Yes, But
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 NASB
Love – John’s statement seems pretty clear, right? God is love. We get that. Unless you’re one of those who doesn’t understand the necessity of judgment in the fabric of love, and you conclude that all the violence under God’s direction in the Tanakh means that God isn’t love (at least not in your definition). But then you can always claim that the God of the New Testament is a radical improvement of the God of the Old Testament, so we can ignore the difficulty. Or you can believe that the God of the New Testament is really Jesus and He would never act in the same ways that YHVH does in the Tanakh. Of course, you’ll have to explain the passages where “Jesus” intimates a coming judgment. So there’s controversy all around, it seems. But we’ll leave that for another day. Today we want to ask a much simpler question.
God is love. OK. Now, what does that mean?
You won’t have much trouble with the Greek here. Agape is familiar (we think). The linguistic history tells us that agape is the equivalent of the Hebrew ‘ahav. On ‘ahav, TWOT notes: “Love in the OT is a spontaneous feeling which impels to self-giving, to grasping that which causes it, or to pleasurable activity. It involves the inner person. Since it has a sexual basis, it is directed supremely to persons; love for things or acts has a metaphorical aspect.” [1] A few other elements are important. “Our love for God is accepted without any attempt at closer definition. It is sometimes connected with fear (Dt. 10:12), but more often it involves delight and striving, a seeking of God for himself (cf. Abraham).”[2] Furthermore, “God’s love for us is primarily national rather than individual.”[3]
Turning to the apostolic texts, we should note that Yeshua “usually speaks about God’s forgiveness or mercy and rarely employs either nouns or verbs for love in relation to God.”[4] Paul and John provide us with our “love” vocabulary. However, they also underscore the communal nature of love. “Our own love is here again supremely a love of the brethren. Love of God is the final reality for the fellowship, and abiding in this love is the law of its life.”[5]
Briefly, then, we can answer the question, “What does it mean to say that God is love?” with the following: God’s love means 1) His unbreakable promise in the covenant with Abraham for His people, Israel; 2) His expectation of communal involvement as citizens of His kingdom; and 3) the delight and joy that comes from experiencing the result of acting as God acts with regard to others, His creation and Him. Love is a verb, a way of being in the world that fully embraces who we are together under the sovereign blessing of our Creator. When we say God is love we express the full range of hesed, in all its dimensions.
There is no biblical debate whatsoever that God is love. The only real question is whether or not we express the same quality. You will notice that John equates our loving with knowing God’s love. It is fundamentally about others, not ourselves. According to John, if you can’t express benevolent compassion, trustworthy reciprocity and extended selflessness toward others, then you don’t know God’s love either.
Topical Index: love, agape, ahav, hesed, 1 John 4:8
[1] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 5). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
But…
“Love” is an abstract term, therefore not Hebraic but Greek.
What is the Hebrew meaning of Eloah is agape / ahab?
If the true translation of 1 John (from the Hebrew) was “Eloah is (does) hesed”, it would be more understandable.
IF WE WILL FIRST KNOW IT, THEN WE WILL SHOW IT. Whenever I am lacking the love of God and then I SEEK the love of God, He gives me POWER to GRASP the love of God. And then it CHANGES ME.
“Love in the OT is A SPONTANEOUS FEELING WHICH IMPELS to self-giving, to GRASPING THAT WHICH CAUSES IT, or to PLEASURABLE ACTIVITY. It involves the INNER PERSON.”
“…..it involves DELIGHT and STRIVING, a SEEKING OF GOD for HIMSELF.”
“I pray that from His glorious riches He would grant you to be STRENGTHENED IN YOUR INNER BEING WITH POWER THROUGH HIS RUACH, so that Messiah may DWELL IN YOUR HEART THROUGH FAITH. I pray that you, being ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, may have STRENGTH TO GRASP with all the kedoshim what is THE WIDTH AND LENGTH AND HEIGHT AND DEPTH, and to KNOW THE LOVE OF MESSIAH WHICH SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE, so you may be FILLED TO ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. Now to Him who is able to do FAR BEYOND ALL THAT WE ASK OR IMAGINE, BY MEANS OF HIS POWER THAT WORKS IN US, to Him be the glory in the community of believers and in Messiah Yeshua throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen.” [Eph 3:1621]
“…..John equates our loving with KNOWING GOD’S LOVE.”
I must KNOW IT……ironically, in a way that surpasses knowledge! Then I WILL show it! It takes the POWER OF THE RUACH to know it!
THEN I will “express (the love of God) benevolent compassion, trustworthy reciprocity and extended selflessness toward others.”
“Now for this very reason, making every effort, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, KNOWLEDGE; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly love; and to brotherly love, LOVE,,,LOVE…LOVE. For if these qualities are in you and increasing, they keep you from becoming idle and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah.” [2Pe 1:5-8]
“……ABIDING in this love is the law of its life.”
Thanks Skip. That study and meditation was a timely help. The RUACH came through, once again! Baruch YHWH!
Very timely. I know this is read a lot later than written, but the impact of the Word and you words expressed what I needed to hear in a time when I needed it most! Thank you, may the Blessings of Yashuah over take you as you continue your walk with Him! Susan
God does “benevolent compassion, trustworthy reciprocity and extended selflessness” towards us, but if we are not ALREADY responding to what He is extending towards us: believing about ourselves what He is believing about us, and treating ourselves in the same way (which is how we practice the same and demonstrate that we actually believe we are loved), we do not have the basis or ability to do the same toward others. By the time you see love on the surface, like a fruiting mushroom body, it has already established a complete invisible presence in the life.
The two Great Commandments are ordinate (in the right order) love: 1: accept and return God’s love, then 2: do the same simultaneously for self and others. I absolutely cannot hate myself and love you, nor can I make up love that I am not already receiving from heaven. This is the invisible platform for all true visible manifestations of love. That is what those Commands have taught me, anyway.
“Believing about ourselves what he is beleiving about us…and treating ourselves in the same way”…That’s a game changer. One requiring devine intervention in my case at I fear. We share some lofty objectives.
Hello skip. Today’s topic I see as discernment put the dark times that I go through against the joyful times and I get the two-sided coin. Hebrews 12:6 remind me in the Hebrew fashion the Lord uses the dark times to cause me to find him and hold on tight to him. Exodus 34 verses 6 and 7 the 13 attributes of God shows me the different ways that the Lord response to different circumstances all showing his love. And finally Micah 6:8 tells me how to walk in the face of violent brutal people who cause chaos and destruction.
Hello Skip and Others,
Does knowing God’s love has to be a community and individual experience in order for benevolent compassion, trustworthy reciprocity and extended selflessness to actively and naturally result? Rhetorical questgion..
I shudder when that breaks down in accounts like the golden calf; lives affected by abuse that takes years to reconcile; or people in society who are mentally challenged and cannot or may not be able to even consider extended selflessness. Surely, YHVH knows about these folks too and hasn’t written them off because they don’t even have a clue about paradigms as far as we know!
David Russell
A little spin on Katz seems appropriate… “love is in us and we are in it only to the degree we actually walk in it”.
It’s free.
It’s knowable.
It’s reachable.
It’s doable.
God’s love is everywhere evident as creation reveals. So abide in it.
“Freely you have received, freely give.”
Just check out your heart. Everyone needs to have theirs renewed.
Hi Skip! In your first paragraph you brush the surface of the question on violence in the OT and how it can be congruent with the non-violent picture we see of Yeshua… as you say, “So there’s controversy all around, it seems. But we’ll leave that for another day. Today we want to ask a much simpler question.” …Have you written more about this difficult question? Or have recommendations on others who have tried to tackle questions of God’s character in light of him seeming to initiate a lot of killing? Thanks!
I have not written anything specifically about this, but one book that comes to mind is John Yoder’s work on the politics of Jesus.
This is an interesting question, one that brings up to me the mystery of the nature of Yahovah as expressed through his interactions with Isreal through thevO.T. Prophets and the expression of his nature revealed through Yeshua and the Ruach. We see almost a duelist expression Yeshua comes “full of grace and truth” and leaves the Judgment up to Yahh at the end of the age. Almost as if he came and underscores the grace expressed in the N.T. while the O.T underscores the truth and law. OK I know Yahovah is totally whole and not fractured or dulistic but the Messiah and the Rauch seem to express different facets of his nature. While I stand on the Shema I see a mystery of God’s being in these opposing almost poler expressions of his nature.
Returning to this in search of hased, I find yet another reason I value Skips particular gifts of word craft. He shares deep things from a place of personal awarness and an understanding of the communal nature of Yahovah ‘s kingdom. Thanks Skip…