“In the beginning God...”
Have you ever wondered when exactly Jesus made His debut on the pages of the Bible?
You might be surprised to discover it wasn’t in the New Testament. Genesis 1:1 does not only refer to God the Father, and the Trinity was not a concept which first century disciples invented. On the contrary, God has always been three-in-one, as this verse shows.
How does it do that?
Well, I believe God was intentional about the language used in the Bible. And the Hebrew word used for ‘God’ in the Bible’s first sentence is Elohim.
(I’m about to get nerdy, but just bear with me!)
Grammatically, that word is plural. It is a form of El, which means one single god (e.g El-Shaddai “God Almighty”). But even at that – Elohim isn’t the only plural of El. There is also Eloah, which means two gods. Yet of all these options, God chose to be introduced as Elohim, meaning three or more gods. Jewish tradition ascribes this word choice to God’s majesty and authority over all other gods, not to His triunity. But I’m inclined to believe it was deliberately picked by an all-knowing, timeless God who wanted to confirm His yet-to-be-revealed nature to future readers.
So, Genesis 1:1 is literally: “In the beginning Gods.” In the beginning – and ever since – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s focus on the beginning; the genesis. We don’t have to look too far to see Jesus’ second mention. In chapter 3, right after Adam and Eve sin and sever their perfect relationship with God, He speaks of the descendant of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head. That serpent is the devil, who is indeed crushed by Jesus’ triumph over death millennia later.
Fast forward to Abraham’s entrance in chapter 12. God promises to bless all peoples on earth through him. He repeats it to Isaac and finally Jacob (Israel) and his lineage. Whilst I’m sure the Israelites did good things for other nations, none come close to the forgiveness, reconciliation and eternal life which is made available to every human being thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus. Each reiteration of that promise is an arrow pointing towards the Messiah. I think it’s beautiful that despite (and sometimes through) the many imperfections of the patriarchs, God continually restates His intention to bring from their line a perfect servant – one whose qualities we glimpse in the faith of Abraham, the submission of Isaac, and the patience of Jacob.
But back to Jesus’ sacrifice – it is famously foreshadowed in God’s testing of Abraham. People often speak of how Abraham mirrored God’s heart in his willingness to give up his only son and how Jesus is the ultimate ram which YHWH* provided to take our places, just like a ram was provided to take Isaac’s place. Allow me shed new light on this; Isaac also mirrors God the Son in this story. Once more we have a type of Christ. You see, churches often portray Isaac as a boy at the time when God tested Abraham. However in Jewish tradition he is believed to have been an adult (check the notes to see why). If this is in fact true – and by now you should’ve noticed my bias towards a Jewish interpretation of the Bible – it means that Isaac had the ability to overpower his father and resist being offered as a human sacrifice, as most of us would in his position. Instead, he willingly submitted to Abraham and to God on that mountain in Moriah. I see a clear, direct correlation between that and Jesus’ words of surrender, “Nevertheless not My will but Yours be done,” in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The difference is that in Jesus’ case, no ram came to the rescue. He was the ram who instead had come to our rescue and offered His life as a ransom for our sins.
I feel like a broken record talking about Christ’s death on the cross but that’s exactly what this series is about! If we ask God to open our eyes we will see how each and every book reflects an aspect of Jesus’ ministry and role as Saviour, and teaches us how we should in turn relate to Him:
Speaking on Isaac’s sacrifice, my aunt said that God looks for likeminded people He can work through. Abraham shared God’s willingness to give his all. Isaac shared Jesus’ willingness to obey to the point of death.
As I write this, I’m forced to ask myself if God would consider me of like mind to Him. Am I willing to give up what is most precious to me for Him? The Gospel may not lead to my physical death, but am I willing to obey to the point of death of a career, relationship, reputation?
You and I may not yet be able to answer yes to those questions. The good thing is that we have available to us the only One who is able to lead us to that point of complete surrender and devotion. YHWH*, the I AM, the God who is ‘always’. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who keeps His promises. If we are (like they were) willing to have faith in Him, I am confident that He is able to guard and bring to completion that which we have entrusted to Him.
“Know therefore that YHWH your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.”
Notes:
* YHWH – the English transliteration of the name of the God of Israel, as revealed to Moses in the wilderness. Widely accepted to be pronounced as Yahweh. Also known by its Latin/Old English version Jehovah.
Here are the two explanations which I find most convincing of Isaac’s manhood:
1. The event is understood to have occurred right before Sarah died, which happened when Isaac was 37.
2. Isaac was given the wood for the burnt offering to carry. It is unlikely a child would be able to handle such load.
(There are many more available on Google)