elohim אֱלֹהִים
God; gods
Read Genesis 1:1-5 and Colossians 1:15-20. Observe the unrivaled authority revealed in Christ.
The Heart of This Word
Elohim is the ordinary Hebrew word for God, and in some passages for other beings called gods. In Genesis 1, Elohim names the one God whose unrivaled authority is displayed as He creates the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). Before Scripture tells us anything else about Him, it shows Him speaking, and a world appears (Isa 45:18). He does not need our permission to exist, and not a single part of His creation moves outside His purpose.
Linguistic Nuances
* **Plural Form, Singular Verb:** Elohim (אֱלֹהִים, *elohim*) is plural in form, yet in Genesis 1:1 it takes the singular verb bara (בָּרָא, *bara*, created). The grammar tells us that one God is acting here; it does not itself reveal the distinctions of persons within God, which Scripture makes known through its fuller revelation in Christ.
* **One Word, Many Referents:** The same word can refer to false gods or to heavenly beings, so context decides its reference. The biblical writers set the LORD apart as "God of gods and Lord of lords," the great and awesome God who shows no partiality (Deut 10:17).
Through Scripture's Story
* **The Command:** Creation is not an effort for God but a command. "He spoke, and it was done" (Ps 33:9).
* **The Heavenly Council:** The psalmist asks who in the skies can be compared to the LORD, a God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones (Ps 89:5-7). Psalm 82 also pictures God standing in a divine assembly, though interpreters, including Reformed ones, differ on whether those judged there are heavenly beings or human rulers (Ps 82:1).
* **The Covenant God:** The God above every power binds Himself to a people in history: "to be a God to you and to your offspring after you" (Gen 17:7). His majesty does not prevent His mercy.
For the Reader
* **A Purpose You Cannot Always See:** Scripture says God works "all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph 1:11). That does not mean we can explain every sorrow, but it does mean no sorrow lies outside His hand.
* **The Temptation to Self-Reliance:** One form our struggle takes is treating God as a consultant rather than the Creator. The remedy is not trying harder to let go, but looking to the God who has already come near to us in His Son.
How This Points to Christ
The God who said, "Let there be light," has shone in our hearts "to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). The Word through whom all things were made became flesh (John 1:14), and in Him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9). This is a canonical connection, not a lexical one: the Son does not share the Creator's authority because of a Hebrew plural, but because the New Testament declares it. And the Creator's Son came to save. Through His blood shed on the cross, God reconciles all things to Himself (Col 1:20).
For Your Soul
Your frail arm does not sustain the world. He who hangs the earth upon nothing needs no prop from your strength (Job 26:7). Where fear becomes a demand to rule your own little world, there is control to relinquish; but trembling itself does not mean you have rejected your King. Bring the fear to Him, for He cares for you (1 Pet 5:7).
Jesus Christ "upholds all things by the word of his power," and this same Son, "when he had by himself purged our sins," sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3). If you belong to Him by faith, your weakness does not undo His reign: the One who sustains creation is also the Savior who has dealt with your sins.
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