Living Gods -- Part 1

The phrase translated in English as “living God” appears at least 15 times in the Old Testament and another 20 times in the New Testament. However, in the Old Testament Hebrew both singular (Khayyim El – living God) and plural (Khayyim Elohim – living Gods) forms of this phrase exists. In this post, I will focus on the very first occurrence of the plural phrase (Khayyim Elohim or chai·yim Elohim), which is found in Deuteronomy 5:26.

For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living Gods [Khayyim Elohim] speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we (Israelites) have, and lived?

Deuteronomy 5:26

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses re-recited the ten commandments and “replayed” what the Israelites said during during the delivering of the law recorded in Exodus 19 and 20. In Exodus 20:19 we read “Then they (Israelites) said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not Elohim speak to us, or we will die."
Deuteronomy 5:26 is interesting because Moses really did mean that the Israelites saw the “living Gods” during the giving of the ten commandments recorded in Exodus 19 and 20. Moses expanded this further when he blessed the Israelites before his death in Deuteronomy 33:1-2. The blessing implies that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit stood in three separate mountains during the delivering of the law recorded in Exodus 19 and 20. This also has a huge implication in the interpretation of the first commandment, which I will discuss in my next post.

This is the blessing that Moses the man of [All] the Gods [haElohim] pronounced on the Israelites before his death:

Yhovah [the Father] came from Sinai, and [the Son] dawned over them from Seir; He [the Spirit] shone forth from Mount Paran. He [the Father] came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from His [the Father’s*] mountain slopes.

Deuteronomy 33:1-2

Deutronomy 33:2 could be translated either “from Sinai…from Seir…from Paran,” or “at Sinai…at Seir…at Paran.” These mounts are in comparative proximity to each other. What’s important, here, is that the supernatural event recorded in Deutronomy 33:2 is one event, with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit appearing simultaneously to the sons of Israel during the giving of the law.

Note: It is clear from Exodus 19:20 that God the Father came down on Mount Sinai. However, Deutronomy 33:2 does not assign Mount Seir to the Son and Mount Paran to the Holy Spirit. This can be deduced from the order we use during worship - i.e. Father (Sinai), Son (Seir) and the Holy Spirit (Paran). Mount Paran is also related to the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit rested on seventy elders at Paran (Numbers 11:25).