Sunday, May 18, 2008

Elohim, Majestic King

Elohim (el-o-heem)
By John Mochel

It is a name frequently used for God in the Scriptures. It means God. It means God the almighty one, God who has all resources, all wisdom, all understanding, all power. It means God, the indisputable sovereign over all creation. Elohim is a Hebrew word, plural in form, yet used as a singular noun.

Know that the Lord Himself is God (Elohim);
It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.
Psalm 100:3

In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

But our Elohim is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
Psalm 115:3

No one is ever really at ease facing what we call “life” and “death” without a religious faith. The trouble with many people today is that they have not found a God big enough for modern needs. While their experience of life has grown in a score of different directions, and their mental horizons have been expanded to the point of bewilderment by world events and by scientific discoveries, their ideas of God have remained largely static. It is obviously impossible for an adult to worship the conception of God that exists in the mind of a child of Sunday-school age, unless he is prepared to deny his own experience of life. If, by a great effort of will, he does this he will always be secretly afraid lest some new truth may expose the juvenility of his faith. And it will always be by such an effort that he either worships or serves a God who is really too small to command his adult loyalty and cooperation.

It is most certainly true that many people today reject God or struggle in following Him because they do not really know Him.

Faith simply means trust. The only way to grow in your trust for another person is to get to know that person better, assuming they are trustworthy. It is no different with God. We must know Him better for our faith in Him to grow. We need to understand and experience His power, His wisdom, His grace. We must increasingly come to grips with His sovereignty, read about it, dwell on it. We must realize ever more fully that He is our Elohim.

What then does it mean? Elohim. God Almighty, the Sovereign Lord of the universe. God’s sovereignty, communicated in the Scriptures, impacts us primarily in two ways. The first is a recognition that He is completely in control.

Nothing happens apart from God’s control. This is truly difficult to get one’s mind around.

4 comments:

zewt said...

dont think it's about knowing him alone... it's about putting our human understanding of things behind us and accept the fact that there are just some things beyond our human explanation.

nice change of tune maverick.

phillix-starscreamer said...

"Faith simply means trust". How apt :) I'd like to pitch in and add onto your post, Mave...

"Delight yourself in Yahweh and He will grant you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37:4

Sovereign, mighty and all encompassing He is, the beat of His heart are our names, our lives. Sometimes a lot of us (me especially) need to be reminded that surrendering to Him does not equate slave-drivery; a relationship with Him, which works two ways, is all it takes.

Maverick SM said...

Zewt,

You are right but it's hard for many.

Phillix,

I truly admire your convictions.

Anonymous said...

is this the end of mahatir and his brand of divisive and corrupt politics? his unseen and dark hands that envelope all our august institutions will be removed and daylight beckons? a new political and economic platform is being built?
road is gonna be bumpy and there's going to be pain. but, in the long run, it will be better for the country. who knows, UMNO will be a rejuvenated and enlightened party without Mahatir and will be the bedrock for a new political vision with less corruption and a fairer and more caring administration.