Unveiling the Divine Essence: Exploring the Depths of God's Names and Nature
The Names of God
To understand God’s nature, attributes, and works, we begin by studying the names of God. Names are so important to the Lord that He dedicated an entire book called Shemot (names), known as Exodus. We read, “Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt” (Exodus 1:1, NKJV).[i] Names have meaning, and they have power. It says, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1), for the Lord God created the universe by His spoken word. And names have authority. We read, “What a word this is! For with authority and power, He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out” (Luke 4:36).
It is said by the rabbis that parents receive a glimmer of divine inspiration when they give their child a Hebrew name.[ii] We read, “Then the angel said to her [Mary]… Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS [Joshua, Yehoshua in Hebrew]” (Luke 1:30).
God's name is the most frequently used noun in the Hebrew Bible, occurring over 6,800 times. Of all His names, only three correspond with His essence and are called the “names of essence (Shemot HaAtzmut).”[iii] These three are the Tetragrammaton (most frequently used 5,321 times), Yah, and Eh'Heh'Yeh. This first group of names refers to what God is, and the second group of names, which we will discuss later, refers to what God does and apply to His actions.
The Tetragrammaton also called the “Four-Letter” name of God,[iv] is spelled with only four consonants: Yud, Hey, Vav, Hey (often pronounced Yehovah—יְהוָה). Notice the use of “Y” as there is no “J” sound in Hebrew. An abbreviated form Yah is also found in scripture.[v] God's four-letter name is His personal written name, as we discover in Exodus:[vi]
“Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them? And [so] God said [vayomer] to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM [Eheye Asher Eheye].’ And He said [vayomer], Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM [Eheye] has sent me to you.’ Moreover God said [vayomer] to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations’” (Exodus 3:13-15).
God’s response to Moses is highly enigmatic. Moses has asked a question, but God does not appear to be answering in a way he can comprehend. How can we know and understand God’s name with this ambiguous response?
The first thing to pay attention to in these verses is the repetition of the words “God said to Moses (vayomer Elohim el Moshe).” Three times the Lord says Vayomer, and we need to discover the purpose for this repetition. The Rabbinic Midrash Exodus Rabba 3:6 helps us interpret this dialogue between God and Moses and its application to the naming of God.[vii]
Rabbi Yitzhak says that God’s response to Moses is the following statement: “Say to them, ‘I am the One Who was, and I am the One Who is now, and I am the One Who will be in the future.’” In contrast, Rabbi Yaakov says God’s answer means: “I will be with them now just as I will be with them later.” He refined his answer by expounding the following: “Say to them, ‘In this enslavement [in Egypt], I will be with them, and they will go into enslavement [exile in the future], and I will be with them.’” He says this explanation offers God’s assurance and comfort for His people, Israel.
Rabbi Yitzhak refines his opinion with another explanation by saying Eheye is derived from the Hebrew root letters hey-vuv-hey with the meaning of “in trouble or evil I will be with them,” and translates as “I was broken.” Thus, he explains that the Lord is saying to Moses: “Tell the children of Israel that I will be with them in their brokenness and trouble.”
However, there is a complication in Rabbi Yitzhak’s translation as it does not work grammatically in Hebrew. Eheye is a first-person future conjugation of either the Hebrew root hey-yud-hey or hey-vuv-hey, and translated accurately has to mean “I will be broken,” not “I was broken.” The rabbis attribute this brokenness to the Jewish people, and to an extent, this is true. But the prophet Isaiah is clear in saying: “He [the Messiah] was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). It would be one man, not an entire nation, that would atone for the sins of the world.
In conclusion, God is not just providing three repetitive responses to Moses. Instead, each answer communicates a different attribute of the Godhead and aligns perfectly with God’s triune nature of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Thus, God is saying to Moses:
Tell the children of Israel that I am their heavenly Father, and my character is made known by these attributes. We read, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14); “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15).[viii]
Tell the children of Israel that I am the Holy Spirit, their comforter, and I will be with them in their trouble and evil. We read, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18); “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).
And tell the children of Israel, I am the Son of God and “I will be broken” for their iniquity. We read, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2); “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1Corinthians 5:7).
God’s second group of names is divided into His formal and non-formal descriptive titles. God’s non-formal titles include merciful, slow to anger, and truthful. His formal titles include Adonai (plural) and Shaddai. Adonai (Adon singular) means “God is the Master or Ruler of the creation,” and Shaddai means “He places limits on it” (She’amar Le’Olamo Dai). Adonai is used in the Old Testament similarly to the Greek word kurio and the English word “Lord.” When we call Jesus “Lord,” we recognize Him as our Master.[ix]
Even though God’s name was pronounced as part of daily services in the temple, the sages do not attempt to pronounce any variant of God's name to prevent defilement (the third commandment). However, nothing in the Old Testament prohibits a person from pronouncing the name of God.[x] When Hebrew scholars later derived vowel points for scripture, they assigned the vowel points for “Adonai” to the Tetragrammaton.
The Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two letters that are all consonants, and there are no vowels. The sages tell us that the world was created with these twenty-two letters and ten numbers (one through ten), each letter having a numerical value associated with one of these ten digits, what the rabbis call “Divine science.” They believe these letters and their associated numerical values are the primal spiritual forces that effectively created the raw materials of creation.
There is debate about the actual pronunciation of the Lord's name, but there is compelling evidence of pronouncing it as Hovah (as in Ye-ho-vah). In Hebrew, Ye is the future tense of "to be," as in "shall." Ho is the present tense of "to be" as in "is." And ah is the past tense of "to be" as in "was." Thus Ye-ho-ah can mean "who was, who is, and who shall be." This understanding perfectly aligns with God's words, "I am that I am," and Rabbi Yitzhak’s translation: “I am the One Who was, and I am the One Who is now, and I am the One Who will be in the future.” When we insert the Vav (V sound), we get the pronunciation: Ye-ho-v-ah.
Many Hebrew names in the Bible contain Yah or Yahu, part of God's four-letter name. For example, Yehoshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ), Anglicized as Joshua, was the Hebrew name given to Jesus. The name combines two Hebrew elements: Yeho (יהו), a common abbreviation for the Tetragrammaton, and Shua (שׁוּעַ) related to the Hebrew verb yasha, which means "to save" or "to deliver." Therefore, Yehoshua can be interpreted as "God is salvation" or "God is my salvation." This early Biblical Hebrew name underwent a shortening into the later name of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ). Yeshua means “salvation” in Hebrew, from the verb “to save” (lehoshiah). The Septuagint transliterated Yeshua from Hebrew into Koine Greek in the second or third century B.C., resulting in Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous). The name was translated from Greek to Latin sometime before the fourth century A.D.
Contrary to what some believe, the modern English name “Jesus” (ˈdʒiːzəs) does not directly evolve from the Early Middle English Anglo-Saxon name Iesu. Instead, both names have their roots in the same source—the Latin name Iesus, which itself is derived from the Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). This Greek name is a Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Yeshua or Yehoshua. The transition from Latin to Old English led to variations in spelling and pronunciation, giving rise to the name Iesu in Early Middle English. Over time, as the English language evolved, the spelling and pronunciation shifted, leading to the modern English form "Jesus." While the current English name "Jesus" and the Early Middle English name Iesu are related, they both trace their origins back to the same Latin and Greek roots rather than one directly evolving from the other.
Other formal titles for God derived from Yehovah are further compounded to include Yehovah-Elohim (God of Heaven),[xi] Yehovah-Yireh (God who sees or who provides),[xii] Yehovah-Rapha (God who heals),[xiii] Yehovah-Nissi (God is my banner),[xiv] Yehovah-Shalom (God of peace),[xv] Yehovah-Raah (God our shepherd),[xvi] Yehovah-Tsidkenu (Righteous God),[xvii] Yehovah-Sabaoth (Lord of Hosts),[xviii] and Yehovah-Shammah (Immanent God).[xix]
Elohim (singular Eloah)[xx] is the first name of God in the Bible (Genesis 1:1) and is used about 2,500 times.[xxi] Most Orthodox scholars believe the plural nature of Elohim reveals God’s triune nature.[xxii] The root El means “mighty” or “strong” and is the most commonly used Hebrew word for God, angels, and magistrates.[xxiii] From the root, El derives many additional formal titles for God, such as El Elyon (Most High God),[xxiv] El Olam (Everlasting God),[xxv] and El Shadai (Almighty God).[xxvi] It also derives many Hebrew names, such as Dani-el, Immanu-el, and the word for God’s covenant nation, Isra-el. Metaphorical names for God include Ha Tsur, meaning “He is the Rock.”[xxvii]
In the New Testament, the name for God is theos, and the Word is logos.[xxviii] Like Elohim, the Greek can mean “God” or “gods.” The Greek word for Lord is Kurios, and Kurios is used similarly in scripture to Adonai.[xxix] Abba was the Aramaic word that Jesus used for Father, and in Greek, that word is Pater.[xxx]
God’s names and titles (formal and informal) have meaning and describe His many attributes and characteristics. And because God is the transcendent, infinite, unsearchable, and unknowable One, His names and titles are like garments. They can describe His attributes but in themselves can never fully reveal the hidden essence of who He is.[xxxi]
The Hebrew word lefanav, translated “before him,” stems from the root panim, meaning “face” or “countenance.”[xxxii] Therefore, when we pray, “The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you [show you His mercy]; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace” (Numbers 6:25-26), we are asking the Lord to reveal to us more than His names and titles; we ask Him to reveal His face, the essence of who He is. This countenance we find entirely in the person of Jesus (Yeshua), as we read, “And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
We are commanded to seek God’s face, as it says: “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” (2 Chronicles 16:11), and we require God’s names to study scripture and understand His nature, attributes, or works. In doing these two things, we find, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
The Nature of God
The study of God’s nature is complex. How can created finite beings fully understand an infinite God? His nature surpasses our comprehension. It is written: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?” (Isaiah 40:12).[xxxiii] Thus, it is impossible to know anything of God unless He reveals it.
The Bible does not give us a single description of God’s character and nature; even the entirety of scripture and all God’s names fall short of defining who He is. For example, individual verses reveal to us that God is Spirit, God is light, God is love, and God is a consuming fire.[xxxiv] From the Westminster Catechism, we read: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”
While God is Spirit, even this description fails to communicate God’s essence because we surmise that even a Spirit has substance. For example, the wind comprises gaseous molecules, and electricity is the movement of electrons; all are created elements. But God is the creator; thus, any description of God being Spirit communicates that He is invisible, unseen, undetectable, and unmeasurable. God has no corporeal (human or bodily) form and no created or material substance in Him. God cannot be confined to physical space or dimensions of space and time as He created them. He is the invisible, unsearchable, and eternal God. We read, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
However, because God has chosen to reveal Himself through the creation, we find anthropomorphisms (man-like descriptions) within it. For example, specific Bible passages describe God as having eyes, ears, or arms.[xxxv] But God does not need physical eyes to see or ears to hear. Still, God, who made all things, has appeared in a visible form, sometimes even a human one. These appearances are called “theophanies,” meaning “visible manifestations of God to humanity.”[xxxvi] And they do not contradict God’s spiritual nature. He can assume any form He desires since He created the physical and spiritual realms.
One essential aspect of God’s nature is that He is one. Even though, as Christians, we recognize God’s triune nature, the Lord’s declaration on Mount Sinai was, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is: 'HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE’” (Mark 12:29). The Apostle John acknowledged God’s triune nature but also declared God’s oneness by saying, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word [Christ], and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 John 5:7).
We must embrace the truths about God’s absolute unity regarding His creation and how nothing can exist apart from Him. As Jesus said, “For without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
One of our great sages, Maimonides, described the oneness of God’s nature in this way: “God is the Knowledge, the Knower, and the Known. God is the means of comprehension (the Knowledge), and at the same time is He Who understands (the Knower) and is also that which is understood (the Known). This is beyond the capacity of the mouth to express, beyond the capacity of the ear to hear, and beyond the capacity of the heart or mind of man to apprehend clearly. For the Holy One, blessed be He, His Essence and Being, and His Knowledge is all absolutely one, from every side and angle, and in every form of unity.”[xxxvii]
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi expounded by saying:[xxxviii] “God’s essence is truly infinite—even higher than the inscrutable [incomprehensible] level of knowledge that Maimonides refers to. Thus, it is written, ‘You have made them all with wisdom,’ indicating that God’s wisdom is the highest level within all the Worlds. The Holy One, blessed be He, is a perfect unity, without any composition or element of plurality at all [although we recognize the Hebrew name of God ‘Elohim,’ and His Essence are a plurality of One].”[xxxix]
“He and His knowledge are all absolutely one, and knowing Himself, He perceives and knows all the higher and lower beings. One must conclude that His Essence, Being, and Knowledge are all absolutely one, without any composition. Therefore, just as it is impossible for any creature in the world to comprehend the essence of the Creator and His Being, so it is impossible to comprehend the essence of His knowledge, which is One with God Himself; [it is possible] only to believe, with a faith that transcends intellect and comprehension, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is One and Unique.”[xl]
Before creation, there was nothing that existed except for God. After creation—ex nihilo—we might erroneously assume that something now exists in addition to Him.[xli] This addition would effectively change God’s absolute unity, as nothing can exist apart from Him. If we recognize how small and insignificant we are to God’s infiniteness, how do we continue to believe that we are capable of becoming independent beings that can exist without Him? This idea is implausible, except in our pride and arrogance.
Arrogance is the elevation or consideration of one’s independent identity over God’s absolute unity, and pride is our disdainful behavior towards Him.[xlii] God is the Supreme King of kings—and all creation is as nothing before Him and utterly nullified before His Will. He brings life to all and continually brings us into being out of nothingness, and He upholds all things by the word of His power. Thus, our pride denies God’s absolute unity, whereby we refuse to surrender to God’s sovereignty and refuse to believe that nothing exists apart from Him.
The essence of idolatry is that we regard ourselves as independent beings, separate from God’s holiness, which is God's oneness and absolute unity. This was Israel’s sin against the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). It was Adam’s original sin when he and his wife ate of the forbidden tree, desiring to make themselves wise like God.[xliii] Humanity’s inherited sinful nature is that we have constantly strived to become our own gods, separate and independent from the one true God who created everything.
Idolatry does not imply the outright denial of this one true God. It is idolatry because we think we are independent beings similar to God, separating ourselves from God's holiness and refusing to efface ourselves before Him.[xliv] Using this false analogy, we compare the work of God—the Maker of heaven and earth—to man's work. And we contrive false religions and theologies about God's existence and nature, such as atheism, materialism, pantheism, polytheism, deism, and dualism.
Atheism denies the existence of any deity, and atheists believe the world has either always existed or evolved by chance. Agnosticism is slightly different as it does not entirely reject a Divine Creator; it merely questions his existence. Materialists deny the presence of a spiritual realm, and their reality is limited to the physical one. In contrast to Christianity, they do not believe in an afterlife, heaven or hell, judgment, or the sinful nature of humanity.
Pantheism is the religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. The term comes from theos, meaning “god,” and pan, meaning ”all.” They believe God exists within every living and inert material object, and they do not believe in a personal, transcendent God. Specifically, “Pantheism is the doctrine that the universe conceived of as a whole is God and, conversely, that there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are manifested in the physical universe.”[xlv] The ultimate goal of Pantheists is to attain a state of nirvana, a desireless, passionless, and soulless condition. To reach this nirvana, one must live with the correct views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, right effort, mindfulness, and contemplation. Thus, Pantheism as a religious expression, while it worships a deity, is man-centered, not God-centered.
Polytheism comes from the Greek words poly, meaning “many,” and theos, meaning “god.” Polytheists believe in many deities or gods, often associated with the forces of nature and other natural elements, such as rivers, rainfall, agriculture, human passions, constellations, planets, and earthly seasons. The Greek and Roman Empires were primarily polytheistic civilizations that recognized and worshiped multiple gods and goddesses.[xlvi]
Deism comes from the Latin word dues, which means “god.” Deists believe in an irrational transcendent God who does not control or interfere with creation. To them, God created the universe, created man with no revealed purpose, and then left everything self-sustained by the laws of nature. They deny man’s sinful nature and, thus, reject our need for atonement and a redeemer. And they deny the Divine inspiration of scripture, the supernatural, and the miraculous.
Dualism is a doctrine that believes in two opposite and opposing realms, one of spirit and the other of matter. Dualists also believe the world is ruled by two opposing gods, one of evil and darkness and the other of good and light. The Gnostics and Manicheans during post-Apocalyptic times held to dualism, believing that all physical matter was evil and that only the spiritual was good. Another dualistic view teaches that all affliction, calamity, adversity, poverty, and tribulation only come from Satan. And they reject humanity’s sinful and fallen condition as contributory to the evil we see in the world.
In contrast to all these false theologies, Christians believe the God of the Bible is a personal, loving, and merciful God, but also a righteous judge that brings forth calamity and indignant judgments. We read: “Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings” (Jeremiah 26:3).
The God of the Bible is both a transcendent God who is separate from His creation and, at the same time, a personal immanent God who dwells with His people. And His most personal characteristic is “love,” for God is love, especially an unconditional love that does not expect anything from us and transcends our fallen human condition. We read, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Therefore, love is more than a feeling or emotion. God’s love communicates the essence and presence (countenance) of His very being, His nature, towards us. God’s presence is tangible.
God is perfect, as Jesus said, “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). God is self-conscious and intelligent and possesses feelings and a will for humanity. We read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). All these qualities make Him a personal God who cares for His creation.
Christians do not believe Satan is an equal opposing force to God; he is a created being. While Satan has tremendous power that God has given him but is finite, it is constrained and nowhere close to equal with God.[xlvii] In the Judeo-Hebrew tradition, Satan is subordinate to God, and he can do nothing unless God wills for it to happen.[xlviii] They view Satan as an agent or instrument of God, one the Lord uses to bring His Divine retributions and judgments. Therefore, he is considered God’s angel or instrument of His judgment.
Christianity affirms God as the only sovereign judge and king of all creation. We read, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face” (Psalm 89:14). In Hebrew, justice and righteousness have the same meaning (tzedakah) derived from the root tzedek. Tzedek means fulfilling duties towards others, particularly the responsibilities imposed on a person based on moral virtues, such as remedying those injured.
Scripturally, justice precedes righteousness. Thus, it appears from the order of God’s wording that His courtroom justice comes before His remedy for our injustice, and God’s remedy for our injustice establishes His righteousness, enabling Him to extend His mercy. In other words, God’s love is an outpouring of Him remedying our injuries by first taking the payment for our debt to sin upon Himself.[xlix] As we read, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
Therefore, the Law had to come first, not only to teach us what is sinful but, more importantly, that God’s justice would be rendered through it. In the words of the sages: “Justice is the declaration of God's will and our means of serving and approaching Him.”[l] And as Christ has fulfilled the Law, His blood and righteousness have become the propitiation, the payment for our sin so that God’s mercy (Chesed in Hebrew) might go forth.[li] Here, Christianity diverges from every other religion, including Judaism. It is not our self-laboring to redeem ourselves through the Law of Moses but God's work on the cross to make us a new creation in Christ Jesus.
God is merciful and not willing that any should perish.[lii] As it is written, “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [payment] for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10); For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11).
Mercy (Chesed) is God’s love and benevolence towards us; translated from Hebrew, it means “His kindness” or “grace.” The word denotes the unbound loving-kindness with which God created the worlds and permeated all creation. We read, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David: ‘Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’" (Psalm 89:2-4).
The rabbis explain that kindness was, in fact, the reason for the creation. Since God's "nature" is absolute benevolence and love, He created the worlds so that He would have someone upon whom He could bestow His loving-kindness, as stated, “It is the nature of He who is good to do good.”[liii]
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] The Laws of Jewish Names—Parshat Shemot. Chabad.org.
[iii] Glotzer, Leonard R. The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism: The Book of Creation and Its Commentaries. Jason Aronson, Inc. 1992.
[iv] Sumner, Paul. HaShem — The Name. Hebrew Streams. Exodus 3:13-15, 6:2-3.
[v] Exodus 15:2. Psalm 68:4.
[vi] Exodus 6:2-3, 19:3-6.
[vii] Peters, Mimi. Learning to read Midrash. Urim Publications, ISBN 965-7108-57-8.
[viii] John 6:35, 8:12, 11:25.
[ix] Genesis 15:1-2, 18:12, 24:10. 1 Peter 3:6.
[x] Rich, Tracey R. The Name of G-d. 1996-2011. Judaism 101.
[xi] Genesis 2:4.
[xii] Genesis 22:14. Romans 8:32.
[xiii] Exodus 15:26. 1 Corinthians 12:9.
[xiv] Exodus 17:8-15. Song of Solomon 2:4.
[xv] Judges 6:24. John 14:27. Ephesians 2:15-16.
[xvi] Psalm 23:1. John 10:11. 1 Peter 5:4.
[xvii] Jeremiah 23:6. 1 Corinthians 1:30.
[xviii] Psalm 24:10. 1 Samuel 1:3. 2 Kings 6:13-17.
[xix] Ezekiel 48:35. Hebrews 13:5-6.
[xx] Genesis 1:1. Daniel 11:37-39. Habakkuk 1:11. Job 12:6.
[xxi] Duffield, Guy P. and Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Foursquare Media. 1910.
[xxii] Genesis 1:2, 26.
[xxiii] Deuteronomy 32:4.
[xxiv] Genesis 14:18-20. Deuteronomy 32:8. Hebrews 6:20. Philippians 2:9.
[xxv] Genesis 21:33. Psalm 90:1-2. Isaiah 26:4.
[xxvi] Genesis 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3. Exodus 6:3. Ezekiel 10:5.
[xxvii] Exodus 17:6. Deuteronomy 32:4, 32:15, 18, 30-31. Isaiah 17:10, 26:4, 32:2, 51:1. Psalm 19:14. 1 Corinthians 10:4.
[xxviii] John 1:1.
[xxix] Philippians 2:11.
[xxx] Matthew 6:9. Romans 8:15.
[xxxi] Revelation 1:8.
[xxxii] The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi. Elucidated by Rabbi Yosef Wineberg. Translated from Yiddish by Rabbi Levy Wineberg and Rabbi Sholom B. Wineberg. Edited by Uri Kaploun. Published and copyright by Kehot Publication Society.
[xxxiii] 1 Kings 8:27.
[xxxiv] John 4:24. 1 John 1:15, 4:8. Hebrews 12:29.
[xxxv] Isaiah 52:10. Pslam 34:15.
[xxxvi] Oxford Dictionary. John 1:18, 6:46. Hebrews 11:3.
[xxxvii] Ibid. The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
[xxxviii] Shneur Zalman of Liady (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812, O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573), was an Orthodox rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari. Wikipedia.
[xxxix] Genesis 1:2, 26.
[xl] Ibid. The Tanya of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
[xli] Matthew 11:27.
[xlii] Arrogance, Pride. Merrian-Webster Dictionary.
[xliii] Genesis 3:6.
[xliv] Ibid—Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 22.
[xlv] Encyclopedia Britannica.
[xlvi] The Gods And Goddesses Of Ancient Rome. National Geographic.
[xlvii] 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
[xlviii] Kabbalistic/Hasidic and Christian traditions describe the forces of the holy and the demonic as locked in a struggle that will culminate in God’s eventual victory: MJL. Do Jews Believe in Satan? My Jewish Learning.
[xlix] Schochet, Jacob Immanuel. Tzedek & Chessed – Righteousness and Kindness. Chabad.org.
[l] Posner, Zalman. The Purpose of Justice. Chabad.org.
[li] Matthew 5:14.
[lii] 2 Peter 3:9.
[liii] Miller, Moshe. Chesed, Gevura, & Tiferet. Chabad.org. John 10:32.