Continuing the look at the Attributes of God, and letting Torrey’s choice of scripture guide us:
Torrey’s Topics:
Concerning God, His Being, Attributes
I. Concerning God.
A. His Being.
1. Attributes
d. Eternity. Unlimited by time.
Ge 21:33;
And he planted a grove in beer sheeba and called there the name Yahweh God Olam.
As a sign between the covenant between two men, Abraham and Abimelech, a grove was planted. A grove will live for a very long period of time, and though it may not be a true eternity, it still symbolized the lasting duration of time for their covenant. To emphasize the long duration, Abraham named it for God, Yahweh Olam. God Forever. If the grove won’t last forever, God will.
Ex 15:18;
Yahweh will reign into forever and ever.
It’s hard to say it more simply than that. God reigns forever.
De 32:40;
For I lift to heaven my hands and say,
“I live unto forever.”
This is God speaking, and describing himself. He raises his hands, a sign of solomn oath. He proclaims that he himself lives forever.
1Ch 16:36;
And bless Yahweh God of Israel, from the forever and until the forever, and said all the people:
amen and praise to Yahweh
God’s people, in a time of worship and praise, acknowledged his timelessness. He is the God that was at the beginning forever and will last until the ending forever. If there is one point that God’s people, across all denominational lines can come together in agreement, it is that God is eternal.
Ne 9:5;
And said the Levites, Joshua and Cadmeel, Baani, chashabniah, sheereebiah, howdijah, shabaniah, patachiah:
Stand up, praise the Yahweh your God from the forever until the forever.
And blessed name, your abundance, may the people raise up over all blessings and hymns
God is again named as the Eternal God by this group of Levites, whose names mean: Yah saves, Presence of God, Built, Thought of Yah, Yah has brought heat, Majesty of Yah, Yah has prospered, Yah has opened. They call to the people to take a stand. Honor the eternal God. And ask that the Blessed, Abundant Name be highly lifted up by each person when performing all hymns and blessings.
Ps 90:1-4;
A hymn of Moses man of the God Lord.
A temple of yours, we are.
To you in time and time.
Before the mountains were born, and you twisted earth and the globe, and from forever until forever you are god.
You turned mortal man unto powder, and you say return children of adam.
For a thousand years in your eyes, a day. As yesterday when its passed. And a nightwatch in the night.
The words in this passage, which I have left in a very literal form may seem blocky, but stop. Take the time to read each phrase. Let the eternal nature and the majesty of God sink in. In this hymn of Moses, it is proven time and time again that God lives. Before creation when the earth was twisted and shaped into it’s form, and mountains were brought out, God was already alive in the preceeding forever. He will remain until the ending forever. Men eventually die and God sees them return to dust. Some days seem to drag on as if they were a thousand years. Then, when that day fades into yesterday it seems so short. God has been around so long that a thousand years seem as short as that disappearing yesterday. A nightwatch passes unknown to most people who are sleeping. Even to the nightwatchman it goes peacefully away. Taken for granted.
Isa 44:6;
Thus says Yahweh King of Israel, and his redeemer Yahweh of Hosts.
I am first and I am the last. Besides me, no other gods.
God is the ruler over Israel, he reigns over hosts. He is also their kinsman redeemer. He proclaims that he is first and last and nobody else. He has complete ownership over all that we know.
Isa 48:12;
Listen to me Jacob and Israel, * I am he. first also last.
There is a word that usually doesn’t get translated. The ‘*’ symbol is where it goes, it is the word ‘eth’, which is a word of emphasis. Here God is speaking and he wants to emphasize what he is about to say. Listen and understand, God wants it known in no uncertain terms, he is first and last, or in a word, eternal.
Isa 57:15;
For thus says the elevated, lifted one, who abides into the holy named, high place, holy place.
“The crushed and the humble spirit, he will revive their spirit.
The humble he will revive and the heart crushed ones.
Such an eternal being as God surely deserves the most highest of names, and lives in a holy place. In all his loftiness though, he sees the lowly, the depressed, the crushed spirits. He wants to gently revive and breathe new life into those who need it. He wants to make a connection with each of us.