The Bible has a great deal to say about God. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
The Bible opens with God as the uncreated origin of everything: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Before there was anything else, there was God. This establishes the fundamental truth that runs through every part of Scripture—God is the source of all that exists, and He is active in the affairs of men. From the very first verse, we see that God is not a distant idea but the living Creator who stands behind all of history.
Throughout the Old Testament, God is revealed as the One who is with His people. To Joshua He says, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9). Solomon’s kingdom was established because “the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly” (2 Chronicles 1:1). When Jabez called on the God of Israel, asking for blessing, enlargement, and protection from evil, “God granted him that which he requested” (1 Chronicles 4:10). God hears prayer. He strengthens. He grants petitions, as Eli acknowledged when he told Hannah, “the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17).
Yet Scripture also shows that God is to be feared and obeyed above all earthly powers. The midwives in Egypt “feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive” (Exodus 1:17). God’s authority outranks any human ruler. He is also a God of covenant—Israel’s offerings were never to lack “the salt of the covenant of thy God” (Leviticus 2:13), and those consecrated to Him, like the Nazirite, bore “the consecration of his God” upon their heads (Numbers 6:7). God binds Himself to His people in covenant faithfulness.
The Bible also presents God as the righteous judge before whom no one escapes. Adonibezek, a cruel king, confessed, “as I have done, so God hath requited me” (Judges 1:7). Joab swore, “As God liveth” (2 Samuel 2:27), treating God as the living witness to every oath. And when Ahaziah sought Baalzebub instead of the LORD, he was turning to a false god (2 Kings 1:2). Ruth’s beautiful declaration, “thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16), shows that belonging to God is the deepest identity a person can have. From creation to covenant, from judgment to mercy, Scripture presents God as Creator, covenant-keeper, prayer-hearer, righteous judge, and the One worthy of all trust.
Living It Out
Because God is the Creator and the covenant-keeping LORD, ordinary life is lived before Him, not merely for ourselves. The midwives feared God more than the king—and so must we when human authorities demand what God forbids. Ruth’s words challenge us to ask whether we have truly made God our own God, not just the God of our family or culture. When we face fear, Joshua 1:9 calls us to courage because God goes with us wherever we go.
Practically, this means praying like Jabez—honestly asking God to bless, to enlarge our influence for good, and to keep us from evil. It means letting our speech and commitments be governed by the reality that God lives, as Joab’s oath reminds us. And it means examining where we turn in trouble: to the living God, or to modern “Baalzebubs” of our own making. God is not a distant force but the One who sees, hears, and requites. We can rest in Him and obey Him with confidence.
Reflection
- The midwives feared God rather than the king, and Ruth chose Israel’s God as her own—where in your life are you tempted to fear people or circumstances more than you trust and obey God?
- Jabez called on the God of Israel and God granted his request—what would it look like for you to bring your deepest requests honestly before God this week, trusting Him with the outcome?
Verses to Consider
- Genesis 1:1 — In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- Exodus 1:17 — But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
- Leviticus 2:13 — And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
- Numbers 6:7 — He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecration of his God is upon his head.
- Deuteronomy 1:6 — The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
- Joshua 1:9 — Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
- Judges 1:7 — And Adonibezek said, Threescore and ten kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.
- Ruth 1:16 — And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
- 1 Samuel 1:17 — Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
- 2 Samuel 2:27 — And Joab said, As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother.
- 1 Kings 1:17 — And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne.
- 2 Kings 1:2 — And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 — And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
- 2 Chronicles 1:1 — And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly.
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.