The God who is great and unique

Great can have lots of meanings in English. A primary meaning, though, is that something is big - so big that it stands out as unique. We speak of the great wall of China, not simply a great wall.

Likewise, God is big. All the passages that speak of His greatness are full of other words like strong, mighty and powerful. But He is not only bigger and greater than the false gods and idols of the nations, He is unique in the way that He is completely just: He shows no favouritism and accepts no bribes. (Deuteronomy 10:17) This makes Him stand out above all the other so called deities. He is the God of gods (Elohim) and Lord of Lords. (Adonai)

Nothing is too hard for the great and powerful God, the One who made the heavens and earth by His strong hand and powerful arm. He has all wisdom and does great and mighty miracles. (Jeremiah 32: 17 - 19)

The word for great in these verses is gadol. The Israelites had lived in Egypt with its many gods and they were moving to Canaan where many gods were also worshipped. They needed to know that their own God, Yahweh Elohim, was different and unique; He was the Great God, El Haggadol. 

Nothing and no one is greater than God, and so Moses tells the people (Deut 10:20) that the only fitting response is to have reverence for the Lord and worship Him alone. As David would proclaim in a later generation: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be worshipped above all gods. (1 Chron 16: 25)

The Restorer of Life

Today's title of God, Shub Nephesh (or alternatively spelled Shuv Nefesh by some modern Jews) is closely linked to the story of a woman named Naomi.

Naomi's life hadn't been easy - perhaps partly due to her own choices. She and her family had decided to leave Israel during a time of famine, instead of staying where they were and trusting God to provide for them in Israel. (Ironically, they were from Bethlehem, which means, "house of bread.")

Their choice is perhaps understandable: they wanted wellbeing for their young family, so they left home and moved to where they thought they would have a better life. But they settled among a heathen people and the sons later married foreign wives - things that God had always commanded the Israelites not to do.

Within a decade, Naomi's husband and her two sons had all died in that foreign land, leaving Naomi alone and bereft.

I sometimes think that parents in the 21st Century face a similar temptation to Naomi and her husband. They want material things for their kids (the latest cellphone, the same fashion clothing as their friends, a computer games console in their bedroom, a subscription to Netflix, popularity at school ...) but in prioritising material comforts, there can sometimes be a danger of neglecting or even jeopardising their spiritual wellbeing.

We've all heard the story of how Ruth chose to follow Israel's God and return to Bethlehem with Naomi.... but the older woman's words at the end of Ruth chapter 1 are very telling. "Don't call me Naomi," she says. (Naomi means "pleasant.") "Call me Mara." (Mara means "bitter.") 

"I went away full, but I've come back empty," she says. That's a bit ironic from someone who left Israel during a famine, believing the family could fill their stomachs more satisfactorily in a heathen land. But at this point in the story, Naomi is blaming God for her misfortune. She tells people, "The Lord has made my life very bitter... The Almighty has brought misfortune on me." How easy it is to blame God for the consequences of our own unwise choices!

Fast forward a few short chapters (chapters where God turns things around and brings great blessing to Naomi and Ruth in their new home) and that's where we find this description of God: Shub Nephesh - the Renewer or Restorer of Life. As Naomi holds her new grandson, the other women say to her, "Blessed be the Lord.... the Restorer of your life and your Sustainer in your old age... May His name be proclaimed in Israel." (Ruth 4: 14 - 15)

The verb shub שׁוּב  means to renew something, to restore it to what it should be. And the noun nephesh נֶפֶשׁ is used nearly 800 times in the Old Testament to refer to life, breath, heart and soul. The God who first breathed life into man in the book of Genesis is the same God who is able to sustain or restore our life for however long we live. As David wrote in Psalm 103, God can, "restore your youth like the eagle's."

I guess the word "he" was ambiguous to some Bible translators, because there are a couple of modern versions that combine verses 14 and 15, making it sound as if it was the grandson who renewed Naomi's life, and that the child's name should become famous in Israel. But the majority of translations say, "Blessed be the Lord... may His name be proclaimed in Israel." 

That certainly makes the most sense when you compare Ruth 4: 15 with what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 23: 3. "He restores my soul" uses exactly the same two words. Shub (He restores or renews) and nephesh (our life and breath, our physical strength, or also the emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing of our soul.) When David wrote that psalm, he was not only thinking of God as our Shepherd (Yahweh Ra'a) but also of Shub Nephesh, the God who restores our soul.

Whenever we feel tired, lacking in strength... whenever, like Naomi, we feel discouraged, battered by life's circumstances... we can trust God to give us new strength and new hope. He is Shub Nephesh, the One who renews our life, the One who restores our soul.

Ancient of Days - what does that mean?

Have you ever seen pictures or cartoons that depict God as an old, grey haired man sitting on a throne? They possibly find their origin in this vision that Daniel describes in chapter 7 of the book that bears his name. After describing some very strange animals that represent the rise and fall of different world empires, Daniel says that he suddenly sees a figure, a Judge, on a throne. This figure is wearing clothing white as snow, and his hair is also, "white as purest wool."

Several chapters of Daniel, including this one, are written in Aramaic instead of Hebrew, and Daniel calls this judge figure Atiq or Atik Yomin - the "Ancient of Days," or some more recent Bible versions translate it as "the Ancient One."

Modern western society, with its trend towards ageism, tends to see old people as inept, fragile and out of touch with reality. But here the sentiment is just the opposite. Atik Yomin (and vs 22 suggests that He is also El Elyon - God Most High) is perfectly wise and able to judge in favour of God's people. His hair is not just grey with age; it is pure white, representing purity and holiness. It's not surprising that John's vision in Revelation 1: 14 also depicts Jesus' hair as being, "white like wool, as white as snow."

Atik Yomin. The name conveys that God is ageless, timeless, eternal. There was nothing before God: He had no beginning and He will have no end. But Daniel wasn't the only Bible writer to present us with an ageless, eternal God. The prophet Isaiah describes God as saying, "From ancient days (or from eternity to eternity) I am God." Isaiah 43: 13

We humans are bound by time, and we age as time goes by. God never grows old and He is outside of normal time restraints. As Peter wrote in the New Testament, a day and a thousand years are like the same thing for God. (2 Pet 3: 8)

Meditating on Atik Yomin led me naturally to think of another name of God: El Olam - the eternal or everlasting God. Read on below for more reflection about that.

Forever and ever...

There's a well known passage at the end of Isaiah chapter 40. It's often quoted to those who are feeling weak or tired because it speaks of a God who never grows weak or weary, a God who is able to renew our strength so that we feel again that we could soar like eagles.

That passage begins in verse 28 with the questions, "Have you not known, have you not heard that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth?" El Olam - the eternal or everlasting God. Isaiah wasn't presenting a new idea here. Already in Genesis 21 we saw Abraham calling on the name of Yahweh El Olam. 

God is not only the Ancient of Days; He is El Olam, the God who will be there forever. As the New Testament writer to the Hebrews wrote, He is, "yesterday, today and forever the same." (Heb 13: 8) We don't need to worry that He will break His promises or fail to hold up His end of a covenant. Unlike ministries or churches that change focus during a leadership transition, unlike businesses that fail under a new managing director, God's promises and covenants are forever. Our salvation is eternally secured. Hebrews 9: 15 says that we have an eternal inheritance. 

Small children, on learning that God made the world, sometimes ask, "But who made God?" And of course the answer is that no one did; God has always existed and he always will.

In the first two verses of Psalm 90, Moses declares that God has been our dwelling place, our home, through all generations. (It was a big comfort to me during the two years that I was homeless.) He goes on to proclaim, "From everlasting to everlasting (olam ad olam) You are God." 

There's great security in knowing that we serve El Olam, the eternal God whose kingdom is also everlasting.

 

A God who deserves our ALL

I was slightly surprised that I filled four pages of my journal writing about today's name of God. El Kanna or El Qanna, whatever way you spell it, isn't a facet of God's character that preachers tend to highlight very often.

And yet, it's found in Exodus 20: 3 - 6, when God is giving the people the ten commandments, reminding them of who He is, and telling them that He will not tolerate idols - that they must not worship any other "gods."

It's found again in Exodus 34: 14, after the golden calf incident. God makes a new covenant with His people and tells them that His very name is El Kanna. 

It's mentioned later by the prophet Isaiah, in chapter 42 vs 8, and its outworking is highlighted by things that Jesus Himself said when He was on earth.

So what does this name of God actually mean? We might feel slightly uncomfortable when we discover it means that God calls Himself a "jealous God." Surely jealousy is something selfish and sinful?

Take a peek into my journal today (you can click on the images to make them larger) and reflect with me on this perhaps rather surprising name of God.

Once we can get our  thinking around the understanding that El Kanna's "jealousy" is a kind and protective quality, it presents us with some obvious questions about our own lives:

What things clamour for my commitment, time or money?

What occupies my thoughts throughout most of the day or week?

What people or things in my life today would be in danger of capturing more attention and affection than I give to the Lord?

God's name "Elohim" reminds us that He is the supreme God who created us, and He deserves our allegiance. God's name "El Kanna" reminds us that He demands our allegiance largely for our own wellbeing.

Discovering God in 2026

I've spent the past five weeks working my way through a Bible course that presented the "big picture" story of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.  It highlighted everything that God did throughout history and what He has purposed to do in the future.

Now, for the coming weeks, I want to zoom in on who God is - who He has always been and who He will always be - and I'm going to do it by meditating on different names of God. I've always been passionate about the nature and character of God - sometimes revealed to us through adjectives (faithful, powerful, just, forgiving....) and sometimes revealed to us through names.There are dozens of names and titles of God throughout the Bible. Each one gives us an insight into some facet of His nature or character, giving us so many reasons to worship Him and to trust Him in our daily lives. My goal is to reflect on at least a hundred names of God over the coming weeks.

This first name appears in the very first verse of the Bible: "In the beginning, God"  Elohim. Right from the very beginning, God reveals Himself as the supreme God, the One who created absolutely everything that exists in the natural world.

In my study today, I discovered that this Hebrew word, Elohim, is also the name that God uses for Himself when He speaks through a prophet in Isaiah 41:10, saying: "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God." The God who created the universe is with us and able to sustain us when we feel afraid, anxious or discouraged.

I don't know what challenges you face as we reach the end of this first month of 2026, but I can think of a couple of things, physical/health issues that make me feel weak and inadequate at the moment. As I choose to make Elohim the supreme God in my own life, it's a comfort to know that I can depend on His grace and strength for every situation and circumstance. I want Him always to be the One who has first place in my life.

Walking on marbles...

(Click to enlarge this image)

 In my previous post, I asked you to pray about a health concern - foot pain that had been bothering me for quite a long time. Well, today I had my doctor's appointment and I expected to hear that the pain and discomfort were due to more osteophytes on the soles of my feet... but when the doctor examined my foot, she said she thinks it’s a neuroma and not a bone spur. (See images above and below for more of an explanation.)

She’s applying for me to get a hospital appointment with traumatology so that they can examine my foot and decide whether it needs surgery or whether there’s another way of dealing with it. In the meantime, I’ve got a prescription for anti-inflammatories to take when it’s particularly painful. 

Thanks for your ongoing prayers and I guess what I’m praying now is that the hospital appointment will come through pretty quickly and that I won't need to put up with the increasing pain for a long time.

(Click to enlarge this image)