Knowing God’s Work and His Disposition

GOSPEL OF THE DESCENT OF THE KINGDOM  国度降临福音 Guódù jiànglín fúyīn

Knowing God’s Work and His Disposition

认识神的作工与神的性情 rènshí shén de zuò gōng yǔ shén dì xìngqíng

How to know God’s disposition from His work

如何从神的作工中认识神的性情 rúhé cóng shén de zuò gōng zhōng rènshí shén dì xìngqíng

Relevant Words of God: 神的相关话语：Shén de xiāngguān huàyǔ:

Since the existence of God’s management, He has always been fully dedicated to carrying out His work. 自从神的经营存在以来，他一直都在尽职尽责地进行着他的工作。Zìcóng shén de jīngyíng cúnzài yǐlái, tā yīzhí dōu zài jìnzhí jìnzé de jìnxíngzhe tā de gōngzuò.

 Despite veiling His Spirit from man, He has always been by man’s side, doing work on man, expressing His disposition, guiding all of humanity with His essence, and doing His work on every single person through His might, His wisdom, and His authority, thus bringing into being the Age of Law, the Age of Grace, and today’s Age of Kingdom. 虽然他的灵不在人面前，但他一直都在人的身边，作工在人身上，发表他的性情，用他的实质带领全人类，用他的威能、他的智慧、他的权柄作在每一个人身上 ，从而产生了律法时代、恩典时代和今天的国度时代。Suīrán tā de líng bùzài rén miànqián, dàn tā yīzhí dōu zài rén de shēnbiān, zuò gōng zài rén shēnshang, fābiǎo tā dì xìngqíng, yòng tā de shízhì dàilǐng quán rénlèi, yòng tā de wēi néng, tā de zhìhuì, tā de quánbǐng zuò zài měi yīgè rén shēnshang, cóng'ér chǎnshēngle lǜ fǎ shídài, ēndiǎn shídài hé jīntiān de guódù shídài.

Though God conceals His personalities from man, His disposition, His being and possessions, and His will toward mankind are unreservedly revealed to man for man to see and experience. In other words, though human beings cannot see or touch God, the disposition and essence of God encountered by humanity are absolutely expressions of God Himself. Is that not the truth? 神虽然向人隐藏了他的灵性人格，但他的性情、他的所是与所有、他对人类的心意都毫无保留地显明给人看见、给人经历。 也就是说，人虽然看不见摸不着神，但人所遇到的神的性情、神的实质绝对是神自己的发表。 这不是事实吗？Shén suīrán xiàng rén yǐncángle tā de língxìng réngé, dàn tā dì xìngqíng, tā de suǒ shì yǔ suǒyǒu, tā duì rénlèi de xīnyì dōu háo wú bǎoliú dì xiǎnmíng jǐ rén kànjiàn, jǐ rén jīnglì. Yě jiùshì shuō, rén suīrán kàn bùjiàn mō bùzháo shén, dàn rén suǒ yù dào de shén dì xìngqíng, shén de shízhì juéduì shì shén zìjǐ de fǎ biǎo. Zhè bùshì shìshí ma?

 Regardless of the way or angle of approach God chooses for His work, He always treats people through His true identity, does the work incumbent upon Him, and says the words He is bound to say. 神作工无论选择何种方式、角度，总是以真实身份待人，做他该做的工作，说他该说的话。Shén zuò gōng wúlùn xuǎnzé hé zhǒng fāngshì, jiǎodù, zǒng shì yǐ zhēnshí shēnfèn dàirén, zuò tā gāi zuò de gōngzuò, shuō tā gāi shuō dehuà.

No matter what position God speaks from—He could be standing in the third heaven, or standing in the flesh, or even as an ordinary person—He always speaks to man with all His heart and all His mind, without any deception or concealment. 不管神站在什么地位上说话——可以站在三层天上，也可以站在肉身里，甚至以一个普通人的身份——他总是全心全意地对人说话，没有任何欺骗或隐瞒。 Bùguǎn shén zhàn zài shénme dìwèi shàng shuōhuà——kěyǐ zhàn zài sān céng tiānshàng, yě kěyǐ zhàn zài ròushēn lǐ, shènzhì yǐ yīgè pǔtōng rén de shēnfèn——tā zǒng shì quánxīnquányì dì duì rén shuōhuà, méiyǒu rènhé qīpiàn huò yǐnmán.

When He carries out His work, God expresses His word and His disposition, and expresses what He has and is, without any reservation whatsoever. He guides mankind with His life and His being and possessions. 神在作工的时候发表他的话语，发表他的性情，发表他的所有所是，毫无保留。 祂以祂的生命、存在和财产引导人类。Shén zài zuò gōng de shíhòu fābiǎo tā de huàyǔ, fābiǎo tā dì xìngqíng, fābiǎo tā de suǒyǒu suǒ shì, háo wú bǎoliú. Tā yǐ tā de shēngmìng, cúnzài hé cáichǎn yǐndǎo rénlèi.

—The Word, Volume 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself 1[——圣言，第 2 卷。论认识上帝。 神的作工、神的性情与神自己1. ——Shèng yán, dì 2 juǎn. Lùn rènshí shàngdì. Shén de zuò gōng, shén dì xìngqíng yǔ shén zìjǐ 1 ]

God’s disposition is open to everyone and is not hidden, because God has never consciously avoided any person and has never consciously sought to conceal Himself to prevent people from knowing Him or understanding Him.神的性情是向每一个人敞开的，没有隐藏的，因为神从来没有刻意避开任何人，也从来没有刻意要隐藏自己，让人不认识他、不了解他。Shén dì xìngqíng shì xiàng měi yīgè rén chǎngkāi de, méiyǒu yǐncáng de, yīnwèi shén cónglái méiyǒu kèyì bì kāi rènhé rén, yě cónglái méiyǒu kèyì yào yǐncáng zìjǐ, ràng rén bù rènshí tā, bù liǎojiě tā. God’s disposition has always been to be open and to face each person candidly. 神的性情向来是敞开心扉，坦诚面对每一个人。Shén dì xìngqíng xiànglái shì chǎngkāi xīnfēi, tǎnchéng miàn duì měi yīgè rén. In God’s management, God does His work, facing everyone, and His work is done on every single person. 在神的经营中，神作的工作是面向每一个人的，神的工作是作在每一个人身上的。Zài shén de jīngyíng zhōng, shén zuò de gōngzuò shì miànxiàng měi yīgè rén de, shén de gōngzuò shì zuò zài měi yīgè rén shēnshang de. As He does this work, He is continuously revealing His disposition and continuously using His essence, what He has and what He is, to guide and to provide for every single person. 他在作这项工作的同时，也在不断地流露出他的性情，不断地用他的实质、他的所有、他的所是来带领供应每一个人。Tā zài zuò zhè xiàng gōngzuò de tóngshí, yě zài bùduàn de liúlù chū tā dì xìngqíng, bùduàn de yòng tā de shízhì, tā de suǒyǒu, tā de suǒ shì lái dàilǐng gōngyìng měi yīgè rén. In every age and at every stage, regardless of whether the circumstances are good or bad, God’s disposition is always open to each individual, and His possessions and being are always open to each individual, just as His life is constantly and unceasingly providing for and supporting mankind. 在每一个时代、每一个阶段，无论环境是好是坏，神的性情总是向每一个人敞开，神的所有与所是永远向每一个人敞开，正如神的生命在不断地供应、不断地供应、 支持人类。Zài měi yīgè shídài, měi yīgè jiēduàn, wúlùn huánjìng shì hǎo shì huài, shén dì xìngqíng zǒng shì xiàng měi yīgè rén chǎngkāi, shén de suǒyǒu yǔ suǒ shì yǒngyuǎn xiàng měi yīgè rén chǎngkāi, zhèngrú shén de shēngmìng zài bùduàn de gōngyìng, bùduàn de gōngyìng, zhīchí rénlèi.

—The Word, Volume 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself 1[——圣言，第 2 卷。论认识上帝。 神的作工、神的性情与神自己1. ——Shèng yán, dì 2 juǎn. Lùn rènshí shàngdì. Shén de zuò gōng, shén dì xìngqíng yǔ shén zìjǐ 1 ]

The three stages of work are at the heart of God’s entire management, and in them are expressed the disposition of God and what He is. 三步工作是神全部经营的核心，发表神的性情与神的所是。Sān bù gōngzuò shì shén quánbù jīngyíng de héxīn, fābiǎo shén dì xìngqíng yǔ shén de suǒ shì. Those who do not know of the three stages of God’s work are incapable of realizing how God expresses His disposition, nor do they know the wisdom of God’s work. 不认识神三步作工的人就无法认识神是如何发表他的性情的，也不知道神作工的智慧。Bù rènshí shén sān bù zuò gōng de rén jiù wúfǎ rènshí shén shì rúhé fābiǎo tā dì xìngqíng de, yě bù zhīdào shén zuò gōng de zhìhuì. They also remain ignorant of the many ways in which He saves mankind, and of His will for the whole of mankind. 他们也不知道他拯救人类的许多方式，以及他对全人类的旨意。Tāmen yě bù zhīdào tā zhěngjiù rénlèi de xǔduō fāngshì, yǐjí tā duì quán rénlèi de zhǐyì. The three stages of work are the full expression of the work of saving mankind. 三步工作是拯救人类工作的充分体现。Sān bù gōngzuò shì zhěngjiù rénlèi gōngzuò de chōngfèn tǐxiàn. Those who do not know the three stages of work will be ignorant of the various methods and principles of the Holy Spirit’s work, and those who only rigidly stick to doctrine that is left over from a certain stage of work are people who limit God to doctrine, and whose belief in God is vague and uncertain. 不认识三步作工的人就不知道圣灵作工的各种方法原则，只死守某步工作遗留下来的道理的人就是把神限制在道理上的人 , 他们对上帝的信仰是模糊和不确定的。Bù rènshí sān bù zuò gōng de rén jiù bù zhīdào shènglíng zuò gōng de gè zhǒng fāngfǎ yuánzé, zhǐ sǐshǒu mǒu bù gōngzuò yíliú xiàlái de dàolǐ de rén jiùshì bǎ shén xiànzhì zài dàolǐ shàng de rén, tāmen duì shàngdì de xìnyǎng shì móhú hé bù quèdìng de. Such people will never receive God’s salvation. 这样的人永远得不到神的救恩。Zhèyàng de rén yǒngyuǎn dé bù dào shén de jiù ēn.  Only the three stages of God’s work can fully express the entirety of God’s disposition and completely express God’s intention of saving the whole of mankind, and the entire process of mankind’s salvation. 只有神的三步作工才能完全发表神的全部性情，完全发表神拯救全人类的心意、拯救人类的全过程。Zhǐyǒu shén de sān bù zuò gōng cáinéng wánquán fābiǎo shén de quánbù xìngqíng, wánquán fābiǎo shén zhěngjiù quán rénlèi de xīnyì, zhěngjiù rénlèi de quán guòchéng. This is proof that He has defeated Satan and gained mankind; it is proof of God’s victory, and is the expression of God’s entire disposition. 这是他打败撒但得着人类的证据； 这是神得胜的凭据，是神全部性情的发表。Zhè shì tā dǎbài sā dàn dézháo rénlèi de zhèngjù; zhè shì shén déshèng de píngjù, shì shén quánbù xìngqíng de fǎ biǎo.Those who understand only one stage of the three stages of God’s work know only part of God’s disposition. 人只明白神三步作工中的一步，就只知道神的一部分性情。Rén zhǐ míngbái shén sān bù zuò gōng zhōng de yībù, jiù zhǐ zhīdào shén de yībùfèn xìngqíng. In the notions of man, it is easy for this single stage of work to become doctrine, and it becomes likely that man will establish fixed rules about God and use this single part of God’s disposition as a representation of God’s entire disposition. 在人的观念中，这一步工作很容易成为教义，人就很可能对神定下固定的规矩，以神的这一部分性情来代表神的全部性情。Zài rén de guānniàn zhōng, zhè yībù gōngzuò hěn róngyì chéngwéi jiàoyì, rén jiù hěn kěnéng duì shén dìng xià gùdìng de guījǔ, yǐ shén de zhè yībùfèn xìngqíng lái dàibiǎo shén de quánbù xìngqíng. Furthermore, much of man’s imagination is mixed within, such that man rigidly constrains the disposition, being, and wisdom of God, as well as the principles of God’s work, within limited parameters, believing that if God was like this once, then He will remain the same for all time and never change. 而且里面夹杂着很多人的想象，以致于人把神的性情、神的所是、神的智慧、神作工的原则死板地约束在有限的范围内，认为神曾经这样，以后就这样了。 永远保持不变，永不改变。Érqiě lǐmiàn jiázázhe hěnduō rén de xiǎngxiàng, yǐzhì yú rén bǎ shén dì xìngqíng, shén de suǒ shì, shén de zhìhuì, shén zuò gōng de yuánzé sǐbǎn de yuēshù zài yǒuxiàn de fànwéi nèi, rènwéi shén céngjīng zhèyàng, yǐhòu jiù zhèyàngle. Yǒngyuǎn bǎochí bù biàn, yǒng bù gǎibiàn. Only those who know and appreciate the three stages of work can fully and accurately know God.只有认识、体会到三步作工的人，才能对神有全面准确的认识。Zhǐyǒu rènshí, tǐhuì dào sān bù zuò gōng de rén, cáinéng duì shén yǒu quánmiàn zhǔnquè de rènshí.  At the very least, they will not define God as the God of the Israelites, or the Jews, and will not see Him as a God who will be forever nailed to the cross for the sake of man. 最起码，他们不会把神定义为以色列人的神，犹太人的神，不会把神看成是为人永远钉在十字架上的神。Zuì qǐmǎ, tāmen bù huì bǎ shén dìngyì wèi yǐsèliè rén de shén, yóutàirén de shén, bù huì bǎ shén kàn chéng shì wéirén yǒngyuǎn dīng zài shízìjià shàng de shén. If one only comes to know God from one stage of His work, then their knowledge is far too small, and amounts to no more than a drop in the ocean. 人若只是在神一步作工上认识神，那认识就太少了，不过是沧海一粟。 Rén ruò zhǐshì zài shén yībù zuò gōng shàng rènshí shén, nà rènshí jiù tài shǎole, bùguò shì cānghǎiyīsù. If not, why would many of the religious old guard nail God to the cross alive? If not, why would many of the religious old guard nail God to the cross alive? 如果不是，为什么许多宗教老卫士会把上帝活活钉在十字架上？Rúguǒ bùshì, wèishéme xǔduō zōngjiào lǎo wèishì huì bǎ shàngdì huóhuó dīng zài shízìjià shàng?  Is it not because man confines God within certain parameters? 不就是因为人把神限制在一定的范围内吗？Bù jiùshì yīn wéi rén bǎ shén xiànzhì zài yīdìng de fànwéi nèi ma?

●The Word, Volume 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God.●圣言卷一。神的显现与作为。 认识神的三步作工是认识神的途径●Shèng yán juǎn yī. Shén de xiǎnxiàn yǔ zuòwéi. Rènshí shén de sān bù zuò gōng shì rènshí shén de tújìng

The three stages of work are a record of the entire work of God; they are a record of God’s salvation of mankind, and they are not imaginary. 三步作工是神全部作工的记载； 是神拯救人类的记载，不是虚构的。Sān bù zuò gōng shì shén quánbù zuò gōng de jìzǎi; shì shén zhěngjiù rénlèi de jìzǎi, bùshì xūgòu de. If you truly wish to seek a knowledge of God’s entire disposition, then you must know the three stages of work carried out by God, and, furthermore, you must not omit any stage.真要寻求认识神的全部性情，就得认识神作的三步工作，而且哪一步都不能漏掉。 Zhēn yào xúnqiú rènshí shén de quánbù xìngqíng, jiù dé rènshí shén zuò de sān bù gōngzuò, érqiě nǎ yībù dōu bùnéng lòu diào.This is the minimum that must be achieved by those who seek to know God. 这是寻求认识神的人必须达到的最低限度。Zhè shì xúnqiú rènshí shén de rén bìxū dádào de zuìdī xiàndù. Man himself cannot fabricate a true knowledge of God. 人自己无法捏造出对上帝的真正认识。Rén zìjǐ wúfǎ niēzào chū duì shàngdì de zhēnzhèng rènshí. This is not something that man himself can imagine, nor is it the consequence of the Holy Spirit’s special favor granted to a single person. 这不是人自己所能想象的，也不是圣灵特别恩待一个人的结果。Zhè bùshì rén zìjǐ suǒ néng xiǎngxiàng de, yě bùshì shènglíng tèbié ēn dài yīgè rén de jiéguǒ. Rather, it is a knowledge that comes after man has experienced the work of God, and it is a knowledge of God that only comes after having experienced the facts of God’s work. 而是人经历了神的作工之后的认识，是经历了神作工的事实之后对神的认识。Ér shì rén jīnglìle shén de zuò gōng zhīhòu de rènshí, shì jīnglìle shén zuò gōng de shìshí zhīhòu duì shén de rènshí. Such a knowledge cannot be gotten readily, and nor is it something that can be taught.这样的知识是不容易得来的，也不是可以传授的。Zhèyàng de zhīshì shì bù róngyì dé lái de, yě bùshì kěyǐ chuánshòu de. It is wholly related to personal experience. 这完全与个人经历有关。Zhè wánquán yǔ gèrén jīnglì yǒuguān. God’s salvation of mankind is at the core of these three stages of work, yet within the work of salvation are included several methods of working and several means by which God’s disposition is expressed. This is what is most difficult for man to identify, and it is this that is difficult for man to understand. The separation of the ages, changes in God’s work, changes in the location of work, changes in the recipient of this work, and so on—these are all included in the three stages of work. In particular, the difference in the Holy Spirit’s way of working, as well as alterations in God’s disposition, image, name, identity, or other changes, are all part of the three stages of work. One stage of work can only represent one part, and is limited within a certain scope. It does not involve the separation of the ages, or changes in God’s work, much less the other aspects. This is a clearly obvious fact. The three stages of work are the entirety of God’s work in saving mankind. Man must know God’s work and God’s disposition in the work of salvation; without this fact, your knowledge of God consists of nothing but hollow words, nothing more than armchair pontification.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Knowing the Three Stages of God’s Work Is the Path to Knowing God

In this record of Noah’s story, do you see a part of God’s disposition? There is a limit to God’s patience toward man’s corruption, filthiness, and violence. When He reaches that limit, He will no longer be patient and will instead begin His new management and new plan, start to do what He has to do, reveal His deeds and the other side of His disposition. This action of His is not to demonstrate that He must never be offended by man or that He is full of authority and wrath, and it is not to show that He can destroy humanity. It is that His disposition and His holy essence can no longer allow or have the patience for this kind of humanity to live before Him, to live under His dominion. That is to say, when all of mankind is against Him, when there is no one He can save on the whole earth, He will no longer have patience for such a humanity and will, without any misgiving, carry out His plan—to destroy this kind of humanity. Such an act by God is determined by His disposition. This is a necessary consequence, and a consequence that every created being under God’s dominion must bear. Does this not show that in this current age, God cannot wait to complete His plan and save the people He wants to save? Under these circumstances, what does God care about the most? Not how those who do not follow Him at all or those who oppose Him anyway treat Him or resist Him, or how mankind is slandering Him. He only cares about whether those who follow Him, the objects of His salvation in His management plan, have been made complete by Him, whether they have become worthy of His satisfaction. As for the people other than those who follow Him, He merely occasionally provides a bit of punishment to express His wrath. For example: tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. At the same time, He is also strongly protecting and looking after those who follow Him and are about to be saved by Him. God’s disposition is this: On the one hand, He can have extreme patience and tolerance toward the people He intends to make complete, and He can wait for them for as long as He possibly can; on the other hand, God passionately hates and loathes the Satan-type of people who do not follow Him and oppose Him. Although He does not care whether these Satan-types follow Him or worship Him, He still detests them while having patience for them in His heart, and as He determines the ending of these Satan-types, He is also waiting for the arrival of the steps of His management plan.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I

Originally, God created a humanity that in His eyes was very good and close to Him, but they were destroyed by flood after rebelling against Him. Did it hurt God that such a humanity just instantly vanished like that? Of course it hurt! So what was His expression of this pain? How was it recorded in the Bible? It was recorded in the Bible in these words: “And I will establish My covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” This simple sentence reveals God’s thoughts. This destruction of the world pained Him very much. In man’s words, He was very sad. We can imagine: How did the earth that was once full of life look like after being destroyed by the flood? What did the earth, that was once full of human beings, look like at that time? No human habitation, no living creatures, water everywhere and utter devastation on the surface of the water. Was such a scene God’s original intention when He created the world? Of course not! God’s original intention was to see life all across the land, to see the human beings He created worshiping Him, not just for Noah to be the only one worshiping Him or the only one who could answer His call to complete what was entrusted to him. When humanity disappeared, God saw not what He had originally intended but the complete opposite. How could His heart not be in pain? So when He was revealing His disposition and expressing His emotions, God made a decision. What kind of a decision did He make? To make a bow in the cloud (that is, the rainbows that we see) as a covenant with man, a promise that God would not destroy mankind with a flood again. At the same time, it was also to tell people that God had destroyed the world with a flood, so that mankind would forever remember why God would do such a thing.

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What part of God’s disposition should we learn about from this? God had despised man because man was hostile to Him, but in His heart, His care, concern, and mercy for humanity remained unchanged. Even when He destroyed mankind, His heart remained unchanged. When humanity was full of corruption and disobedient toward God to a grievous extent, God had to destroy this humanity, because of His disposition and His essence, and in accordance with His principles. But because of God’s essence, He still pitied mankind, and even wanted to use various ways to redeem mankind so they could continue to live. Man, however, opposed God, continued to disobey God, and refused to accept God’s salvation; that is, refused to accept His good intentions. No matter how God called to them, reminded them, supplied them, helped them, or tolerated them, man did not understand or appreciate it, nor did they pay attention. In His pain, God still did not forget to grant man His maximum tolerance, waiting for man to reverse course. After He reached His limit, He did what He had to do without any hesitation. In other words, there was a specific time period and process from the moment God planned to destroy mankind to the start of His work in destroying mankind. This process existed for the purpose of enabling man to reverse course, and this was the last chance God gave to man. So what did God do in this period before destroying mankind? God did a significant amount of reminding and exhorting work. No matter how much pain and sorrow God’s heart was in, He continued to vest His care, concern, and abundant mercy in humanity. What do we see from this? Undoubtedly, we see that God’s love for mankind is real and not something He merely pays lip service to. It is actual, tangible and appreciable, not feigned, adulterated, deceitful or pretentious. God never uses any deception or creates false images to make people see that He is lovable. He never uses false testimony to let people see His loveliness, or to flaunt His loveliness and holiness. Are these aspects of God’s disposition not worthy of man’s love? Are they not worth worshiping? Are they not worth cherishing? At this point, I want to ask you: After hearing these words, do you think God’s greatness is merely empty words on a sheet of paper? Is God’s loveliness just empty words? No! Certainly not! God’s supremacy, greatness, holiness, tolerance, love, and so forth—every detail of every one of the various aspects of God’s disposition and essence find practical expression every time He does His work, are embodied in His will toward man, and are also fulfilled and reflected in every person. Regardless of whether you have felt it before, God is caring for every person in every possible way, using His sincere heart, wisdom, and various methods to warm each person’s heart, and awaken each person’s spirit. This is an indisputable fact.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself I

God’s use of fire to destroy the city of Sodom is His swiftest method of utterly annihilating a humanity or any other thing. Burning the people of Sodom destroyed more than their physical bodies; it destroyed the entirety of their spirits, their souls and their bodies, ensuring that the people inside the city would cease to exist in both the material world and the world that is invisible to man. This is one way in which God reveals and expresses His wrath. This manner of revelation and expression is one aspect of the essence of God’s wrath, just as it is naturally also a revelation of the essence of God’s righteous disposition. When God sends forth His wrath, He ceases to reveal any mercy or lovingkindness, nor does He display any more of His tolerance or patience; there is no person, thing or reason that can persuade Him to continue to be patient, to give His mercy again, to bestow His tolerance once more. In place of these things, without a moment’s hesitation, God sends forth His wrath and majesty, doing what He desires. He will do these things in a swift and clean manner in accordance with His own wishes. This is the way in which God sends forth His wrath and majesty, which man must not offend, and it is also an expression of one aspect of His righteous disposition. When people witness God showing concern and love toward man, they are unable to detect His wrath, see His majesty or feel His intolerance toward offense. These things have always led people to believe that God’s righteous disposition is one solely of mercy, tolerance and love. However, when one sees God destroy a city or detest a humanity, His rage in the destruction of man and His majesty allow people to glimpse the other side of His righteous disposition. This is God’s intolerance to offense. God’s disposition that tolerates no offense surpasses the imagination of any created being, and among the non-created beings, none is capable of interfering with it or affecting it; even less can it be impersonated or imitated. Thus, this aspect of God’s disposition is the one that humanity should know the most. Only God Himself has this kind of disposition, and only God Himself is possessed of this kind of disposition. God is possessed of this kind of righteous disposition because He detests wickedness, darkness, rebelliousness and Satan’s evil acts—corrupting and devouring mankind—because He detests all acts of sin in opposition to Him and because of His holy and undefiled essence. It is because of this that He will not suffer any of the created or non-created beings to openly oppose or contest Him. Even an individual to whom He had once shown mercy or whom He had chosen, need only provoke His disposition and transgress His principles of patience and tolerance, and God will unleash and reveal His righteous disposition that tolerates no offense without the least bit of mercy or hesitation.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique II

There are principles to God’s actions, and prior to making a decision He will spend a long time observing and deliberating; He will definitely not make any decisions or jump to any conclusions before the time is right. The exchanges between Abraham and God show us that God’s decision to destroy Sodom was not in the slightest bit wrong, for God already knew that in the city there were not forty righteous, nor thirty righteous, nor twenty. There were not even ten. The only righteous person in the city was Lot. All that happened in Sodom and its circumstances were observed by God, and were as familiar to God as the back of His own hand. Thus, His decision could not be wrong. In contrast, compared to the almightiness of God, man is so numb, so foolish and ignorant, so short-sighted. This is what we see in the exchanges between Abraham and God. God has been issuing forth His disposition from the beginning until today. Here, likewise, there is also the disposition of God that we should see. Numbers are simple—they do not demonstrate anything—but here there is a very important expression of God’s disposition. God would not destroy the city because of fifty righteous. Is this due to the mercy of God? Is it because of His love and tolerance? Have you seen this side of God’s disposition? Even if there were only ten righteous, God would not have destroyed the city, because of these ten righteous people. Is this or is this not the tolerance and love of God? Because of God’s mercy, tolerance, and concern toward those righteous people, He would not have destroyed the city. This is the tolerance of God. And in the end, what outcome do we see? When Abraham said, “Peradventure ten shall be found there,” God said, “I will not destroy it.” After that, Abraham said no more—for within Sodom there were not the ten righteous he referred to, and he had no more to say, and at that time he understood why God had resolved to destroy Sodom. In this, what disposition of God do you see? What kind of resolution did God make? God resolved that, if this city had not ten righteous, He would not permit its existence, and would inevitably destroy it. Is this not the wrath of God? Does this wrath represent God’s disposition? Is this disposition the revelation of God’s holy essence? Is it the revelation of God’s righteous essence, which man must not offend? Having confirmed that there were not ten righteous in Sodom, God was certain to destroy the city, and would severely punish the people within that city, for they opposed God, and because they were so filthy and corrupt.

… The mercy and tolerance of God do indeed exist, but God’s holiness and righteousness when He unleashes His wrath also show man the side of God that brooks no offense. When man is fully capable of obeying the commands of God and acts in accordance with God’s requirements, God is abundant in His mercy toward man; when man has been filled with corruption, hatred and enmity for Him, God is profoundly angry. To what extent is He profoundly angry? His wrath will last until God no longer sees man’s resistance and evil deeds, until they are no longer before His eyes. Only then will God’s anger disappear. In other words, no matter who the person is, if their heart has become distant from God and turned away from God, never to return, then regardless of how, to all appearances or in terms of their subjective desires, they wish to worship and follow and obey God in their body or in their thinking, God’s wrath will be unleashed without cease. It will be such that when God deeply unleashes His anger, having given man ample opportunities, once it is unleashed there will be no way of taking it back, and He will never again be merciful and tolerant of such a mankind. This is one side of God’s disposition that tolerates no offense. Here, it seems normal to people that God would destroy a city, for, in God’s eyes, a city full of sin could not exist and continue to remain, and it was rational that it should be destroyed by God. Yet in that which happened prior to and following His destruction of Sodom, we see the entirety of God’s disposition. He is tolerant and merciful toward things that are kind and beautiful and good; toward things that are evil, sinful, and wicked, He is profoundly wrathful, such that He is unceasing in His wrath. These are the two principal and most prominent aspects of God’s disposition, and, moreover, they have been revealed by God from beginning to end: abundant mercy and profound wrath.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself II

Jehovah, after creating mankind, did not instruct or guide them from Adam to Noah. Rather, it was not until after the flood destroyed the world that He formally began to guide the Israelites, who were the descendants of Noah and also of Adam. His work and utterances in Israel gave guidance to all the people of Israel as they lived their lives throughout the land of Israel, thereby showing humanity that Jehovah was not only able to blow breath into man, so that he might have life from Him and rise up from the dust into a created human being, but that He could also incinerate mankind, and curse mankind, and use His rod to govern mankind. So, too, did they see that Jehovah could guide man’s life on earth, and speak and work among humanity according to the hours of the day and of the night. The work He did was only so that His creatures might know that man came from dust picked up by Him, and moreover that man had been made by Him. Not only this, but He first did His work in Israel so that other peoples and nations (who in fact were not separate from Israel, but rather had branched off from the Israelites, yet were still descended from Adam and Eve) might receive the gospel of Jehovah from Israel, so that all created beings in the universe might be able to revere Jehovah and hold Him to be great.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Work in the Age of Law

During the Age of Law, Jehovah laid down many commandments for Moses to pass on to the Israelites who followed him out of Egypt. These commandments were given by Jehovah to the Israelites and bore no relation to the Egyptians; they were meant to restrain the Israelites, and He used the commandments to make demands of them. Whether they observed the Sabbath, whether they respected their parents, whether they worshiped idols, and so forth—these were the principles by which they were judged sinful or righteous. Among them, there were some who were struck by Jehovah’s fire, some who were stoned to death, and some who received Jehovah’s blessing, and this was determined according to whether or not they obeyed these commandments. Those who did not observe the Sabbath were stoned to death. Those priests who did not observe the Sabbath were struck by Jehovah’s fire. Those who did not show respect to their parents were also stoned to death. This was all commended by Jehovah. Jehovah established His commandments and laws so that, as He led them in their lives, the people would listen to and obey His word and not rebel against Him. He used these laws to keep the newborn human race under control, the better to lay the foundation for His future work. And so, based on the work that Jehovah did, the first age was called the Age of Law. Though Jehovah made many utterances and did much work, He only guided the people positively, teaching these ignorant people how to be human, how to live, how to understand Jehovah’s way. For the most part, the work He did was to cause the people to observe His way and follow His laws. The work was done on people who were shallowly corrupted; it did not extend as far as transforming their disposition or progress in life. He was only concerned with using laws to restrict and control the people. For the Israelites at that time, Jehovah was merely a God in the temple, a God in the heavens. He was a pillar of cloud, a pillar of fire. All Jehovah required them to do was obey what people today know as His laws and commandments—one could even say rules—because what Jehovah did was not meant to transform them, but to give them more things that man ought to have and to instruct them from His own mouth because, after being created, man had nothing that he ought to possess. And so, Jehovah gave to the people the things they ought to possess for their lives on earth, making the people that He had led surpass their ancestors, Adam and Eve, because what Jehovah gave them surpassed what He had given Adam and Eve in the beginning. Regardless, the work Jehovah did in Israel was only to guide humanity and make humanity recognize their Creator. He did not conquer them or transform them, but merely guided them. This is the sum of Jehovah’s work in the Age of Law. It is the background, the true story, the essence of His work in the whole land of Israel, and the beginning of His six thousand years of work—to keep mankind under the control of Jehovah’s hand. Out of this was born more work in His six-thousand-year management plan.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Work in the Age of Law

The work Jesus did was in accordance with the needs of man in that age. His task was to redeem humanity, to forgive them their sins, and so His disposition was wholly one of humility, patience, love, piety, forbearance, mercy, and lovingkindness. He brought to humanity abundant grace and blessings, and all the things that people could possibly enjoy, He gave to them for their enjoyment: peace and happiness, His tolerance and love, His mercy and lovingkindness. At the time, the abundance of things to enjoy that people were faced with—the sense of peace and security within their hearts, the feeling of reassurance within their spirits, and their dependence on Jesus the Savior—was all down to the age in which they lived. In the Age of Grace, man had already been corrupted by Satan, and so to achieve the work of redeeming all humanity required an abundance of grace, infinite forbearance and patience, and even more than that, an offering sufficient to atone for humanity’s sins, in order to have an effect. What humanity saw in the Age of Grace was merely My offering of atonement for the sins of humanity: Jesus. All they knew was that God could be merciful and forbearing, and all they saw was the mercy and lovingkindness of Jesus. This was entirely because they were born in the Age of Grace. And so, before they could be redeemed, they had to enjoy the many kinds of grace that Jesus bestowed on them in order to benefit from it. This way, they could be forgiven of their sins through their enjoyment of grace, and could also have the chance to be redeemed through enjoying Jesus’ forbearance and patience. Only through Jesus’ forbearance and patience did they win the right to receive forgiveness and enjoy the abundance of grace bestowed by Jesus. Just as Jesus said: I have come to redeem not the righteous but sinners, to allow sinners to be forgiven of their sins. If, when He became flesh, Jesus had brought the disposition of judgment, curse, and intolerance of man’s offenses, then man would never have had the chance to be redeemed, and would have remained forever sinful. Had this been so, the six-thousand-year management plan would have come to a stop in the Age of Law, and the Age of Law would have been prolonged for six thousand years. Man’s sins would only have grown more numerous and more grievous, and the creation of humanity would have been for naught. Men would only have been able to serve Jehovah under the law, but their sins would have exceeded those of the first created humans. The more Jesus loved mankind, forgiving them their sins and bringing unto them sufficient mercy and lovingkindness, the more mankind was entitled to be saved by Jesus, to be called the lost lambs that Jesus bought back at a great price. Satan could not meddle in this work, for Jesus treated His followers as a loving mother treats the infant at her bosom. He did not grow angry or disdainful toward them, but was full of comfort; He never flew into a rage among them, but forbore with their sins and turned a blind eye to their foolishness and ignorance, to the point of saying, “Forgive others seventy times seven times.” Thus were the hearts of others transformed by His heart, and only thus did people receive forgiveness of their sins through His forbearance.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The True Story Behind the Work of the Age of Redemption

Jesus’ purpose was so that man might continue to survive, to live on, and that he might exist in a better way. He saved man from sin so that he might cease his descent into depravity and no longer live in Hades and hell, and by saving man from Hades and hell, Jesus allowed him to go on living. Now, the last days have arrived. God shall annihilate man and completely destroy the human race, that is, He shall transform mankind’s rebellion. For this reason, it would be impossible, with the compassionate and loving disposition of the past, for God to end the age or to bring His six-thousand-year management plan to fruition. Every age features a special representation of God’s disposition, and every age contains work that should be done by God. So, the work done by God Himself in each age contains the expression of His true disposition, and both His name and the work that He does change along with the age—they are all new. During the Age of Law, the work of guiding mankind was done under the name of Jehovah, and the first stage of work was initiated on earth. At this stage, the work consisted of building the temple and the altar, and using the law to guide the people of Israel and to work in their midst. By guiding the people of Israel, He launched a base for His work on earth. From this base, He expanded His work beyond Israel, which is to say that, starting from Israel, He extended His work outward, so that later generations gradually came to know that Jehovah was God, and that it was Jehovah who created the heavens and earth and all things, and that it was Jehovah who made all creatures. He spread His work through the people of Israel outward beyond them. The land of Israel was the first holy place of Jehovah’s work on earth, and it was in the land of Israel that God first went to work on earth. That was the work of the Age of Law. During the Age of Grace, Jesus was the God who saved man. What He had and was was grace, love, compassion, forbearance, patience, humility, care, and tolerance, and so much of the work that He did was for the sake of the redemption of man. His disposition was one of compassion and love, and because He was compassionate and loving, He had to be nailed to the cross for man, in order to show that God loved man as Himself, so much so that He offered up Himself in His entirety. During the Age of Grace, the name of God was Jesus, that is to say, God was a God who saved man, and He was a compassionate and loving God. God was with man. His love, His compassion, and His salvation accompanied each and every person. Only by accepting the name of Jesus and His presence was man able to gain peace and joy, to receive His blessing, His vast and numerous graces, and His salvation. Through the crucifixion of Jesus, all those who followed Him received salvation and were forgiven their sins. During the Age of Grace, Jesus was the name of God. In other words, the work of the Age of Grace was done principally under the name of Jesus. During the Age of Grace, God was called Jesus. He undertook a stage of new work beyond the Old Testament, and His work ended with the crucifixion. This was the entirety of His work. Therefore, during the Age of Law Jehovah was the name of God, and in the Age of Grace the name of Jesus represented God. During the last days, His name is Almighty God—the Almighty, who uses His power to guide man, conquer man, and gain man, and in the end, bring the age to its close. In every age, at every stage of His work, God’s disposition is evident.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Vision of God’s Work (3)

In His final work of concluding the age, God’s disposition is one of chastisement and judgment, in which He reveals all that is unrighteous, in order to publicly judge all peoples, and to perfect those who love Him with a sincere heart. Only a disposition such as this can bring the age to an end. The last days have already arrived. All things in creation will be separated according to their kind, and divided into different categories based on their nature. This is the moment when God reveals humanity’s outcome and their destination. If people do not undergo chastisement and judgment, then there will be no way of exposing their disobedience and unrighteousness. Only through chastisement and judgment can the outcome of all creation be revealed. Man only shows his true colors when he is chastised and judged. Evil shall be put with evil, good with good, and all humanity shall be separated according to their kind. Through chastisement and judgment, the outcome of all creation will be revealed, so that the evil may be punished and the good rewarded, and all people become subject to the dominion of God. All this work must be achieved through righteous chastisement and judgment. Because man’s corruption has reached its peak and his disobedience become exceedingly severe, only God’s righteous disposition, one that is principally compounded of chastisement and judgment and is revealed during the last days, can fully transform and complete man. Only this disposition can expose evil and thus severely punish all the unrighteous. Therefore, a disposition such as this is imbued with the significance of the age, and the revelation and exhibition of His disposition is made manifest for the sake of the work of each new age. It is not that God reveals His disposition arbitrarily and without significance. Supposing that, in revealing the outcome of man during the last days, God were still to bestow upon man infinite compassion and love and continue to be loving toward him, not subjecting man to righteous judgment but rather showing him tolerance, patience, and forgiveness, and pardoning man no matter how grave his sins, without any jot of righteous judgment: when then would all of God’s management ever be brought to a close? When would a disposition such as this be able to lead people into mankind’s appropriate destination? Take, for example, a judge who is always loving, a judge with a kindly face and a gentle heart. He loves people irrespective of the crimes they may have committed, and he is loving to and forbearing with them whoever they may be. In that case, when will he ever be able to reach a just verdict? During the last days, only righteous judgment can separate man according to their kind and bring man into a new realm. In this way, the entire age is brought to an end through God’s righteous disposition of judgment and chastisement.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Vision of God’s Work (3)

Today God judges you, chastises you, and condemns you, but you must know that the point of your condemnation is for you to know yourself. He condemns, curses, judges, and chastises so that you might know yourself, so that your disposition might change, and, moreover, so that you might know your worth, and see that all of God’s actions are righteous and in accordance with His disposition and the requirements of His work, that He works in accordance with His plan for man’s salvation, and that He is the righteous God who loves, saves, judges, and chastises man. If you only know that you are of lowly status, that you are corrupt and disobedient, but do not know that God wishes to make plain His salvation through the judgment and chastisement that He does in you today, then you have no way of gaining experience, much less are you capable of continuing forward. God has not come to kill or destroy, but to judge, curse, chastise, and save. Until His 6,000-year management plan comes to a close—before He reveals the outcome of each category of man—God’s work on earth will be for the sake of salvation; its purpose is purely to make those who love Him complete—thoroughly so—and to bring them into submission under His dominion. No matter how God saves people, it is all done by making them break away from their old satanic nature; that is, He saves them by having them seek life. If they do not do so, then they will have no way to accept God’s salvation. Salvation is the work of God Himself, and the seeking for life is something that man must take on in order to accept salvation. In the eyes of man, salvation is the love of God, and the love of God cannot be chastisement, judgment, and curses; salvation must contain love, compassion, and, moreover, words of solace, as well as boundless blessings bestowed by God. People believe that when God saves man, He does so by moving them with His blessings and grace, so that they can give their hearts to God. That is to say, His touching man is His saving them. This sort of salvation is done by striking a deal. Only when God grants them a hundredfold will man come to submit before God’s name and strive to do well for Him and bring Him glory. This is not what God intends for mankind. God has come to work on earth in order to save corrupt mankind; there is no falsehood in this. If there were, He would certainly not have come to do His work in person. In the past, His means of salvation involved showing the utmost love and compassion, such that He gave His all to Satan in exchange for the whole of mankind. The present is nothing like the past: The salvation bestowed upon you today occurs at the time of the last days, during the classification of each according to kind; the means of your salvation is not love or compassion, but chastisement and judgment, in order that man may be more thoroughly saved. Thus, all that you receive is chastisement, judgment, and merciless smiting, but know this: In this heartless smiting there is not the slightest punishment. Regardless of how harsh My words might be, what befall you are but a few words that might appear utterly heartless to you, and no matter how angry I might be, what rain upon you are still words of teaching, and I do not mean to harm you or put you to death. Is this not all fact? Know that nowadays, whether it be righteous judgment or heartless refinement and chastisement, everything is for the sake of salvation. Regardless of whether today each is classified according to kind or the categories of man are laid bare, the purpose of all of God’s words and work is to save those who truly love God. Righteous judgment is brought to purify man, and heartless refinement is done to cleanse them; harsh words or chastening are both done to purify and are for the sake of salvation.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. You Should Put Aside the Blessings of Status and Understand God’s Will to Bring Salvation to Man

Now is the time when I determine the ending for each person, not the stage in which I began to work man. I write down in My record book, one by one, the words and actions of each person, the path by which they have followed Me, their inherent characteristics, and how they have ultimately comported themselves. In this way, no matter what kind of person they are, no one shall escape My hand, and all shall be with their own kind as I assign. I decide the destination of each person not on the basis of age, seniority, amount of suffering, and least of all, the degree to which they invite pity, but according to whether they possess the truth. There is no other choice but this. You must realize that all those who do not follow the will of God shall also be punished. This is an immutable fact. Therefore, all those who are punished are so punished for the righteousness of God and as retribution for their numerous evil acts. …

My mercy is expressed toward those who love Me and deny themselves. The punishment visited upon the wicked, meanwhile, is precisely proof of My righteous disposition and, even more, testimony to My wrath. When disaster comes, all who oppose Me will weep as they fall victim to famine and plague. Those who have committed all manner of wickedness, but who have followed Me for many years, will not escape paying for their sins; they too, will be plunged into disaster, the like of which has seldom been seen throughout millions of years, and they will live in a constant state of panic and fear. And those of My followers who have shown loyalty to Me will rejoice and applaud My might. They will experience ineffable contentment and live amid joy such as I have never before bestowed upon mankind. For I treasure the good deeds of man and abhor their evil deeds. Since I first began to lead mankind, I have been eagerly hoping to gain a group of people who are of the same mind with Me. Those who are not of the same mind with Me, meanwhile, I never forget; I always loathe them in My heart, awaiting the chance to bring retribution upon them, which I shall relish to see. Now My day has finally come, and I need no longer wait!

My final work is not only for the sake of punishing man, but also for the sake of arranging the destination of man. Moreover, it is so that all people may acknowledge My deeds and actions. I want each and every person to see that all I have done is right, and that all I have done is an expression of My disposition. It is not man’s doing, much less nature, that brought forth mankind, but I, who nourish every living being in creation. Without My existence, mankind will only perish and suffer the scourge of calamity. No human being will ever again see the beauteous sun and moon, or the verdant world; mankind shall encounter only the frigid night and the inexorable valley of the shadow of death. I am mankind’s only salvation. I am mankind’s only hope and, even more, I am He on whom the existence of all mankind rests. Without Me, mankind will immediately come to a standstill. Without Me, mankind will suffer catastrophe and be trampled underfoot by all manner of ghosts, though no one takes heed of Me. I have done work that can be done by no other, and hope only that man can repay Me with some good deeds. Though but a few have been able to repay Me, I will still conclude My journey in the human world and begin the next step of My unfolding work, because all My rushing to and fro in man’s midst these many years has been fruitful, and I am very pleased. What I care about is not the number of people, but rather their good deeds. In any case, I hope that you prepare a sufficiency of good deeds for your own destination. Then will I be satisfied; otherwise, none of you can escape the disaster that will befall you. The disaster originates with Me and is of course orchestrated by Me. If you cannot appear as good in My eyes, then you will not escape suffering the disaster.

—The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination

History of the Chinese Language

Chinese is not an alphabetic language, like most written languages in the world. It is a written language of pictures. Author and physician, Adeline Yen Nah, in her book Chinese Cinderella said of the written syntax of her native tongue:

Chinese is a pictoral language, not a phonetic one. Our words come from images. The meaning of many characters is subtle and profound. Other words are poetic and even philosophical.1

Chinese is thought to be the world's oldest written language, dating back beyond 2,000 BC. The Encyclopaedia Britannica suggests that it

...began to develop in the early 2nd millennium BC. The earliest known inscriptions ... date from the Shang (or Yin) dynasty (18th - 12th century BC), but by then it was already a highly developed system, essentially similar to its present form."2

This would place the origin of the ancient Chinese syntax very close to the time of the dispersion from the tower of Babel recorded in Genesis 11.

Why is the dispersion from Babel important? From the time of the flood until the scattering of the nations, "...the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech...", and the people remained together, fearing "...lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:1, 4) The next several verses in the Genesis account reveal that God confused the language of the people and scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. This is the origin of nations and languages. From Babel, a people departed and eventually settled in what we now call China, with their own distinct verbal language, and soon thereafter, they constructed a written code. That written code (as identified above, a pictoral language) has in it a record of the pre-Babel history of mankind which parallels the Bible record.

To further emphasize the significance of these details being found in the Chinese language, it is essential to consider when the inspired Hebrew text was penned by Moses. The Exodus from Egypt took place in the 1400s BC. Moses, at the age of eighty (Exodus 7:7) led the Israelites away from their bondage and toward the promised land of Canaan. He would die forty years later at the top of Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1,7). The book of Genesis, written by Moses, was penned as much as 800 years after the events at the tower of Babel, and over 500 years after the development of the written Chinese language. Simply stated, the pre-Babel history of mankind was recorded in the Chinese language prior to Moses receiving and recording it by inspiration in the book of Genesis!

In the Shu Ching (book of history), Confucius recorded that Emperor Shun made sacrifice to ShangTi. Among the recitals spoken by the Emperor was:

Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark... Thou, O spiritual Sovereign camest forth in Thy presidency... Thou madest heaven; Thou madest earth; Thou madest man...3

Note the similarity with what Moses wrote in the first chapter of Genesis:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep... Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness... (Genesis 1:1-2, 26)

Emperor Shun was making this recital in 2230 BC, in the 23rd century BC. Moses didn't write Genesis until sometime in the 15th century BC! These two cultures (Chinese & Hebrew) had no connection to one another. Moses did not learn the Chinese language and turn it into a story about creation. Neither did Shun possess a copy of the Genesis record, for it hadn't been written yet. One might think it to be a coincidence, but as we will see through the volume of material available, there is a certain link between the pre-Babel record of Genesis and the same information as seen in the etymology of the Chinese language.

Endnotes:

1. Chinese Cinderella, p. 152, Adeline Yen Mah

2. britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/691537/Chinese-writing

3. The Discovery of Genesis, p. 15, Ethel R. Nelson & C.H. Kang

Next: Words on knowing God’s disposition and essence.

You are so fortunate.

God in the Chinese Language

There are a few different words used in the Chinese language to speak about God and heaven. Each one, by it's etymology tells us something about the spiritual Sovereign that is common to the ancient Chinese and the Hebrew Scriptures.

God - El Shaddai

Emperor Shun worshiped ShangTi, literally, the heavenly emperor. It is interesting to note the phonetic similarity between this Chinese identification of God and the Hebrew, Shaddai (Almighty).

上帝 (GOD)

God - Creator

God is also represented in the Chinese language by the word Shén. This word may be written in two different forms (see to the right and below). 神

The etymology of this image reveals details about God's work in creation. On the left side of the character, we see an image meaning to REVEAL or DECLARE. Over and over in the Biblical creation account, we are told that "...God said..." (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, NKJV). The Psalmist declared of God's work of creation:

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth ... For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalm 33:6, 9, NKJV)

諸天借耶和華的命而造，萬軍也藉他口中的氣而造……因為他說有，就有。 他一聲令下，它就立住了。 （詩篇 33:6, 9）

Zhū tiān jiè yēhéhuá de mìng ér zào, wàn jūn yě jí tā kǒuzhōng de qì ér zào……yīnwèi tā shuō yǒu, jiù yǒu. Tā yī shēng lìng xià, tā jiù lì zhùle. (Shīpiān 33:6, 9)

神=示申=示+ I +田

Shén = God = Reveal/Declare + Mankind + Garden/field

(示 Shì = Show )

(申 Shēn = state )

(示申 = Demonstration )

On the right side of the character, two images are intertwined. There, we find a MAN and a GARDEN. Man, the crowning jewel of God's creation (Genesis 1:26), was placed in the garden of Eden. Moses recorded,

The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:8, NKJV)

耶和華神在東方的伊甸立了一個園子，把他所造的人安置在那裡。 （創世記 2:8）Yēhéhuá shén zài dōngfāng de yī diàn lìle yīgè yuánzi, bǎ tāsuǒ zào de rén ānzhì zài nàlǐ. (Chuàngshì jì 2:8)

God - Spirit

Ling is another word that can be used to refer to God. In a Chthanse Bible, this word is used to refer to the Holy Spirit. The etymology of Ling reveals that the ancient Chinese had knowledge of the three persons of the Godhead! In the upper half of this character, there is pictured ONE who COVERS the WATERS. The creation account in the Hebrew Scriptures reveals that

...the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:2, NKJV) 

靈 = 一 + 冖 + 氺水+口+口+口+巫

(Líng;Spirit) = (yī; one) + (左点 Zuǒ diǎn + 横折 héng zhé; cover/roof) + (Shuǐ;water) + (Kǒu; mouth/spoken) + (Kǒu; mouth/spoken) + (Kǒu; mouth/spoken) + (Wū; worker of magic)

 

In the lower portion of Ling, there seems to be a reference to the three persons of the Godhead. It pictures three PERSONS together. Below these, we see the character for a WORKER OF MAGIC, bringing to mind the miraculous power of God at work in creation. In this latter image, the three persons of God are pictured yet again. 

巫 = 人 + 工 + 人

(Wū; worker of magic) = (Rén; person) + (gōng; work)   (Rén; person)

At first glance, it breaks down to two PERSONS and the image for WORK. However, the vertical line (see highlighted 工 = I + 二 ) in WORK may also represent a PERSON. A horizontal line (一) may mean ONE as in the upper portion of Ling, 靈 , but it can also represent ENTIRE, WHOLE or ALL. The two horizontal lines (二) in this image may be a reference to the heavens and earth which resulted from the work of God's miraculous power.

God - Heaven

天=大 + 一 

(Tiān = dà + yī ; Heaven = Great + One)

Tian can refer to the sky or heavens, but when we look at the etymology of the image, we see something even greater. It speaks of the One who is above and beyond the sky! The two characters used to create Tian are GREAT and ONE. Indeed, ShàngDi 上帝 (= 上 Shàng; superior/overhead/topmost/upper + 帝Di;emperor) is the GREAT ONE!

These four characters, 上帝 ShàngTi, 神Shén, 靈 Ling, and 天 Tian, all refer to God Almighty, and agree with the testimony of the Hebrew Scriptures. In them, we see the authority of God, His work as the Creator of all things, the three personalities of the Godhead, and the greatness of God extolled. Some might consider the agreement between the Chinese characters and the Hebrew Scriptures to be coincidental. If it is, then it is quite a coincidence! But, there is much more evidence yet to come.

Learn  Chinese Character Strokes here