaiah 48:16
Thus
saith the (1) Lord, thy (2) Redeemer, the (3) Holy
One of Israel; I am the Lord thy
God which teacheth thee to profit,
which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.
Isaiah 48:17
He hath made
the earth by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven
by his understanding. Jer 51:15
When he uttereth
(h5414 nathan) his voice, there is a
multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours
to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings
with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his
treasures. Jer 51:16
Ruwach (h7307)
roo'-akh, roo'-akh; from 7306; wind; by resemblance
breath, i. e. a sensible (or even
violent exhalation; fig. life, anger, unsubstantiality;
by extens. a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but
only of a rational being including
its expression and
functions: - air, anger, blast,
breath, * cool, courage, mind, * quarter, * side, spirit
([-ual]), tempest, * vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y).
Every
man
is brutish by his knowledge; every
founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten
image is falsehood, and there is
no breath in them. Jer 51:17
Jesus Confirmed the Parable Nature of the
Creation Up
Not
of everyone but of the Jewish religious leadership:
And he said
unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from
above: ye are of this world; I am not of
this world. John 8:23
Jesus
said unto them, If God were your
Father, ye would love me: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither
came I of myself, but he sent
me. John 8:42
Why do ye not understand my speech?
even because ye cannot hear my word. John 8:43
Ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him.
...........
When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father
of it. John 8:44
And because
I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. John 8:45
...........
He that is of God heareth Gods words:
...........
...........
ye
therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. John 8:47
Jesus
answered, He it is, to whom I
shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he
had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
Simon. John 13:26
And after
the sop Satan
entered into him. Then said
Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. John 13:27
For
some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus
had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of
against the feast; or, that he should give something to
the poor. John 13:29
The word "sop" is used only of Judas. It
is:
Psomion (g5596)
pso-mee'-on; dim. from a der. of the base of 5597; a crumb
or morsel (as if rubbed off), i.e. a mouthful: - sop.
Psocho (g5597)
pso'-kho; prol. from the same base as 5567; to
triturate, i.e. (by anal.) to rub out (kernels from
husks with the fingers or hand): - rub.
Psallo (g5567)
psal'-lo; prob. strengthened from psaoÑ , (to rub or
touch the surface; comp. 5597); to twitch or twang, i.e.
to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate
the divine worship with music and accompanying odes): -
make melody, sing (psalms)
In his discussion with
Nicodemus, Jesus warned:
If I have
told you earthly things, and ye
believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? John 3:12
Nicodemus could not
understand the spiritual reality of a re-creation by the Spirit which Jesus
could explain only by the use of earthly metaphors or
parables. He used the physical birth and the literal wind to
represent (not explain) Spirit influences. A physical birth
and a spirit recreation
are infinitely far apart. In the same way, a Spirit producing
literal, physical elemenst and organizing them to operate in
our time and space is infinitely difficult to explain.
Therefore, Jesus used terms such as "like or as." Because
God's creation began in a Spirit dimension the physical
metaphors can only indicate but not totally explain something
out of nothing.
When asked why He spoke in
parables which no one could understand unless He explained,
Jesus said that it was to keep the insincere from seeing and
hearing Him:
Therefore speak I to them
in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. Matthew 13:13
And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith,
By hearing ye shall hear, and shall
not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
shall not perceive: Matthew 13:14
For
this peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are
dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest
at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. Matthew
13:15
All these
things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables;
and without a parable spake he not unto
them: Matthew 13:34
That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter
things which have been kept secret from the
foundation of the world.
Matthew.13:35
The prophets were being
Spirit breathed upon by the Spirit of Christ in them:
Searching
what, or what manner of time the Spirit
of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and
the glory that should follow 1 Peter 1:11
This secret knowledge was the
wisdom of God which you cannot buy at Phd U.
Where is
the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this
world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1
Corinthians 1:20
For since
in the wisdom of God the world
through its wisdom did
not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness
of what was preached to save those
who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21
The
message Christ and His apostles taught (the whole truth,
not just the "nut" of the gospel) was conditioned: it was
based upon the audience. If you hear moronic, sillyness,
jesting or non-Biblical context you know that God has sent
you a strong deluder to preach you strong delusions.
If you
hear the Word delivered to you just as it was delivered to
the preacher then you know that God doesn't consider you a
group of fools.
God was Christ Who was always
evident but the false teachers could not (cannot) find Him
there:
He
(Christ) was in the world, and the world was made by
him, and the world knew him not. John 1:10
Jesus commanded that we not
call any man our rabbi or "doctor of the law" because they are
most often involved in "seeing godliness as a means of
financial gain." They delight in their degrees and "without a
degree they teacheth not."
Brothers,
think of what you were when you were called. Not
many of you were wise (sophists) by human standards; not many were
influential (dynamic and talented); not many were
of noble birth (aristocratic) 1 Corinthians
1:26
But God
chose the foolish (dull people don't
promote themselves) things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the
world to shame the strong. 1
Corinthians 1:27
He
chose the lowly (those without family
influence) things of this world and
the despised (those least esteemed) things--
and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that
are, 1 Corinthians 1:28
The foundation of the world,
in this passage, is not the beginning of the Christian age.
Rather, in other places Scripture speaks of the beginning of
the universe. It also shows that the Christ was there in the
beginning or first age:
That the
blood of all the prophets, which was shed from
the foundation of the world, may be
required of this generation; Luke 11:50
For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation
of the world: but now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:26
Job
Confirmed the Parable Nature of the Creation Up
We have
notice that God used His hand and His right hand, He
chronicled the creation story so that the clergy could not
understand, the Lord and His Spirit sent the Lord, the Lord as
Israel's God is Redeemer and Holy One is described by the Lord
thy God.
Job wrote the oldest
creation story by the use of a parable with hidden meaning.
He was of an area and time where people were still trying to
climb up tall structures or towers to worship the planets as
gods. The five known planets with the sun and the moon
occupied the seven heavenly spheres. Created things or
creatures were worshipped instead of the Creator.
We should begin by noting
that Job, and everyone else, understands spirit in the personal sense as the mental
power or disposition which is transmitted by
words:
To whom
hast thou uttered words? and whose
spirit came from thee? Job 26:4
He stretcheth out the north
over the empty (tohu ) place, and
hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job 26:7
He bindeth up the
waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not
rent under them. Job 26:8
He
holdeth back the face of his throne (full moon
NIV), and spreadeth his cloud upon it. Job 26:9
He hath
compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and
night come to an end. Job 26:10 ---- He
took his purse filled with money and will not be
home till full
moon."
Pr.7:20
The pillars
(columns) of heaven tremble and are astonished at his
reproof. Jb 26:11
He divideth the sea
with his power, and by
his understanding he smiteth through
the proud (rahab). Job
26:12
By his spirit (wind) he hath
garnished the heavens; his hand (power) hath
formed the crooked serpent. Job 26:13
Lo,
these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is
heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can
understand? Job 26:14
MOREOVER Job continued his parable, and said, Job
27:1
Even without being told we
understand that Job used symbolic language. This would
explain to the Babylonians how the True God created what the
pagan gods were believed to have done. Their "spirit" was Enlil, god of the wind who is quite identical to the holy
spirit person
people find in Scripture. One writer even demands that God
is three persons specificially because the Babylonians
believed in a triad! However, God could blow breath in words
and literally create things.
God created all things by
the power of His Word projected by His breath or Spirit. His hand reaches up into another
constellation and forms its shape. However, Job shows that
it was not the Holy Spirit as a more adequate organizer who
"garnished" the heavens. Rather, God's parable uses word
just as Jesus used them. If we see another person completing
the work of God then we may be one of the multitudes to whom
Jesus spoke parables so that "seeing they do not see and
hearing they do not hear..
By putting this passage in
a table form, God's power as Spirit is revealed in ways we
can understand. Each statement denies the belief that
many gods did this work while showing that God's power is
manifested in several human-like forms: