Olam Elohim

Olam Elohim

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. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. -- Isaiah 40:28-31; English Standard Version

Have you ever bought something that was labeled "Lifetime Guarantee" or something similar? Being the self-perceived comedian that I am I always wonder who's lifetime is it? I found out one time. I purchased a tool that was supposedly guaranteed for life. It broke. Now mind you, I'm still alive. Being the logical creature that I am I figured that if I am alive and the tool is dead they must have meant MY lifetime. I thought I could return this tool for a new one. As it turned out, the company died before the tool did. I guess two deaths outnumber my one life. I didn't get a new tool. I guess the lifetime they were talking about meant the lifetime of the company. Who'd have thought that I'd outlive industry? More than that, who'd have thought I'd outlive anything labeled a "lifetime"? I guess that's subjective, huh?

I have learned over the years that, when it comes to tools, you get what you pay for. I hate cheap tools.

Today we meet God as Olam Elohim; Everlasting God. Isaiah could have easily preached to today's society. God led Isaiah to rebuke Israel for putting their trust in idols, or non-God gods. We don't often find ourselves bowing down to statues these days, but we've got idols surely enough.

The strange thing is that most of what we spend or time on is perishable goods that is advertised a lot better than it proves to be. God is everlasting. He does not diminish. He does not change. Nothing can take away from Him and nothing can add to Him.

What THING could make the weary regain their strength? What THING can sustain itself?

Before ANYTHING was, God was. When all else is gone, God will be. He is Everlasting God!

We all get fooled by advertising. We all get the wool pulled over our eyes from time to time. Let's not be fooled about God. He's not a wooden statue that will swell with water and turn to ashes with fire. He is no stone that will chip away and turn to dust. He is no golden statue that can be melted and reformed. He withstands all things without losing anything of Himself. He will not disappear under a sandstorm or be lost on the bottom of any ocean. He is Olam Elohim! He is Everlasting God!

John Gill said, "[He} is from everlasting to everlasting, unchangeably the same; whose name alone is Jehovah, the self-existent and all comprehending Being, the Maker and Former of all things; who has not only created the earth, and the foundations of it...[He rules] the habitable part of the world, that is most known and dwelt in, [and] even the extremities of the earth; and therefore knows and will take care of his own people, let them be where they will: and though the work of creation, and of upholding creatures in their beings, and of governing the world, and providing for all in it, and of taking care of his church and people in particular, requires so much power, as well as wisdom, yet he never sinks under it, nor is weary of it..." That's my God! (I just thought that was so beautiful, I had to let Dr. Gill say it for me!)

Baubles...that's what the world offers us. Stuff that makes no difference. Even stuff with warranties does us little good unless it's stuff that will go to the Beyond. Our God is the Everlasting God. He is Olam Elohim. To give our attention and affection to any other thing before Him is a sin and a shame.

I think I'll wait upon Him? You?