Thinking about God

Thinking about God is important to me. However, I have hardly any clues. God is spirit, writes John (John 4:24). Therefore, we cannot see Him (2 Cor. 4:4 (s2); Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:7; Heb. 11:27).

Spirit is the same word for wind or breath of wind (cf. John 3:8). Neither spirit nor wind we can see, but we can perceive the effects – for example, the rustling of leaves, the whistling of the wind. It is the same with the invisible God: we can recognize Him indirectly. Paul writes:

“His invisible features have become comprehensible and apparent in the works of deeds since the creation of the world (namely, His imperceptible power and divinity).”
Rom 1:20

That all sounds a bit abstract? That’s correct. However, there are many people who say they experience God in nature. This is not very specific, but it is a start. Paul has just named this similarly before. We cannot form a good image of God directly, and the Bible warns against this, saying that people should not form an image of Him (Ex 20:4; Deut 5:8). Moses describes the reasoning elsewhere as follows:

“So guard your souls very much – for you did not see any form in the day when Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb, in the midst of the fire.”
Deut 4:15

No statues, carvings, sculpture or other representations could portray God correctly. We had better not even try to do this. Idolatry, on the other hand, was characterized by such representations. However, these were self-made gods. The true and only God is different from those described by Jeremiah:

“3 For the ordinances of the nations-it is an idol that gave them. Yes, their idols are wood that someone has cut from the forest, a work of artist’s hands, made with a carving knife. 4 They decorate it with silver and with gold. With nails and with hammers they fasten it so that it does not shake. 5 They are like a scarecrow in the cucumber field and do not speak; they must be carried, for they do not walk. Do not be afraid of them! For they do no evil, neither can they do good. 6 There is none like unto thee, O LORD. You are great, and great is your name by your might. 7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For this is your due! For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like thee. 8 They are all stupid and foolish; the instruction of vanities-wood it is. 9 Thinly beaten silver is brought from Tarsis, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artisan and the hands of the goldsmith. Purple and red purple is her garment; they are all but the work of artisans. 10 But the LORD is God in truth. He is the living God and an eternal king. Before his wrath the earth trembles, and his anger the nations cannot bear. 11 So you shall say to them, The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will disappear from the earth and from under this heaven.”
Jer 10:3-11

The idols are made by men (Deut. 29:7). They can do nothing at all, as is also noted elsewhere:

“And thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor perceive; but the God in whose hand is thy breath, and with whom are all thy ways, thou hast not honored.”
Dan 5:23

Now here is the difference: Jeremiah contrasted the idols of wood and stone with the living God. The living God is the very Other. He is truly God. He alone is God and is above all. He has made heaven and earth, while the other idols will disappear (Jer 10:11). The true living God is invisible but works in history.

I am who I am

How should one describe an invisible God? You can’t. How can one refer to God when He is indescribable? Moses asked directly:

“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me: What is his name? What do you want me to say to you? Then God said to Moses: I am who I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am’ hath sent me unto you.”
Ex 3:13-14

“I am” is His name. Or more fully, “I am who I am” (hb. אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה). More “being” than “appearance,” you might say. It is not the form that is decisive, but that God “is”. The last says more than any form that could be given. The expression, which is usually translated as “I am who I am,” is not just a repetition of “I am.” For it is said both “to be” and “to become”. As, for instance, two verses before, when it says there, “And he said, Because I will be with thee “ (hb. אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה). In the English Concordant Version of the Old Testament, therefore, it says: “I shall Name to be (just) as I am coming to be”. The name YHWH is derived from this and expresses that God is the abiding one.

The story now reads on:

“And God said further unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.”
Ex 3:15

The invisible God who makes Himself known as “I am who I am” bears the name YHWH, God (hb. יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י). He is deity in an absolute sense. The name of YHWH was already called (Gen 4:26), and Abraham recognized Him:

“And Abraham planted a tamarisk in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting God.”
Gen 21:33 (Elberfelder)

“And there Abraham planted a tamarisk in Beersheba; and there he called upon the name of Ieue, the Aeonian Al.”
Gen 21:33 (Concordant Old Testament, German). Compare 1 Tim 1:17.

Here, in Exodus 3:14, this is taken up, explained, established.

God who makes himself known

The invisible God does not remain hidden. He makes himself known. Not only in nature, but also in history. The writer of Hebrews summarizes this as follows:

“After God spoke to the fathers through the prophets many times and in many ways before the ages, in the last of these days He speaks to us in the Son, whom He made the lot-holder of everything and through whom He also made the eons. He is the Radiance of His glory and the imprint of His being and carries the universe through His powerful word.”
Heb 1:1-3

To explain this in detail is beyond the scope of this article. However, the invisible God does not remain unknown. He shares. Later, when Paul is in Athens and discovers an altar “for the unknown God,” he takes that as an opportunity to proclaim it as a known God (Acts 17:23-31). Because a lot happened between the encounter at the burning thorn bush in Ex 3 and Paul’s encounter in Athens.