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.
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| FRIEND OF ABRAHAM |
| Isaiah 41:8 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; |
| Abraham was a friend of God. No – sorry, but that is wrong – I have my tenses mixed up! Consider that the prophet Isaiah is speaking of Abraham as being God’s friend, present tense. Isaiah, hundreds of years after Abraham, is declaring, as so many of the prophets do, that those who have fallen asleep are not without companionship, and that companionship is God Himself. Abraham is the only person in the Word declared to be a friend of God. Well, sort of. Moses was described as one to whom God would speak to as a friend. Exodus 33:11 Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. These two men are the only two men in the Old Testament that are called a friend of God. Amazing. Consider what it means to be a friend. It must be understood that to be, or to have a friend, two people are involved. Also, I cannot state that I am a friend to someone who hates me. At least I can’t in all honesty call my enemy a friend unless I am seeking to turn them to my friend. A friend is someone who seeks my best and will avoid inflicting pain on me. A friend is someone I can trust, and that should be able to trust me. Was it not such with both Abraham and Moses. God requested actions from them, and they sought to comply, and out of a Master/servant relationship, friendship grew. God could, in a sense trust Abraham. He could sort of trust Moses. But things get all loosey goosey when God comes down to earth. He is not calling anyone friend based on whether He can trust them. Granted, He does speak to His apostles as friends, having experienced a Servant Master relationship with them for a period of time. I think there was an element of trust between Him and His men. John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. This relationship of friendship though, seems to be dependent on information provided to them, and not specifically their trustworthiness, as it was with Abraham and Moses. Things in relation to being a friend of God are morphing a little bit here. But consider Jesus next statement, when His betrayer approaches Him with armed guards. Matthew 26:50 Jesus said to him (Judas), “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. Jesus knew what was about to happen, and yet He called the man who would become the poster boy of betrayal a friend. This is simply astounding, that He extended friendship to a man who was stabbing Him in the back. Jesus is the Friend of God, the true Friend of God, in that He has shown by His actions the attitude God has toward those who love God, those who are learning of God, and to those who despise God. For God, there has only been One who is completely trustworthy, only One who knows all from the Father, and the only One who has exhibited God’s love to the worst of sinners. Abraham and Moses were called friends of God, only in that they reflected the true Friend of God, Jesus the Messiah. |
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!
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