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shadow'. It is used not only in a literal sense, as `a shadow from the heat', `the shadow
of a cloud' (Isa. 25: 4, 5), but in various figurative ways, as for example:
"All my members are as a shadow" (Job 17: 7).
"Our days upon earth are a shadow" (Job 8: 9).
In combination with the Hebrew word for `death' we have the word tsalmaveth,
translated throughout the A.V. by the words `the shadow of death'. There can be no
doubt in the mind of any who take the trouble to examine the word, its cognates and its
usage, that the primary meaning of the word translated `image' in Gen. 1: 26 is
`shadow'.
Let us now turn our attention to the word translated "likeness", the Hebrew
word demuth. This word comes from damah `to be like'. "Man is like to vanity"
(Psa. 144: 4). "I have compared thee, O my love" (Song 1: 9). "I have . . . . . used
similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets" (Hosea 12: 10).
Demuth itself occurs more frequently in the prophecy of Ezekiel than in the rest of the
O.T. where it is translated `likeness', and is chiefly used of the "four living creatures",
the cherubim.
In that daring blasphemy of the king of Babylon, as recorded by Isaiah, we catch a
glimpse of the intention of the word, as used in Gen. 1: 26:
"Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God; . . . . . I will be like the Most High" (Isa. 14: 13, 14).
There are many challenging passages in the O.T. Scriptures regarding this matter of
comparison with the Most High.
"Who in heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty
can be likened unto the Lord?" (Psa. 89: 6).
"To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be
like?" (Isa. 46: 5).
The daring assumption of Babylon is the blasphemy of Antichrist, and to quote a
passage dealing with another circumstance we can say:
"And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth" (Rev. 5: 3),
can be found worthy to be compared with the Most High. Yet, just as in Rev. 5: the
tears of John are stayed as he learns that the Lion of the tribe of Judah was worthy to
open the seven sealed book, so the testimony of the Gospels and the Epistles reveal that
in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him alone, may be found the answer to the
challenge of Psa. 89: 6 and of Isa. 46: 5. There is One, Who rightly ascended into
heaven, whose throne is exalted above the stars of God. There is One Who thought it not
robbery to be upon equality with God. There is One Who is the Image of the Invisible
God, the Form of God, and the express Image or character of His substance. He is made
known to us in Phil. 2:, in Col. 1:, in Heb. 1: and in John 1: