Considering the Bible

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE

Revelation 5:13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might

Chapter five of the book of Revelation is a chapter preparing the reader for the horrible judgements to come in the next 13 chapters.

John is reminding his readers that the judgements are coming directly from God, through the Lamb of God, His Son, and John takes a moment here to describe the source of the judgements, the One who has the right to perform the terrible and awesome judgements to come.

It is one thing for terrible times to come upon the world, and when horrible, crushing catastrophes fall on the general populace of this world, many lift the fist toward God, cursing Him.

Revelation 16:9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
Revelation 16:11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

When we dwell on Revelation chapter 5, we are entering into the enthronement of the Messiah, and the subsequent worship and praise due to HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE. Verses 1 -8 speak of the identity of the One who is worthy to open the scroll, and who took the scroll from the One on the throne. The One worthy is the Lamb, the One who was slain for the sins of the world.

If I understand this passage, John actually witnesses the enthronement of the Messiah, at a historical point in time, within the heavens. He witnesses the One who would oversee the coming judgements, for Jesus Himself has said that the Father has given to Jesus the right to execute judgment.

John 5:22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
John 5:27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

Jesus is the Lamb of God, the One able to execute judgement, and the One who rightfully receives all praise and worship from all those “in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them.”

John takes great pains in defining the extent of the worship from all of creation. The Father, who is on the throne within this passage, for Jesus takes the scroll from Him, is the One who receives all worship, from every created being in heaven or on earth.

But let us not forget that in the coming chapters, there are those who curse. They curse God, though God has every right to bring judgment, as John clearly describes in Chapter 5.

We may make claims that those in Revelation 5 only describe the “world” of the redeemed, and John meant to describe only those “in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” as those righty related to the God of all the universe. This may be the intended meaning.

Yet John did say the worship and praise was from all “in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them”. He labors to include all in his descriptions of those praising God.

What happened to those cursing God?

Have they repented somehow? The passage in Revelation 16 speaks of their cursing, and of their not repenting. How does my reader understand this seeming difference? Is there hope, even for those who curse God, for those who reject repentance and throw the fist up before God, for those whose lives had always been in rebellion? Is the glory of Revelation 5 describing the eternal state, and that of Revelation 16, a time on earth, a specific period of time when judgement fell?

Let us remember that HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE is the One who sent His Son to be slain for the sins of the world. He has proven His love for those who were His enemies by the sacrifice of His Son, and the resurrection from the death He entered.

John labors to include all in the praise and worship of HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE in the eternal state, but we have the privilege of entering this praise and worship of HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE even today.

He is worthy, and as we enter His presence, let us remember He is one the Throne, is over all, and is the Great King.

May His name be praised by all!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HIM WHO RIDES IN THE HEAVENS

Psalm 68:33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

When I first saw this verse this morning, I imagined Him Who Rides in the Heavens as on a galloping horse, racing through the heavens at a fever pitch.

Once I realized I was applying my own love for speed onto this picture of the Lord riding His steed, I reconsidered. Is this not a a stately picture of the One who rules over all, viewing His kingdom as He passes by His subjects?

He is not One in a hurry, trying to get somewhere as fast as He can. He is the eternal, omnipresent One, the One who needs n passage of time to be observed in order to view Hs kingdom. The psalmist is providing us a picture of the Lord as if He was constrained in time and space, acting in the manner of a mere human king. But that is so awesome, for the Lord, even in communicating to us of His rule over all, is willing to be pictured as a mere earthly king.

He is providing His subjects with pictures they can relate to, they can take and view in their imagination, allowing the picture of the king to be an image to pursue in their imaginations.

The Old and New Testament is rife with pictures of the Lord that provide His subjects the opportunity to imagine their Master in the society they exist in, within the culture they live in.

Yet for myself, I cannot grant myself the image of the Lord racing through the heavens, for it smacks of One who is late, One who has missed an appointment. This is not the Master I have learned of, for He is always on time, without worry, and with a calming influence as I learn of His presence.

We are to train our imaginations to be in alignment with the full message of the Word. Though my imagination may want to see Him racing at full tilt through the heavens, that is simply Carl projecting his love of speed onto the Master. This is simply foolishness, and strips the Lord of His Kingly Majesty. So wrong!

With that guidance, we can see HIM WHO RIDES IN THE HEAVENS as the stately, all-wise and authoritative King who is surveying His people. He is One who is always on time, overseeing his subjects, for He is the Almighty God who inhabits eternity.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HIM WHO LIVES FOREVER AND EVER

Revelation 10:6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay,

John is recounting his vision of the mighty angel who will eventually provide him a message he cannot reveal and a book that was sweet to his mouth but bitter to his stomach.

And this angel, as he is standing on the land and the sea, raises his hand to heaven and swears by God. It is the name of God that we are considering this morning that deserves a few moments reflection, for the name speaks of the Lords eternality, His existence beyond time. Yes, John speaks of the Lord as One who lives for ever and ever, but it is wise to understand that John is communicating a truth in a way we can understand.

Let me ask you something. Define eternity, and don’t use the terms eternity or infinity. Forget defining it – try to understand the concept of eternity.

This exercise of trying to understand the concept or truth of eternity is a struggle I entered years back, and found no meaningful success but simply more questions, more bewilderment, and eventually a surrender to the unknowableness of the God we serve. (A post of my sparse findings may be found at A Study of Eternal / Everlasting)

Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, ….

He inhabits eternity, and though He enters His created world of time – remember – time is a created “thing” – His throne is in eternity, and His person belongs in the everlasting.

So to recap regarding the name of God this morning, the Mighty Angel swears by the God of eternity, and the message that is sworn to relates to the time of the end.

Revelation 10:7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

The days of the trumpet, and the fulfillment of the mystery of God would be accomplished at a certain time. The time would come. The end was a dated occurrence.

Our God is HIM WHO LIVES FOREVER AND EVER, who is outside of time, Who knows the past, the present and the future, and Who provides us knowledge of His will for our comfort, encouragement and growth.

HIM WHO LIVES FOREVER AND EVER is One Who is beyond our wildest imaginations, existing in a world we know nothing of (yet) and has entered our world to bring about a salvation for rebels and sinners.

It is impossible to understand His Person or His place of residence. It is also impossible to understand His pursuit of us. But let us not be sidetracked. Understanding isn’t the issue. Accepting the truth of an Ultimate Being, God in the eternities, trusting in His Savior, the Crucified One, and following is the issue.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HIM WHO IS TO BE FEARED

Psalm 76:11 Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared,

There are many Hebrew words in the Old Testament that translate to fear in the English Bible. As a matter of fact, there are 25 Hebrew words interspersed throughout the Old Testament that are translated as fear.

So when we try to understand an Old Testament authors use of the general term of fear, we have a range of understandings that may apply.

Everything from an understanding of awe and dismayal, through to trembling and horror.

For our name this morning, “Him who is to be feared”, we find the Hebrew word מוֹרָא môwrâʼ. This word typically speaks of a dread, terror or a terribleness.

Just a couple verses earlier, the Psalmist uses a different word for fear.

Psalm 76:7 But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?

This term is the Hebrew word יָרֵא yârêʼ. It also speaks of a dread, but tends to communicate an awe inspiring act that brings fear.

Why the word study Carl?

Well my friend, I think the Psalmist is making a point that our God is to be feared. The background to this psalm is generally associated with the great deliverance of the City of Jerusalem from the Assyrian attack, where the Angel of the Lord swept through the Assyrian forces one night and killed 185,000 soldiers.

That is awe inspiring. It is also fear inducing! There is a power, better described as the All Powerful God that can wipe out close to 200,000 soldiers during the night. Consider that for a moment.

If those in the City of Jerusalem were not in a right relationship with this power, this All Powerful God, what makes them think they are safe? Yes, they are in covenant with God, but would you not agree that the Assyrian army coming this close to capturing the nation is a sign of the nation’s rebellion against this All Powerful Person?

Remember the Psalmist questions who can stand before the Him, implying that no one can stand before Him.

Psalm 76:7b ..Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused

As believers, we know this too well, for our sins and rebellion caused us to become enemies to Him, and our old man is continually raging against Him.

So how can we explain the fear of dread, rightly described for those who have no right to stand before Him, and then hear the Psalmist speak of those “around Him” bringing gifts to Him.

…..let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared.

Is He to be feared, with the result being our hiding and running from such a fearful, dreadful powerful God? Or is there a place of safety that provides us the opportunity to be “around Him”

My friends, there is One who is worthy, One who can stand before God, One who is “around HIM WHO IS TO BE FEARED”.

His name is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the God Man, in heaven for us before the throne. There is no other, for He is our only Hope. In Him is life, and even the most vile sinner can approach Him, for His arms are wide open for all.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

HIM WHO IS PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE

Job 37:16 Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge,

Job has suffered. He has suffered at the hands of man, at the hand of God, and at the hands of his counsellors. At this time, he is being upbraided by Elihu, a young man who has been quiet up until now, but during his discourse with Job, addresses him with counsel that at times rings true.

Our verse this morning is one of the shining examples of Elihu’s wise counsel, for he asks a question to Job, not unlike the Lord does in the final chapters.

Do you know…?

As a matter of fact, when God begins his talk with Job, he continues the very topic of challenging Job about his knowledge of the heavens.

Job 38:33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Let’s be honest about our knowledge.

As men and women in the 21st century, with technology providing massive amounts of facts concerning the physical universe at our fingertips, with the ability to search for facts and figures at the touch of a keyboard, we are being lulled into a feeling of all knowing.

What is actual is that our knowledge is infinitely small.

With the many tools we use to access information, we all should admit that the information we have access to is fraught with error, is outside of us, and is creating a false sense of independence in our lives.

Consider a world without the tools we have access to. We surely should begin to realize that our knowledge is incredibly limited. We also may begin to realize that the so-called knowledge we depend on is factual, cold and limited.

Now don’t get me wrong. The knowledge gained over the centuries through the efforts of men and women toiling in study, experimentation and reflection has provided us a life of tremendous prosperity, ease and temporal blessing. But this knowledge has blindsided us, giving us a confidence that has left the Lord out of the picture.

The knowledge of God is the only truly valuable knowledge each of us may seek, and Elihu has approached Job in a manner that we need to accept. It is a knowledge admittedly that we will never fully attain to, yet in the seeking, we encounter the Creator and Redeemer of all.

Elihu addresses Job in the arena of nature, in the topic of the heavens, even the clouds above. To consider the heavens above us is a worthy effort for all.

As a personal witness, I have recalled two recent instances in my life (Montana & Blue Skies) when the heavens have humbled me, when I have understood in a tiny way, that whatever knowledge I may claim to own is infinitesimally small. And in these humbling times, I found a peace, a comfort in knowing that the One who created all, even the clouds that are full of mystery, (though we can explain them scientifically).

He is the One who is perfect in knowledge. He is the One who created all, and not simply compiled and organized facts, calculating the properties of clouds and their movements. He created all, with purpose and understanding, establishing the laws of nature.

Elihu directs Job to the balancing (or layers) of the clouds, to introduce the “wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge”.

We in the modern age, have an attained knowledge, a knowledge that puffs us up, inflates our ego, and often distracts us from the One who is all knowing. With the Lord, all knowledge is resident in Him, and in this knowledge of all, in this infinite and complete knowledge, He in His understanding and wisdom sought us, rebels against Him, to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Is that a knowledge of God that you have? Is that not a knowledge worthy of seeking?

As Elihu asked Job in our verse this morning,

Do you know of HIM WHO IS PERFECT IN KNOWLEDGE?

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible