As a child, I learned a prayer of thanksgiving for my meal which began, “God is great; God is good,” and indeed He is! It is a prayer so simple that a child can express it, yet contains truth so profound, that adults cannot exhaust it.
The first name we find concerning God is the Hebrew word, “Elohim,” in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth.” You will find around 2,750 uses of that name in the Old Testament text. It speaks to the greatness of God—Creator and Sustainer of all.
It is a word that is a composite word—the root being El. El is used in the Hebrew Bible by itself to describe God, such as in Genesis 7:1–and about 250 times total.
Elohim is a plural word. Might it be that this is an allusion to the plurality of God—one God in three persons? We do find this in the creation narrative, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (Gen.1:2b)—describing the creative work of the Holy Spirit. Then, we find God calling all into existence by His word. The New Testament tells us that Word is Jesus, and that, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made...” (John 1:2-3). “Then God said, ‘Let Us [plural] make man in Our [plural] image, according to Our [plural] likeness...” (Gen.1:26a).
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.” (Ps.145:3). Amen and amen!
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