COMPLETELY OTHER

Uniquely Unique

There’s no better way to describe our God — Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the Most High God! Being “completely other“ indicates He is peculiar, different, set apart, unique, and completely other than ordinary. In other words, YHWH) is Completely Other and Uniquely Unique!

A SUPERNATURAL WORLDVIEW

Consider the worldview of the ancient Israelites. They had an awareness of the supernatural and its influence in individual lives, nations and realms (both heavenly and terrestrial). They knew about and often worshipped other gods.

There were two kinds of people in ancient times (not any different than today) … there were the children of Israel and heirs to the promise of God through covenant. And, there were all others who lived outside the covenant promises God made to the family of Abraham.

The ancient Near Eastern cultures were very familiar with the worship of and sacrifice to other gods through the rituals often interwoven into their cultures. These rituals often consisted of divination and other forms of worship forbidden by the God of Israel. God used rituals and forms of worship to separate His people from those who worshipped other gods.

God wasn’t content to simply give Israelites an intellectual explanation of holiness. He wanted the concept of his otherness to permeate life in ancient Israel. The Bible tells us this was accomplished through rituals (symbolic acts) and by rules for approaching sacred areas. [1]

OTHER THAN ORDINARY

“LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.” (1 Kings 8:23)

What does this mean, actually? God is unique. There is no one–no being or entity (supernatural or natural) like Him — no other, whether heavenly or terrestrial, who can compare with Him. There is no god like our God. Hs is in a class of His own.

The word unique is defined as, “existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics; having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable; the sole example, single, solitary in type or characteristics.”  [2]

The quality of being unique is how Scripture describes God. Among all the gods of the nations (see Deuteronomy 32), among all the celestial beings, whether holy or unholy (rebellious), there was not, is not and never will be any god who can be held in comparison to Yahweh, the Most High God. He is, indeed, other than ordinary.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Yahweh’s otherness makes Him worthy of all our praise, all our worship, all our sacrifice, all our devotion, all our loyalty. We shall ever ascribe to Him glory and honor and wisdom and strength for in Him and Him alone is found Life everlasting for all those who love Him and serve Him with their whole hearts!

1 Chronicles 16:25 … “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.”

Psalm 96:4 … “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”

Isaiah 43:21 … “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

Psalm 145:3 … “and his greatness is unsearchable.”

1 Peter 2:9 … “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Psalm 138:2 … “I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

Psalm 117:1-2 … “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

Psalm 100:5 … “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Revelation 4:11 … “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Zephaniah 3:17 … “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Psalm 106:1 … “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!“

A final thought … mankind is made in God’s image which makes us unique among all creation!

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV).

The King James Version actually uses the term “peculiar people” which helps us understand that God’s people, those whose heart reflects the heart of God, are indeed peculiar, different, set apart, unique … other.

Our lives should reflect an otherness not found outside of Christ. We should stand out as peculiar, unique, different and set apart. After all our Father is all of that and more!

As imagers of God, transformed into the likeness of Christ through His shed blood, we become God’s “peculiar” people. In Christ, we are different, set apart, unique. We become other as we bear the image of our Father who is completely other.

[1] Heiser, M. S. (2015). Supernatural: What the Bible Teaches about the Unseen World—And Why It Matters. (D. Lambert, Ed.) (pp. 77–85). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[2] Dictionary.com, accessed January 16, 2022, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/unique