Are Jehovah And Elohim The Same Person?

Are Jehovah And Elohim The Same Person?

Dear Bro. John:
Please help me understand something. In Genesis 3, two different words for God (Yahweh and Elohim) are used. Different terms are given for He who made the snake, did the banishing, and told Adam and Eve they would surely die if they ate of the forbidden fruit. Yahweh made the snake, Elohiym is the one Eve says told them they would surely die by eating the forbidden fruit, and Yahweh again is the one walking in the Garden from whom Adam and Eve hid their nakedness. Is one of these mentioned Jesus? Is God the Father speaking directly to humans here, and likewise in Ex 3:2? I believed that God the Father never spoke directly to humans, but that notion seems to be wrong. Thanks for any help clearing this up for me.
--Jimmy

Dear Jimmy:
The Holy Spirit uses a number of different names in Scripture when referring to God. In the Old Testament the most prominent names are Elohim (God), Jehovah (Yahweh), El and Adonai (translated Lord). Several books have been written on the various names of God.

It is of interest that the name Elohim is a plural word. Notice that "God said, Let us make man in our image" (Gen. 1:26).
The term "God" is applied not only to the Father, but to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5.3-4). It is also applied to Jesus (Heb. 1:8).
The term Yahweh (translated Jehovah) is applicable to Jesus. Isaiah affirms that there is no savior but Jehovah (43:11). But Paul describes Jesus as our great God and savior (Tit. 2:13). Therefore, Jesus is Jehovah. We do not affirm that Jesus is the Father. We simply recognize the fact that inspired writers ascribe the descriptive noun "Jehovah" to all three of the sacred Godhead. The word Jehovah describes a person who is eternal and self-existent. This is true of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all involved in the creation. The Spirit is mentioned in Gen. 1:2. John and Paul tell us that all things were created in and through Jesus (John 1:3; Col. 1:16).
The specific details of what each of the Sacred Three did in creation are not spelled out for us. We read and therefore believe that God (the Three) created the heavens and earth and all that is therein. We know that Christ played a major role in the creation of life. We cannot however make distinctions between the three on the basis of the varied use of the different divine names.
Many Bible commentators, whose faith has been influenced by the school of liberal modernism, try to make such distinctions based on the different names for God. They reason like this:. One writer used the word El or Elohim to describe God. Another always used the word Yahweh when he wrote. Still another who was a priest wrote emphasizing sacrifice and ritual. A fourth person took these three separate books and wove them all together into our Pentateuch. (In their writings they speak of "E" documents, "J" documents and "P" documents and the redactor). This they say explains the use of different names. All of this is purely speculative and is the fruit of their unbelief. Those who hold this view do not believe the Bible is the inspired product of the Holy Spirit. They see it as a human production that evolved over many years.
The Bible does say that no man has seen God at any time (John 1:18) but God has spoken directly to men on several occasions. He spoke from heaven to those gathered at Jesus' baptism (Matt. 3:17). He spoke to Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:5). Often in the Old Testament record the one who speaks for God to man is identified as the Angel of Jehovah. Such was the case when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3:6). But in the same reading the angel is identified as "Jehovah" (vs. 4) and "God" (vs. 15). Note that when Moses asked who should he say was sending him to Egypt, God said, "I Am" (3:13-14). In John 8:58 Jesus claimed to be "I Am." This so infuriated the Jewish leaders that they tried to kill him. Numerous verses indicate that before coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord, appeared unto men as the Angel of Jehovah (See I Cor.10:4).

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