PART 1 — WHO IS YEHOVAH?
Before there was Israel.
Before Abraham.
Before Sinai.
Before kings, prophets, covenants, or temples.
There was God.
The Scriptures begin with a simple statement:
"In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1:1
There is no introduction to multiple gods.
No explanation of different divine beings.
Just one Creator.
The next verse says:
"And the Spirit of Elohim moved upon the face of the waters."
Genesis 1:2
Many people read this and immediately picture God in one place and His Spirit in another.
But the text doesn't say that.
The Spirit of Elohim is not introduced as another god beside Elohim.
It is Elohim moving, creating, speaking, and bringing life.
Yeshua later said:
"God is Spirit."
John 4:24
He did not say God has a spirit.
He said God is Spirit.
This helps explain why Scripture repeatedly says that God cannot be seen in His fullness.
"No man hath seen God at any time."
John 1:18
And:
"Whom no man hath seen, nor can see."
1 Timothy 6:16
Yehovah is not limited by a physical body. Nor is He limited within a physical body.
He is Spirit.
Yet when we continue reading the Scriptures, another question appears.
If no man has seen God, why do so many people say they have?
Abraham
Genesis says:
"And Yehovah appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre."
Genesis 18:1
The chapter goes on to describe three men standing before Abraham.
Abraham spoke with Yehovah.
He prepared food.
He stood before Him and spoke with Him concerning Sodom.
The account is presented as a real encounter, not a dream or a vision.
Yet Scripture still says no man has seen God.
Jacob
After wrestling through the night, Jacob said:
"I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
Genesis 32:30
Jacob did not say he had seen an angel.
He said he had seen God.
The encounter affected him so deeply that he named the place Peniel, meaning "Face of God."
He also walked away with a limp that remained for the rest of his life.
Gideon
When Gideon encountered the Messenger of Yehovah and saw the offering consumed by fire, he cried out:
"Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen the angel of Yehovah face to face."
Judges 6:22
Why was Gideon afraid?
Because he believed he had seen God.
Yehovah answered him:
"Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die."
Judges 6:23
Manoah
The same thing happened with Manoah and his wife.
After the Messenger of Yehovah ascended in the flame of the sacrifice, Manoah said:
"We shall surely die, because we have seen God."
Judges 13:22
Again, the conclusion is the same.
They believed they had encountered God Himself.
Isaiah
Isaiah wrote:
"I saw also Yehovah sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up."
Isaiah 6:1
Later he says:
"Mine eyes have seen the King, Yehovah of hosts."
Isaiah 6:5
Yet centuries later John connects this vision to Yeshua.
Speaking of Isaiah, he wrote:
"These things said Esaias, when he saw His glory, and spake of Him."
John 12:41
So which is true?
Has no man seen God?
Or did these men see God?
Scripture says both.
The God who cannot be seen in His fullness is the same God who appeared to Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, Manoah, and Isaiah.
The Scriptures do not explain this by introducing another god.
Instead, they show one God revealing Himself to mankind.
One figure appears repeatedly throughout many of these encounters.
Scripture calls Him the Messenger of Yehovah.
In the next part we will look more closely at who He is and why He speaks in a way that is unlike any other messenger in Scripture.