Elohim: The Strong One of Authority

"In the beginning Elohim created (Heb. bara) the heavens and the earth.  Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep (Heb. roaring) deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."  Gen. 1:1-2

The foundation of the Genesis document is given in this verse.  Moses is not a proponent of Chance and Necessity, nor does he concoct highly imaginative theories of cosmogony and assign remote mathematical symbols to them in order to earn a hearing.

The writer gives a theological confession without apology and states that prior to mass/energy Elohim was/is.  Certainly, human language systems are strained when attempting to speak of the unspeakable.  Not in the sense of the classic language philosophers who used language to argue themselves into a metaphysical corner.  "Whereof one cannot speak thereof one must be silent."

Thankfully Moses never studied with the language philosophers.  Moses was given his profound insight into the origins of all things through Elohim.  Philosophy can only go so far and then its structure turns upon itself because it is the product of the thoughts of men.

Moses writes that Elohim was before and at the beginning.  Moses uses the word El which was a common name for deities in the ancient Near East.  El was symbolically represented by a picture of an ox or bull, and so it meant "the Strong One of Authority." The Strong One of Authority created or fashioned mass/energy and its behavioral manifestations.

Elohim's thought/action is the grounds of the energetic patterns that we experience.  We are interactive beings.  We do not merely observe the behavior of mass/energy we are ourselves mass/energy beings with souls.  The instruments that are designed to observe the behavior of mass/energy are composed of the same as are the observers.  We are cosmic dance too.

Elohim created the behavioral phenomena called 'heavens' and 'earth' through speech/action.  Again we are confronted with energy behaving as designed by Elohim.  Beneath the visible or measurable phenomena is the abiding speech command of The Strong One of Authority.  The Periodic Table of The Elements are inherent in the cosmos because of Elohim.

Honestly, we are not arguing First Causes.  We are stating that classical evolution or theistic evolution (compromise) are impossible given the nature of what is.  If Elohim is removed from the structure of the cosmos there is no cosmos.  We will not consider matter as such, because matter is an illusion.  Matter creates the belief in hard solid stuff, and there is not hard solid stuff.  There are only dancing patterns of energy.

Understand the context of the last statement.  I am not arguing from the viewpoint of reductionism I want to point out an observable fact.  We are indeed patterns of energy in motion, and we are more.  We are body/soul.  We are mysteries as much and much more than energetic patterns at dance.  Infused and intrinsic to the energy dance is moral behavior.  A signature of the existence of the Creator.

Rocks are said to be mere things in the non-theistic belief systems.  However, in the biblical system rocks 'know' the Creator.  Rocks are not extensions of the Divine Essence, but rocks recognize the Creator as the Creator.  He is LORD of all.  All things belong to Him as the Creator.  The frightening behavior dynamics of the Sea of Galilee that tossed and threatened the boat of the disciples ceased their raging at the command of the Iesous.

There is no such thing as nature.  That is a philosophical idea.  The New Testament uses the term 'physis' to denote something that is intrinsic to the cosmic order.  In that since there is nature, but not in an absolute since of an order devoid of the CREATOR.  There is no Nature in that sense.

The documents of the bible are without equal.  They are authoritative in an absolute manner.  Yes, they are ancient, yes they present a worldview that many would call primal perhaps, but primitive no.  The thought forms are powerful, and complex, but the alphabet of the Hebrews is based on 22 consonants.  The Job document is more ancient than Genesis.  Genesis is framed around a series of beginnings.  In fact, Genesis is about a new beginning.

The earth was the work of divine creative fiat.  Elohim sculpted the topography of the earth for human habitation.  (Statistical reasoning can be highly manipulative). There is more water on the surface on the face of the earth than land mass for many reasons. Land, however, is still dynamic, but not as much as water.

The ontological wasteland that The Strong One of Authority fashioned into a habitable environment for human, plant, and animal life was called the Chaos Monster in ancient creation stories.  Some theologians have tried to press the tri-leveled universe into the Genesis creation account with little success.

The cosmology of Genesis is theological.  All of life is theological.  Science is theological, but scientism is religious.  The word science means 'knowledge.'  Technology is applied science to some degree.  Technology is used today to sell novelty products to the masses, manipulate their minds, and create dependency on 'necessary' but 'irrelevant' nonsense.

The first verse of Genesis point to a greater reality.  That is, Elohim is prior to the created order. His creative work is a mystery.  I was taught that Elohim created the world from nothing or no-thing.  Even today, mass/energy is no-thing.  However, that is not what the theologians meant by no-thing.

I know that the mind prejudiced by the belief of things in space finds it very difficult to retrain itself to believe that 'hardness' is a sensory illusion.  Long ago, when I met with Fritjof Capra who wrote "The Tao Of Physics" we had a long discussion on this topic.  Dr. Capra holds a Ph.D in Particle Physics.

Lastly, note the Power of the Spoken Word in ancient Near Eastern thought.  This is lost to our culture.  Elohim speaks terse, simple, and effective words.  Speech is prior to, and tied to mass/energy.  Einstein let us know that the smallest 'piece' of mass contains an enormous amount of energy.  In other words, Elohim's speech is filled with power (the ability to do work).  We are told by some great physicists that the universe is the product of Mind.

The universe is not a clock or a machine.  It is energetic mystery.  Finally, Elohim is using his great power today to recreate souls that have been ruined by sin.  Through the power of Re-generation he is giving life to those who have been undone through the Chaos Monster of sin.  Elohim or The Strong One of Authority has come into the created order as the new proto-man Iesous.

The old order of sin means absolute ruin, and so Elohim has created a new order of Man headed by the Iesous. You can have eternal life today through the Iesous and know life in superabundance. Come to the Iesous today and confess your belief in his redemptive death on the cross for you.
Amen.

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