Beyond Words

How does one go about describing God, explaining God, or even fathoming his nature and works? Many reject the reality of God’s existence because the very concept is so foreign to our human experience and self-perception. But that’s the point. If he could be conceptualized on the human level, he wouldn’t be God! His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher than ours (Isa. 55:9). His depths are so vast (1 Cor. 2:10), mere words are inexpressible (2 Cor. 12:4) and amount to inarticulate groanings (Rom. 8:26).¹ The vocabulary of all human languages combined does not have sufficient words through which the Most High can fully reveal himself. 

Due to the limitations and inadequacies of human speech and thought, the transcendent LORD and his direct activity cannot be verbalized literally. Divine revelation therefore has to employ analogy, metaphor, personification, anthropomorphism, hyperbole, and other figures of speech (e.g. Isa. 6:1-7; Ezek. 1:3-28; et al.). With valiant attempts to accommodate our limited capacity to understand, biblical authors, even inspired by God’s Spirit, seem to struggle to put into meaningful words that which is inexplicable and indescribable.

·      “O the immensity of abundance, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and incomprehensible his ways!” (Rom. 11:33).

·      “But to the One having power above all things to do exceedingly beyond what we ask or think, according to the power working in us” (Eph. 3:20).

·      “But we have this treasure in clay containers, that the surpassing excellence of the power might be of God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7).

·      “Thanks to God for his indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

·      “For the momentary lightness of our affliction, according to excessive excellence unto excessive excellence,² is producing for us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).

·      “For God so [emphatically] loved …” (John 3:16a). 

·      “But God being rich in mercy, through his abundant love with which he loved us” (Eph. 2:4).

·      “How will we escape, having neglected so great a salvation …” (Heb. 2:3a).

·      “Wherefore also he has the power to save to the uttermost …” (Heb. 7:25a).

·      “Much more then having now been justified by his blood …. much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:9a-10).

·      “I came that they may have life, and may have it exceedingly” (John 10:10b).

·      “But in all these things, we more than conquer through the One having loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

How do you explain? How do you describe? The ancient psalmist has observed, “Yahweh our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, Who has set your majesty above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). In more recent times we lift our voices and sing, “You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words; too wonderful for comprehension …. I stand in awe of You.”³

 

We basically have to resort to feeble expressions like boundless, infinite, unsearchable, unfathomable, inexplicable, indescribable, and incomprehensible, realizing that words alone are insufficient. God therefore has stooped down to our level and communicates not only with our words but beyond our words through the Word who took on human flesh (John 1:1, 14, 18; Heb. 1:1-2).

 

--Kevin L. Moore

 
Endnotes:
     ¹ Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are the author’s own translation. Emphasis added with italics; added words in [square brackets].
     ² The inexpressible magnitude of what lies beyond this temporal life is so hard to put into words that the Greek term ὑπερβολή [huperbolé], from which the English word “hyperbole” is derived, is employed twice as a feeble attempt to make the point: ASV, “more and more exceedingly”; CSB, “absolutely incomparable”; ISV/NASB, “far beyond any/all comparison”; NIV, “far outweighs them all”; N/KJV, “far more exceeding.”
     ³ “Beautiful Beyond Description,” by Mark Altrogge (1987).
 
*Appearing in modified form in The Estes Echo (6 Nov. 2020).

Addendum: From Donnie DeBord, Facebook Post (9-28-21) -- Perhaps we do not worship well because our doctrine of God is too small. Theistic personalism is the idea that God is something like us but super in every way. The biblical doctrine of God is much more exalted--or transcendent. In Scripture, the highest heaven cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27). The depths and limits of God cannot be measured because limits do not exist (Job 11:7). God alone is true immortality dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). Our God is eternally the fullness of life (Exod 3:14-15, Jn 8:58, 1 Jn 5:20). This God of Scripture is far too glorious for me to grow tired of him or bored with his praises.

Related Posts: Ezekiel's Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel
 

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Are Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 Records of Satan’s Fall?

Isaiah’s Message

Isaiah’s prophetic career spanned more than four decades, during the reigns of four kings of Judah (ca. 740-698 BC) and the rise of the Assyrian empire. Along with a message of hope for the future, Isaiah issues warnings of impending judgment against the divided and dysfunctional kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as surrounding nations.

It has long been assumed that the name Lucifer applies to the devil, based on some translations of Isaiah 14:12 (notably Douay-Rheims, New/ King James versions). However, the context concerns the fall of the Babylonian king (v. 4), using various symbolic images. The Hebrew helel simply means “shining one” or “morning star,” with its Latin counterpart luciferus, “bringer of light.” This is not a proper name of the devil but metaphorically descriptive of Babylon’s arrogant ruler.

The first part of the prophecy depicts the collapse of the Babylonian empire and its despotic king, symbolized as a massive tree cut down and cast into the depths of Sheol (the pit of darkness, death, despair), while other “trees” (nations) rejoice, having been oppressed by the once-powerful Babylonians (vv. 4-11). Next the Babylonian monarch is pictured as a self-exalted heavenly star that is cast down to earth and into the depths of Sheol (vv. 12-15). The surrounding nations are at peace when Babylon falls, with the defeated despot pictured further as a despised branch, a bloody garment, and a desecrated corpse (vv. 16-21). The sure destruction of Babylon is a judgment of Yahweh (vv. 22-23), later carried out by the Medes and Persians. 

Ezekiel’s Message

Ezekiel was a 6th-century BC prophet among the Jewish exiles in Babylon, using parables and symbolic imagery to warn of impending judgment against the remaining inhabitants of Judah and other nations, including the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (26:1–28:19) and neighboring Sidon (28:20-24) on the northeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea. A message of doom is directed to the city of Tyre itself (chap. 26), followed by a lament for its downfall (chap. 27), then against Tyre’s ruler [Heb. nagad, not strictly a “prince” but the “commander”] (28:1-10), followed by a lament for the fall of Tyre’s ruler [Heb. melek, the “king”] (28:11-19). 

The city of Tyre consisted of the mainland metropolis on the coast and its heavily fortified island city. Its ruler was guilty of boastful self-sufficiency and thought his island fortification “in the midst of the seas” (28:2), surrounded by the waters of the Mediterranean, was impregnable. 

The biblical text does not identify Tyre as “Satan,” or anyone else other than the 6th-century BC city-state of Tyre and its leadership. Interpreters through the centuries have literalized Ezekiel’s symbolism and applied it to what they think happened to Satan, but their inferences are not clearly stated in the biblical record. 

Seeming to parallel the story of Adam and his fall (Gen. 1–3), the description of the ruler of Tyre (Ezek. 28:11ff.) corresponds to his deified self-assessment (vv. 2-6). Ezekiel is figuratively portraying an environment of wealth, privilege, and security at the beginning of the ruler’s life, while still in his innocence. The imagery describes him as an anointed “cherub” dwelling in God's “garden” and “holy mountain,” i.e., enjoying divine favor and blessings (vv. 12-14). The king is then reminded that this state of perfection or innocence lasted until “iniquity was found in you” (v. 15). Consequently he was cast out of God's mountain (out of God's favor) to the ground, upon the earth, symbolizing his public defeat and humiliation (vv. 16-19). 

This highly symbolic prophecy was historically fulfilled by the Babylonians and later the Greeks. Note also similar imagery likening the downfall of the Egyptian Pharaoh to that of Assyria (31:2ff., esp. vv. 8-9, 16). 

Conclusion

The main subject of each prophecy is “a man” (Isa. 14:16; Ezek. 28:2, 9), not Satan or any other spirit being. The only way to get Satan’s fall out of these verses is to ignore the context and read into them what is not there. When understood properly, both passages confirm the divine inspiration and integrity of scripture as predictive prophecies that were in fact fulfilled in the chronicles of history. 

--Kevin L. Moore

 

Related Posts: The Devil's Names, Perfect in Your Ways (Ezek 28:15)

 

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What are the Behemoth and the Leviathan in Job 40-41?

In this section of the book of Job (38:1–41:34), God is explaining that his heavenly perspective is infinitely greater that Job’s very limited view of things, prompting Job to confess, “I have uttered what I did not understand” (42:3a).¹ The point of chaps. 40-41 is that God is mightier than the greatest land creature and sea creature imaginable. It is debated, however, whether the behemoth (40:15) and the leviathan (3:8; 41:1) are actual animals known to the people of Job’s day, or fictitious creatures imagined by the people of Job’s day.² 

Earlier in the discourse real animals are alluded to (38:39–39:30), but much more space is given to these two. God created all land creatures and sea creatures (Gen. 1:21, 24-25), yet symbolic imagery drawn from God’s creation is employed throughout scripture, including the book of Job (e.g. 3:9; 4:7-10; 5:22-23; 6:5; 9:9, 26; 12:7-8; 13:28; 14:2, 7-9, 18-19; 19:10; 20:14-17; 24:5-8; etc.).

The Behemoth

The Hebrew term בְ֭הֵמוֹת [b^ehēmôt] in Job 40:15a is plural, giving intensive force to how this magnificent beast is described. Some commentators, unconvinced by anti-theistic evolutionary theories, have identified the creature as the brontosaurus. Other suggestions include the elephant or the buffalo, while the more popular proposal is the hippopotamus, whose “tail like a cedar” is understood to be a euphemistic allusion to genitalia. God, who created it along with man, is much more capable than any of Job’s fellow humans of overpowering this mighty creature (vv. 15b, 19).

The Leviathan

The term לִוְיָתָ֣ן [liwyātān] is typically a poetic expression. If it is a mythical sea monster, the point is that God is greater than the strongest and fiercest invention of the human imagination. It would be comparable to saying to a child, “God is stronger than Superman!” This does not suggest Superman is real but the imagery is something the child is familiar with and can understand. The leviathan could also be a fictitious serpentine sea creature that is emblematic of evil forces (cp. Psa. 74:13-14; Isa. 27:1), similar to the metaphoric depictions of the Roman Empire as a seven-headed sea beast and Satan as a seven-headed dragon (Rev. 13:1-8; 12:3-9). If the leviathan is a literal animal (cf. Psa. 104:24-26), the whale or more likely the crocodile could be in view, although hyperbolic poetic imagery is involved in the description. Some have suggested an aquatic, dinosaur-like reptile. Whatever the leviathan is supposed to be, God is so much greater!  

Conclusion

While human curiosity may prefer more definitive answers, we often miss the forest for the trees. The purpose of mentioning the behemoth and the leviathan in the biblical text is to demonstrate, by comparison, how incredibly awesome God is. No doubt Job more clearly understood the allusions than we do, so if we are “without knowledge,” it is a helpful reminder of the essential message of the book of Job (cf. 42:2-3). There are many things we do not understand, but God does. He is far superior to all he has created. He is in control, so let us therefore be humble, submissive, trusting, and grateful.  

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Unless noted otherwise, scripture quotations are from the NKJV.

     ² “Realistic, detailed descriptions keep the portrait from becoming purely mythical. Nevertheless, into the factual description the author skillfully blends fanciful metaphors drawn from mythic accounts of monsters in order that these beasts may represent both mighty terrestrial creatures and cosmic forces” (J. E. Hartley, The Book of Job 521-22).

 

Related Posts: Nephilim (Gen. 6:1-4), Isaiah's Leviathan

Related articles: On the dating of the book of Job, see Matthew J. Phillips, Development of the Ancient Israelite Belief in Satan as a Schema for Dating OT Passages, M.A. Thesis (Charles Town, WV: American Public University System, 2015): 86-88 <Link>.

 

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