I have been studying the names of God lately – this week I studied “Elohim.”
Elohim means Sovereign Creator. It is the first name used in the Bible for God. In studying creation, you can notice one thing. When he created something, he spoke it and then it happened. When we look at other ways Elohim was used in the Bible, it has incredible meaning. My favorite being in Ezekiel 37.
Ezekiel 37:1-10 NKJV
“The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” (Adonai Elohim)
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God (Adonai Elohim) to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God (Adonai Elohim): “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”
Elohim has the power to do it himself alone to make dry bones become man, but he chose to partner with us to see his work done. To think that Elohim the mighty creator would want to partner with us to see things done is incredible.
When we partner with Elohim, we see dry bones come to life. We see what was broken become restored because he is the Mighty Creator, the Sovereign Lord of our lives and the One who loves us and wants to partner with us to see His works happen.
