5
`I dwell in the high and holy place, WITH HIM ALSO that is of a contrite and humble spirit' (Isa. 57:15).
You will see that the reference to the nature of God is not given for its own sake, but in order to emphasize the
condescension of Him who dwells with the humble and the contrite.
A - John says, `God is Spirit'.
B - Yes, but only because he would emphasize that `They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth' (John 4:24).
Perhaps if I read you a short extract from `The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry', by Isaac Taylor, it may make my
meaning clear:
`If for a moment they (the Hebrew writers) utter what might have the aspect of an abstract proposition, they
bring it into contact, at the nearest possible point, with the spiritual wants of men, or with their actual moral
condition; as thus - "Great is the Lord, and of great power, and His understanding is infinite. He telleth the
number of the stars: He calleth them all by their names", but this infinite and almighty Being is He that "healeth
the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds". It is the human spirit that is the central or cohesive principle
of Hebrew Theology. The Theistic affirmations that are scattered throughout the books of the Old Testament are
not susceptible of a synthetic adjustment by any rule of logical distribution ... the several elements of this Theism
are complementary one of another only in relation to the needs, and to the discipline of the human mind; not so
in relation to its modes of speculative thought, or to its own reasons. If we were to bring together the entire
compass of the figurative Theology of Scripture (and this must be the Theology of the Old Testament) it would
be easy to arrange the whole in periphery around the human spirit, as related to its manifold experiences; but a
hopeless task it would be to attempt to arrange the same passages as if in a circle around the hypothetic attributes
of the Absolute Being. The human reason falters at every step in attempting so to interpret the Divine Nature'.
Put into language more readily acceptable, these pregnant words tell us that we are not to look for a philosophy
of the Godhead in the Scriptures, but that the whole revelation is limited to that which is circumscribed by the
purpose of the ages.
A - I think I perceive your meaning, but can you give some more concrete examples?
JEHOVAH, The Age-Title
B - The title Jehovah will provide a good example. In Genesis 21:33 we read (A.V.):
`And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God'.
The meaning of the original is just the reverse of this. The words, `The Lord, the everlasting God' are in the
original Jehovah El olam, `Jehovah, God of the age'. In Exodus 3:14 we have the title `I Am', which is expanded as
follows:
`The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ... This is My
name for ever (the age), and this is My memorial unto all generations' (Exod. 3:15).
In Revelation 1:4 we have a New Testament unfolding of the title Jehovah, which supplements the `I am' of
Exodus 3:14:
`Him which is (I am), and which was, and which is to come'.
This expanded title occurs in varied orders according to the requirement of the context, but in Revelation 11:17
we read (R.V. and critical texts):
`O Lord God, the Almighty, which ART and which WAST';
the future is omitted, the reason being:
`because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and reignest' (not hast reigned or will reign).