Attention has been given to the designation of the deity using the name “God”, G-o-d. Strikingly, we have noted that God is in the plural form, as found in the original Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written, and, it isn’t merely such in Genesis 1:1, where God created the heavens and the earth, but it’s same plural form is found another thirty-one times in Genesis, chapter one, alone. So what does this name “God” actually mean? As best we can determine, God, or Elohim… the “El” of Elohim refers to the ancient concept of power and strength. The “El” speaks of unreserved energy, might and strength. It is strength of the sort that would be required to accomplish what is said that Elohim, or God, did in fact accomplish… creation, the creation of the heavens and the earth. We mere mortals cannot begin to fathom the raw energy required to bring all the heavens and the earth into existence. And, to do so by merely speaking the creative word. Call them if you will the “Let there be”s of Genesis 1, linked with the “and God said”s of Genesis 1. Simply astounding! All of these creative acts performed by the spoken word of the Elohim surpasses any source of energy or strength we can begin to imagine. This energy, this strength, this unbridled power is all reflected in the name “God.” Additionally, it also appears, at least in the main, that this is a more impersonal designation of the Deity. God, Elohim, is not a relational to His creation as He will later become through the use of another name for the Deity. And, again, we are not suggesting that this distinction between His relational aspects is fixes or is always rigidly manifested in this way, but, in the main, it appears to be so.
So, then, can we go so far as to say that God is a less personal designation for the Deity? I think so, but not rigidly so. The Deity, as Elohim, does have and does sustain relational qualities with His creatures, yet this relational aspect of God seems to be decidedly less than the most frequent usage for the name of the Deity, and that is the name LORD, with each of the four letters in the uppercase capitalization. Perhaps for purposes of general understanding, we can think of God as describing the what of the Deity and, as we shall see later, LORD to describe the who of the Deity.
As for myself, “man” is what I am, but “Marv Wiseman” is who I am. Man, perhaps, corresponds to the what of Deity, with the name God, while LORD corresponds to the who of the Deity, referring to His personal name. God is generic, if you will, while LORD is particular and specific.
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