Who Is "US" In Scripture?

Three times in scripture the Lord God uses the phrase, "Us" when speaking about himself.  This usage is plural, meaning more than one person.

Genesis 1:26

God says "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."

 

Then goes on in verse 27 to use the word "He", not us. This is plural but singular.

 

'So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ' - Genesis 1:27.

 

In Genesis 11 we read the story of the Tower of Babel built by the notorious King Nimrod, who wanted to be a god in his own rights. He had led his people away from the God of his forefathers, Adam, Noah, and those who followed the One True God of the Universe and brought in the pagan worship of many gods.  But Yehovah Elohim decided to totally disrupt the plans of Nimrod.

 

Genesis 11:7

'Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

 

The people were no longer able to understand one another and they scatter across the lands just as the Lord God had told them to do when Noah and his family disembarked from the Ark. 

 

Then again in Isaiah God again refers to himself in the plural by asking Isaiah "who will go for us?".

 

Isaiah 6:8

'Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. '

 

Three times in scripture God refers to himself in a plural form.  Many times in scripture he refers to himself in singular.  The plural form is where the God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are working in unison for one reason or another.  They used the plural form in the creation of mankind, using the image of all three combined into one.  They used the plural form when they decided to scatter mankind across the face of the earth with different languages and ethnic traits.  They were in agreement that mankind was a problem when left to their own devices and needed to be split up into differing groups of people.  Too much power in the hands of mankind is not a good thing.  Mankind thinks up too much evil and pushes that evil into the hearts and minds of many others.  They used the plural form when speaking to mankind about the ways of Godliness and who could or would help them speak into the hearts and minds of mankind.  Who better to speak to and about God than a heart and mind that is aligned with Godliness?  When the Godhead uses a person to speak for them he wants all three images of God to be used.  God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  All three work in unison to speak love, kindness, comfort, wisdom, and all fruits of the Spirit in the person they are directing to others.  Each person of the Godhead, the Trinity of God, is important to the understanding of how God works on the earth and in his people.  All three are as important as the other. All three are God in the triune form and each one can be used in a separate or individual form. 

 

It is amazing that God works in the lives of his people either together or separately, whatever the situation calls for.  He speaks in ways for each of us to understand how and why he is working in plural or singular form.  Sometimes the Father needs to speak to or direct his child from a fatherly perspective.  Sometimes the Son needs to remind his people of the sacrifice that was made to cleanse them from the sinful nature of mankind and to fill those people with love for others.  Sometimes the Holy Spirit needs to come into the hearts of his people to comfort them and guide them, to speak life into the spirit of his child. 

 

There are so many ways Yehovah Elohim works in the lives of his chosen and all we have to do is acknowledge him, plural or singular.  They live in us.  We are made in their image.  He calls to us and we hear his voice.  We are his people.  We are singular and we are plural.

 

I John 3:24 - 'Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.'

 

Psalms 100:3 - 'Know that the Lord , He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.'

Yehovah Elohim

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

From the very beginning of Biblical scripture we hear the word "God".  Our human minds place him as the creator of our world and everything in it and mankind.  The ruler of our lives.  The one who loves us and saves us from death and destruction.  The one who makes the final determination if we live past this life into the next or places us in eternal punishment that we rightly deserve as sinful creatures.

Of course only those who have searched their hearts and minds for the spiritual part of life are the ones who question any of the spiritual aspects of life.  Those who turn their back on any part of a spiritual life are lost in a void of darkness by their own choosing.  All human beings of a certain age at one point of time question why they are alive and breathing on earth.  All human beings of a certain age at one point of time in their lives question what happens at death. 

Many argue there is no God and there is no Supreme Creator.  They choose death and the grave at the end of their lives.  They choose not to open their spirit to God.  They make their choice and live with it.  Once in a while something happens in their lives to open them up to question their decision but too many times they turn their back and walk away because faith is not something scientific.  They choose to believe in the power of science which saves no one spiritually.

In this first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, the word God in Hebrew is the word Elohim.  Elohim is a plural word for God. God the Father.  God the Son.  God the Holy Spirit.  The Hebrew writer using the word Elohim tells us he knew the triune nature of God.  Something like this can only be revealed to the human spirit by the Spirit Creator.  These revelations can only come into a human mind and a human spirit by a supernatural Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing earthy that can reveal this to the human brain of mankind.

All throughout Chapter 1 of Genesis the word Elohim is used to describe God.  The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit were creating together as One.  Elohim!

In all of the verses of Genesis 1 until Genesis 2:3 only Elohim is used when referring to God.  Then in verse 3 of Chapter 2 the writer uses the terms "Lord God" not just Elohim.  Lord in Hebrew is the word Yehovah.  The Hebrew writer uses only the word Elohim to describe God until the point of creation when Elohim has completed his or their creation work and blessed, sanctified and rested on the seventh day in Genesis 2:3.  After that, starting in verse 4, Lord God becomes the words used to describe God.  Yehovah Elohim!

Yehovah means eternal or self existent. Yehovah is our eternal God.  God the Father.  In combining Yehovah with Elohim we have our separately existing yet triune God.  Father, Son and Spirit.  One, yet three.  Eternally self existent.  Eternally together.  

When the creation of mankind is described in Genesis 1:26-27 by Elohim it is stated that we are created in the three images of Elohim.  When you read the following verse think Elohim for each word God; 

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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ~ Genesis 1:26-27

We are created in the Godhead images of Elohim, the Father, the Son and the Spirit!  We are three in one as He is three in one.  

Matthew 27:46 tell us as Jesus was dying on the cross, just before his very last breath, he cried out, 

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?

'Eli' is a form of the Hebrew word Elohim.  Jesus is calling out to the Father and Spirit.  The word 'lama' means why and the word 'sabachthani' means left me alone.  The human Jesus cries out to them, Elohim, that he feels all alone on the cross for that moment.  The human Jesus shows his humanity to the world.  We are each crying out to Elohim that we feel we are alone.  But we are not, even when our feelings try to tell us differently. Our spirit and Elohim are together!

And the LORD , he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. ~ Deuteronomy 31:8

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. ~ Deuteronomy 31:6

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. ~ Hebrews 13:5

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. ~ Joshua 1:9

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. ~ Joshua 1:5

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. ~ Matthew 28:18-20