The Nature of God in the Old Testament

The New Testament was not written to replace or supersede the Old Testament.  The New Testament was written by people who were firmly grounded in the Old Testament.  Christians today tend to read the New Testament through the lens of their church’s teachings.  Whereas the writers of the New Testament were writing from the perspective of someone raised on the Old Testament alone, namely the Jewish perspective. 

Therefore, it is essential for us to first establish what the Old Testament teaches about the nature of God, in order to understand where the New Testament writers were coming from.  In this section I will be sticking to passages that are clearly talking about who or what God is. 

For the moment, this won’t include passages such as Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image”, which don’t actually have the nature of God as a theme.  For example, this verse is telling you about the origin and nature of man, that he was made in the image of God.  I will address verses like this later on when I examine the Trinitarian proof texts. 

First, it would be useful to consider what theologians have to say about the Trinity in the Old Testament.

"theologians today are in agreement that the Hebrew Bible does not contain a doctrine of the Trinity, even though it was customary in past dogmatic tracts .... to cite texts like Genesis 1:26 .... as proof of plurality in God."  The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 15, ed. M. Eliade, c. 1987, Macmillan Pub. Co., New York

Let’s start with God’s answer to Moses about who He is.

Exodus 3: 14-15 ASV,

ויאמר אלהים אל־משׁה אהיה אשׁר אהיה ויאמר כה תאמר לבני ישׂראל אהיה שׁלחני אליכם

ויאמר עוד אלהים אל־משׁה כה־תאמר אל־בני ישׂראל יהוה אלהי אבתיכם אלהי אברהם אלהי יצחק ואלהי יעקב שׁלחני אליכם זה־שׁמי לעלם וזה זכרי לדר דר

 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, 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 unto all generations.”

The Hebrew word translated as “I AM” is יהוה (Ehyeh), which means “I am what I will be”.   The Hebrew word translated as “Jehovah” is   יהוה (Yahweh), which means something like “to be” or “Eternal One”.  So, God is known as the one who is, He is the eternal one. 

At the end of Moses’ life he made a famous declaration about who God is.  Deuteronomy 6:4.

שׁמע ישׂראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:”

In Moses’ speech, he makes it very clear that there is one God.  The prophet Isaiah expressed it very beautifully in Isaiah 45:18-22 ESV.

כי כה אמר־יהוה בורא השׁמים הוא האלהים יצר הארץ ועשׂה הוא כוננה לא־תהו בראה לשׁבת יצרה אני יהוה ואין עוד

 “¹⁸ For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

לא בסתר דברתי במקום ארץ חשׁך לא אמרתי לזרע יעקב תהו בקשׁוני אני יהוה דבר צדק מגיד מישׁרים

¹⁹ I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right.

  הקבצו ובאו התנגשׁו יחדו פליטי הגוים לא ידעו הנשׂאים את־עץ פסלם ומתפללים אל־אל לא יושׁיע

²⁰ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.

הגידו והגישׁו אף יועצו יחדו מי השׁמיע זאת מקדם מאז הגידה הלוא אני יהוה ואין־עוד אלהים מבלעדי אל־צדיק ומושׁיע אין זולתי

²¹ Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago?
    Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

פנו־אלי והושׁעו כל־אפסי־ארץ כי אני־אל ואין עוד

²² “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.””

Christian will, of course, agree that there is one God.  But they redefine the meaning of the word God to mean a plurality of persons.  However, the Old Testament is very consistent in insisting that there is only one who is God and no other beside Him. 

Trinitarians will point out that God teaches us a little at a time because we can’t handle everything at once.  They say that Jesus didn’t go around saying, “I am God”, because it would have been too dangerous (we will discuss the times the Jews tried to stone Jesus later to see if he was actually implying that he was God).  The problem with this argument is that the Old Testament specifically says that there is one God and no other besides Him.  Nowhere in Moses’, or any of the other prophets’ declarations about God, do we see them explaining that this one God is a plurality of persons. 

In other words, it was God who, through His messengers, created the situation where it would have been dangerous for Jesus to say, “I am God”.  Therefore, anyone who would reject Jesus for saying, “I am God”, would have been doing so because of what God said to Moses and the prophets.  Why would God set up a situation where those who strictly adhered to the prophets’ teachings would find it difficult to accept Jesus as God?  Why wouldn’t God have mentioned somewhere that this one God was in three persons, which would have made it easy for those who obeyed the teachings of the prophets to accept Jesus as God?

Now we need to look at what the Old Testament says about God’s form. 

What did the Israelites see when God revealed Himself to them?  Exodus 24:9-12.

ויעל משׁה ואהרן נדב ואביהוא ושׁבעים מזקני ישׂראל

⁹ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

ויראו את אלהי ישׂראל ותחת רגליו כמעשׂה לבנת הספיר וכעצם השׁמים לטהר

¹⁰ And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

ואל־אצילי בני ישׂראל לא שׁלח ידו ויחזו את־האלהים ויאכלו וישׁתו

¹¹ And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

ויאמר יהוה אל־משׁה עלה אלי ההרה והיה־שׁם ואתנה לך את־לחת האבן והתורה והמצוה אשׁר כתבתי להורתם

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

Moses wanted to see God to understand Him better.  God said that Moses could not see his face and live, but God would reveal His back to Moses.  But, we don’t get a description of a form; we get a description of God’s character. 

Exodus 33:18-23

ויאמר הראני נא את־כבדך

¹⁸ And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

ויאמר אני אעביר כל־טובי על־פניך וקראתי בשׁם יהוה לפניך וחנתי את־אשׁר אחן ורחמתי את־אשׁר ארחם

¹⁹ And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

  ויאמר לא תוכל לראת את־פני כי לא־יראני האדם וחי

²⁰ And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

ויאמר יהוה הנה מקום אתי ונצבת על־הצור

²¹ And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

והיה בעבר כבדי ושׂמתיך בנקרת הצור ושׂכתי כפי עליך עד־עברי

²² And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

והסרתי את־כפי וראית את־אחרי ופני לא יראו

²³ And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Exodus 34:1-7.

ויאמר יהוה אל־משׁה פסל־לך שׁני־לחת אבנים כראשׁנים וכתבתי על־הלחת את־הדברים אשׁר היו על־הלחת הראשׁנים אשׁר שׁברת

And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.

והיה נכון לבקר ועלית בבקר אל־הר סיני ונצבת לי שׁם על־ראשׁ ההר

² And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

ואישׁ לא־יעלה עמך וגם־אישׁ אל־ירא בכל־ההר גם־הצאן והבקר אל־ירעו אל־מול ההר ההוא

³ And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.

  ויפסל שׁני־לחת אבנים כראשׁנים וישׁכם משׁה בבקר ויעל אל־הר סיני כאשׁר צוה יהוה אתו ויקח בידו שׁני לחת אבנים

⁴ And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

וירד יהוה בענן ויתיצב עמו שׁם ויקרא בשׁם יהוה

⁵ And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

ויעבר יהוה על־פניו ויקרא יהוה יהוה אל רחום וחנון ארך אפים ורב־חסד ואמת

⁶ And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

נצר חסד לאלפים נשׂא עון ופשׁע וחטאה ונקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על־בנים ועל־בני בנים על־שׁלשׁים ועל־רבעים

⁷ Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Moses commented on what people actually see when they encounter God in Deuteronomy 4:10-19.

יום אשׁר עמדת לפני יהוה אלהיך בחרב באמר יהוה אלי הקהל־לי את־העם ואשׁמעם את־דברי אשׁר ילמדון ליראה אתי כל־הימים אשׁר הם חיים על־האדמה ואת־בניהם ילמדון

¹⁰ Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

  ותקרבון ותעמדון תחת ההר וההר בער באשׁ עד־לב השׁמים חשׁך ענן וערפל

¹¹ And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

וידבר יהוה אליכם מתוך האשׁ קול דברים אתם שׁמעים ותמונה אינכם ראים זולתי קול

¹² And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

  ויגד לכם את־בריתו אשׁר צוה אתכם לעשׂות עשׂרת הדברים ויכתבם על־שׁני לחות אבנים

¹³ And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

ואתי צוה יהוה בעת ההוא ללמד אתכם חקים ומשׁפטים לעשׂתכם אתם בארץ אשׁר אתם עברים שׁמה לרשׁתה

¹⁴ And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

ונשׁמרתם מאד לנפשׁתיכם כי לא ראיתם כל־תמונה ביום דבר יהוה אליכם בחרב מתוך האשׁ

¹⁵ Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

  פן־תשׁחתון ועשׂיתם לכם פסל תמונת כל־סמל תבנית זכר או נקבה

¹⁶ Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

תבנית כל־בהמה אשׁר בארץ תבנית כל־צפור כנף אשׁר תעוף בשׁמים

¹⁷ The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air,

  תבנית כל־רמשׂ באדמה תבנית כל־דגה אשׁר־במים מתחת לארץ

¹⁸ The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:

ופן־תשׂא עיניך השׁמימה וראית את־השׁמשׁ ואת־הירח ואת־הכוכבים כל צבא השׁמים ונדחת והשׁתחוית להם ועבדתם אשׁר חלק יהוה אלהיך אתם לכל העמים תחת כל־השׁמים

¹⁹ And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

One of the great truths of the Old Testament is that God has no physical form.  Would someone who only had the Old Testament, like the Jews of Jesus’ time, accept the idea of someone being God in the flesh?

This makes it clear that, when the people encountered God, they saw no physical form.  The Bible speaks about God’s body metaphorically, but He does not have a body like us.  One of the concepts surrounding the incarnation is that God had to take on the form of a man so that we could understand God more. 

However, Moses heavily emphasized the fact that the Israelites saw no physical form.  For Moses, it was vital for the people to understand that God has no physical form.  The reason he gave was to make sure they would never create a statue of Him.  How does this relate to the doctrine of the incarnation?  How does this reflect on the Christian practice of creating statues of Jesus and saying that he is God?

Now, I do need to be honest and mention Ezekiel’s vision of the throne of God.  Ezekiel does initially use the word “man” when describing appearance of the figure on the throne.  However, when he goes into more detail, he describes the figure as having the appearance of fire.  This lines up with Moses’ description of God speaking out of the fire.  Because of this, I believe that he was not saying that God actually looked like a man, but was just trying to find words to describe the indescribable.  You can judge for yourself. 

Ezekiel 1:26-28.

וממעל לרקיע אשׁר על־ראשׁם כמראה אבן־ספיר דמות כסא ועל דמות הכסא דמות כמראה אדם עליו מלמעלה

26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.

וארא כעין חשׁמל כמראה־אשׁ בית־לה סביב ממראה מתניו ולמעלה וממראה מתניו ולמטה ראיתי כמראה־אשׁ ונגה לו סביב

27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

כמראה הקשׁת אשׁר יהיה בענן ביום הגשׁם כן מראה הנגה סביב הוא מראה דמות כבוד־יהוה ואראה ואפל על־פני ואשׁמע קול מדבר

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Related to God’s form is whether or not He is a man.  There are three texts that are important here.  The first is

Numbers 23:19 ESV.

לא אישׁ אל ויכזב ובן־אדם ויתנחם ההוא אמר ולא יעשׂה ודבר ולא יקימנה

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

The second is 1 Samuel 15:29 ESV.

וגם נצח ישׂראל לא ישׁקר ולא ינחם כי לא אדם הוא להנחם

29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.

The third is Hosea 11:9.

לא אעשׂה חרון אפי לא אשׁוב לשׁחת אפרים כי אל אנכי ולא־אישׁ בקרבך קדושׁ ולא אבוא בעיר

9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

The Old Testament clearly states that God is not a man or a son of man.  However, this doesn’t necessarily preclude the possibility of God changing into a man.  Is that something that a reader of the Old Testament would consider?  We read in

Malachi 3:6

כי אני יהוה לא שׁניתי ואתם בני־יעקב לא כליתם

6 “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

Here we have a statement that says God does not change.  This would seem to indicate that He would not change to become a man.  But, how do we take into account things like God’s visit to Abraham in Genesis 18?

This is a difficult passage which has caused a lot of discussion and controversy.  Since we are discussing God in the Old Testament right now, I will present the standard Jewish interpretation, which is quite different from the way Christians interpret it. 

The Jewish interpretation is based on the fact that the subject of this chapter is hospitality and there are not direct statements of who or what God is.  Therefore, it should be interpreted in the light of clear statements about God, such as the ones above that say God has no physical form.  The passage that makes a clear statement about God (Deuteronomy 4) should determine how we interpret the passage that makes no such statements (Genesis 18). 

According to this interpretation, God was comforting Abraham in verse 1 as Abraham recovered from his circumcision.  He then looked up and saw three men.  He stopped conversing with God and ran to meet the three men.  According to the Jewish Talmud, these three were Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (an angel named in the Apocrypha).  This means that the conversation should be interpreted something like this.

Genesis 18:9-23

ויאמרו אליו איה שׂרה אשׁתך ויאמר הנה באהל

9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

ויאמר שׁוב אשׁוב אליך כעת חיה והנה־בן לשׂרה אשׁתך ושׂרה שׁמעת פתח האהל והוא אחריו

10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

ואברהם ושׂרה זקנים באים בימים חדל להיות לשׂרה ארח כנשׁים

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

  ותצחק שׂרה בקרבה לאמר אחרי בלתי היתה־לי עדנה ואדני זקן

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

ויאמר יהוה אל־אברהם למה זה צחקה שׂרה לאמר האף אמנם אלד ואני זקנתי

13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

היפלא מיהוה דבר למועד אשׁוב אליך כעת חיה ולשׂרה בן

14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

This would be God speaking privately to Abraham.

  ותכחשׁ שׂרה לאמר לא צחקתי כי יראה ויאמר לא כי צחקת

15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

The rabbis interpret Genesis 21:12, “in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice” to mean that she was a prophetess.  So, she heard what God said to Abraham and He responded directly to her.

  ויקמו משׁם האנשׁים וישׁקפו על־פני סדם ואברהם הלך עמם לשׁלחם

16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

ויהוה אמר המכסה אני מאברהם אשׁר אני עשׂה

17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

ואברהם היו יהיה לגוי גדול ועצום ונברכו בו כל גויי הארץ

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

כי ידעתיו למען אשׁר יצוה את־בניו ואת־ביתו אחריו ושׁמרו דרך יהוה לעשׂות צדקה ומשׁפט למען הביא יהוה על־אברהם את אשׁר־דבר עליו

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

ויאמר יהוה זעקת סדם ועמרה כי־רבה וחטאתם כי כבדה מאד

20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

ארדה־נא ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשׂו כלה ואם־לא אדעה

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

ויפנו משׁם האנשׁים וילכו סדמה ואברהם עודנו עמד לפני יהוה

22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

  ויגשׁ אברהם ויאמר האף תספה צדיק עם־רשׁע

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

The Talmud states that Michael’s task was to inform Sarah of Isaac’s birth, so he returned to heaven and did not accompany Gabriel and Raphael to Sodom.  This is why only two angels appear in Sodom.

There is an apparent contradiction between Genesis 18, which seems to imply that God appeared to Abraham in physical form, and Deuteronomy 4, which emphatically states that God has no physical form.  I am not entirely convinced that the above interpretation of Genesis 18 is the correct one.  But, I am sure that the method used at arriving at that interpretation is better than used by most Christians. 

The question is should this story, which does not make any direct statements about the nature of God, alter our interpretation of Deuteronomy 4, which emphasizes God having no physical form?  Or, should the clear statements about the nature of God tell us how to interpret Genesis 18, which is essentially a story about hospitality?  Which is the better exegesis?