Who was God Speaking to in Genesis 1:26?

WHO WAS GOD SPEAKING TO IN GENESIS 1:26?

By Ezekiel Kimosop

Genesis 1:26 says "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (NKJV).

So who was God speaking to in this Scripture?

Don Stewart identifies four popular answers to this question as follows:

1) He was speaking to angels.

2) The "Us" is a plural of majesty.

3) The plural should be translated as a singular.

4) The "Us" refers to the members of the Holy Trinity.

My view is that answer three is inadmissible because there is no exegetical basis for doubting the authority and authenticity of the Hebrew Scripture regarding the plurality of the noun Elohim. The plural "us" remains.

I will therefore respond to the three answers below.

WAS GOD SPEAKING TO ANGELS?

My view is that those who say that God was speaking to angels or heavenly host who surrounded His throne appear to fail the test of Scripture because the Bible reveals that man does not share the same nature with angels (see Hebrews 2:5).

Don Stewart rightly observes that angels are not co-creators with God. They do not share in the image and likeness of God in the way that man does!

The writer of Hebrews poses a rhetorical question: "Are they  [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).

The passage of Hebrews 1:5-14 is dedicated to the truth that angels are subordinate to believers in God's order of things. It is therefore inconceivable that God would speak to angels as His co-equals!

It is also instructive that the redemption works were not intended for angels but for Man. The Bible teaches that angels desire to look into the message of the Gospel but unfortunately they have no stake in it (1 Peter 1:12).

PLURALITY OF GOD'S MAJESTY

Those who subscribe to the second answer say that God was speaking in the plurality of His majesty. Again this theory does not find the merit of Scripture.

Accordingly to the Cambridge Bible Commentary, this view rests on the old Jewish explanation that God was addressing the inhabitants of heaven who surrounded His throne.

Elsewhere, Scripture declares that the sons of God shouted for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid (cf. Job 1:6, 2:1).

It is difficult to affirm this theory in the context of Genesis 1:26 without ascribing some divine essence to these heavenly hosts. This theory, in my view, fails the scrutiny of the word of God.

AFFIRMATION OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Bible scholars who submit to the fourth answer have cited Genesis 1:26 as evidence of the affirmation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in the Bible.

Don Stewart describes it as the embryonic form of the Holy Trinity doctrine that is fully developed in the New Testament. This is the doctrine that identifies and acknowledges the God of the Bible as one triune God who eternally exists in three divine persons who eternal co-exist as God.

The Holy Trinity is one of the most misunderstood doctrines of the Bible yet it is manifestly taught and affirmed in several passages of New Testament Scripture.

Trinitarian theologians say that the three members of the Godhead were conversing among themselves at this point. They hold that the conversation is evidence of the unity of the triune God. This conversation is also captured in story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:7-8.

My view is that the fourth answer is the most plausible interpretation of Genesis 1:26. It is consistent with the revelation of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament Scripture. It stands the test of Scripture.

CONCLUSION

I believe that God was engaging in a divine conversation with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in Genesis 1:26. The Holy Spirit revealed this truth to Moses as he penned the Book of Genesis.

Christ shares full and equal divinity with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is in every essence God.

God was speaking about the creation of Man in His image and likeness. Genesis 1:27 says "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Man alone bears the image of God. He reflects God's likeness in a number of ways. He cannot however be possessed of the non-communicable attributes of God which are exclusively vested in Divinity.

For example, man, like God, thinks, loves, hates, judges, creates, speaks, sees and hears. However, and unlike God, man is not infinite in his attributes. God's love is eternally pure and His judgment is perfect.
Our thoughts and actions miserably fail God's divine standards (Isaiah 55:8-9). Our righteousnesses apart from Christ are as filthy rags! (Isaiah 64:6).

Man is therefore merely a shadow of God's likeness.

Jesus was and is the Creator of all things. John 1:2-3 says if Christ: "He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."

This Scripture is contextually faithful to the statement of Genesis 1:26.

Here's a befitting conclusion...

Colossians 1:15-18 says of Christ: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."


Shalom


© Ezekiel Kimosop Teaching Series 2020


Sources:

Don Stewart, Blue Letter Ministry. blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_688.cfm

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/1-26.htm