So far we have looked at “El Elyon” = God Most High ( Highest )
“El-Ohim” = Plural form ( God the three in one = ( Trinity )
“El-Shaddai = God Almighty ( All Powerful )
Today, we will look at “Yahweh” = I AM and it’s related name - (.El .Olam) = Eternal God.
One aspect of God’s nature that fascinates and comforts us is his eternity. Ancient of Days; Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last; the King eternal, immortal, invisible; the Living God; the One Who Inhabits Eternity; and the One Who Lives Forever.
Let’s begin by hearing God’s revelation of his name to Moses at the Burning Bush.
Moses, as you will recall, was saved as a baby from death by
exposure by being adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. He was educated in the
palace and raised as a noble. When he was about 40, he sought to help his
fellow Israelites by killing an Egyptian. For that he had to flee into exile.
He had an education, but he didn’t know God.
"Now Moses was tending the flock of
Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the
far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God." (3:1) One
of the things we lose tract of in the Bible is time…Now this is about 40
years after fleeing Egypt, Moses is an old man of 80. No longer a prince of
Egypt, he tends sheep, a menial task by Egyptian standards… And not even his
own sheep, but those of his father-in-law Jethro, "the priest of
Midian." As he leads the sheep to pasture in this dry land, Moses
travels to Horeb, "the mountain of God," (3:13) – Moses ask for God’s name, as if to say if he
doesn’t know God’s name then he won’t have any authority with the people. "Moses said to God, ’Suppose I go to the Israelites
and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and
they ask me, "What is his name?" Then what shall I tell
them?’" (3:13) - God reveals to Moses his name in a new way: "I AM”.
The idea of eternity is clearly
present also. Since the idea of “I Am” can refer to God’s indefinite
existence in the past, present, and future, as we see in the Book of
Revelation: "’I am the Alpha and
the Omega," says the Lord God, ’who is, and who was, and who is
to come, the Almighty. ( El-Shaddai )’"…Jesus’ audacious claim to the
Pharisees clearly uses the "I AM" statement in a striking way:
"’I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ’before Abraham was born, I
am!’" (John 8:58). They were so offended by his assertion and use of the
Divine Name they picked up stones to stone him. But the statement,
"I AM" is not to be disconnected from the context. It is the
Name by which God reveals himself and gives the Israelites new insight into
the name Yahweh, which is used in the next verse. For in verse 15, He continues:
"God also said to Moses, ’Say to the Israelites, "The LORD (that is, Yahweh), the God
of your fathers -- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob
-- has sent me to you."
Another way in which he is known is as
the Everlasting God, the Eternal God (.el .ōlām). .Ôlām means,
"forever, ever, lasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, over 60!
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the
name of the LORD, the Eternal God (.ēl
.ōlām)." (Genesis 21:33)
Other
uses - "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God (.elohi .ôlām),
the Creator of the ends of the earth." (Isaiah 40:28)
"But
the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal (.ôlām) King."
(Jeremiah 10:10)
This same idea of the Eternal God is
present in the Ancient of Days in Daniel’s vision: "As I looked,
’thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His
clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His
throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire
was flowing, coming out from before him.”
|
At Your Name, the mountains shake and
crumble
At Your Name, the oceans roar and tumbleAt Your Name, angles will bow; the earth will rejoice;
Your people cry out…
Lord of all the earth we shout Your Name, shout Your Name
Filling up the skies with endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh! Yahweh! We love to shout Your Name oh Lord!
No comments:
Post a Comment