Mensa Otabil - El-Olam
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We are bringing our study of the names of God for this week to a conclusion. Next week, I’ll start the second part of our devotion on the names of God, but today we are rounding up the names that have «el» to begin with. Tomorrow, we will start with names that have a different prefix attached to them, and today we are looking at the name El Olam. Psalm 90: «Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.» El Olam is used to refer to God as the everlasting or eternal one. The name of the Lord shows that God pre-existed, exists, and will always exist. He is eternal, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. The word Olam speaks of something that has a long duration or something that has antiquity yet still speaks to the future. It is a wide-ranging word, and in the Bible, it refers to God, His promises, His covenant with His people, and the future reign of the Messiah. It covers a broad space in the Scriptures.
Eternity is a very difficult concept for any human being to grasp because we are so aware of time. We calculate everything with time, being aware of the shortness of our time. Even when calculating distances in the universe, we use time; we look at light years and all of that because timelessness is so foreign to us. However, eternity is God’s standard; that’s where He dwells. He dwells in eternity; He was there before there was time and will be there after time. God is eternal.
So what does El Olam mean for us as Christians? First, it means that God is the same at all times. From everlasting to everlasting, He is God; He never grows old, never gets weary, never gets tired, and never changes. He doesn’t depreciate in value, doesn’t decompose, doesn’t deteriorate, and doesn’t experience corruption. From everlasting to everlasting, He is the same; He is a constant. That’s the first thing about God: He is constant; nothing changes Him, and nothing wears Him down.
Secondly, it means that God is real to all generations. What He did in the past, He can do today, and He does tomorrow. So when we read about God’s works in the past, we are not reading about something that cannot happen now; we are reading about something that happened then, can happen now, and will happen in the future. God is the same to all generations. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob is my God, is your God. The God of Peter, the God of Paul is your God and my God; He is the same with all generations. There is no favored generation in the past more than the generation we are in. God is the same and real to all generations.
The third thing is that God works out His will in time. Although God is eternal, He does what He does for us in time, and that is why a thousand years is like a day to God. So what you consider a long time is nothing to God, and what God can do in one moment can be the things that you think He should do in a very long time. He can do them in one moment. Time is not a major factor for God, and every day, in every moment, He is working out His purposes.
As we trust Him, He is working eternity into time and making sure that what He has planned for us in eternity happens in time, in our lives. Because God has this perspective of eternity, when we trust Him, we trust Him absolutely, knowing that He is working out His purposes in our time and, in the right time, He makes all things beautiful. He is El Olam, the Eternal One, and He is our God.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you are from everlasting to everlasting. I know you are working out your purposes for my life each day.» In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. That concludes our first part of the names of God, and tomorrow we start the second part of the names of God. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.