A group of blind men came across an elephant. They tried to learn and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. The first blind man put out his hand and touched the side of the elephant. “How smooth! An elephant is like a wall.” The second touched the trunk. “How round! An elephant is like a snake.” The third touched the tusk. “How sharp! An elephant is like a spear.”
The fourth touched the ear. “How wide! An elephant is like a fan.” An argument ensued, each blind man thinking his own perception of the elephant was the correct one. Their guide called out. He said “The elephant is a big animal; each man touched only one part. Each one of you knows only a part. You must put all the parts together to find out what an elephant is like”.
The full nature of God is beyond human comprehension and language. He is infinite, unique and incomparable to anything created. Human beings seeking to understand God are like the blind men. They only touch a small part of the indescribable God. No one has the full truth; every perspective is partial. Bible time men who had encounters with God attempted to describe him using metaphorical language and gave him names.
Moses the author of Genesis gave God the very first name. He called him Elohim which means the creator. He wrote “in the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen. 1:1-2). The phrase “the heavens and the earth are two polar opposites that also include everything in between.
The first thing God wanted us to know about himself is that he is the Creator of everything; the visible as well as the invisible. He also wanted us to know that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were there before the beginning (Gen. 1:1, 26; John 1:3). In Psalm 90:2 Moses states “before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God”.
God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding” (Jer.10:12). God’s creation is very complex; even the simplest living organism is a masterpiece of miniaturized complexity. The universe is a vast and intricate system. One of its most intriguing aspects is how precisely its physical laws seem to support the existence of life.
Scientists have found that even tiny changes would make life impossible. For example if the earth were a little closer to the sun, we would burn up. If it were a little farther from the sun, we would freeze. God added just enough salt to the ocean water to lower the freezing point and sustain marine life. And yet he designed the hydrologic cycle to provide salt-free rain from the ocean for terrestrial life -crops and animals.
God the creator transformed an earth that was formless and empty, darkness- into an orderly beautiful world. God could have created a beautiful world instantly but he did it through a process that lasted six days. He worked in a progressive, sequential way to turn chaos to beauty and order. To this day sanctification (restoring his image in man) is progressively, a lifelong process. The God who created beauty out of chaos is still able to take chaos and make something beautiful.
The creation of man was the crowning event of the creation process and God created man in His image. Every human being bears the image of God regardless of their physical appearance, religion and nationality. Every person has inherent value and dignity regardless of their social status. While the image of God may "marred" by sin, it is not completely erased. There is always a potential for restoration and wholeness.
Man was created last, he was not there at the beginning. Creation was God’s work, without any help from man. Man would like to think that everything revolves around him. The point is that there is a much bigger picture and man is but a small part of it, not the whole of it. Man has a place of honor and responsibility in God’s creation, but he is still a creature and not a creator. The psalmist understood this very well (Ps.8:3-9).
In Isaiah 40:12-14 we read “who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket …Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord or instruct the Lord as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?”
In Genesis14:17-23 Melchizedek gave God the name El-Elyon (God most high). Abram’s nephew Lot since was kidnapped. Abram and his men pursued the kidnappers and recovered everything. On the way back Abram met Melchizedek. He said to Abram “blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Later on Abram met the king of Sodom (where Lot and others had been captured from). He said to Abram, “Give me the persons and take the goods for yourself.” Abram declined the offer, using the same words that Melchizedek had just spoken to him. He said “I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’”. Melchizedek timely reminded Abram who his God was. “Abram of God Most High” did not need riches from a heathen king.
In Daniel 3 king Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to be thrown into a furnace that was heated seven times hotter than usual. The King leaped to his feet in amazement when he saw four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed. He called them “servants of the Most High God”. Earlier (v. 15) he had asked them “who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” He got the answer.
In Daniel 4 Nebuchadnezzar said, “Is this not the great Babylon which I have built as a royal palace by the strength of my own power, and for the glory of my own majesty”? El-Elyon took him through a very unpleasant experience; at the end “ 1 praised the Most High… All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth” (Dan. 4:34-35).
The Psalmist cried out “O God…see how your enemies growl... pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm… Let them know… that you alone are the Most High over all the earth (Ps. 83). My soul trusts in you; and in the shadow of your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me (Ps. 57:1-2).
In Psalm 91 there are great promises “whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty… He will cover you with his feathers; If you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you. Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. I will be with him in trouble”. He will enjoy a long abundant life and at the end of it be saved from Hell.
The Lord Most High reigns supreme. He is greater than any force of darkness in this world. He is bigger than any problem we might come up against in this life. He will never lose His power and might. Satan will cause problems, but not without God’s permission (Job 1-2). God has put a hedge of protection around his people (Job 1:9; Ps.125:2). There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord (Prov. 21:30).
Hagar gave God the name El-Roi -God who sees me (Gen. 16). Sarai took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Things got so bad between her and Sarai that Hagar took off in the direction of her homeland, through the desert. She was in danger of perishing in the lonely desert.
Hagar had been brought up amid the idolatries of Egypt. In her despair, she must have wondered if the God of her master knew or cared about her situation. Then, suddenly, the angel of the Lord found her near a spring in the desert. He told her to go back to her mistress and submit to her. Hagar, awed by this experience, named God “El Roi”-the God who sees. The well was called Beer Lahai Roi "well of Living One Who sees me".
There in the desert, feeling the misery of her past and the uncertainty of her future, Hagar met God. Even though He asked Hagar where she had come from and where she was going, God already knew. She had brought this trouble upon herself but God still cared. Inside her womb was a descendant of his friend Abram (Isa 41:8). The angel promised Hagar a future for her unborn son (vv.11-12). El Roi could clearly see her past, present and future. Hagar obeyed and returned to Sarai.
Years later God said to Abraham “As for Sarai …I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her... Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Then God said... Sarah will bear you a son, and …I will establish my covenant with him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful … I will make him into a great nation” (Gen.17:15-20).
When Isaac was born Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son… The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, ‘Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you… Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar… then sent her off with the boy.
She was wandering in the Desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes and began to sob.The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there”. Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert (Gen. 21:8-21).
Hagar had to return to the setting of prior harsh treatment but in her adversity she can take confidence that El Roi sees. Ishmael was under God’s watchful eye; he could not perish in that desert. Hagar was out of Abraham’s sight but God had never taken his eyes off her. El Roi is a personal God who attentively watches over all His children all the time. He sees the past, present and future. If we truly appropriate this truth, we shall always be at peace.
Psalm 121 gives a clear, comforting picture of El Roi, the God Who never slumbers or sleeps .He always and forever guards the going out and the coming back of his Children. They dwell securely beneath His ever watchful eye. He is with them everywhere seeing everything (Jer. 23:23-24; Ps 33:18). He is so watchful that He knows when the smallest sparrow falls to the ground (Matt.10: 29-31).
God’s people have had personal encounters with God. Some stories are recorded in the Bible and in others places. However, most encounters remain undocumented. Each encounter opens our eyes of faith so that we are able to know more about our amazing God. We shall never be able to discover everything about him in this life. We shall only know “the outer fringe of his works” (Job 26:14). One day “ we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)
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