In His Own Image : part 2
Then God said, “We will make mankind in our image, after our likeness and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26, ONMB)
This verse presents a challenge to classical Jewish thought because God has neither an image nor a form. It is puzzling when God proclaims His intention to create humanity with both His tzelem(image) and His demut (likeness) while in the following verse Man is created only in God’s tzelem.
The puzzle increases in Genesis 5:1 where Man is described as being created in God’s demutbut not in His tzelem, and again in Genesis 9:1 where Man is created in God’s tzelembut not His demut. The root word, tzalamor tzelem refers to the original imageor imitation. “In our image”is translated from one Hebrew word betzalmeinuand is again used with a plural pronoun “in our image”indicating the plurality of God – “Let usmake”.
This is a difficult concept for many Jews. Their preconceived understanding of God being One God, means that some ‘see without seeing, and hear without hearing’. However, God is the God of the miraculous. He can and does give sight to the blind 1; He can make the deaf to hear (Matthew 11:5). See Zechariah 12:10, where,“They will look on me, the one they have pierced.” They will see with understanding. “There is a time for everything” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
Next, we have three more words, “after our likeness”translated again from one Hebrew word, kidmuteinuwhich comes from the Hebrew word demut, and means “a model”, “a copy”. The plural pronoun is used again indicating once more the plurality of God. The clues and meanings are there for all to see. “After our likeness”emphasises the uniqueness of Man in Creation (Psalm 8:3-5). Put briefly, tzelemis from a Hebrew root which means “to carve”or “to cut”, God sculpturing the image of Himself when He created the human. Demut comes from the Hebrew root that means “to be like”– perhaps hinting at the gender of humanity being masculine and feminine where the Hebrew word tzelem is masculine in gender while the word demutis feminine.
We will make
God’s voice is the vehicle through which He creates, where He says, “Let there be…”. When it comes to the creation of Man He says, “Let us make…”(e.g. New International Version). This expression again creates a problem to adherents of Judaism. “Let us…”…….. since there is but One God. Various explanations are offered for what “us”means. In Judaism, God is one individual (singular yachidin Hebrew), overlooking the plural echadas in “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one [echad]”(Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29). The message, surely, is to hear with understanding.
We have seen the meticulous order of creation where everything is after its kind.
There is to be no mixing or crossbreading. Yet Judaism’s various explanations for “Let us…”includes God mixing minds with His created beings! Some Jews suggest that God is speaking to the ministering angels, or seeking their counsel. Medieval and modern commentators have offered this as their true understanding of “Let us”.
God alone created the heavens and the earth; He did not have help from anyone… “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Angels are created beings, created by God – “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).This includes Man. Angels are not co-equal with God. They are not created in His image and they cannot create. This mixing of God with His creation is a dangerous and misleading concept. God is set apart from His Creation. Man, in creation, is set apart from animals because Man is made in the image and likeness of God.
Another explanation offered in Judaism is that the “us”is God speaking to the humans themselves, and that people are empowered to create themselves in God’s “image”. The suggestion is that by using the divine spark within, man can encounter God. Man can acknowledge Him and form a relationship with Him; in that relationship man can fashion himself in the “image” of God. Man designs his own character through the choices he makes, and his actions and attitudes. An interesting suggestion but, majoring on psychology misses a vital element – God is Father, Son, and Spirit. It is God who works within the believer by His Spirit (Philippians 2:12-13). “…we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The Apostle Paul exhorts the believer – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1-2).Since the Fall of Man there is the process of Redemption and the way (John 14:6) back to God (Matthew 7:14). We cannot be like God simply by choosing to live out certain behaviours however godly we consider those behaviours to be.
The Scriptures came to mankind through the Jews, and the Gospel is to the Jew first (Romans 1:16). But we understand the truths of Scripture by revelation from God, not simply by having clever and intelligent, or through Jewish (Hebraic) minds. Both Jew and non-Jew need revelation, however much study is put in, important as that undoubtedly is. As in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the ‘word of truth.’” Never forget that revelation comes by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:10-14). It is all of grace from the God and Father of Mankind, to both the Jew and to the Gentile. Judaism is imperfect in its understanding of God’s Word, and so is Christianity. Within Christianity there are many different denominations (40,000+2), born from interpretations and opinions on various doctrines. Should Christianity point the fingerat Judaism, never forget three fingers point back at Christianity!
Remember Ecclesiastes? “There is a time to be born.”There was a time for a nation to be born, in a day! (Isaiah 66:8 – Israel – fulfilled seventy years ago3). God has not finished with the Jews. The Word and the Spirit will come together when we are complete in our return – Jew and Gentile. This will happen when Christians return to the faith handed down to us (Jude 1:3); and when the Jews return to the faith and God of their fathers and Messiah Yeshua. Rooted and established in the faith (Colossians 2:7), God’s One New Man in Messiah becomes visible (Ephesians 2:15). In Genesis God made two out of one. In the New Creation, God creates one out of two.
Naaseh
The English version has three words “Let us make”. These are translated from one Hebrew word, naasehwhich is a change in form from “Let there be”to “Let us”. This is to describe what is an extraordinary, momentous moment involving the creation of Man. Further to that, and as we have already discussed, it involves the plurality of God. “Let us”is a plural pronoun. “Elohim”speaks of this too. As we have already seen, “Let us”is not a consultation with angels; angels are not mentioned anywhere in this passage of Scripture. In 1 Kings 22:19-23 it is made clear that God consulted with the heavenly court, but Genesis makes no hint of such an idea.
Male and female
“Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created” (Genesis 5:2). God created them with no help from anyone. These fundamental truths are being attacked as never before…. God, Creator, Creation, Male, Female….
“God created (bara)the Man in His tzelem, in the tzelem of God He created (bara) him, male and female He created (bara)them…” (Genesis 1:27). Previously, bara was used only twice in reference to Creation. In this verse, bara is used three times highlighting just how immensely different this creative act is. Bara is used of man’s creation. It is used of being created in the divine image; and it is used in that man was created in two sexes – God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To God be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).
1 https://tinyurl.com/y7vn3ux5
2 “Into the Lion’s Den”, page 56.