The Theological Links of God the Creator with God as Lord, Judge, and Savior, Part 2
The Prophets
(avg. read time: 5–9 mins.)
Isaiah
The links between the fact that God is Creator and declarations of his Kingship, expectations of his salvific action, or assurance of his judgment are also present in the prophetic literature, especially Isaiah and Jeremiah. The first case is rather simple and so can be dealt with briefly here. Hezekiah’s prayer to God after being besieged by the Assyrians in Isa 37:16–20 establishes his confidence in God’s salvific action by his appeal to God creating the heavens and the earth (37:16). This appeal appears to be primarily to God’s power and Lordship, as the rest of the prayer indicates.
The famous promise of comfort to Israel in Isa 40, signifying their restoration after exile, contains several links to God being the Creator. Beginning in v. 12 and extending to the end of the chapter, the point made in these references concerns his transcendence in exaltation, as well as his power and wisdom being above the comprehension of all creatures. After all the various demonstrations of his power and wisdom are reviewed, Isaiah thus assures that Israel is not hidden from God’s sight nor has this Judge who is over all been unaware of the need for justice. He is able to give Israel what they need, including invigoration through his overwhelming power. This God who is the Creator is the one who can be trusted to overcome any obstacle in fulfilling promises and delivering his people from their suffering.
A similar connection appears in the next chapter in response to the poor and needy seeking water. God promises that he will not abandon them, providing them even with springs, pools, fountains, and rivers of water in the midst of a parched land, making vegetation spring up. All of this would serve as testimony of what God has done, that the Holy One of Israel has “created” it (Isa 41:17–20; cf. 45:8). That key verb is ברא, the first verb in the Bible in Gen 1:1 and the verb for which God is the characteristic subject. It is thus appropriate here for what would be an identifying action of the Creator, not merely originating these things, and not even merely providing these things, but also directing their purpose by his will (as, indeed, the designation of function and purpose are essential aspects of Gen 1).
God being the Creator is also invoked as a basis for confidence that he will do what he says in Isa 42:5. In this context, God is about to speak to his servant in the first of the Servant Songs. This commissioning of the servant along with the promises of what God will do is underwritten with the fact that it is the Creator who is speaking, the one who created the heavens and the earth, the one who has given life, and enables all things to exist. The power and provision thus provide a basis for confidence that God will bring about what he has purposed for ultimate redemption through his servant.
Similar to this appeal is Isa 44:24–28, wherein God being the Redeemer of his people is linked with him being the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The power of his word as the expression of his will is made by this appeal to creation and to God’s governance of the same, showing that when he speaks it is done. This point thus undergirds the fact that the God whose word is the expression of his being Creator and Lord has promised the restoration and renewal of Jerusalem. Thus, the word is guaranteed, even as his word guarantees the existence of creation. Much the same points about God’s creative power and governance as undergirding the hope for his salvific action are conveyed through Isa 45:12–18 and 51:13–16. Likewise, Isa 48:7–13 connects God’s work of creation and new creation by appeal to these same points, and Isa 54:5 connects God acting as the faithful Redeemer with God being Creator. God is the Author of both beginning and end, and sustains the story in between.
The final example is from Isa 55:10–13, due to its climactic function in Isa 40–55 and due to how it brings together so succinctly much of what we have seen in Isaiah. In the lead-up to this text, God has spoken of making an everlasting covenant with Israel in accordance with the covenant made with David (v. 3). Those who repent will be forgiven in abundance, beyond the comprehension of humans (vv. 7–9). At this point, the analogy is made with creation in terms of the rain and snow God provides the world, which do not return to the heavens without affecting the earth for the purposes for which God sent them (v. 10). In the same way, God’s word of salvation will not return to him without accomplishing its purpose (v. 11). The designation of purpose for creation, the governance of creation, and the faithful sustainment of the same are all interconnected. In the same way, what God does for Israel has resonating effects on creation, so that when God acts for them the creation joins in celebration, acknowledging that the God who is Israel’s Savior is also the Lord of all that he created (vv. 12–13).
Jeremiah
Jeremiah is the other prophet who makes this link most often. The most succinct case is presented in Jer 5:24 in a negative statement of what the faithless Israelites do not say. That is, they do not connect God being Creator with him being Lord. He is the one who faithfully sustains them by providing rains and harvests, but they have not responded in kind in acknowledgment that he is the Lord who thus provides. Similarly, when the Lord’s speech is introduced in 33:2, he is identified as the one who made the earth, who formed it according to his purpose of creation, and thus is the one who is rightly called Lord.
Perhaps the most fascinating case in which Jeremiah makes this link is immediately after his most famous text about the promise of the new covenant in 31:31–34. As a way to underwrite all that has been said before in this promise, including in the new covenant text, we are reminded that the one who says these things is the one who provides light for day and night, as well as designates the times for the same, who has power over and directs the sea, otherwise a frequent symbol of chaos (v. 35). God says that if the ordinances that govern these things should depart from him, then so too will the children of Israel (v. 36). Likewise, if the limits of creation could be circumscribed like any other construction, then one could also find the limits of God’s forgiveness and willingness to reconcile with the children of Israel (v. 37). Thus, God’s awe-inspiring power, glory, and authority in governing what he has made is the foundation for expecting his salvific action in reconciling with Israel, the assurance that these great promises will come to pass. In the same vein, one can rely upon these promises just as one relies upon the cycles of days and seasons, for the same God who faithfully sustains creation and maintains its life cycles in this fashion can also be regarded as trustworthy in bringing these promises to pass just as he has said.
Jeremiah 32:17–19 is part of a prayer Jeremiah makes to God. Here, the first basis for appeal, and the basis of the connection made with God as Creator, is his mighty power, including the imagery of his outstretched arm, which we have noted before is also connected with the exodus. That is, the God whose power made all things is able to accomplish the wondrous purposes of salvation. Secondly, because God is Creator, he also cares for justice within his creation by rendering judgment. This also provides a ground of assurance that God has an interest in bringing about the great hopes of salvation. Indeed, the chief demonstration given of this connection between God the Creator with God the Judge and God the Savior is the events of the exodus cited in vv. 20–23.
To punctuate the great promises of Jer 33, the Lord once again points to the fact that he is Creator in vv. 20–26 as the ground of assurance in expecting that he will do what he has promised. First, he says that his covenant with David is as unbreakable—from his side of the relationship—as his covenant with the day and night (vv. 20–21), signifying that as he can be relied upon as Creator and Sustainer to sustain, regulate, and direct the processes of creation, so can he be relied upon to faithfully fulfill what he says. Second, the power of God’s provision and the greatness of his glory are also invoked here through the examples of the innumerable stars in the sky and the sand of the sea, showing how he can increase the descendants of Israel beyond imagination (v. 24), as he promised to Abraham long ago (Gen 15:5; 22:17). The same God who created these things is able to redeem Israel according to what he has promised. Third, the covenant with day and night is invoked again both as demonstration of God’s unerring faithfulness and as the demonstration of his being Creator in designating the purposes of creation according to his will (vv. 25–26). He declares his will and makes it so through the designation and implementation of his purpose in both creation and eschaton.
Finally, in the closing declaration of judgment against Babylon, God’s work as Creator is once again invoked in 51:15–19 as a ground of assurance that this judgment is coming. In this way, God the Creator is linked with God the Judge, specifically by appeal to the power and wisdom by which he made all things. He is capable of executing his will because of his creative power and he is capable of enacting his will as justice because of his creative wisdom. Furthermore, as demonstrations of both his power and his care for creation that are linked to his will to justice, examples are drawn from creation of his provision for everyday processes, such as bringing clouds, rain, lightning, and wind. As God can be trusted to sustain the world, he is also trustworthy to set the world aright, for he is the Creator, not the worthless idols that are made by humans.
Amos provides two examples that can be commented on briefly to close this part of the series. In both cases, God the Creator is linked with the assurance that judgment is coming. The first case of Amos 4:13 points to God’s power in making the world, his purpose in both originating and directing the wind according to his will (that is, “creating” [ברא] it), his wisdom expressed both in formation of the world and in knowledge of what happens in it, and his transcendent governance of it. Likewise, Amos 5:8–9 points to God’s power and sustaining of the cycles of creation as reasons for expecting that he will execute judgment in fidelity to what he has said.