Who is God
Who is God“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.”
(Psalms 46:10 ASV)
"Any knowledge that we have about such a being will always be limited and partly because of a Creator by definition above and beyond that which is created… understanding God is complex; it turns out that God himself is also extremely complex." (Bibleproject2020)
First of all, this can be a loaded question, who is God. Moses asked God what is your name? The names give us some insight of who is God:
God said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be]," and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: 'Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.' "
(Exodus 3:14 CJB)
God said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el: 'Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh (יהוה) [Adonai], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation.
(Exodus 3:15 CJB)
From these verses of Scripture, we find that God always was and is self-existing. We also now know the Name of God, which is reverence [Adonai] is used instead of His Name YeHaVaHa (Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh) as in the Hebrew spelling (יהוה). To get a better understanding of what is said about God in the Scripture, pursue a word study of his name using Strong's H3068 – Yehovah (יהוה) which in most Bibles is (LORD). יְהֹוָה Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:— YHVH, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069. This word study wills most rewarding to you to have a better understanding of God and who he is.
The Name:
God's proper name in the Bible is Yahweh, a name also referred to as the Tetragrammaton, because it is made up of four consonants: the Hebrew equivalents of YHVH. This name has also been variously transliterated outside of Jewish contexts as "Jehovah," and in other renderings, but in Judaism, it is traditionally not articulated. During Prayer and communal Torah reading, it is pronounced: Adonai, from the Word Adon or Lord. Another common name for God in the Bible is El or Elohim. The Talmud has additional names for God including, HaKadosh Barukh Hu (The Holy One Blessed Be He), HaMakom (The Omnipresent), and the not-so-pithy Mi-she-amar ve-Hayah ha-Olam (The One Who Spoke and Thus Created the World). Traditional Jews refrain from using the actual scriptural names of God when not involved in the religious activity; during casual conversation, God is usually referred to as Hashem (literally, The name). About God in Judaism - https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/about-god-in-judaism/
Having a brief understanding of God's proper name has given us a glimpse of his character as an Omnipresent, Holy God who is the Creator of all Creation. This, in and of itself, is staggering to the mind. As a finite creation trying to comprehend an all-powerful all-present God who is revealed in the scriptures.
There is nothing that anyone can know about God's nature unless He reveals it to humankind. Without divine revelation, humanity will be in darkness. Fortunately, the Bible has told us about God's nature. From the Scriptures, we can discover four basic descriptions of God's character. Blue Letter Bible - How Does the Bible Describe God? - Don Stewart –
Looking at these attributes that Don Steward list in his article, The following God is Spirit, God is Light, God is love, and God Is a Consuming Fire. I did my own research and have expounded on my finding along with the Don Stewards outline.
1. God Is Spirit
“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
(John 4:24 KJV)
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
(John4:23 KJV)
2. God Is Light
“And this is the message which we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him—none! If we claim to have fellowship with him while we are walking in the darkness, we are lying and not living out the truth. But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of his Son Yeshua purifies us from all Sin. If we claim not to have Sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, then, since he is trustworthy and just, he will forgive them and purify us from all wrongdoing. If we claim we have not been sinning, we are making him out to be a liar, and his Word is not in us.”
(1John 1:5-10 CJB)
3. God Is Love
The Bible says that God is love:
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
(1 John 4:7-8 KJV)
4. God Is a Consuming Fire
The Bible also describes God as a consuming fire:
“For Adonai, your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
(Deuteronomy 4:24 ASV)
The Burning Bush which is not consumed by fire, but this manifestation was from the Angel of the LORD:
And the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
(Exodus 3:2 KJV)
This is only a fraction of the attributes of God, which we can start to understand the character of God. Studying the names of God, which are descriptions of His Character and how he has manifested Himself through time to mankind, will give us a better understanding of who God is. We will explore some of these Names, which give way to the Character of God as he manifests his presents to mankind in the following Chapter.
“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.”
(Proverbs 22:1 KJV)