Who created the heavens and the earth? (part one)

In Acts 14:14-17 (Concordant Literal New Testament), we read that, while in Lystra, Paul and Barnabas declared the following to a crowd of pagans:

“We also are men, of like emotions as you, bringing the evangel to you to turn you back from these vain things to the living God, Who makes heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, Who, in bygone generations, leaves all the nations to go their ways, although He leaves Himself not without the testimony of good acts, giving showers from heaven and fruitbearing seasons, filling our hearts with nourishment and gladness.”

Similarly, in Acts 17:22-31 we read the following:

Now Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus averred, “Men! Athenians! On all sides am I beholding how unusually religious you are. For, passing through and contemplating the objects of your veneration, I found a pedestal also, on which had been inscribed, ‘To an Unknowable God.’ To Whom then, you are ignorantly devout, This One am I announcing to you. The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all. Besides, He makes out of one every nation of mankind, to be dwelling on all the surface of the earth, specifying the setting of the seasons and the bounds of their dwelling, for them to be seeking God, if, consequently, they may surely grope for Him and may be finding Him, though to be sure, not far from each one of us is He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are, as some poets of yours also have declared, ‘For of that race also are we.’ The race, then, is inherently of God; we ought not to be inferring that the Divine[i] is like gold, or silver, or stone, a sculpture of art and human sentiment. Indeed, then, condoning the times of ignorance, God is now charging mankind that all everywhere are to repent, forasmuch as He assigns a day in which He is about to be judging the inhabited earth in righteousness by the Man Whom He specifies, tendering faith to all, raising Him from among the dead – “

It’s evident that, on both occasions, Paul was seeking to convert his audience from their polytheistic belief system to faith in the one God who created heaven and earth (of whom they were ignorant). And in light of Paul’s use of singular personal pronouns when referring to God (i.e., “He,” “Himself” and “Him”), we can conclude that the one God of whom Paul spoke is a single personal being with a singular identity.

This is further evident from the fact that, in Acts 17:31, Paul distinguished the God who made heaven and earth from “the Man Whom He specifies,” and whom he raised from among the dead (i.e., Jesus Christ). We know that the God by whom Jesus was resurrected is identical with the divine being whom Paul elsewhere identified as “the Father.” For example, in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Paul referred to those to whom he wrote as having “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead…” Earlier in this same letter, Paul referred to the God who raised Jesus from the dead as “God, the Father,” “God, our Father” and “our God and Father” (v. 1, 3).

Since Paul had the Father alone in view in Acts 17:31, we can conclude that it was Paul’s understanding that the God “who makes the world and all that is in it” is the Father alone.

Some have appealed to the use of the Hebrew title “Elohim” (which is commonly translated “God” in Genesis 1:1 and throughout the Hebrew Scriptures) in support of the view that multiple beings (or, at the very least, two distinct beings) were involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth. Consider, for example, the following statements by one proponent of this position:

“In fact, according to Genesis 1:1, “Created by the Elohim were the heavens and the earth.” God worked through multiple beings, for “Elohim” is plural.”

While it’s true that “elohim” is the plural form of the singular title “el” (which likely means “subjector”), it would be erroneous to conclude that the use of this title in Gen. 1:1 means that “multiple beings” – i.e., multiple gods/subjectors – created the heavens and the earth (rather than the Father alone). In the Hebrew Scriptures, plural words (such as “elohim”) can be used in two different ways:

1. They can denote numerical plurality (“numerical plurals”).

2. They can be used for the purpose of emphasis, intensity and amplification (“intensive plurals”).

The common characteristic of intensive plurals is that they have a plural suffix while denoting singular objects, and thus receive singular pronouns, adjectives and verbs. These characteristics indicate that the plural form of the noun is not being used as a numerical plural (in contrast, a plural verb – as well as a plural suffix and plural adjective – is used to denote something that is numerically plural). Here are just a few examples of the use of the plural for emphasis and intensity: Gen. 4:10 (“bloods”); Gen. 19:11 (“blindnesses”); Gen. 27:46 (“lives”) Ps. 45:15 (“gladnesses”); Ez. 25:15, 17 (“vengeances”), etc. Again, the plurality of the word simply emphasizes or intensifies it. In general, whenever “elohim” is being used as an intensive plural (and thus as a title for a single individual), we find singular pronouns, verbs and adjectives being used.

Now, we know from the immediate context in which we’re first told of the “Elohim” who created the heavens and the earth that the title “Elohim” is being used as an intensive plural, and is referring to a single individual (and not to multiple beings). The same Elohim who we’re told created the heavens and the earth is also referred to as “He” elsewhere in this opening chapter of Scripture (e.g., in verses 5, 7 and 10). If the referent of “Elohim” in Genesis 1 was multiple beings, then the single personal pronoun “He” wouldn’t have been used. That is, if the title Elohim in Genesis 1 referred to a plurality of elohim (or “subjectors”), then the pronoun “they” would have been used to reflect this. However, such is not the case.

Since the “Elohim” who performed the activities described in these verses is a singular “He” (rather than a “they”) – and since the “Elohim” who performed the activities described in these verses is the same “Elohim” who created the heavens and the earth – it follows that the title “Elohim” in Gen. 1:1 refers to a single individual with a singular personal identity. In other words, the Elohim who we’re told created the heavens and the earth is the same divine being referred to by Paul in the passages quoted earlier – i.e., the Father. It is this “Elohim” whose (singular) Spirit we’re told “vibrated” over the surface of the waters (v. 2), and who spoke the words recorded throughout the rest of this chapter (e.g., “Let there be light”).

What’s more, we find the same Elohim referred to in Genesis 1 being referred to as “He” and “Him” throughout the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. Consider, for example, Genesis 2:1-2:

And finishing is the Elohim, on the sixth day, His work which He does. And ceasing is He on the seventh day from all His work which He does.

Throughout the rest of this chapter, the Elohim who is said to have created the heavens and the earth in Gen. 1:1 (and who ceased “on the seventh day from all His work which He does”) is referred to as “Yahweh Elohim.” Yahweh – i.e., the Elohim before whom Israel was commanded to have no other elohim (Exodus 20:1-3) – does not consist of multiple beings. Yahweh is not a plurality of elohim. Rather, Yahweh Elohim – the Elohim created the heavens and the earth – is a single divine individual who can (and does) refer to himself as “I.” And not only this, but we also know for a fact that Yahweh Elohim is the Father of (and is thus distinct from) Jesus Christ.

For example, in Psalm 2:1-7 we read the following:

Why do the nations rage

And the peoples meditate on a vain thing?

The kings of the earth take their stand

And the rulers take counsel together

Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying,

“Let us tear their fetters apart

And cast away their cords from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs,

The Lord mocks them.

Then He speaks to them in His anger

And terrifies them in His fury, saying,

“But as for Me, I have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

“I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh:

He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.’

It’s evident from what we read above that Yahweh – i.e., the one who declared the words, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” – is distinct from his Son, Jesus (whom God refers to in the above prophecy as “my anointed,” “my king,” and “my son”). That is, Yahweh and Jesus are two distinct (non-identical) beings.

At this point, it may be objected that, in Genesis 1:26, we do find plural pronouns used by God. In this verse we read the following:

And saying is the Elohim, “Make will we humanity in our image, and according to our likeness, and sway shall they over the fish of the sea, and over the flyer of the heavens, and over the beast, and over all land life, and over every moving animal moving on the land.”

However, in the very next verse we find singular pronouns being used once again in reference to Yahweh Elohim:

And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

Thus, the Elohim who spoke the words “Make will we” in v. 26 is a single personal being (i.e., a “he” and not a “they”). But to whom, then, was Yahweh Elohim speaking when he used the plural pronoun “we?”

Answer: In Job 38:4-7 we read that Yahweh Elohim declared the following to Job:

Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell if you know with understanding. Who determined its measurements--for surely you know! Or who stretched out a tape upon it? On what were its sockets sunk? Or who directed its cornerstone in place, when the stars of the morning jubilated together, and all the sons of Elohim shouted with joy?

Notice that the title “Elohim” (in the expression “sons of Elohim”) refers to a single individual (i.e., one who refers to himself as “I” in v. 4). Although the “sons of Elohim” referred to in v. 7 are clearly multiple beings, the Elohim of whom they are sons is a single individual (i.e., Yahweh Elohim). But who are these “sons of Elohim” to whom Yahweh was referring? Answer: they are the created celestial beings who comprise the “congregation of El” of which we read in Psalm 82 (cf. Psalm 148:1-5), and whom we’re told presented themselves before Yahweh in Job 1:6 and 2:1 (for other references to these celestial beings, see Deut. 33:2; Josh 5:13-15; 2 Sam 5:24; 1 Kings 22:19-23; 2 Kings 6:8-17; Jer. 23:18; Dan 7:10; Neh. 9:6).

It is these created celestial beings to whom (and on whose behalf) Yahweh Elohim was speaking when he used the words “we” and “our” in Gen 1:26 (as well as in Gen. 3:22 and 11:7). Evidently, these beings share the image and likeness of God in which humanity was created. And, in some way not specified in the text, these beings participated in the creation of humanity (however, it should be noted that we’re not told these beings were involved in the creation of the heavens and the earth).

The only other example in which we find Yahweh Elohim using a plural pronoun when speaking is in Isaiah 6:1-8. However, here we actually find certain members of God’s “heavenly council” prominently in view. In verses 1-3 we read the following:

In the year of the death of king Uzziah, I am seeing Yahweh, sitting on a throne. High and lifted up is He, and His skirts are filling the temple. Seraphim are standing above it with six wings, six wings to each one. With two it is covering its face, and with two it is covering its feet, and with two it is flying. And one calls to another, and says, “Holy! Holy! Holy! Yahweh of hosts! All the earth is filled with His glory!”

It is after Isaiah saw Yahweh sitting upon his throne and the Seraphim in his presence that he then heard “the voice of Yahweh saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’” (v. 8) Isaiah would’ve undoubtedly understood the word “I” to refer to Yahweh himself (i.e., the One sitting on the throne) and the word “us” to include the winged, celestial beings that Isaiah saw in Yahweh’s presence (and on whose behalf Yahweh was speaking).

But again, Yahweh (i.e., the “Elohim” of whom the beings referred to in Job 38:7 are referred to as “sons”) is not “multiple beings.” Rather, he is a single personal being (the only uncreated personal being). And it is this divine individual – and not the “sons of Elohim” referred to in Job 37:8 – who we find being referred to as “the Elohim” in the opening verse of Scripture.

Further support for this understanding of the referent of the title “Elohim” in Genesis 1:1 and elsewhere is found in Matthew 4:10. In this verse we find Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 as follows:

“The Lord your God shall you be worshiping, and to Him only shall you be offering divine service.”

Here is how Deuteronomy 6:13 reads in the Concordant Version of the Old Testament:

“Yahweh your Elohim shall you fear, and Him only shall you serve, and to Him shall you cling, and by His name shall you swear.”

The title “Elohim” used in this verse is the same title found in Genesis 1:1. And yet it clearly denotes a single individual and not “multiple beings.” We know that the title is being used as an intensive plural (rather than as a numerical plural) by the use of the singular pronouns “Him” and “His.” It’s also clear that Christ understood the Elohim of whom Moses spoke to be a single individual. This is evident from both the title by which Elohim is translated into Greek (which is the singular term for “God” – i.e., Θεοῦ, or “Theou”) and the use of the singular pronoun “Him” (“And to Him only shall you be offering divine service”). In contrast, whenever multiple “gods” are being referred to in the Greek Scriptures, the plural form is used (i.e., θεοὺς or “theous”; for some examples of the plural form, see John 10:34-35; Acts 7:40; 14:11; 19:26; 28:11).

We thus see that, depending on how it’s used in a particular context, the Hebrew title “elohim” can refer to either (1) multiple divine individuals (i.e., multiple “subjectors”) or (2) one divine individual (one “subjector”). It should also be noted that the title “Elohim” is not the only plural noun used as a title for the one God, Yahweh. For example, the commonly-used divine title “Adonai” (which first occurs in Gen. 15:2, and is usually translated “Lord”) is the plural form of adon (“my lord”). For some more examples of the intensive plural being used in reference to Yahweh, see Job 35:10; Psalm 149:2; Isaiah 54:5 (literally, “Makers”) and Eccl 12:1 (“Creators”).[ii]

In Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 136:2 and elsewhere, we find the title “elohim” being used as both an intensive plural and a numerical plural. In these verses, Yahweh is referred to as “the God of gods” (or “the Elohim of elohim”). When referring to Yahweh (a single individual), “Elohim” is being used as an intensive plural. However, the “elohim” over whom Yahweh is supreme are a plurality of elohim (i.e., multiple subjectors).

Significantly, in Psalm 45:6-7 we read of two distinct individuals who are both being referred to as “Elohim”:

“Your throne, O Elohim, is for the eon and further; a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore Elohim Your Elohim has anointed You with the oil of elation beyond Your partners.”

The first individual referred to as “Elohim” in these verses is Jesus Christ, while the second individual referred to as “Elohim” is Yahweh (i.e., Jesus’ God and Father). Of course, neither Jesus Christ nor Yahweh are “multiple beings” or a plurality of divine individuals! In both cases, “Elohim” is being used as an intensive plural.

Moreover – and as was noted earlier in this study – the inspired equivalent for “Elohim” in the Greek scriptures is the singular term for “God” (i.e., Θεοῦ, or “Theou”).

This includes the quotation of Psalm 46:6-7 that we find in Hebrews 1:8-9 (where we read, “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you...”). Clearly, the inspired author of Hebrews understood each use of the title “Elohim” that’s found in Psalm 45:6-7 to refer to a single individual (and not “multiple beings”). Since the singular rather than the plural term for “God” is used as the inspired equivalent for “Elohim” in Hebrews 1:8-9 (and elsewhere), it’s clear that, when referring to Yahweh, the term Elohim is to be understood as an intensive plural rather than a numerical plural.

In accord with the fact that Yahweh alone (i.e., the God and Father of Jesus Christ) is the Elohim who we’re told created the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1, there are other verses where we read of Yahweh speaking of himself as having brought the universe into existence by the direct use of his power (as opposed to creating through the agency of one or more created beings):

Isaiah 45:12

I [Yahweh] made the earth and created man on it; it was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.

Isaiah 48:13

My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.

Isaiah 66:1-2

Thus says Yahweh, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things came to be,” declares Yahweh.

The idea being conveyed through the words “My hands,” “My hand” and “My right hand” is simply that God created everything himself, by the direct use of his own power (cf. Jeremiah 10:12-13). God did not, in other words, command one or more created beings to use their own God-given power and authority to “stretch out the heavens”; it was Yahweh himself who did so, directly.

Moreover, the same uncreated divine being who referred to himself as “I” in the above verses – and whose “hand” is said to have created everything (which, again, refers to God’s direct involvement in the creation) – is elsewhere said to have created the heavens by simply speaking/declaring them into existence. In Psalm 33:6, 9 we read the following:

“By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host … For He [Yahweh] spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm …”

Notice how the words “by the breath of His mouth” explain the words, “by the word of Yahweh.” This is an example of a literary device known as synonymous parallelism.  According to this commonly-used device, the same or similar idea or meaning is, for the sake of emphasis, expressed using two or more different words or expressions.[iii] The Psalmist was not talking about a person distinct from Yahweh himself being involved in the creation of the heavens and all their hosts; “the word of Yahweh” simply refers to what Yahweh spoke when he created the heavens. This is, of course, in perfect harmony with what we’re told in the original Genesis account (i.e., “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth … and God said…”).

The words “and God said” are repeated ten times in chapter one. As is clear from Psalm 33:6 (and elsewhere), the one who brought the universe into existence by his declaration/command was Yahweh alone. There is no suggestion that, when Yahweh commanded the heavens to come into existence, it was someone else who actually “made it happen.” Rather, what’s being revealed in Psalm 33:6, 9 and elsewhere could be stated as follows:

1.  Yahweh declared that the heavens come to be.

 2. The heavens came to be.

This is in accord with what we read in Isaiah 44:24:

Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, Who formed you from the womb: “I am Yahweh, Who made all things, Who alone stretched out the heavens, Who spread out the earth by Myself…”

Yahweh was not saying that he was alone when he “stretched out of the heavens” and “spread out the earth” (for we know that this event was witnessed by “the sons of Elohim”). Rather, the truth being expressed here is that Yahweh alone is the One who accomplished this work. The words “alone” and “by Myself” rule out any sort of intermediary agent used by the One speaking to accomplish the creation of the heavens and the earth.

What we read in this verse is not only consistent with the understanding that Yahweh alone created the heavens and the earth, but it’s precisely what we would expect to find in Scripture if Yahweh was, in fact, the sole Creator of the heavens and the earth. If Yahweh had wanted to communicate the fact that he created everything directly and without anyone else’s assistance or involvement, there is nothing more he could’ve said to express this fact more clearly than we find stated in the above verse.

It’s been objected that it was only in a relative sense that God alone created the heavens and the earth. According to this interpretation, Yahweh wasn’t actually claiming to be the only one who created the heavens and the earth (despite the fact that a straight-forward understanding of this verse indicates precisely this); rather, he was only claiming that he received no assistance from the gods of the nations. However, there’s no need to understand Isaiah 44:24 in a relative sense in order for it to be understood as demonstrating the superiority of Yahweh over the gods of the nations. For when we understand Yahweh’s words as expressing an absolute truth, the logical implication is that Yahweh received no assistance from any of the gods of the nations when he created the heavens and the earth.

Moreover, we have no reason to think that either the prophet Isaiah or the original readers/hearers of his prophetic work would’ve understood the words of Isaiah 44:24 as anything less than absolutely true. There’s nothing said in the context that would have given them (or which should give us) any reason to doubt that God was speaking absolutely when he declared that he alone stretched out the heavens, and that he spread out the earth by himself. We can, therefore, understand Isaiah 44:24 (as well as the other verses quoted above) as further confirming the fact that Yahweh alone was directly involved in, and solely responsible for, the creation of the heavens and the earth, and that it was Yahweh alone who “made all things.”

Click here to go to part two of this study: http://thathappyexpectation.blogspot.com/2023/06/who-created-heavens-and-earth-part-two.html

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[i] The word translated as “the Divine” here is the adjective theíos. In Romans 1:20, Paul used the related word theiótēs to refer to the sum of God’s divine attributes – i.e., his divine nature or “divinity.” Here is how this verse reads in the CLNT:

“For [God’s] invisible attributes are descried from the creation of the world, being apprehended by His achievements, besides His imperceptible power and divinity.” 

Just as Paul had the Father alone in view when referring to God in his message to the Athenians, so it’s evident from the immediate context of Rom. 1:20 that Paul had in mind the Father alone when he wrote of “His imperceptible power and divinity” (see Rom. 1:1-3, 7-9; also note Paul’s use of the singular personal pronoun “his” in v. 20). 

[ii] Although we find the intensive plural more commonly used for titles applied to Yahweh, it was not used exclusively or reservedly for God. For example, in Genesis 42:30, Joseph is spoken of as the adhoneh (literally, “lords”) of Egypt. Though the word adhoneh is plural, this title does not make Joseph a multi-personal being. In Isaiah 19:4, we read, “I will imprison the Egyptians in the hand of a harsh master; and a fierce king shall rule over them.” In this verse the fierce king that will enslave Egypt is described as “a hard (singular) master (plural).” The plural suffix attached to the word “master” does not make it a numerical plural (“masters”) but instead intensifies the meaning (i.e., “great” master”). Because the word “master” is here an intensive plural and not a numerical plural, it receives the singular adjective (“hard”) and not the plural adjective that would be required for a numerical plural. 

Similarly, in Exodus 21:28-32 the owner of the “goring ox” is repeatedly referred to with the plural suffix even though the ox is only owned by one person. In this case, the plural suffix intensifies the noun, imbuing it with a connotation of “absolute owner” or “complete master.” Because “owner” is an intensive plural, it gets a singular verb. Thus we read concerning the negligent owner whose ox has killed someone, “the ox shall be stoned and the owner (he) will be put to death” (Ex 21:29). The verb “he will be put to death” is in the singular even though the word for “owner” has the plural suffix. 

In Judges 19:26 we read, “And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master (adoneyah, “lords”) was, till it was light.” Here the concubine’s master is referred to by the intensive plural for “lord.” It’s clear from the context (where the referent of the plural noun is a single individual) that the plural emphasizes the Levite’s absolute authority over the woman. In Gen. 24:9-10 we read, “So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter. Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.” In all three cases, the title “master” is plural. But since Abraham is a singular being, the plural is to be understood as an intensive plural, not a numerical plural. In Gen 40:1 we read, “Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker committed an offense against their lord (“lords”) the king of Egypt.” 

[iii] For some other examples of this literary device being used in the Hebrew Scriptures, see Num. 23:7-10; Job 3:11; 4:9, 17; 8:3, 11, 15; 11:7; 27:4; 32:8 33:4; 34:2, 14-15; 38:7; Psalm 1:5; 2:1, 4, 9; 6:5; 18:4-5; 19:1; 38:1; 78:1; 119:105; 120:2; Prov. 1:13-16; 3:1, 11; 12:28; Eccl. 10:18; Isa. 60:1-3; Hab. 1:2.