Systematic Theology: God is the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of All Things [6], and Hints of Plurality

In context, Elohim in Genesis 1 (and in other passages where Elohim refers to YHWH) must be understood as singular rather than plural. However, Elohim is indeed a plural noun form. Also, Genesis records God using plural pronouns when it reveals divine internal speech (that is, God says “us/our/let us” in verses like Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7 although God also often uses first person singular verbs to describe divine action [as in Genesis 1:29-30; 3:11, 15-17]). Given the teaching of God’s self-revelation as a whole, we must always affirm that there is only one God. However, God’s use of a plural noun and plural pronouns in the early chapters of the Bible should begin to raise questions about what the one true God is like. With subsequent revelation, the faithful reader begins to see there is a specific sense in which our relationship to God (and God’s internal relations) involve more than one divine person.