Steve Marlowe, evangelist
“In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.”
“Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
(Job 38:2-7)
Creatio ex nihilo is the belief that Elohim created the Universe out of nothing. Ex nihilo from the Latin meaning "from nothing." The Scriptures are clear that Elohim created this world (Genesis 1:1), however, the issue of how it happened is the question. Many seem to deny the existence of the sons of God, and divided on whether it was done by preexistent eternal matter, or out of nothing. Who are the Elohim: The declaration of God is: “I said, ‘You are Elohim, and all of you are sons of the Most High’”
(Psalm 82:6).
Typically there are two different main points on creation:
(1) Elohim created this world from nothing, creatio ex nihilo.
(2) Elohim created this world from preexisting matter.
Chaos is identified by its disorder.
“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declares to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Where there is darkness, there is chaos and blindness, which in an otherwise perfect world is indicative of rebellion. Elohim would need to be organizing against the forces that caused the chaos and darkness in the world and the universe.
The Bible identifies the source of chaos and darkness, namely Satan, who is a cherub of the angelic order of the cherubim and those with him, namely the fallen sons of God, who now support him. With symbolic language, we see who is the author of darkness, “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven (the fallen sons of God) and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child (the Messiah of Israel) who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child (YAHSHUA, this name means, “I AM Salvation”) was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:2-9). From the foundation of the age, Satan and his demons have been disrupting the light of God, the Shalom of God, the order and sovereignty of God, which God allowed due to the confusion of the angelic hosts, for it is given to them, each one, to chose this day whom you will serve. Will you serve Mammon, as the Atheists do, or serve the god of this age, Satan, as the unrighteous do, or will you serve the God of light, truth, love, and righteousness?
The Hebrew sentence which opens Genesis, “Bereshith bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz,” and, of course, this can be interpreted that the cosmos had an absolute beginning. The condition of the world when God began creating was untamed, shapeless, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, which is why God said, “Let there be light!”. Similarly, in many ancient creation myths, the universe is formed from eternal formless matter, namely the dark and still primordial ocean of chaos. The Christian construct of “creatio ex nihilo” would probably not exist except as a reaction to the teachings of Gnosticism that “matter is inherently evil.” This violates the pronouncement, “Then God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9-10). Matter is not inherently evil.
In Jewish literature from the first century BCE or earlier depending on the dating of 2 Maccabees 7:28, we read, “I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed.” In the first century, Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenized Jew, however vague has laid out the basic idea of ex nihilo creation, but he rejects the Greek idea of the eternal universe and he maintains that God has created time itself (Creation and the God of Abraham. Cambridge University Press. p. 33).
The Bible does portray the LORD as ordering His creation. This idea is especially clear in the image of a potter working his clay into an ordered structure (Isaiah 29:16). This reflects the character of God as to perfection in designing His creation. The LORD is perfect and sovereign, and His designs are absolute. The opposition to the sovereignty of God in designing His order in creation came from Satan, who desired to be more than he was. Satan, Heylel, his name in Hebrew, and in Latin Satan is called Lucifer, to achieve his desires began putting forth an egalitarian argument. For all this knowledge comes the lament: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation. On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit” (Isaiah 14:12-14 NKJV). This is the cause of disorder, chaos, and darkness in the universe.
The Most High is YAHSHUA, the preeminent Son of God, who has the name which is above every name, and every tongue is to know this one revealed name, YAHSHUA (Philippians 2:9-11). Take heed, for the name Jesus, a name existing only since the 17th century, is a substitute name, which was never revealed by God! YAHSHUA… “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him, all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:15-18). YAHSHUA...” having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels (Cherubim, Seraphim) did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”?
And again: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.”
But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” And: “You, Lord {YAH}, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain, and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail” (Hebrews 1:4-12).
Satan, a high ranking cherub, the one who causes darkness and chaos in the cosmos, stood in the assembly of the Kingdom of Heaven, and heard these words, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” Satan, with lawlessness in his heart, as he desired to go his own way, adversarial to God’s sovereignty, essentially said, “I don’t want to worship Him, I want to be equal to Him. I will be like the Most High!”
Satan wanted to be equally a son of God, as he grew to despise his station as a high-ranking cherub. Satan, “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the Holy Mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading (arguments), you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the Mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones (stars). Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor...” (Ezekiel 28:12-17). Satan, as the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:3-4), as he usurped dominion from Adam, possesses the human rulers of the earth to do his bidding, as he does to this day. The sons of Adam are suffering under Satan, who acts as a self-appointed accuser. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord {YAH}, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6).
2 Corinthians 11:14 informs us that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,” it means that Satan can still appear as an angel of light in order to deceive. It is a lie to portray Satan as a dark reddish, devilish being with a pointy tail and horns. Most people are not drawn to darkness, but to light. Therefore, Satan appears as a creature of light to draw many to himself and his lies. Satan was once of the order of angels of the Cherubim, who cannot appear to humans in any tangible way, but as it were an angel of light, ethereal. People talk as if Satan knows them, but he does not because he is a finite being. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
There are different types of angelic beings:
Cherubim, an angelic order, functioning or serving as heavenly messengers, musicians, and guardians.
Seraphim, an angelic order, functioning or serving in the heavenly court of God.
Elohim, an angelic order, functioning or serving as the sons of God (Psalm 82:6). These heavenly sons of God are endowed with creative propensity from El Shaddai. The sons of Adam were to be of the Elohim, as they are in the image of Elohim, by the will of El, our God. In the primordial times, the Elohim, sons of God, said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to our likeness; let them have dominion...” (Genesis 1:26), however, due to the disobedience of Adam, son of God (Luke 3:38), his progeny lost their inheritance of sonship with God and eternal life, for the wages of sin is death. Only the heavenly angelic sons of God (elohim) can materialize in human form, and thereby it is written, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:1-2). Only the heavenly sons of God (Elohim) can materialize in human form fully functioning, and unfortunately some have done so against the will of God (Genesis 6:1-2). Christ came to earth to restore sonship, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ YAHSHUA (Galatians 3:26). Christ is the head of the Elohim, the sons of God, as according to the apostle Paul, “Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthian 11:2-30).
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD VS. AN ANGEL OF THE LORD
“The angel of the LORD” is always identifying God’s actual presence. “An angel of the LORD” identifies the presence of one, who serves God as an angelic being.
Our God, the Lord YAHSHUA, Son of God, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome...” (Deuteronomy 10:17), Who paid the price for everyone: “But now having been set free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and in the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ YAHSHUA our LORD” (Romans 6:22-23). “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,”it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:14-19). In YAHSHUA we rejoice because He is our God, to the glory of His God and Father, and those in Christ are sons of God, “nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God (Elohim), being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36).
The rebellion of Satan caused disorder in the universe, as a third of the heavenly sons of God [Elohim] agreed with Satan’s cause, which established his egalitarian argument that challenged the very sovereignty of God. So indeed, does the pot say to the potter, who designed it, “Why did you make me this way?” Satan caused Eve to sin, and Eve sought to convince Adam to sin, which caused Adam to lose the dominion of the earth, which God gave to him. Satan’s egalitarian argument is the cause of confusion, gender confusion, and rebellion.
Justin Martyr and Origen actually believed that matter preexisted with God. Their source may have been borrowed from platonic thought. These church fathers believed that God "ordered" this chaotic matter and gave it its shape and form, thus resulting in the creation of the world. “Matter was already present within the universe, and did not require to be created; it needed to be given a definite shape and structure" (McGrath, Theology, p. 38). Christian theologians saw problems associated with this view, and this is why by the fourth century most Christian theologians rejected this view.
The battle for creation out of nothing
Gnosticism taught a doctrine of the distinction between the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), the one they believed had created this world, and the God of the New Testament, the one they believed had redeemed this world. The God of the O.T. was also regarded as the harsh deity, whereas, the God of the N.T. was merciful, forgiving, and loving. For centuries knowledge about Gnosticism was limited to the adversarial writings of orthodox Christians. Adolf von Harnack (1851–1930), who summarized by stated that "Gnosticism is the acute Hellenization of Christianity" (Dillon, Matthew J., 2016, Religion: Secret Religion, MacMillan Reference the US, pp. 23–38). There was renewed interest in Gnosticism after the 1945 discovery of Egypt's Nag Hammadi library, a collection of early Gnostic texts, including the Gospel of Thomas. Scholars have noted the influences of Hellenistic, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Platonism on the Nag Hammadi scrolls. Gnosticism is not to be considered a form of early Christianity, as it is an independent religion existing before Christianity, but philosophically identifying with Christianity. Gnosticism discovered Christianity, but Christianity did not discover "Gnosticism."
Irenaeus (130-200) responded by arguing not only against the Gnostic teaching of two Gods, but even more against Greek philosophy which taught that matter had pre-existed and that God became the divine architect as He gave order from this chaotic pre-existent matter. Irenaeus argued that "...here was no pre-existent matter; everything required to be created out of nothing" (McGrath, p. 38).
Tertullian (160-225) argued that the world depended on God for its existence. This was in contrast to the Aristotelian view that the world depended on nothing. Both the Aristotelian and the Platonic views were at war with the early Christians, but by the fourth century, "most Christian theologians rejected the Platonist approach, even in the form associated with Origen, and argued for God being the creator of both the spiritual and material worlds" (McGrath, p. 39).
Biblical understanding
The Bible does not explicitly state the term "out of nothing" regarding creation. However, biblical scholars do believe that the totality of Scripture does in fact teach this concept of creatio ex nihilo. Looking at such passages as Genesis 1:1, Psalms 33:6, Psalms 148:5, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, and Hebrews 11:3 gives a more complete picture of how God created the world. One aspect of creation is very clear YAHSHUA, the Son of God is the creator of the world. Viewing the entire biblical account has allowed theologians to conclude “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). When ex nihilo is revealed by God, I will believe it, but until then, I won’t deny it either.
We Nazareans, Christians, believe in God who sent His Son, YAHSHUA, and we, who are His disciples, have this message, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16-18). Because YAHSHUA is the only revealed name of the Savior (Acts 4:12), it is a stumbling block to many, and as a result, they reject the true name YAHSHUA for the substitute name Jesus, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
How do the views expressed here, reflect the Trinity in the context of Elohim? Because of the Trinitarian concept of God as Triune, many see the title God as indicative of all three Persons being equally the creator, however, the very actual idea of the Trinity would preclude one from that idea, when even the Father reveals that the Son is the sole actual creator and of course, as always, by the will and acknowledgment of the Father (Hebrews 1:10-11). The God and Father of our Lord YAHSHUA acknowledged the Son by the name YHWH (LORD), which makes the Son supreme over all things. Because the Father gave all things to the Son, the Son has the right to claim it, for the Son, who alone is “God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. Amen” (Jude 25). Elohim to further bolster the Trinitarian viewpoint refers to Elohim to mean the three Persons in the Triune God. Unfortunately, as the Trinity is defined that is impossible. The definition of the Trinity is the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God, and yet not three Gods (Plural=Elohim, which means Gods) one God (El, or Eloah, singular for God). You see it does not fit the equation: The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost equal one God (Eloah), not Gods (Elohim, im on the end of a Hebrew word means a plurality, in this case, God). Elohim cannot possibly fit within the definition of the Trinity, therefore Elohim does not mean, or indicate, the Trinity. Hold to what God has revealed by His declaration: “I said, ‘You are gods (elohim), and all of you are sons of the Most High’” (in the Hebrew language, it is “sons,” not children specifically. Psalm 82:6). The Son of God, whose only name is YAHSHUA, is the supreme God, as the Father gave all things to the Son. For the Son alone is our Rock (Isaiah 44:6-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
The whole Bible is about the Son of God! He has the right to claim to be our only God. The Gospel of John 5:36-47) truly testifies to this, as the Son of God tells us: “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father’s name {YAH}, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name (Jesus), him you will receive. How can you believe, those who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” Was it not Moses who received the very name which is above every name {YAH}, which our God and Savior revealed to Moses as His name, which is now rejected even after the testimonial of the apostle Paul, who heard the very name of YAHSHUA on the road to Damascus, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name {YAH} which is above every name, that at the name of YAHSHUA every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that YAHSHUA the Messiah is LORD, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Every tongue, and language, is to confess this one revealed name: YAHSHUA! For He is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, and the King of kings.
Halleluyah, Praise YAH, Praise YAHSHUA!
