In the last piece, I wrote about the Hebrew Bible’s use of “the word of Yahweh.” In certain passages, I argued that the phrase is a rather roundabout and Jewish way of referring to Yahweh himself. The phrase doesn’t mean what we generally now assume it to mean. It does not mean a message or speech from God. On the contrary, it refers to something visible and tangible.
I also mentioned that years of contrary teachings have blinded Bible students, so we often miss these things. Below is a very well-known passage about the word of God coming to Jeremiah:
“Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”
- Jeremiah 1:4-9 ESV
What exactly visited Jeremiah? Well, it isn’t very likely to be merely some divine message. On the contrary, Jeremiah was visited by a person. Consider the following points from the passage:
- The passage doesn’t say that the “word of the LORD” came to Jeremiah via some messenger. No intermediaries like an angel or a prophet were mentioned.
- This “word of the LORD” that visited Jeremiah could talk, “SAYING…” (verse 4).
- Notice how Jeremiah responded to the initial message of “the word of the LORD”: “Ah, LORD GOD!“ (verse 6). Jeremiah took the speaking “word of the LORD” as God himself.
- THAT same “word of the LORD” character has a hand AND touches Jeremiah’s mouth. That is, this character is visible.
- Interestingly, this word of God character, now identified as the LORD himself, put his words (i.e., the words of God) in Jeremiah’s mouth (verse 9).
That last point deserves zooming in on a bit. If the word, singular, of God that visited Jeremiah was a mere divine instruction or message, well, it sure contained more than a word. And if it was a message, why was there a need to put more words in Jeremiah’s mouth afterward? Was the original “word of the LORD” insufficient?
No, the “word of the LORD” in the passage is Yahweh himself. The words later put in Jeremiah’s mouth constitute the message Jeremiah must deliver.
This “word of the LORD” theme is one of a few ways that the Hebrew Bible conveys the idea of a plurality in the Godhead, something that first-century Jews would later expand into what we now call the Holy Trinity.
John, himself a Jew, knew this Jewish thought. When he wrote John 1:1, he didn’t express anything new. He merely identified the risen Jesus as the “word of Yahweh” that passages like Jeremiah 1 and 1 Samuel 3 talk about.
