The Beginning and the End

How long is a person's life? Moses, in an Old Testament psalm, says that it's 70 years or perhaps 80. Today, in the 21st Century, some people even live well into their nineties. Very few lives exceed a century, from beginning to end.

In contrast, God is eternal. Back in early February, I saw that He's called El Olam, the Eternal God and Atik Yomin, the Ancient of Days. Right at the end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, He introduces Himself four times as the Alpha and Omega: the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

God has always been and He always will be. He had no beginning and He will have no end. That's why He calls Himself the beginning and end of everything. Most people know that Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. It's like saying, "I am the A and the Z."

Three times He follows it up by adding the words arche and telos. Arche (as in the word archetype) means the original or the beginning of something, while telos (as in telephone, telescope and other words that suggest distance) means the ending. 

Rev 1: 8, Rev 21: 6, Rev 22: 6

And twice He expands it by calling Himself the First and the Last. The Greek word for first is protos (as in prototype) - meaning the first in time, but also meaning the first in rank, the one most worthy of honour. And the Greek word for last is eschatos (as in the word eschatology); it means the last or uttermost both in time and space.  Rev 1: 11, Rev 22: 13

In other words, with these two names God is saying: There is nothing above or beyond me. There was nothing before me and there will be nothing after me. I am the ultimate, infinite God of the universe.

Always doing what is right

The Hebrew word tsedek or sadiq appears more than 200 times in the Old Testament - sometimes describing people and sometimes describing God. It's usually translated righteous - which means living in a right way and making a choice to do what is right. 

While we as human beings can learn to make good choices, only God consistently does what is right, never getting it wrong or making a mistake. Over and over again in the Old Testament, we read, "The Lord is righteous," or, "You, Lord, are righteous."

So, only He deserves the name, Yahweh Tzaddik - the Righteous Lord.
 

The only true and wise God

Two New Testament names of God today, so even though the same truths are found in the Old Testament, the names themselves are in Greek instead of Hebrew. The first is Theos Monos Sophos - the only wise God, and it's found in the well known doxologies at the very end of the letters of Jude and Romans, and at the beginning of one of Paul's letters to Timothy.

Jude 1: 25 - To the only wise God (monos sophos theos) our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.

Romans 16: 27 - To the only wise God (theos monos sophos) be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 Timothy 1: 17 - Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God (monos sophos theos), be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen

How can we make such a claim - that our God is the only God who is wise? Quite simply, because He is the only true God. No false god can be considered wise.

The apostle John makes it clear, in 1 John 5: 20, that Jesus came to give us understanding, so that we could know and live in fellowship with Theos Alethinos - the True God. In view of the truth that there is only one real God, we realise that Theos Monos Sophos could equally be translated, "the wise, only God." One of the Spanish Bible translations, the RVR60, actually translates it this way: al único y sabio Dios - to the only and wise God.

So, what do we mean when we say that the only true God is wise? James 3: 17 tells us that heavenly wisdom is pure, peace-loving, gentle, considerate, merciful, producing good fruit, sincere, and free of favouritism or hypocrisy. What an example for us to follow.

Lifter of my Head ?

Rum Rosh - Lifter of my head. It seems an unusual name for the God of all the universe.

When do people hang their heads and look downwards? Usually in times of discouragement, sadness or depression; also in times of failure and shame. In the Bible, we see that God is not oblivious or indifferent when we pass through such times. He sees us, amidst billions of others on the planet, and reaches down to lift our head and give us hope.

In Psalm 3:3, when David is fleeing for his life (from those who supported his son, Absalom), he declares, "But You, oh Lord, are a shield around me, my glory and the Lifter of my head." He proclaims similar truths in Psalm 27, and in Psalm 9: 13, he goes as far as to say, "You lifted me up from the gates of death."

Using different Hebrew words, Psalm 146: 8 expresses this truth as a promise: "The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down."

What a mind-blowing reassurance - that the God who sustains the whole universe, the God who knows the names of billions, would pause and reach down to lift my head again in any times when I am physically or emotionally down.

Inspiring Awe...

Many times in in the Old Testament, we find the Hebrew adjective yārē' used with a name of God - like Elohim, Yahweh or El Elyon - to form a new name that describes how breathtaking He is.

Most Bible versions translate this as Awesome God, but not in the watered down sense that the word is used in certain parts of the world today - where anything from a pizza to a pair of shoes can be described as awesome. The original meaning of awesome was exactly what it sounds like: inspiring awe; giving you a jaw-dropping sense of amazement or reverence.

Older Bibles often translate yārē' as terrible or dreadful - words that have also changed their meaning and are more often used today to describe something really bad.

So what does it actually mean to say that God is awesome?

It means that he is totally worthy of respect and honour - that His splendour and holiness are take-your-breath-away amazing and awe-inspiring. Thesaurus alternatives to awesome are impressive, spectacular, magnificent and formidable. The dictionary defines formidable as, "inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful or capable."

Yārē' is used around 300 times in the Old Testament and, sure enough, sometimes it refers to when people were really afraid of someone or something; times when God stepped in to say, "Fear not; don't be afraid." But other times the word is used to mean reverence, honour or respect. God's people were regularly urged to "fear the Lord." (See, for example, 1 Samuel 12: 24.) That had nothing to do with fear, but was all about giving God the respect and reverence that He deserves.

Psalm 47: 2 - For the Lord most High is an Awesome God. He is the great King over all the earth.

1 Chron 16: 25 - Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared and honoured above all gods.

God of my life...

Back in early February, I reflected on the name El Hai - the Living God. It was a really big deal for the Old Testament believers to know that their God was alive, and infinitely superior to the idols of surrounding nations. We find El Hai, for example, in Psalm 42 vs 2: "My soul thirsts for God, the Living God."

But just a few verses later, in Psalm 42 vs 8, the writer gives God a different name. He adds the suffix -ai, (which means "my") and the name becomes El Haiyai - the God of my life. "By day, the Lord shows me His lovingkindness; by night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life."

This is a subtle but important shift. El Hai is a general truth about God's nature: He is alive. But El Haiyai takes it a step further and is a declaration of a personal, relational connection to God as the source and reason/purpose of our existence. It's a personal confession of allegiance to God and reliance on Him.

As the apostle Paul wrote, centuries later: "For me, living means living for Christ." (Philippians 1: 21)

God will always be El Hai, whether people believe in Him or not. But He only becomes El Haiyai if we make that decision at a deep, personal level.

Comfort when'I don't deserve it

This morning I began by meditating on a name of God that is found in 2 Cor 1: 3. Paul writes that God is the God of all Comfort - Theos pas Paraklesis. He consoles and strengthens us in our trials and difficulties, so that down the road we are also more equipped to offer comfort and support to others.

It's obviously closely linked to Parakletos, which I considered on April 5th. (Click to read.) Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter or Helper. But this morning my attention was caught by another name of God in the same verse. 

Paul also calls God Patēr Oiktirmos - the Father of Mercies. That speaks to me that God is compassionate and merciful; He feels our pain and He will comfort us even when our situation and our distress are due to our own failing or sin. He doesn't harden His heart and say, "Well, it's your own fault. You got yourself into this mess," (like perhaps we would be tempted to say when someone has done something foolish or selfish and got themself into a predicament.) He draws us to Him and comforts us anyway.

But God's great mercy and compassion are not an excuse for us to keep doing foolish things; rather, they should spur us on to greater maturity and wisdom. Paul urges the Roman believers, because of God's mercies (oiktirmos) to present their whole lives as living sacrifices and allow Him to transform them completely. (Romans 12: 1 - 2)

His mercies should motivate us to a deeper level of holiness... but His comfort is still there for us when we fail and cause ourselves pain.