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.

Anthropomorphism. What a word! It’s a fancy word that describing a deity with human characteristics. It is a very common method of describing our God in the Word. God is sometimes described as having – eyes (Amos 9:4), – ears (2 Kings 19:16), – feet (Isaiah 66:1), – a mouth (Jeremiah 9:12), – and a back (Exodus 33:23), Sometimes His actions are as if He is a man, as though He – walks in the garden (Genesis 3:8), – smells a pleasing aroma (Genesis 8:21), – comes down to see the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:5). In our passage this morning, we find He is described as the hand of the Lord. We find this thought also in Exodus 7:5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” In both of these instances, it is good to note that in the description of the hand of the Lord, both are in reference to dominating or overpowering an adversary or abuser. Though this term is often used in relation to warfare, it is also used to describe the enabling of a man by his God. 1 Kings 18:46a And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah… Ezra 7:6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia….for the hand of the LORD his God was on him. Though these men were enabled in their ministry by the Hand of the Lord, it is John the Baptist that experienced the Hand of the Lord even at his birth. Luke 1:66 ESV – and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. John had the Hand of the Lord on him from birth. Can you imagine? Surely, he was, as the Lord described, the greatest of the prophets! Two other times this term is used in the book of Acts describe either the power of God on the saints, or a judgement on a magician in Cyprus. Acts 11:21 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. Acts 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. The Hand of the Lord defeats an enemy and empowers the faithful. Is this not a great picture of the One who is King? He is the One who has defeated His (an our) enemies, even through His own death, and leads His people to victory, empowering us as we seek to follow Him. Jesus is the Hand of the Lord!

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