Image-Bearers or Idol-Makers
The Apocalypse of Abraham
“And I (Abraham) said to him, ‘Father Terah, do not bless Marumath your god, do not praise him! Praise rather Barisat, your god, because, as though loving you, he threw himself into the fire in order to cook your food.’ … But in perishing he left himself no strength for his (own) destruction.”
—Apocalypse of Abraham 5:14; 6:19
Lately, I have pondered the juxtaposition between Abraham’s idol-making tradition and humanity’s image-bearing likeness to HaShem. Reading and rereading the Apocalypse of Abraham and Genesis 1:26-27 (JPS version), I asked myself a question: “If humans are created in the image (tselem) and likeness (d’moot) of God (cf. Gen. 18), do we make idols of ourselves when we don’t honor our bodies as living sacrifices in word and deed? Are we little more than empty figurines when we don’t walk in HaShem’s ways? I examine these things in light of our “image-bearing” roles.
In my graduate theology courses, I approached this topic but did not directly address the ontological nature of God (Made in God’s Image: Renewing the Divine Attributes in Humanity.) You can also access my article through The Other Journal, Issue 32, 2021.
Here, I want to explore the physicality of “image” (tselem) and “likeness” (d’moot) more deeply and how it is related to humanity’s divine image-bearing role. My linked article deals mainly with the renewal of divine attributes through the work on the cross. It describes the reversal of the Edenic “curse.” However, the physicality of God’s “shape,” if Genesis 18 reveals one, and our image-bearing likeness to HaShem is in view here. I think it is certainly reflected in the incarnate Yeshua:
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him, and apart from Him nothing was made that has come into being. … (John 1:1–3,14, TLV).
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him, all things were created—in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, whether thrones or angelic powers or rulers or authorities. All was created through Him and for Him. He exists before everything and in Him all holds together. He is the head of the body, His community.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead—so that He might come to have first place in all things. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven” (emphasis added, Colossians 1:15–20, TLV).
These verses reveal that there is a seen (physical) and unseen (spiritual) reality and where these realities touch is the image-bearing shape of God’s in-dwelt earthen vessels—Yeshua being the exemplar. Paul speaks of these two realities (1 Cor. 15:44). The point of contact between the spiritual and natural realities is the reconciliation of all things, bringing heaven and earth together. For humanity, this image can’t be any other than God-shaped or a different kingdom, one of darkness, manifests. This is the battle.
I began this note by quoting from the Apocalypse of Abraham, written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. It’s an unlikely reference, but I hope to explain myself. I also intend to explore the meaning of being an image-bearer.
The Apocalypse of Abraham provides a rabbinic backstory behind Genesis 12. In the Bible, Abraham appears on the scene, but we don’t know why he obeys God unconditionally, leaving his polytheistic culture to follow the One. This creative story takes us behind Abraham’s willingness to uproot himself. His participation in the family idol-making business, never hearing them speak nor perform supernatural feats, causes him to ponder their efficacy. He notices their inability to save themselves when fallen, broken, or burned, so he jests with his father, saying: “He (the idol) threw himself into the fire in order to cook your food. …But in perishing he left himself no strength for his (own) destruction.”
In the Apocalypse of Abraham, the would-be father of Israel watched these idols, fashioned in the image and likeness of man’s imagination, do nothing, and offer nothing helpful. The god, Barisat, fell into a flame and did not have the power to save himself. This is the meaning of “nothing” (οὐδείς) in 1 Corinthians 8:4 :
Therefore, concerning the eating of idol sacrifices, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called “gods,” whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for him…(emphasis added, 1 Corinthians 8:4–6, TLV).
The Greek οὐδείς can mean “non-existent.” It can also mean “of no value,” which I believe is the proper rendering because Paul’s following statement acknowledges the existence of gods and lords worshipped by others (v. 5). I believe these idols become in-dwelt through “eye-opening” or “mouth-opening” rituals, inviting dark entities to inhabit the wooden form.
In another example of its usage, Paul states that circumcision is “nothing” (οὐδείς, 1 Corinthians 7:19). Since it is a forever command for the Jewish people, it isn’t “nothing” as though it were a fabricated command. Paul is stating that circumcision is of “no value” where the salvific plan is concerned. In other words, circumcision doesn’t get you into heaven; it isn’t profitable for salvation. But it remains a matter of obedience for Jews.
Additionally, why would God command us to abstain from idol-making if it was “nothing” (cf. Exod. 20:4)? I think God is warning against fallen forces behind images that offer no spiritual value and lead humanity astray.
Idol-Making
When we refuse God, do we then deny humanity’s divine image-bearing role, opting for one of self-promoted idol-making—choosing our image over that of God’s? Will we, in our rebellion, become like Barisat, consumed by flames? Choosing rebellion, I suppose our image becomes obscured and unrecognizable in the end. Perhaps this is the essence of Yeshua’s words: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23, ESV).
Image-Bearing
The language in Genesis 1 makes it clear that humans are the image (tselem), so to speak—a statuesque representation of God. This is the language that the ancients used. According to Genesis 1:27-28, humans represent God as His image-bearer to the creaturely world:
God created humankind in His image; in the image of God, He created him, male and female. He created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land” (Genesis 1:27–28, TLV).
Often, these texts are allegorized to mean that we bear his attributes and this is certainly true. But is there a physicality to this image-bearing? The visions of Daniel and Ezekiel present a literal form and one like a man. This form/shape (d’moot) that we, as God-shaped figures (tselem), if you will, resembles the perceivable shape He manifests within these visions. Theologians often refer to this manifestation as the “pre-incarnate Christ.” (See Colossians verse above).
Humanity’s form is the shape that reflects the Son of Man found in biblical and extra-biblical literature. God (YHWH) manifested in such a way that Abraham, “when he lifted up his eyes to see, suddenly, three men were standing right by him” (Gen. 18:2, 13, 17, TLV) Other times, he cloaked his infinitude in a burning bush, or pillar of fire, hiding his fullness for our benefit. Humans cannot perceive the infinitude of God. Our minds can’t handle his vastness. So he clothes himself. Moshe got to see his back (Exodus 33:18-34:9). The disciples lived with him in his humble incarnate form (Gospel accounts); all previous manifestations being immortal, bound neither by time nor space. The beauty of his incarnation is his humbled form, submitting his divine form to the weights of time and space even to the point of death.
I return to the original question: “Do we deny humanity’s divine image-bearing role, opting for one that resembles lawless idol-making?” I want to sum up by quoting the late Gerrit Nel, whose rich insights I have only begun to delve: “We are created according to a divine design with the main purpose that God can live in and through us. … The mystery of this divine design is the realization [sic] that we are His dwelling place.”1
I believe Gerrit Nel taps into the mystery of tselem and d’moot, providing a concise description of humanity’s image-bearing likeness to God:
“When God created man, He also needed a blurprint. God chose to use Himself as the blueprint for the design of mankind. … He used Himself as the template …”
—Gerrit Nel, Divine Design of Mankind, 33-34
We are God-shaped vessels created for the purpose of fellowship with God, yes, but also, that we become a habitation for his in-dwelling Spirit. He inhabits our praises so we must be reverberating vessels of his Word. We don’t have to continue the idol-making tradition of Abraham’s father. We are set free in Yeshua to “go” as HaShem calls.
Having finished the counting of the firstfruits of Omer and the Shavuot celebration, we continue to give thanks for the firstfruit of the dead, Yeshua, who we will, in His appearing, fully resemble! When this happens, God’s promise to conform us into the image of the Son will be as the purist reflection of His truest form.
Gerrit Nel, Divine Design of Mankind (Cape Town, South Africa: Audience of One Media), 24-25.