Old Testament in New Testament – Page 8

Names of God – DOOR OF THE SHEEP – 108

2024-09-09

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.

108

DOOR OF THE SHEEP

John 10:7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

In our last post, we spoke of a general message presented when the term “door” is mentioned. We looked at the fact that a door represents an opening to an area or place that would otherwise be restricted.

The same is true with this descriptor of God, and without repeating myself, I would like to consider the aspect of the sheep in this description of our God.

But before that, note that Jesus is very restrictive here in His self Description. No other way into the sheepfold other than Him. He is the Door. But He is the Door for the sheep.

He had just finished explaining His identity of being the Good Shepherd, and repeats the general teaching, modifying it to represent himself as the door of the sheep. His earlier teaching spoke of the sheep having entered and leaving the sheepfold (vs 3) so this passage isn’t necessarily speaking of a salvation experience, but of maintaining a relationship with God through Jesus. The Sheep follow Jesus, they know His name, and they enter their safe environment through His person.

He is the Good Shepherd leading the sheep and the Access/Door through which the sheep enter into the sheepfold, a safe environment for the sheep.

The Lord peppers throughout His message the dangers of strangers, thieves and robbers attacking the sheep. His Self description typifies His saving nature for His people.

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.

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Names of God – DOOR OF FAITH – 107

2024-09-06

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.

Our next set of names (#4 through #22) are considered His compound names, which typically uses His primary name and attaches a specific descriptor to it. These are the names that originally got me chasing this topic, and now it has developed into a much bigger study than the original intent, but I digress, for I have already mentioned this!

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 was a blessing.

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

107

DOOR OF FAITH

Acts 14:27 And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Our next two names or descriptions of God speak of a door. Although obvious, it may be good to consider what a door is.

A door is an opening. An opening to a specific area or place that cannot be entered without use of this door. A door implies walls (or restrictions of some type) everywhere else, walls that restrict one from entering an area or place. A door can also be temporarily closed to restrict from entry into an area or place.

The Jewish church was gathering, and hearing reports of the missionaries journeys and adventures, and the news was huge! God has provided a door to the Gentiles.

Gentiles were becoming believers! No mention of the Gentiles becoming Jews though, for the message was that they were not being circumcised, or that they were building synagogues, or that there was a need for teachers of the Torah.

No – the message was as simple as it was radical. They were entering into the family of disciples, the family of God through a door of faith!

God was not providing them any other way into the family other than through the Door of Faith. No other way than through faith in the Risen Son of God. No other door is mentioned of. The only door was the door of faith, and this door of faith, is the crucified and risen Savior.

He is the Only Way, the Only Door!

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 08

2024-09-03

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

ABRAHAM

UNIVERSAL BLESSINGS

Genesis 12:2-3 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Galatians 3:14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Abraham was a channel of blessing to the nation of Israel, in that he was the father of the nation, and was the friend of God, establishing a relationship that the nation of Israel has depended on most of their existence.

He became a divider of the nations, in that any who blessed Abraham would be blessed, and any who cursed Abraham would be cursed. Two groups of nations, based on the reception they had to Abraham.

Yet as we read this passage, it is important to notice that the blessing is personal, not necessarily national. Some may think, as I used to, that if a nation acted favorably to the nation of Israel, those of the physical family of Abraham, it would have the blessing of God. This may be true, but I am not sure this verse specifically states that.

It is a personal promise of a person blessing Abraham, or cursing Abraham. Sure, Abraham will become a great nation, but it is the singular person that this promise refers to. This positive attitude towards Abraham opens up a “blank check” type of promise from God of an undefined general blessing. Reread the verses and consider!

Is it not even truer for the Lord Jesus. One person’s attitude toward the Lord Jesus opens up untold blessings, greater than we can imagine, and as Galatians states, this blessing that was through Abraham can be found in Christ Jesus.

Abraham was a conduit for blessing from God, but once Jesus Christ the Lord lived and died for us, even resurrecting three days later, the conduit of Abraham for blessing from God was no longer needed, for all blessings may only be found in the Messiah.

Consider the difference.

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.

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Names of God – DIVINE BEING – 106

2024-09-02

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.

106

DIVINE BEING

Acts 17:29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

Paul is addressing the men of Athens, having arrived there directly from Berea, an area where Paul was challenged with every teaching he provided by his audience checking the Word, to see if his teaching aligned with their authorities.

Arriving in Athens, his audience is not of the Jewish flavor, but of the Athenian philosophy bent, an audience that was not steeped in Jewish law but in human reasoning and philosophy. He doesn’t have a foundation of Old Testament understanding in the audience to teach from, so he uses what connection he can find with these men, and builds his message from there. There is wisdom in this approach for our use!

He speaks of his travels within the city, and refers to idols that have been constructed, especially an idol to the unknown god, and he latches onto this to begin his teaching. Note that he does not condemn these people for idolatry. Something to remember as we share the gospel with those in our world!

Foundational logic, the language of the philosopher, was being used for the sake of communicating to the audience, speaking of the creator God as necessary for their worldview, and then their own philosophy to leverage the audiences thoughts to a personal God.

“In him we live and move and have our being” is likely a portion of a poem by the Cretan poet Epimenides, and “For we are indeed his offspring.” is taken from a poet by the name of Aratus. Both of these authorities would have been well known to the audience and made a connection for them with Paul’s thoughts.

Logically speaking, if these poets message, generally accepted by the audience, the outcome would be there is a God out there that is not created as an idol is, but is a being. There would be similarities to human beings, but this God would of course be divine. as an extension of this argument, based on their very own accepted teaching, a greater being than us has to be present, has to exist.

Paul uses “divine” to introduce this God to the audience, for he is trying to build a logical connection for the audience of a personal God that exists. For the Greek philosopher, to refer to a divine being is similar to our cultural understanding of the same. Generally a very nebulous descriptor other than being greater than us.

Paul does not let the audience think “generally” about this god for long, for immediately, after laying a foundation of connection for the Greek audience of a living God, he introduces judgement on their ignorance (not idolatry) and a call to repent. And the basis of this judgment and call to repentance is a Man who has risen from the dead.

Paul presents a lot of specific doctrine to the audience after establishing the existence of the Divine Being!

The Divine Being is a patient God, overlooking ignorance, a God who expects repentance upon information provided, a God who is righteous, a God who will judge the world properly, a God that supplies facts, for He has not only appointed a specific Man to perform the judgement, but has provided a series of eye witness historical occurrences backing up the claim of the resurrection of this Judge. He has given assurance of the Judge’s identity by the resurrection!

Upon the resurrection news, the audience split. A Divine Being who raises a man from the dead was unheard of, and this teaching cannot be the result of simple logic or reasoning. To go from a Divine Being to a Judge (Jesus Christ) raised from the dead requires repentance and FAITH, not simply logical reasoning only. Some in the audience were not ready to explore this line of reasoning!

But the true Divine Being has raised Jesus from the dead. The audiences response is like that of today. Open to hearing more, or mockery.

Are you open to hearing more?

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.

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Names of God – DISTINGUISHED AMONG TEN THOUSAND – 105

2024-08-30

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.

105

DISTINGUISHED AMONG TEN THOUSAND

Song of Songs 5:10 [She] My beloved is radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand.

To be honest with you, I find the Song of Solomon rich in descriptive names for the Lord, much richer than I first imagined, and I am thankful for this study that I have the privilege to consider the names and descriptions of our God from the Word.

This particular name speaks of a quantity, and as you may remember, I leaned to a woodenly literal interpretation of the Word for many years, having been influenced by a modern interpretation of eschatology.

Nevertheless, this passage would have brought to mind a group of men, specifically 10,000, of which her beloved would be the fairest, would be distinguished within that group. How foolish to force my technical mindset on this poetic expression of wonder.

Her lover is the most distinguished of all. The note of ten thousand was essentially the same as someone in our our society speaking of trillions, or even a googol (ten duotrigintillion). Sorry – I slipped into my tech head again!

This poor farm girl was elevating her lover to the highest honor. You see, to be distinguished is to be raised above others, to be eminent, celebrated or well known based on past achievements. This poor farm girl, that had caught Solomons eye, must have thought of the king as out of this world.

As the church, we have a King that is so much more than simply an earthly ruler, but who truly is out of this world, has been given all authority, who is resurrected, never to die again, and that truly is raised above all contenders for the title of distinguished!

He is DISTINGUISHED AMONG (more than) TEN DUOTRIGINTILLION!

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.

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Names of God – DISCLOSURER OF THE PURPOSE OF OUR HEARTS – 104

2024-08-26

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.

104

DISCLOSURER OF THE PURPOSE OF OUR HEARTS

1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

What a wonderfully scary blessing we find in this verse. Scary? Yes if you read it the way I expect Paul to write it!

You know ..”each one will receive his condemnation from God” You know – He will disclose the purposes of our heart! How could He not condemn us!

No no no – the text says commendation, which granted, it does sounds like the word I expected, but has such a different message associated with it.

This verse, though describing hidden things being revealed and purposes of the heart being disclosed, does not go to the naturally expected message of judgement and condemnation, but is a grace filled promise of commendation from the very One who will reveal hidden things, even the purposes of our hearts!

And yet we know that He currently knows the things hidden in darkness, and He currently knows the purposes of our hearts! So what is Paul trying to teach us and the Corinthians?

Only that this revealing of our hidden things, and the revealing of our hearts purposes to us will only increase our love for Him, our understanding of the depth of our position before Him, of our stability before Him, of understanding His deep commitment of grace to us.

He truly is One who is beyond our understanding! How can He be so full of grace and yet continue to exhibit acts of constant grace, grace upon grace!

May His name be praised, and lifted up!

He commends those who do not deserve to know Him and yet He finds opportunity to commend us!

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.

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Names of God – DEW TO ISRAEL – 103

2024-08-23

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.

103

DEW TO ISRAEL

Hosea 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;

The prophet Hosea had a tough calling, not only in speaking truth to power, but his own personal life was laden with sorrow, humiliation and heartbreak.

Of course each heartbreak that Hosea experienced represented the heartbreak God suffered as his wife lived a life of adultery, turning to idols instead of the true God.

With this background of pain and disappointment being experienced by Hosea, and more so by God, we come to a passage in Hosea that speaks of the dew to Israel. Some translations refer to this wetness as a night mist, and it is that moisture that resides on the ground after a cool night, with the humidity falling out of the air and settling gently on the ground, the grass and the leaves of the foliage.

Yes, the dew can be explained by the hydrological cycle, but to experience it is another matter. My wife and I have a small home north of us where we go to escape, and the grass is longer, wilder, and (in my opinion) greener than anywhere else I know. In the early mornings, after a scorching hot day before, the night mist settles, and as the sun comes up, glistens on the droplets. It is a sight for the tired and weary, showing the beauty of God’s creation.

God is describing Himself as a dew for Israel, even though they have broken His heart, disobeyed His will and acted the adulterous wife. His dew is refreshing, cooling, beautiful and undeserved.

Yet that is the God we serve.

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.

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Names of God – DESTROYING TEMPEST – 102

2024-08-19

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.

102

DESTROYING TEMPEST

Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand.

We have had a few storms in our city this year, mostly associated with hurricanes and derocho wind storms. Yes – derocho wind storms, which are very similar to hurricane storms, but create destruction in relatively straight swaths. Yes, even in the last few weeks, we have experienced tornados, not more than a few miles away.

To see the destruction invisible wind can produce is shocking, every time I see it. I should be use to it by now, for we have lived near the coast of Texas for decades now.

Nevertheless, the Lord has one who is a tempest, a storm, a hurricane, a derocho, a tornado, that is inevitably on a path of destruction.

In the passage above, Isaiah speaks of the immediate situation the people of God will experience with the Babylonians coming down from the north, an army that will completely strip the land of life and destroy any memory of a peaceful society.

Hundreds of years later, the Lord sent another Destroying Tempest to the land of Israel, and this Destroying Tempest spoke radical messages and performed miraculous acts, destroying the current society, tearing down the temple, decimating the priesthood and annihilating the sacrificial system the society was built on.

The Messiah brought light and truth to the nation, to a nation that was set in stone, rigid in religion and unrelenting in it’s man made dogma. Within a generation, our Savior, as a Destroying Tempest removed the old system, and built a new body, a body of believers that spread amongst all of God’s creation, bringing light and love to all.

Almost like the bright skies after a destroying storm, the church is meant to be the blessing God desires for His people.

May we be the blessing after the storm. For we do not have the wisdom and positive intent or wisdom to create good out of destruction, for only the Lord God has that ability.

Let us be content with being a blessing to those we meet along the way!

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.

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Names of God – DESPISED BY THE PEOPLE – 101

2024-08-16

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.

101

DESPISED BY THE PEOPLE

Psalm 22:6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

Our previous name of God was from Isaiah 53, describing our God as being despised and rejected. With this name, we get definition of who it is that is despising the Lord.

Notice that the verse speaks of mankind scorning the Master, and that the people despised Him.

Now, the question I have for you is this. Is the psalmist describing two different groups in this verse? In other words, are “mankind” and “people” synonymous?

Could we read this passage interchanging these terms and be faithful to the text?

This question arises in my mind as I understand that poetry in the Old Testament did not depend on rhyming words, as typical of simple poetry in the English language.

You know what I mean with the child’s poem I heard way too often.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue;
you look like a monkey,
and you smell like one too.

For the ancient Hebrew prophets, they often “rhymed” in thoughts instead of sounds.

A good example is found in Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

The psalmist is saying the same thing, only using two ways of describing the same truth.

If this form of poetry applies to the verse we are considering today, then I would agree that “people” and “mankind” are describing the same group that despise the Lord. The only reason I am hesitant to sign off on that, is the use of the term “people”, and the common association of this term with “God’s people”.

No matter, for in the end, the cross shows us that we all have despised Him. Whether we were of a chosen class of humans or not, we are guilty of this attitude of despising the Creator and Sustainer.

We are not deserving of any mercy, as we have despised the One who deserves so much! And yet He extends His hand to us, ever faithful in His care for us.

Truly His is good, and He is good all the time!

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.

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Names of God – DESPISED AND REJECTED – 100

2024-08-12

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.

100

DESPISED AND REJECTED

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

To think that the Lord, the God of Glory would be despised and rejected makes no sense!

Let’s think of Isaiah’s situation.

As religious Jews during the time of Isaiah (and for religious folks today), it would be common to generally voice an opinion of seeking the Lord. Would they not have confessed they wanted the knowledge of the Lord, that they only trusted God and none else. The Old Testament prophets reveal to us, they drew near with their mouth, honored God with their lips, but in reality, their (our) hearts are far from God.

In a perfect world (which will come) our hearts will be completely sanctified and in that condition, the times of God being despised and rejected will be a fading memory, for He will wipe away all our tears.

He was despised. He was rejected. He entered this foreign world on a mission of love, never having experienced this hatred, but knowing full well our despising, rejecting hearts would eventually kill Him.

To be despised. To be looked down upon. To have disdain towards. To be revulsed of. To loathe. And why was this attitude expressed towards One full of grace and truth? A result of some inner judgement by the “righteous” upon their only hope.

To be rejected. Not simply to be ignored, but to be considered an outcast, a pariah, one who was worthy only of getting rid of, considered trash and waste.

How could we be so blind?

And yet He holds His hands out to us.

The Despised and Rejected One.

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.

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Names of God – DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS – 99

2024-08-09

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.

99

DESIRE OF THE RIGHTEOUS

Proverbs 11:23 The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

Right off the top, when we read this passage, we see a stark contrast between the righteous and the wicked.

Additionally, I assumed that the term “expectation” would have negative associations throughout the Old Testament. This is not a correct understanding. I couldn’t replace expectation in this verse with dread, or fear, as I assumed by my cursory reading.

The term תִּקְוָה tiqvâh, translated as expectation is often translated as hope, of things hoped for, even a ground of hope. What is surprising is that this term is used in the story of Rahab, and refers to the scarlet cord (tiqvâh) that she was to tie to the window, indicating her home and hope of deliverance. See Joshua 2:18 and Joshua 2:21

This is so very surprising to me. I fully expected the “expectation” of the wicked to be associated with doom and gloom, with wrath and destruction. So what is going on with this verse, and how does this relate to our topic of God’s Name?

Is this term used out of it’s natural, or normal manner? Possibly. It is beyond me to be certain, but one option that intrigues me is that the verse does not refer to who the wrath is inflicted upon. Might it be, that the expectation of the wicked, the hope of the wicked is that wrath falls on someone else? Is that what this verse may be teaching?

Am I twisting the passage’s meaning? Hopefully not, but let us put the first phrase, containing the “desire of the righteous” to the same interpretation. Might the desire of the righteous seek for good to fall on someone else?

Surely as believers, we are taught the the Lord seeks the best for mankind, seeking their salvation, security, and safety. His nature is to love, to protect, to call together and to comfort.

The Desire of the Righteous – His name is also Jesus Christ, and He seeks the best for all, especially those who seek Him.

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 07

2024-08-06

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

ABRAHAM

LEAVING HOME

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country …
Genesis 12:4 So Abram went…

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

It was necessary for the Lord to leave home, for without His departure from the Father, His work could not be accomplished. In a similar manner, Abraham had to leave his home in order to fulfill his calling of God.

Both had to go through a heart rending time of leaving those they loved for the sake of those they love.

For Abraham, he had to leave his father and mother, brothers and sisters, and all those he grew up with. He left all that he had experienced, all that he had known, for a land promised to him, in a region he had never seen.

True, he was granted the privilege of travelling with a half sister – Sarai, as his wife, and a nephew, by the name of Lot, who was somewhat of a burden, but nevertheless, he wasn’t completely alone. He may have had some of the fathers servants also, but I don’t recall if that is explicitly spoken of. He left his home, but not completely alone.

Jesus was not granted that privilege of having any other to travel with, for He came alone. No one else has ever been so separated from family as He was, and yet He maintained connection with the Father and Spirit continually. This is a mystery in my mind, but His departure from the heavens should not be considered of no burden.

He entered the world of flesh and blood, amongst strangers that were not simply different, but rightly be identified as His enemies. He had no-one to share His heart with, other than the Father Himself, but of those He rubbed shoulders with, they were unable to understand His being, His thoughts, His motivation, His wisdom or His ways. (Much like His disciples today?) Constant confusion, conflict and contradictions by the disciples, seemingly always misunderstanding His message, must have made the isolation Jesus experienced feel even greater.

I have often considered Abraham a fierce hero of the faith, leaving his home to venture out. What a tremendous man of faith, a man of courage, and of patience. He left his home to obey God!

The Savior left His home for us, but how much more of an impact on His being this must have been! We often do not consider the effect this must have had on our Savior. He left His home in order to rescue us, and in the rescuing, He was in a very real sense the loneliest man that ever walked the earth.

Let us be thankful that we have not been called to be alone, for we always have the benefit of those of like faith, and may we be a blessing to those we come in contact with.

Be thankful that He left His home, so we may have a greater home to go to!

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.

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Names of God – DESIRE OF THE BRIDE – 98

2024-08-05

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.

98

DESIRE FOR THE BRIDE

Song of Songs 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.

This is our second of three names that includes the term desire, and though the verse uses the object pronoun “me”, it is clear the intent of the verse is describing the beloved’s desire for the bride.

Understanding that the Song of Songs is a picture of Christ and the church, we have a name of God, though veiled, describes the very motivation of His will and actions towards His people.

As believers, we have been rightly taught of the great love He has, of His mercy, of His faithfulness, and of His longsuffering towards us, but it seems in my mind, to have this modifier of “desire” towards His church adds an aspect of His nature that I seemed to have missed.

The term desire is tᵊšûqâ in the Hebrew, and it speaks of a craving, or longing of a man for a woman. One time in the Old Testament, the term is used of the craving of a beast to devour, as in Genesis 4:7, when God describes the desire of the beast of sin to engulf the first murderer.

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

The craving is not a simple drive to attain a goal, but would I be right in understanding this desire to be all consuming?

For a beast to devour, or for man towards his wife, or a wife to her husband, each of these desires describe a focus, an all consuming longing that obliterates other desires. The heart of the one desiring is totally concentrated on the object/person desired.

This is the desire the Beloved has for His bride, the church.

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.

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Names of God – DESIRE OF OUR SOUL – 97

2024-08-02

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.

97

DESIRE OF OUR SOUL

Isaiah 26:8 In the path of your judgments, O LORD, we wait for you; your name and remembrance are the desire of our soul.

For our next three names, each of them declare that God is associated with a “desire”, and the source of the desire is what will produce the difference in our discussion.

For our post this morning, we are considering God as the desire of our soul. The term desire brings with it both the negative uncontrolled lusting after a thing, and the positive longing, craving, even hunger after a thing, person, place or memory. Of course in this instance, the desire is related to the person of God, being the very object of the desire.

And yet this isn’t, from my standpoint, simply a desire that is borne out of an emotional need, or a physical want, but of the soul, of the indefinable, yet very core of each persons existence. The soul represents (and is) the person, for the body decays, and our emotions are but a fleeting experience.

The soul, the core of the person has a desire, a longing, a craving that is continually hunting to find a place of rest, that seeks to find shelter and contentment. The soul knows it is estranged from it’s truth, from it’s place of belonging.

Given this undeniable thirst, the soul is constantly seeking out for it’s place of rest, and yet the distractions of the flesh, deceit of the evil one, and discouragements of the world constantly get the soul off track, off the path to find it’s place of rest.

Isaiah is telling us that the name and remembrance of God is to be our desire, and in our finding, our souls will rest from the search!

He is our Desire, and we are to recognize this truth, abandon the deceit, discouragement and distractions all around us and seek Him with all we have.

Let me rephrase this. Might it be better said that if we seek Him, that in the seeking we will gradually and continually avoid the deceit, discouragement and distractions all around us?

Let me know your thoughts!

He is our Desire, and we bring honor to His name and benefit to our soul as we understand this truth!

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 06

2024-07-30

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Abraham

Promises made by God

Genesis 15:5
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Galatians 3:16
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

Paul makes much hay out of the singular noun in Genesis 15:5, where the Lord spoke of the seed / offspring of Abraham. (See graphic of Hebrew noun parsing below, from Blue Letter Bible website)

Of course we can interpret it, as I often have when I read this verse, as “all the offspring” or “descendants” (as the NASB translates it) of Abrahams lineage, the millions of men and women who have come into existence due to Abraham’s existence. The seed of Abraham, in this context may be understood, from Abraham’s point of view, as all the children brought into this world through both Hagar and Sarah.

Yet Paul speaks of one Seed, one Person that will be of the promise. The promise is of the Savior, and though Abraham truly is the father of many nations, this blessing pales in comparison to the blessing of his lineage, the Seed that was in focus here in the Lord’s promise to him.

Jesus Christ is the Seed, the singular Seed that is truly the source of all, for He is the Alpha and Omega, the start and the finish, the One who will have a family greater in number than the stars of the heavens!

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.

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Names of God – DESIGNER AND BUILDER – 96

2024-07-29

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.

96

DESIGNER AND BUILDER

Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

This morning, we have two descriptors of our God, and should rightly have two separate posts for each, yet they are a couplet that deserves to be together in my mind, since my background is heavily influenced by these descriptors.

You see, if you are just beginning to follow my blog, my background is engineering, and for the greater part of my professional life, I have performed design work and then worked with builders to complete the project.

In the handing off of a design to a contractor/builder, I provide him plans that are to communicate the design intended. Out of those plans, the contractor interprets them in largely the same way as intended, if the plans are complete.

But even when the plans produced are complete, questions arise, items that were not considered or anticipated are discussed, and various additional decisions have to be made to maintain standards and yet complete the project.

In all of this explanation, one thing stands out in the development of a project from design to construction. The dangers of communication breakdown.

Not so within the Godhead, for their is no confusion or misunderstanding between the designer and the builder. The project will be completed as imagined, planned and designed, for He has anticipated all concerns, planned for all possibilities and does not have any supply chain issues that would impact his schedule.

He is the designer/builder of the city Abraham was looking for, a city that is exactly as God wishes.

Given this truth, He invites us into this process, accepting our stumbling ways, able to continue the work, even as He trains us in the work.

2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

It is an amazing fact that God is in control, and as we consider all the facets of this existence, we can only wonder at His abilities to manage His creation and our lives, not only for His glory, but also for our good.

He is an amazing Project Manager!

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.

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Names of God – DELIVERER – 95

2024-07-26

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.

95

DELIVERER

Romans 11:26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;

The Deliverer, Jesus is the One who initiates the deliverance, the rescue, the salvation out of our pitiful existence. And yet He has come out of Zion, which originally meant “a parched place”.

Of course, Zion had come to mean the City of David, Jerusalem or even the Temple constructed by Solomon, which was called the dwelling place of God.

Out of a parched place, glory rose. This picture reminds me of another time when Isaiah develops the Saviors arrival in the midst of unexpected times and circumstances.

Isa 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

Jesus appeared on time, in location and per direction in the most unlikely manner, out of a parched circumstances, and from a stump the remains of a now dead family tree.

The Deliverer has come out of Zion, a parched place that showed no promise of life. And yet He came, not only to provide life for all, but to banish ungodliness, which is the very definition of life for those who understand the Life He has given us.

To consider to be delivered and yet to wallow in ungodliness is to be self deceived. Consider the purpose of the Deliverer as we consider the Deliverer today.

For He has rose from the grave, the dust of a parched place to provide life and godliness for all who seek Him.

2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

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.

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Names of God – CROWN OF GLORY – 94

2024-07-22

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.

94

CROWN OF GLORY

Isaiah 28:5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,

What is it to be a crown? Is it simply a mass of costly metal, fashioned in a ring to fit on a head, with multiple rare stones dispersed on it?

That is my first thought, but is that the picture intended by the prophet?

So my question should be – What is the message Isaiah is communicating to us by calling the LORD of hosts a crown of glory?

The first thing to notice in the development of this passage is in the previous verses, Isaiah is delivers a woe to the drunkards of Ephraim, and describes them as the crown of pride.

A crown is a statement, representing splendor, dignity, authority and honor. For Isaiah to describe the northern kingdom (Ephraim) in this manner brought shame to the nation. A crown of pride is not to be the outcome of receiving splendor, dignity, authority and honor, as the nation of Israel had centuries before. To be degraded to drunkards is a statement of the utter failure of the northern kingdom, and of their willingness to enter into a shameful existence. They had fallen, and were about to be conquered.

After describing the northern kingdom, Isaiah turns to Judah, and reminds them where their splendor, dignity, authority and honor may be found.

To consider the beginning of Isaiah’s discussion of crowns as discussing the shame of the northern kingdom, and then to describe the Lord using the same term – “crown” speaks volumes.

He is diametrically different than our typical experience, an experience of falling into vices and sin. He is the polar opposite, One who is an ultimate crown, and is described not only as a crown, but a crown of glory. He is a crown that not only represents splendor, dignity, authority and honor, but in Himself is splendor, dignity, authority and honor.

He is our crown of glory, an indescribable blessing for those who seek Him out. He rescues us from shame and provides splendor, dignity, authority and honor.

He is good!

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.

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Names of God – CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH – 92

2024-07-19

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.

92

CREATOR OF THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

We have before us our third name of God that describes our Father as a Creator, the Creator of the ends of the earth. We have been introduced to God as the Creator, and as the Creator of Israel, but in this description we find He is speaking to Israel regarding that which they cannot see. The ends of the earth are the furthest distance from Israel, that part of creation that they have never seen, experienced or interacted with.

Yet God has created the ends of the earth, and as such, has a heart for those who have not been seen, experienced or interacted with.

As believers, we tend to be concerned only with our own “world”, our own circle of family, friends and foes, but God is looking to far greater concerns than simply our concerns, valid as they are. His heart is not only for the individual believer, for the body of Christ as an organism and family, but also He is looking to the ends of the earth for their redemption and He will accomplish it.

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

God has created the ends of the earth, so that they along with us, may worship Him together with us.

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 05

2024-07-16

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Abraham

Father of Many Nations

Genesis 17:5
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Ephesians 4:6
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Abram began his walk with God in obedience to the call of God, given the promise of being a blessing, and eventually being provided the promise of a land for his children. He would become a great nation, but as it is with the Lord, Abraham would not simply be the father of a nation, but the father of many nations.

It is commonly thought, that Abraham has lineage in many of the eastern nations surrounding Israel, but even greater is his status of being the father of three of the largest religions in the world.

Of course he is a founder of the Jewish faith, and by extension a father in the Christian faith. Many in the faith of Islam consider Abraham a father of their faith, though through Ishmael.

Gen 17:5 speaks of Abraham as being the father of many nations, and that can be understood in various ways, whether it be through geopolitical nations, or groups of people that are of a nation without land, but by faith.

Abraham was a father of many nations! Our God is the Father of all, no distinction of differences, no “us and them”. He is not the Father is all the nations, although is a sense He is, but in our thoughts for today, He is the Father of all.

Of all.

I don’t understand it, but that is alright, for He is the One in charge and not I.

May His name be praised, ab all who have breath.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

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.

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Names of God – CREATOR OF THE HEAVENS – 93

2024-07-15

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.

93

CREATOR OF THE HEAVENS

Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

This name of God is our last name for us to consider that includes the concept of creation. Earlier we have considered “Creator”, “Creator of Israel” and “Creator of the ends of the earth”.

With this name, we find we are hearkening back to the first concept, that of creating out of nothing. He is the Creator of the heavens, that which was described in the very first verse of Genesis.

The heavens. What most modern believers may think of as space, with all the galaxies, planets and stars flung into it. For the ancient Hebrews, their concept of the heavens may have been that of the firmament, the sky with the clouds. How they considered the sun and stars relative to the sky is an unknown for myself.

Nevertheless, God created all that is above us, an expanse that neither the Hebrew nor we can understand. It is not only physically above us, but it is greater than our imaginations, unfathomable in our understanding.

Yet He created it, a reflection of His eternality, His all mighty power, His unknowable wisdom and His abundant “over the top” provision for His people.

He is the Creator of the heavens, and they speak of His glory.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

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.

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Names of God – CREATOR OF ISRAEL – 91

2024-07-12

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.

91

CREATOR OF ISRAEL

Isaiah 43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.”

In our last post, we considered God as Creator. He who created out of nothing, or as the ancients used to say “ex nihilo”. Our passage this morning speaks of God as Creator, using the same Hebrew word as in Gen 1:1, but in a different sense.

God created Israel, the nation now in captivity in Babylon. He is reminding the people who have been dragged off into captivity that He is their Creator. The nation would not exist with His active work in the world.

Consider the patient work performed in the creation of the nation. The calling of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the expansion of this dysfunctional family, the rescue of Israel from Egypt though the plagues, the exodus through the Sinai of a thankless people, the giving of the law, the invasion and domination of the land of Canaan, the provisions of judges to provide leadership, the rejection of His authority in demanding a king, the calling and equipping of prophets to warn the nation, and finally, at this point in their history, the humbling of the nation by a cruel Babylon.

God created Israel through many processes and was calling on them to recall their past, in that He is their Creator.

Only a few lines later, Isaiah draws their attention the the current activities of God, in that He is doing a new thing. His creative powers, in that of the nation of Israel in not finished. Babylon will not have the final word. God is actively working and doing a new thing in the history of Israel.

He will make a road in the wilderness (v 19), a path back to the land they have been carried away from. Their story wasn’t over yet, and if truth be told, the Way they would be provided would be greater than all their hopes and wishes.

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.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Abraham – 04

2024-07-09

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Abraham

Altar Builder

Genesis 12:7 So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:8 And there he built an altar to the LORD
Genesis 13:18 there he built an altar to the LORD.
Genesis 22:9 Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

Hebrews 8:3
For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

Early on in the Word, any place could be an altar, and Abraham in his travels built many altars. I often think of altars as places of quietness, calmness and peace. For those in the Old Testament, this might not be such an accurate picture, for the word altar, in the Old Testament can literally be translated as “a place of slaughter”.

I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but my son took it upon himself to read through the Bible in a month, and in the reading, as he got through Leviticus, he made the following statement. Dang – those priest’s in the temple were more like butchers than religious priests today!

Sharp boy, that son of mine! He saw that the altar was a place of slaughter, blood and death. The slaughter of any animal has got to be a violent, possibly noisy endeavor, not to mention the gushing of blood, the experience of a life ending and the impact on the conscious of the one sacrificing.

The New Testament is no different, for it also refers to a place of slaughter. I am not convinced that the Altar was any less bloody during times of sacrifice, or that the practice was “sanitized” much from early times. To sacrifice an animal would be the forcing of one’s will upon a helpless victim, an animal with no choice.

Consider Jesus, who was not only the sacrifice, but the High Priest of the New Covenant. He officiated over His own sacrifice, and was the One who orchestrated the time, place and extent of His sacrifice.

He is the ultimate altar builder, and as such has eliminated the blood letting for His worshippers. There is no altar for the believer, no place to sacrifice an animal to appease God. This is an ultimate insult to consider this as being an acceptable approach to God. Our altar is Him, and our approach to the altar is to be in a state of humility, teachableness and with a thankful spirit.

Abraham was a shadow, but Jesus is the reality. Look to the Only Sacrifice offered up for your life!

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.

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Names of God – CREATOR – 90

2024-07-08

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.

90

CREATOR

Romans 1:25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

When we think of creating a piece of art, making a machine, or writing a poem, we think we are creating something, that may have never been in existence before. Well – that may be true in some instances, but we should stop short of thinking we are creating in the same manner as God created.

We “create” out of a plethora of materials.

If we are making a piece of art, whether a painting, sculpture or a book, then all the material and subjects we broach in the art is found in the originally created world. We are merely recreating, or rearranging already existing thoughts feelings and ideas.

Similarly with the making of a machine. Whether that machine is a tractor, or a computer, the original machine is made from ideas and truths available to the one searching specific processes or methods already established and ready to be found in the originally created world.

In the writing of a poem or story, we are taking truths or observations and communicating these truths or observations in a hopefully unique way.

But in all these human creations, we can not claim that we are creating in the same way as God created the world we live in. For when we speak of God creating, He creates out of nothing.

He did not have any one previous to him to provide guidance in creation, or methods of creating, or materials to create out of. He did not have any materials to manipulate in order to create something new. He had nothing to work with, and by a simple spoken word, emptiness, what many call space, was created.

Space was created. Time was created. Material was created.

In the beginning (time), God created the heavens (space) and the earth (materials).

We have been made, created in the image of God, and yet though we are broken, we do mimic God in our creative efforts. But there are limitations to our mimicking, for He has provided us not only the materials and time to create from, but the space to perform all our necessary work.

He has established all things. We are simply trying to understand His creation, and in a small way create systems or things that may be of benefit for those around us.

There is a massive difference between our creating and His creating, and due to that huge distinction, He is truly the only actual Creator.

May His name be praised.

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.

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Category: Old Testament in New Testament

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