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Genesis 1:26-27
March 6th 2022
For where your treasure it there
will your heart be also.
So, we compared the two creative accounts last week. Let’s now work through the first account verse by verse. And it starts off with a doozy where Moses writes at verse 26:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Alright, let us go back to verse 26 and let us try and talk about the varied views Moses writing:
“And God said, Let us make man in our own image.”
Some believe that in Genesis 1:26 God refers to Himself and that includes the heavenly assembly of angels, which He does in other places like Job 1:6; 1 Kings 22:19–20; and Psalm 89:5.
For instance, the 1st Kings 22:19 account read
And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
So while it seems possible this idea gets thin when we examine scriptures description of the “make-up of angels” because nowhere in Scripture does God say that the angels are made in His image or likeness.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that they weren’t (though I doubt it) and perhaps the reference to making man in the image of God and angels speaks to our capacities and not our physical form for we know that we are not made in his literal image otherwise we would only be spirits.
Another widely held view of this passage is that God was speaking in what we have described as “plural of majesty,” which we have talked about in the past and it describes a king or queen speaking of themselves in the plural, like when they hear something and say, “We are not pleased,” with the plural “we” referring to all of the capacities they function as on the throne.
Another related theory suggests that the plural form is what they call the “plural of deliberation,” which is similar to plural of majesty and we see examples of this in places like Isaiah 6:8 where it read:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’”
That is called plural deliberation.
Of course, some of the early church fathers said that Elohim’s statement, “Let Us make man in Our image,” is proof of the Trinity – which refers to God the Father speaking in the fullness of His divine creative power to the God Son to His right and God the Holy Spirit at His left.
Because I am not a Trinitarian I personally don’t see this passage this way but do admit that God could certainly be speaking to His Spirit and His logos which both emanate from Him the one true God.
If we think about it, this explanation is sort of an amalgam of the majestic plural, the plural of deliberation, and the point Trinitarians make without the individual personification of the Spirit and Word. This is acceptable to me personally for the moment but we are going to face this situation again, though it is not common, in Genesis 3:22 where it reads:
“And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.’”
To support the man-made construction of the Trinity and of Jesus being in a individuated self-existent, co-equal with the Father pre-existent state, the Roman Catholic church (and many Evangelicals who followed in thereafter) use Genesis 1:26 to support their three-headed Deity known as the “Trinity.”
The Jews, however, along with some pretty straightforward passages in the Bible, see this as a defacement of the very nature of the one God who they claim IS one, and not three separate persons making the One.
One of the problems with the Trinity approach is found in the very next passage where the description of God returns to the singular, appealing to “His” and “Him” again, instead of this rarely used “us,” saying:
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. (KJV)
So, in verse 26 we have the one God speaking in the plural (us) but in verse 27 we have the One God acting in the singular.
For this reason most scholars, even Trinitarian scholars, do not see the usage of “us” as truly supportive of creedal Trinitarianism developed in 323 AD.
I am not going to restate the whole Elohim argument here as we covered that three weeks ago but I will only say that while it is true elohim is a plural word in the Hebrew, it is not used to indicate plurality in number when constructed together with singular nouns or pronouns, as we discover in Genesis 1:27.
Remember, Genesis 1:27 uses the singular pronouns “He” and “Him” to refer to Elohim and One individual, not three or more, who did the creating of Man.
The plural “us” is logically allowable when God is either speaking to others (angels) or himself (majestically, or even within his own singular person that He expresses through different means) in the face of verse 27, but the idea of three individual persons, co-equal, uncreated, co-eternal and of separate minds does NOT allow verse 27’s singular appeal without admitting “polytheism.”
Ask any Jew.
With polytheism being absolutely counter to the biblical text right out of the gate I have issue with this.
This is what the singular living God was doing with the Nation of Israel when He brought her out of Egypt and all of her polytheistic paganism – teaching and telling her repeatedly that there was only Him. No other anywhere. And that includes no other single individual God’s WITHIN or BESIDE him.
Hosea 13:4 says — Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me; for there is no savior beside me.
Then moving back to Moses and the Law, we read in Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
And Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Deuteronomy 4:35,39 — Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. (39) Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Then we come to the Great Shema, the most important prayer in all of Judaism. And what does it say? Do you remember?
Deuteronomy 6:4 — Hear, O Israel: The LORD thy God is one LORD.
Looking out to Jesus day a man came to Jesus and asked him about the greatest commandment and this is what we read in Mark 12:29-34
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Moses returns to our one God in Deuteronomy 32:39 and says
“See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”
In 2 Samuel 7:22 we read — Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
1st Kings 8:60 reads— That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.
2 Kings 19:15 adds — And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
1 Chronicles 17:20 — O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Nehemiah 9:6 — Thou, even thou, art YHWH alone; thou has made the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.
Isaiah44:6,8 — Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Fear ye not, neither be afraid; have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 46:9 — For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.
Then when God’s very logos made flesh and dwelling on earth was here, He said in John 17:3 —
And this is life eternal, that they might know “thee” the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
And Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 8:4-6 —
“As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 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 all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
And added in Galatians 3:20 — Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
And Ephesians 4:6 — One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
1 Timothy 2:5 — For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
I frankly see the man-made three person God of Roman Catholicism as a return to a subtle form of polytheism, one so nuanced that perhaps God winks at it, but nevertheless, a god that would make it impossible for God to say,
“Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”
And according to verse 27 it was this very God who created us, as Malachi 2:10 states
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God (singular number) created us?
And according to Romans 1:20, this singular God created all things, as Paul said
For since the creation of the world His (singular pronoun) invisible attributes, His (singular pronoun) eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
So, when we come to this passage, do not be tempted to infer other God’s but that only one is involved.
Is he speaking majestically, to angels, to his own person, his mind, his breath, his logos? Perhaps yes and perhaps yes to all – but never lose track of the emphatic biblical tenet that there is ONE God and ONE Son of God, the Lord, Savior and King, Jesus of Nazareth, born of a woman and born under the law.
Now, there is a thought to consider here and what it really does is inform us on a whole side issue that has yet to come up.
When God says, “Let us” He is obviously speaking to something already existing at this point – whether it be Himself or angels. Could be angels, could be Himself majestically, could be His attributes of word and breath. All possible in light of scripture.
And while most of us look to the heavens for this unknown audience, perhaps we ought to consider what has already been created and dwells on earth?
So, who or what else was in the garden with Adam and Eve once they were created – besides animals and plants?
Do you know? (look out now)
Turn to Ezekiel 28 for a moment. Now, I want to give you some background on the passages.
At first glance, and in context, the prophecy in Ezekiel 28:11–19 seems to refer to a human king, specifically, the King and the city of Tyre which was the recipient of some of the strongest prophetic condemnations in the Bible (Isaiah 23:1–18; Jeremiah 25:22; 27:1–11; Ezekiel 26:1– 28:19; Joel 3:4–8; Amos 1:9, 10). Why was it so condemned?
Tyre was known for building its wealth by exploiting its neighbors. Ancient writers referred to Tyre as a city filled with unscrupulous merchants and was a center of religious idolatry and sexual immorality. Sort of like a Vegas.
Many prophets rebuked Tyre for its pride brought on by its great wealth and strategic location.
Ezekiel 28:11–19 seems to be a particularly strong indictment against the king of Tyre in the prophet Ezekiel’s day, and his rebuking the king for his insatiable pride and greed.
That is the immediate application. But some of the things we are about to read include descriptions that go way beyond a human king. They could be Hebraisms, or they could speak to what many Old Testament passages do and that is describe two or more things from two or more places and times.
So, let’s read the text and then come back to it beginning at verse 12 where Ezekiel writes:
Ezekiel 28:12-19 “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. 16 By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. 19 All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have become terrified, and you will be no more.”
So, in no sense could an earthly king claim to be “in Eden” or to be “the anointed cherub who covers” or to be “on the holy mountain of God.”
For this reason many Bible interpreters believe that Ezekiel 28:11–19 is a dual prophecy, comparing the pride of the king of Tyre to the pride of (dadadadaaaaaaaa) Satan himself.
Some propose that the king of Tyre was actually possessed by Satan, making the link between the two even more powerful.
According to this text, and before his fall, Satan was indeed a beautiful creature (Ezekiel 28:12–13).
He was perhaps the most beautiful and powerful of all the angels. Interestingly, the Tanakh translators describe him as a huge bird.
The phrase “guardian cherub” possibly indicates that Satan was one of the angels who “guarded” God’s presence as well.
And perhaps this guardian cherub was also in Eden assigned to protect Man, to serve as their cover and to guard them against the Tree of Knowledge of God and evil? Remember, he IS described as being IN EDEN, right?
Apparently it was pride that led to Satan’s fall. Rather than give God the glory for creating him so beautifully, it appears that Satan took pride in himself, thinking that he himself was responsible for his exalted status. And of course this rebellion resulted in God casting Satan from His presence and will, eventually, result in God condemning Satan to the lake of fire for all eternity (Revelation 20:10).
Like Satan, the human king of Tyre was proud and rather than recognize God’s sovereignty, the king of Tyre attributed Tyre’s riches to his own wisdom and strength.
Not satisfied with his extravagant position, the king of Tyre sought more and more, resulting in Tyre taking advantage of other nations, expanding its own wealth at the expense of others.
Perhaps we are getting insight of Satan seeking “more and more,” and therefore taking advantage of these new souls.
Just as Satan’s pride led to his fall and will eventually lead to his eternal destruction, so will the city of Tyre lose its wealth, power, and status. Ezekiel’s prophecy of Tyre’s total destruction was fulfilled partially by Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 29:17–21) and ultimately by Alexander the Great.
Now, consider the qualities (attributes) the Covering Cherub possessed before he rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden:
He had the seal of perfection (Ezekiel 28:12)
He was full of wisdom (Ezekiel 28:12)
He was perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12)
He was in Eden, the garden of God; and it seems like God placed him there (Ezekiel 28:13-14)
He was the anointed cherub who covers (Ezekiel 28:14, 16)
He was on the holy mountain of God (Ezekiel 28:14)
He walked in the midst of the stones of fire (Ezekiel 28:14)
He was blameless in his ways from the day he was created (Ezekiel 28:15)
In another set of passages found in Isaiah, which are also speaking dualistically, some believe that Satan is described by the name, Lucifer. There we read
Isaiah 14:12-14 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
The word Lucifer is from a Latin word, and is used in the King James Version of the Bible to translate the Hebrew word heylel used in Isaiah 14:12.
The Hebrew word “heylel” means the morning star, in the sense of the brightest celestial body (star) still visible in the translucent early morning sky.
Also, the Hebrew word heylel originates from another word (halal) which means to be clear, of either sound or color; it also means to shine.
Using both texts of Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-14 we might see Lucifer as a giant glorious winged cherub with the capacity to reflect God’s light, to cover and protect and to perhaps even resemble Him.
The thinking is Lucifer had the seal of God’s perfection, was full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, and maybe, since he was in Eden when God says, “Let Us make…” Lucifer, still good, was meant or he was at least included in the audience addressed.
Furthermore, we will see in the context of the third chapter of Genesis that God converses strongly with a being Moses calls “the serpent” after he sinned, and this might fit the bill for his being involved in the original discussion of Genesis 1:26.
And perhaps it wasn’t just Satan but it was also another cherub or exalted angel too?
The word cherub is used in the Old Testament first when God gives the specifications for building the Ark of the Covenant to Moses.
Two golden cherubs were to be positioned at each end of the mercy seat. Their wings were to cover the mercy seat, and the tips of the wings were touching each other.
Exodus 25:17-20 has God say to Moses:
And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of solid hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it. 20 And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.
Got that in mind?
So, two cherubs with wings in the Holy of Holies could there have two cherubs in Eden when God said, “Let US make man into OUR image, after OUR likeness.”
I say this because the design specifications of the mercy seat had these cherubs extending out from the mercy seat itself, in one piece, and since God IS the mercy seat, or mercy Giver, it seems reasonable that those cherubim which extend out from the mercy seat could have been called to participate in the “making” of man into His image and likeness at verse 26.
Perhaps the other cherub was Michael, who is seen in scripture as the archangel and who is found in direct warfare with Satan.
So the idea – as far out as it is – is perhaps God set two angels over the garden of Eden, to aid and cover the place. And that when God embarked on creating Man, he consulted them, as He is seen to do of the angelic hosts in 1st Kings.
And here is the point – perhaps at this decision of God to create Man in His image Satan rose up in his heart and opposed what God was going to do?
(beat)
Perhaps Satan turned from being a perfect angel that covers and protects to a proud angel who saw himself as God, and perhaps that covering bird became a creeping serpent in all of his power, and beauty and glory, and once man was created, used that power to lead the first couple to evil rather than to protect them from it?
And just maybe, between verses 26 and 27 we have the whole story of Satan unfold.
We don’t know. But we do know that scripture has whomever is described in Ezekiel IN EDEN, and scripture does have an ongoing war between Michael and Satan.
Perhaps at the fall of Satan by the victor of Christ that Jesus takes over the role of light bearer to the world since Lucifer failed through pride giving false light and a light that never warms to whomever he could blind?
When we compare the two, Satan’s original creation was good, and he was to use Himself to serve and protect Man and to lead us as a being of light along with Michael the other covering cherub.
Failing, the logos of God entered the world and was made flesh, becoming the True light to the world instead of a light that never warms.
Had the first cherub done his job right, he would never have rebelled and tempted the woman and her husband to eat the forbidden fruit. He would have protected them from it. And if the man had eaten to fruit without his being aided by Lucifer, the covering cherub could have been there to direct him to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness – something we do not see them do or even consider doing. Perhaps they were the first victims of Satan’s fallen and corrupt power.
(beat)
So back to verse 26 which I think holds the key to a number of things for whatever its worth.
26 And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, (now listen closely) AND they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth.”
Most people wonder what God was talking about when they read Him saying,
“Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness;”
Some say this image is related to making moral judgements, to governing, to capacities He has that He did not bestow upon other creations.
Could be.
Some think that it is literal, that we look in our bodies like God looks in His – but since He is spirit I don’t think so.
Some suggest that he is speaking of him being three in one God that we too are three in one person. I’ve no issue with that at all so long as the three parts of me are not seen as three separate and distinct co-equal me persons.
If God was talking to angels here – heavenly or covering cherubs like Satan – this would infer that man was man in the image of God AND angels because he said, “let us make.”
But I don’t think so because nowhere does the scripture say that angels were made in God’s image – only human beings.
So, what is going on here and where does this leave us?
I suggest that God, speaking majestically, or to Himself, and only referring to Himself (because man is made only in God’s image and no others) said this line
“Let’s make man in our own image,” as a reference to the plural of His majesty and power and being One God who holds all the power of the many gods the Children of Israel just came out from.
And then this one God describes what He MEANS when he says, “let us make man in our own image” through the next words, adding
“and (being in my image) let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
These added words are a super important additions, my friends, especially if the beautiful covering cherubs were present when God said this.
See, God had created the heavenly hosts, with one (or two) particular angelic beings being beyond glorious – and they were in Eden.
And God now says in the presence of these cherubim, “Let’s make man in our image . . .” And what will God tell man to do once he is created? He will instruct man to (listen)
• Be Fruitful
• To Multiply
• To Fill the earth
• To Subdue it
• and to Rule it
And to do all of this through an exercise of his free will to either resisting or not resist the forbidden tree.
That last item God appears to have given to Satan too – to make freewill choices. But nowhere do we see God telling angels to
Be Fruitful
To Multiply
To fill the earth
To subdue it
Or to rule over it
Have you ever wondered why God issued these five commands to man? Perhaps He did so because in the preceding verse (26) he declared His desire to make man “in his image.” This would inseparably link the way God made Man and then what He wanted Man to do with His life – to
Be Fruitful
To Multiply
To fill the earth
To subdue it
Or to rule over it
What is an image? An image is a representation of something else. It bears the characteristics of, or performs the functions of, the original thing it represents, right?
For God to choose to create beings in His image, God is making creatures that have the capacity to do and be what God does and is!
When God declares that we are in his likeness he is essentially saying that we are to be like him. But how are we supposed to be like him? Look back at the list provided in verse 26! We are to
• Be Fruitful
• Multiply
• Fill the earth
• Subdue
• Rule
When did God do these things? Look at what we have already studied in this first chapter!
When was God fruitful? When he created all things in heaven and earth and all that in them is!
When did God multiply? When He duplicated them all BUT EVEN MORESO when he created Man in His own image – something neither animals, fish, birds or angels possess.
When did God fill the earth? When he created all life in the seas and on the earth.
When did God subdue? When he brought the undefined chaotic mass of the earth under his control.
When did he rule? When he issued his every command of all the elements, all the principles, all the ordering and then command Man to do these very same things that He himself did!
Now, if we define God’s image according to what I just said then it would seem that angels, though powerful and intelligent, are not made in God’s image. Why?
Are angels fruitful and do they multiply? We have no record in the scripture that angels function in this way. Angels, it would seem, don’t have children. But man is specifically equipped and commanded to do these things as also God did.
Do angels fill the earth in the sense of spreading themselves over the earth to extend their rule? No. Earth is the realm that God has given in trust to Man, again, operating IN HIS IMAGE!
Do angels subdue, that is, create things and bring things under their control? We might note that angels are spiritual warriors to fight against the demonic to bring things under God’s influence. But we have no record that angels do this in a creative fashion like Man.
What about rule? Do angels rule? Certainly there are angels that have authority. But do they rule in the same way that man is commanded to rule in Genesis? There is no scriptural indication that this is so.
So, what is God’s image? Simply put, I think that to make man in God’s image was to say to man:
“Do what I do and have done.”
And perhaps the glorious, beautiful cherub of light, who would become Satan and the accuser of the brethren, was envious of this decision from God.
And perhaps, what we are really seeing between the lines of verse 26 and 27, is His fall.
We will continue on next week.
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