The Otherness of God
In Chapter
2, the Holy Spirit records for us the prayer-song of Hannah after the birth of
her son, Samuel. Hannah’s prayer begins on a high note with personal
expressions of pure joy and enthusiastic delight in the Lord and His salvation. In verse 2 she declares, “there is none holy
like the LORD.” By these words, she is
declaring the distinct and utter uniqueness of God.
The root
word for “holy” in the original Hebrew language is, “qodesh.” It means “apartness” or “set-apartness.” It
is a word that describes the matchlessness and exclusiveness of God. Someone has rightly said that this word means
“otherness,” thus describing the total exceptionalness of God. This word applies to God because He is – in His
person and substance – totally “other than” anyone or anything else. The Oxford Dictionary defines “otherness” as “the
quality or fact of being different.”
The LORD is exceptionally rare – in fact, so rare that He is other than
anything or anyone else.
Hannah
goes on in her prayer-song to point out some of the rare qualities of God that
make up His “otherness.” For the Lord alone is a God of knowledge - God knows what’s going on. He alone takes into
account everything that is going on. Even mighty people can be defeated – and their
weapons destroyed, but not the LORD, who is not feeble in any way. God is the only
One who can bring life out of barrenness.
He alone has the power of life and death. The LORD is the One who controls poverty and
wealth. He makes some poor and some
rich. He alone can put poor people on their feet again. He
rekindles burned-out lives with fresh hope.
Hannah goes on to say
the “otherness” of God extends to His creative acts and His care for His
faithful ones. The very structures of
earth are within the realm of God, and God alone. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord’s, and on them
he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones but
will leave the wicked to stumble in the dark.
The strength of the mighty warriors is insufficient to defeat God’s
purposes - for not by might shall a man prevail.
God
is not like any human. He is other than
us. God is not like any “superhero” or “champion.” He is other than them in every way. God is not like any so-called “god” or “deity”
which has been fabricated in the minds of men.
He is other than them. He is
holy. He is apart. He is other than anyone or anything ever
conceived. There is none holy like the LORD; for there is none besides You;
there is no rock like our God!
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