"God is Not a Man..." Part IV

God is a non-corporeal being. That is, His essence is not bound to a form or a body. Where do we learn this from written Torah? Deuteronomy 4:15 states:

כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם, כָּל-תְּמוּנָה

In context, this phrase is found as follows:
“Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude (כִּי לֹא רְאִיתֶם, כָּל-תְּמוּנָה) on the day that YHWH spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire”

Of interest, the Pentateuch does not provide us with a systematic delineation about the nature of God. The Pentateuchal revelation of God is not propositionally ontological—dealing with abstract principles such as omniscience, omnipotence, and transcendence as systematized in classic theology. The Pentateuchal revelation of God deals with concrete functionality. In other words, we learn about God through the functions that He assumes. This does not mean that ontic revelation about God cannot be derived from the Pentateuch; rather, Pentateuchal functional revelation carries implicit ontology. For example, God as transcendent Creator is understood not through a systematic delineation of His nature in Genesis 1 but rather through the actions that He, as a Being outside of creation, took to create out of nothing.

Of critical interest to the question of the deity of Yeshua, the Synoptic Gospels are often used as a silent witness against the assertion that Yeshua is God. The Synoptics, like the Pentateuch, do not deal with ontology but functionality. And, as in the Pentateuchal revelation, the functions assumed by Yeshua are a direct reflection of His ontology—God incarnate (healer, forgiver of sins, etc.).

Deuteronomy 4:15 is a functional revelation. After the assertion is made that no form or similitude was seen by the nation at Sinai, our passage then prohibits the construction of forms or images intended to represent God. No explicit statement exists to deny form to God in the Pentateuch; rather, His nature as such (ontology) is implicit in the fact that His Sinai revelation was devoid of form.

The formlessness or non-corporeality of God does not preclude the ability of God to cause Himself to be revealed or manifested in terms of form. There is nothing in the Pentateuch to preclude this possibility. In fact, God does reveal Himself through such forms as the “malakh YHWH” (Angel of the LORD). The preclusion of form as understood in modern Judaism is not inherent to biblical theism.

(this is an early draft…it will likely change, time permitting)