"The One God": "Ail-Elohim"

The teaching of Jesus instructs us that eternal life can only be obtained through the knowledge of God, and of Christ Jesus our Lord. The apostle Peter, confirming the doctrine of Christ, says: > “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. i. 3).

It is “through the knowledge of Him that hath called us,” that we are brought into relationship with the “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” With this agree the words of Solomon, where he says: > “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding” (Prov. ix. 10).

Therefore we are led to perceive that “life,”—eternal life,—godliness, wisdom, and understanding are only attainable through the knowledge of God, and Jesus Christ our Lord. Peter also desires that “grace and peace” may “be multiplied” unto the believers, “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord.” Being inspired with this knowledge, the apostle knew that “grace and peace” could only be multiplied through the medium of such kind of knowledge. The reason of this becomes apparent when we perceive the significance of the apostle Paul’s allusion, where he says: > “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God” (1 Cor. xv. 34).

There were some in his day, as there are in ours, who did not recognize the importance of this knowledge. A diligent and lively attention to the subject, therefore, is enjoined by the apostolic teaching; and also by the teaching of Solomon, who says: > “If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” (Prov. ii. 3-6).

It becomes, then, a matter of vital moment that we make ourselves acquainted with the Deity, in so far as He hath revealed Himself unto us through His Word and His works; that we study the testimony which He has caused to be recorded concerning Himself through Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms; and the manifestation of Himself through Jesus Christ our Lord. To know God, in the Scriptural sense, is to believe on Him. The knowledge that works faith in the mind, is the only kind of knowledge that will lead to “life and godliness.” For the apostle Paul says: > “He that cometh unto God, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. xi. 6).

In seeking to obtain the knowledge of God we must ever approach the subject with that devoutness of spirit which so deeply pervades the Psalms, and is expressively conveyed in the following words: > “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him” (Psa. lxxxix. 7). > “He hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name” (Psa. cxi. 9).

The greatness, glory, and majesty of His name is an animating theme in many portions of the Psalms. > “O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty” (Psa. civ. 1). > “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness” (Psa. cxlv. 3-5).

It is very important that we recognize that there is one God; whose dwelling-place is in the “light, which no man can approach unto” (1 Tim. vi. 16). Concerning God, and the words in the original used to designate Him, and the significance of them, we cannot do better for the reader than present a few selections from the writings of Dr. Thomas. He gives the following:

“Paul as well as Moses declares there is no other God but one; and having so said, proceeds to remark, ‘For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many, and lords many), but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him’ (1 Cor. viii. 5-7). Here, then, we have good authority for saying that, in the universe, there are many gods and many lords: but that over and above them all is One Supreme, who is styled the Blessed and Only Sovereign, ‘the King of kings and Lord of lords; the only one having immortality or deathlessness; inhabiting light unapproachable; whom no man hath seen or can see’ (1 Tim. vi. 15).

“Moses’ teaching is in perfect agreement with that of Paul. They both teach one supreme Deity, and the existence of others beside: but that these others were not to be objects of worship by dwellers upon the earth. The original Hebrew word used to designate the Supreme, Self-existent, Eternal One, is ‘Ail’—rendered God in the common version. ‘It always,’ says Gesenius, ‘presented to the Hebrews the idea of strength and power.’ Melchizedec, king of Jerusalem, was the Priest of the most high Ail, whom he understood and proclaimed to be Possessor of the heavens and the earth.

“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all called upon the Possessor of the heavens and earth by the word Ail-Shaddai: which in Gen. xvii. 1—He bestowed upon himself, saying Ani-Ail-Shaddai,—walk before me, and be thou perfect. Shaddai signifies mighty or powerful ones. Several appeared to Abraham, and three of them at one time condescended to partake of his hospitality. Their power is tremendous when they choose to exert it upon the wicked, as in the instance of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, cities of the plain; but toward the heirs of salvation, they are ministering spirits, beneficent and good (Heb. i. 14; xiii. 1). But by what were these Shaddai so powerful that they could stand by cities, and send them into the abyss profound?—was it by their own power, or by the power of another?—By the power of another certainly: even by His power who is higher than they.”

“Therefore the Possessor of the heavens and the earth announced himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as Ail-Shaddai, or the Strength of the Powerful Ones, whose might he had witnessed in the destruction of the plain. In this sense, that, namely, of Power Increate, being the strength of creatures formed by it, we find Ali, associated with other words than Shaddai. In Gen. xxxiii. 20, it is testified that Jacob erected an altar, and called it Ail-Elohai Yisraail, rendered in the margin of the English Bible: God, God of Israel.”

“Two persons are represented here. The Father, by himself, being Ail, or power; but when associated with the Son of man, who when so associated was powerful—‘anointed with Holy Spirit and with power’—He was Ail-Eloahh; the Power mediately manifested; the power being one,—the medium of manifestation another Eloahh. … Power, then, is the radical idea of Eloahh as well as of Ail. It is of the singular number. In Isaiah xliv. 8, the spirit of Eloahh in the prophet inquires: ‘Exists there an Eloah without me?—Yea, there is no Rock; I know not any.’ And in Psalm xviii. 31, ‘Who is an Eloah without Jehovah? And who a Rock except our Elohim?’ ‘The Mighty One (hah-Ail) girdeth me with strength, and hath made my way secure.’ ‘Is not Eloah the majesty of the heavens?’ (Job xxii. 12).

“The plural of this word is Elohim, and occurs in the Old Testament about 2,470 times.” (Phanerosis pp. 13, 15, 16).

“ELOAH occurs fifty-six times in the Scriptures, and four of these times only in Psalms: but in Job, forty-one times. Every member of the heavenly host is an Eloah; but of all the Elohim, ONE ONLY is the original and self-existent Ail, the absolute, omnipotent, and independent power of the universe. Speaking of Himself in His address to the ends of the earth, He says: ‘Look unto me, for I am Ail, and none else’ (Isa. xlvi. 22). And to Israel He saith, ‘Ye are my witnesses, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I, Yahweh, am he: before me, Ail, or Power, has not been formed, nor after me shall be’ (Isa. xlviii. 10): a testimony that identifies Ail with the Logos and Theos of John, which as One Power, he saith, ‘made all things: and without him was not anything made that was made.’” (Eureka, Vol. I., p. 95).

Theos is the Greek equivalent of Ail, which is Hebrew.