Informing Our Understanding of God's Character with Ancient Examples

Understanding God's Character through Ancient Examples

The biblical account provides numerous examples that inform our understanding of God's character. One of the primary ways the Bible reveals God's nature is through the lives and experiences of its protagonists, showcasing attributes such as compassion, justice, and mercy.

The biblical text often employs anthropomorphism, attributing human characteristics to God, to convey complex theological concepts in relatable terms ^[4]. For instance, the Bible describes God's foreknowledge as an attribute that is both mysterious and essential to His nature, referencing passages such as Acts 2:23 and Romans 8:29 ^[2]. This foreknowledge is not just a passive awareness but an active engagement with humanity's history, as seen in the historical narratives of the Old Testament.

The book of Deuteronomy highlights God's testing of the Israelites as a means to "prove your character" (Deuteronomy 8:2), demonstrating that God's actions are aimed at revealing the innermost thoughts and character of His people. This reciprocal relationship between God's actions and human responses underscores the dynamic nature of God's character ^[4].

The New Testament continues this theme, with the writer of Hebrews emphasizing faith as a key aspect of understanding God's character. The examples of Old Testament figures such as Abel, Enoch, and Noah serve as illustrations of faith in action, demonstrating how these individuals trusted in God's promises despite uncertainty ^{[6, 8]}. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), highlighting its role in shaping one's understanding of God's character.

The apostle Paul's sermon in Athens, as recorded in Acts 17, provides another example of how the early Christian community understood God's character. Paul's address to the Athenians emphasizes God's role as Creator and Redeemer, stressing that God is not distant or uninvolved but actively engaged with humanity ^[5].

The biblical portrayal of God's character is also reflected in the concept of communion with God, which is exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ. Christ's compassion towards the afflicted, the poor, and the weak serves as a model for Christian behavior, illustrating the importance of empathy and kindness in reflecting God's character ^[1].

The Reformed tradition, as represented by Calvin, emphasizes the importance of understanding God's character through the lens of Christ's redemption. Calvin's commentary on Philippians highlights the transformative power of Christ, who enables believers to "put off the old man" and "put on the new" ^[7]. This understanding of redemption underscores the dynamic and relational nature of God's character.

The biblical text also employs parables and metaphors to convey the complexity of God's character. The parables of Jesus, for example, often use everyday scenarios to illustrate deeper spiritual truths, providing insight into God's nature and humanity's relationship with Him ^[3].

Sources

Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Communion With God — Christ set an example of -- Lu 19:41,42. Exhortation to -- Ro 12:15; 1Pe 3:8. Exercise towards The afflicted. -- Job 6:14; Heb 13:3. The chastened. -- Isa 22:4; Jer 9:1. Enemies. -- Ps 35:13. The poor. -- Pr 19:17. The weak. -- 2Co 11:29; Ga 6:2. Saints. -- 1Co 12:25,26. Inseparable from love to God -- 1Jo 3:17; Joh 4:20. Motives to The compassion of God. -- Mt 13:27,33. The sense of our infirmities. -- Heb 5:2. The wicked made to feel, for saints -- Ps 106:46. Promise to those who show -- Pr 19:17; Mt 10:42. Illustrated -- Lu 10:33; 15:20. Exemp”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Foreknowledge of God — Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29; 11:2; 1 Pet. 1:2), one of those high attributes essentially appertaining to him the full import of which we cannot comprehend. In the most absolute sense his knowledge is infinite (1 Sam. 23:9-13; Jer. 38:17-23; 42:9-22, Matt. 11:21, 23; Acts 15:18).”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Parable — (The word parable is in Greek parable (parabole) which signifies placing beside or together, a comparison, a parable is therefore literally a placing beside, a comparison, a similitude, an illustration of one subject by another.--McClintock and Strong. As used in the New Testament it had a very wide application, being applied sometimes to the shortest proverbs, (1 Samuel 10:12; 24:13; 2 Chronicles 7:20) sometimes to dark prophetic utterances, (Numbers 23:7,18; 24:3; Ezekiel 20:49) sometimes to enigmatic maxims, (Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6) or metaphors expand”
Deuteronomy (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Deuteronomy 8:2: 8:2 to prove your character (literally to know what is in your heart): God already knew the Israelites’ innermost thoughts (Pss 51:6; 139:1, 4, 23); he wanted their character to come out in their actions. • to find out whether: The Old Testament often describes God in human terms, even in ways that appear to limit God. Anthropomorphism (assigning human characteristics to God) and anthropopathism (assigning human feelings or emotions to God) are ways of representing God on a human level so the human mind can better grasp his ways, but God is not limited in his ”
Acts (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Acts 17:22: 17:22-31 Paul’s remarkable sermon in Athens reveals his versatility in preaching the Good News (Rom 11:14; 1 Cor 9:19-23; 10:33; cp. Acts 16:3; 17:2-3; 21:20-26). While Paul’s Greek audience did not know the Scriptures or have a tradition of monotheism as the Jews did, they did have a rich intellectual heritage. So Paul established a point of contact on the basis of an Athenian inscription to an Unknown God. He then explained God’s nature as the Creator (17:22-29), followed by God’s purpose as the Redeemer (17:30-31). • As he did elsewhere in his own writings (see ”
Hebrews (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Hebrews 11:4: The apostle, having given us a more general account of the grace of faith, now proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in the Old Testament times, and these may be divided into two classes: - 1. Those whose names are mentioned, and the particular exercise and actings of whose faith are specified. 2. Those whose names are barely mentioned, and an account given in general of the exploits of their faith, which it is left to the reader to accommodate, and apply to the particular persons from what he gathers up in the sacred story. We have here those”
CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, section 38.2: through Christ. And as what we have from Adam becomes old, 439 439 “ Deuient vieil et caduque ;” — “Becomes old and frail.” and tends towards ruin, so what we obtain through Christ remains for ever, and is not frail; but, on the contrary, tends towards immortality. This passage is worthy of notice, inasmuch as a definition of regeneration may be gathered from it. For it contains two parts — the putting off of the old man , and the putting on of the new , and of these Paul here makes mention. It is also to be notice”
Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 11 (introduction): INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 11 The apostle having, in the preceding chapter, spoken in commendation of the grace, and life of faith, and of its usefulness to preserve from apostasy, proceeds in this to give some account of the nature and actings of it; and which he illustrates by the examples of many of the Old Testament saints: he begins with a definition of it, which consists of two parts, Heb 11:1 and with an account of the usefulness of it to the elders in general, who by it obtained a good report, Heb 11:2 and of the service it is of in understanding ”

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