The Incomprehensible Nature of God and his Son

Examining the Old Testament Witness to God’s Uni-Plurality

Sam Shamoun

There is a specific text in the book of Proverbs which refers to the incomprehensibility of God, emphatically declaring that God’s nature is beyond human comprehension. The point in the context of this particular Proverb is that man cannot fully fathom God’s essence or his ways and that human beings are dependant upon Divine revelation in order to know who and what God is.

What makes this particular reference so intriguing is that not only does it speak of God’s incomprehensibility it also refers to God having a Son who is just as incomprehensible and can actually do what God does!

Here is the specific passage in question:

"The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an oracle: This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal: ‘I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One (qadoshim, lit. Holy Ones). Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know! Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." Proverbs 30:1-6

It is rather amazing to find the inspired author using the plural form Holy Ones (qadoshim), as opposed to singular Holy One (qadosh), since it is apparent that within the context the plural is in reference to both God and his Son.

Moreover, name in the Hebrew Bible signifies the essence, nature, characteristics and/or authority of a person. Hence, the writer is basically highlighting the fact that he (along with any other human being) is incapable of fully understanding the ways and the nature of these two Holy Ones, specifically God and his Son.

Yet this presupposes an essential equality between God and his Son, since not only is the Son capable of doing the very works which define and distinguish God from his creation he also has a name or essence that is unfathomable. In other words, the author seems to be aware that God has a Son who is equal to him and whose essence is incomprehensible.

According to the inspired Scriptures this unfathomable God is Yahweh and his incomprehensible Divine Son is his eternal Word who became flesh in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ! In the words of the renowned Bible expositor the late John Gill:

unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal;
who were either the children of Agur, whom he instructed in the knowledge of divine things; or they were, as Aben Ezra, either his companions with whom he conversed about sacred things, or his disciples who inquired of him about these things, and learned them of him. Some think these are titles of God himself, to whom Agur directs his speech, and acknowledges his ignorance of the divine Being, whom he might justly call Ithiel and Ucal, that is, "God with me", and "the mighty One"; and certain it is that Agur does direct a prayer to God, (Proverbs 30:7-9) ; And some read these words themselves as a prayer, "let God be with me, and one shall prevail", that is, over all mine enemies; for, if God is on the side of his people, who shall be against them? or, "I shall be able" to do all things through the Lord's strength, (Romans 8:31) (Philippians 4:13) ; But I rather think the words should be read, as Jarchi observes, "concerning Ithiel and Ucal"; that is, concerning the Messiah, to whom these names agree. Ithiel, or "God with me", is very similar to a phrase used by Christ himself in the days of his flesh, (John 8:29) (16:32). God was with him as the eternal Word, and his only begotten Son, from all eternity, which denotes his co-existence, nearness of union, equality of nature, and distinction of persons; he was with him as Mediator before the world began, in the council of peace, which was between them both; in the covenant of grace made with him, in which all things were agreed upon respecting the salvation of his people; he was with him in the beginning of time down to his incarnation; he was with him in the creation of all things, in the sustentation of them; in the works of providence, and in the government of the church; he was with him during his state of humiliation; in his infancy, to protect him from the malice of Herod; he was with him when disputing with the doctors in the temple, to direct him; he was with him at his baptism, transfiguration, and other times; he was with him throughout his public ministry, from the beginning to the end of it; he did good and healed all manner of diseases, and wrought amazing miracles, God being with him, (John 3:2) (Acts 10:38) ; and he was with him in his sufferings and at his death; and so he is with him in his exalted state; he raised him from the dead, set him at his own right hand, and ever attends to his prevalent intercession; and will be with him in raising the dead and judging the world. "Ucal", which has the signification of being able, strong, mighty, and powerful, agrees with Christ, who is the mighty God the most mighty, the Almighty; and which appears by the works he did before his incarnation, as the creation of all things out of nothing, the preservation of all things, and the several wonderful events in which he was; concerned, as the confusion of languages, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, the conducting the children of Israel through the wilderness, with others; also what he did when here on earth, the mighty works and miracles done by him, and especially the great work of man's redemption, and also the raising of himself from the dead: moreover, what he now does and will do for his people show him to be the mighty One; taking the care of all the churches and providing for them; supplying all the wants of his people, bearing all their burdens, supporting them under all their temptations, and delivering them out of them; strengthening them for his service, protecting them from their enemies, keeping them from falling, raising their dead bodies, and bringing all the sons of God to glory: or if the word should be rendered, as it may, "eaten" or "consumed", it is true of Christ, whose zeal ate him up, (Psalms 69:9) ; and who is the antitype of the sacrifice consumed by fire. (The New John Gill Exposition of the Entire Bible; source; underline emphasis ours)

And:

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?
&c.] That has been thither to fetch knowledge of God and divine things, and has returned to communicate it. Enoch was taken up to heaven before this time: and Elijah, as is very probable, after; but neither of them returned again, to inform mortals what was to be seen, known, and enjoyed there: since, the Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven, and came back again; but then the things he heard were such as it was not lawful for a man to utter: and indeed, since the coming of Christ there is no need of any further revelation to be made nor of any such expedition, in order to obtain it, (Romans 10:6-8) . And, properly speaking, there never was any besides him, whose names are Ithiel and Ucal, that ever did this: he lay in the bosom of the Father, and was privy to his whole mind and will; he descended from heaven to earth not by local motion, but, by assumption of nature; and when he had made known his Father's will, and done his work, he ascended far above all heavens, and received gifts for men; to fill his churches and ministers with them, in order to communicate and improve spiritual and divine knowledge; and therefore, with great propriety and pertinence, he applies these words to himself, (John 3:13);

who hath gathered the wind in his fists?
not any mere creature; not any man or set of men; it is not in the power of any, either men or angels, to restrain or let loose the winds at pleasure; nor has Satan, though called the prince of the power of the air, that is, of the devils in the air, any such command of them; none but he that made them can command them to blow, or be still; even he who brings them out of his treasures, and his own son, whom the wind and seas obeyed; …

what [is] his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
if thou surest it is a mere man that does all these things tell his name; or, if he be dead, say what is the name of his son or of any of his family; so Jarchi and others interpret it: or rather, since it is the Lord alone and his own proper Son, to whom these things can he ascribed say what is his name; that is, his nature and perfections which are incomprehensible and ineffable; otherwise he is known by his name Jehovah and especially as his name is proclaimed in Christ and manifested by him and in his Gospel: and seeing he has a son of the same nature with him, and possessed of the same perfections, co-essential, and co-existent, and every way equal to him, and a distinct person from him, say what is his nature and perfections also; declare his generation and the manner of it; his divine filiation, and in what class it is; things which are out of the reach of human capacity, and not to be expressed by the tongue of men and angels; see (Matthew 11:27) (16:15-17) . Otherwise, though his name for a while was a secret, and he was only called the seed of the woman and of Abraham, (Genesis 3:15) (22:18) (32:29) (Judges 13:17,18) ; yet he had many names given him under the Old Testament; as Shiloh, Immanuel, the Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and Prince of peace; the Lord our righteousness, and the Man, the Branch: and under the New Testament, Jesus the Saviour, Christ the Anointed; the Head of the church, the Judge of the world; the Word of God, and King of kings, and Lord of lords. This Scripture is a proof of Christ's being the eternal Son of God; of his equality with his divine Father as such, their name and nature being alike ineffable; of his co-existence with his Father as such; and of his omnipresence and omnipotence, expressed by the phrases here used of ascending… and of his distinct personality from the Father; the same question being distinctly put of him as of the Father. Some render the last clause, "dost thou know?" (Source; underline emphasis ours)

Gill is followed by another late great exegete named Matthew Henry:

… 2. As the subject of his discourse. Ithiel signifies God with me, the application of Immanuel, God with us. The word calls him God with us; faith appropriates this, and calls him "God with me, who loved me, and gave himself for me, and into union and communion with whom I am admitted." Ucal signifies the Mighty One, for it is upon one that is mighty that help is laid for us. Many good interpreters therefore apply this to the Messiah, for to him all the prophecies bear witness, and why not this then? It is what Agur spoke concerning Ithiel, even concerning Ithiel (that is the name on which the stress is laid) with us, Isaiah 7:14.

Three things the prophet here aims at:--

I. To abase himself. Before he makes confession of his faith he makes confession of his folly and the weakness and deficiency of reason, which make it so necessary that we be guided and governed by faith. Before he speaks concerning the Saviour he speaks of himself as needing a Saviour, and as nothing without him; we must go out of ourselves before we go into Jesus Christ…

II. To advance Jesus Christ, and the Father in him (Proverbs 30:4): Who ascended up into heaven, &c. 1. Some understand this of God and of his works, which are both incomparable and unsearchable. He challenges all mankind to give an account of the heavens above, of the winds, the waters, the earth: "Who can pretend to have ascended up to heaven, to take a view of the orbs above, and then to have descended, to give us a description of them? Who can pretend to have had the command of the winds, to have grasped them in his hand and managed them, as God does, or to have bound the waves of the sea with a swaddling band, as God has done? Who has established the ends of the earth, or can describe the strength of its foundations or the extent of its limits? Tell me what is the man's name who can undertake to vie with God or to be of his cabinet-council, or, if he be dead, what is his name to whom he has bequeathed this great secret." 2. Others refer it to Christ, to Ithiel and Ucal, the Son of God, for it is the Son's name, as well as the Father's, that is here enquired after, and a challenge given to any to vie with him. We must now exalt Christ as one revealed; they then magnified him as one concealed, as one they had heard something of but had very dark and defective ideas of. We have heard the fame of him with our ears, but cannot describe him (Job 28:22); certainly it is God that has gathered the wind in his fists and bound the waters as in a garment; but what is his name? It is, I am that I am (Exodus 3:14), a name to be adored, not to be understood. What is his Son's name, by whom he does all these things? The Old-Testament saints expected the Messiah to be the Son of the Blessed, and he is here spoken of as a person distinct from the Father, but his name as yet secret. Note, the great Redeemer, in the glories of his providence and grace, can neither be paralleled nor found out to perfection. (1.) The glories of the kingdom of his grace are unsearchable and unparalleled; for who besides has ascended into heaven and descended? Who besides is perfectly acquainted with both worlds, and has himself a free correspondence with both, and is therefore fit to settle a correspondence between them, as Mediator, as Jacob's ladder? He was in heaven in the Father's bosom (John 1:1,18); thence he descended to take our nature upon him; and never was there such condescension. In that nature he again ascended (Ephesians 4:9), to receive the promised glories of his exalted state; and who besides has done this? Romans 10:6. (2.) The glories of the kingdom of his providence are likewise unsearchable and unparalleled. The same that reconciles heaven and earth was the Creator of both and governs and disposes of all. His government of the three lower elements of air, water, and earth, is here particularized. [1.] The motions of the air are of his directing. Satan pretends to be the prince of the power of the air, but even there Christ has all power; he rebuked the winds and they obeyed him. [2.] The bounds of the water are of his appointing: He binds the waters as in a garment; hitherto they shall come, and no further, Job 38:9-11. [3.] The foundations of the earth are of his establishing. He founded it at first; he upholds it still. If Christ had not interposed, the foundations of the earth would have sunk under the load of the curse upon the ground, for man's sin. Who and what is the mighty He that does all this? We cannot find out God, nor the Son of God, unto perfection. Oh the depth of that knowledge! (Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible; source)

What we will do here is break down Proverbs 30:4 in order to show how everything the inspired writer has stated concerning God and his Son is applied elsewhere in the Holy Bible to Yahweh and the Lord Jesus.

1. Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

2. Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?

3. Who has established all the ends of the earth?

4. What is his name, and the name of his son?

5. Tell me if you know!

In light of the foregoing it is rather clear that some, if not all, of the authors of the Hebrew Scriptures were made aware by Divine revelation that God has a Son who is equal to him in essence and is just as incomprehensible. And according to the NT, this Divine, incomprehensible Son became a man through a virgin by the power of God’s Holy Spirit and whose name is Jesus Christ our risen and immortal Lord. Amen.

Further reading

Jesus Christ – The incomprehensible Son of God and sovereign Lord of all creation continues our study of Proverbs 30:4 and its implications.