At the beginning of the Bible we are told that human beings are an honored part of God’s creation. In fact, we are told that God created man in His own image! The Hebrew word for image is “tselem” which is derived from a shorter Hebrew word, “tzel”, meaning “shadow.” Do you see the connection? When the beams of light fall upon anything, a shadow (tzel) appears next to it. According to the Bible, a human being is nothing less than the image (tzelem) of God because in many ways he/she wondrously reflects/shadows God’s perfection and beauty.
Another intriguing way in which we can see this connection is reflected in name “Bezalel.” Literally, Bezalel (Betzalel) means “in the shadow of God”. He was person appointed by God to create the Tabernacle and all its furnishings (Ex.31). The Tabernacle and everything inside it allowed the Ancient Israelites to approach God in order to worship.
When a human being worships the God of Heaven and Earth it is as if he or she steps into the very shadow of God, becoming part of it, reflecting God’s perfection and beauty.
© Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg. All rights reserved.
Thank you Dr.Eli,
I have a question as i journey through this path about being conformed to the image of His son Jesus.
if there is no shadow of turning in Him, who is the Light and Father-source- of lights, how then can He cast a shadow of Himself unless He is subjected to “another light”?
Appreciate your response.
You said: Another intriguing way in which we can see this connection is reflected in name “Bezalel.” Literally, Bezalel (Betzalel) means “in the shadow of God”. He was person appointed by God to create the Tabernacle and all its furnishings (Ex.31). The Tabernacle and everything inside it allowed the Ancient Israelites to approach God in order to worship.
What is the Hebrew word for tabernacle. How are the ideas connected?
The word is ohel (אוֹהֶל). There is no grammatical connection here. In John 1:14 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Dwelt with us could also be translated as pitched a tent or tabernacled.
Thanks Dr Eli…..you just leave me freaked out at every topic….eye opening opportunity for me…thanks and keep me posted…
I assume in this context freaked out is a positive reference :-). Blessings and much peace, Dr. Eli
Great insight and very novel for me. The relation of image to shadow is striking and in the end seems obviously evident.
One of the first experiments to explain particle phisycs specially quantum theory made use of a source of light and a grid. The light that passed the grid produced regularly spaced shadows which could only be explained if the light itself was a continous series of waves and not a series of things called photons. So, the light, being itself a contious expression of energy, thus having no intrinsic shadow, indeed creates ashadow when passing through a grid.
If we take the concept of grid as Creation, then it follows that God, although having no shadows Himself, indeed casts a shadow of Himself in Creation specially in his creature “par excellence”: the adama, ie., humanity. The shadow then, is a direct consequence of the act of creation by God and the explanation in the Bible is, by itself, the operations manual of Creation.
A quantum Creation? Lets continue the saga in this exciting journey through Jewish roots exegesis of the Gospels…
I wonder if this is what the church means when we say were seeking to be in the presence of God. Is this what the New Testament would refer to being full of the Spirit. where you are a vessel that is filled up by the spirit of God because you have being in His presence His life is reproduced in us . after it”s kind.Jesus was full of power and aware when it went out from Him . In Acts people put out the sick for peters shadow to fall on them . Why did they believe it to be a copy of peter or were they simply displaying great faith?
Father in Heaven, help us to be true shadows of Your love, comfort, compassion and healing in this suffering world. Forgive us for the times we have fallen short and have not reflected Your true image to the world. Help us to live as Your people. Help us to love the things You love and to hate what You hate. Help us to worship You and serve You in the ways You want us to, not in the ways we assume You want us to. Give us new hearts to love and obey You.
Amen.
great way to prey to God , may he keep filling your life with true worship like that
Dear friend, welcome to Jewish Studies for Christians. Thank you for your first comment. Dr. Eli
Thank you for this study. It gives me a better understanding of God’s word.
The the tabernacle was a type and shadow.
Thanks again.
Excellent article. Hebrew brings the Bible to life. God is beyond our understanding, but the Hebrew understanding brings a richness no other language can bring. Keep up the good work, Dr Eli.
Thanks, Gail.
Love the photo for this post!
Dr.Lizorkin-Eyzemberg shalom,Gracias por permitir aceptarme a su grupo de estudio, donde se ampliaran mis conocimientos Bíblicos y mi crecimiento espiritual.El tema EN SU PROPIA IMAGEN: LA SOMBRA DE DIOS,es muy interesante y profundizadas por personas preparadas como usted.Que DI-S lo Bendiga.