"GOD IS our refuge and strength, a very help in times of trouble" (cf. Psalm 46:1, KJV).
"You are my hiding place..." (Psalm 32:7, NKJV).
"You are my hiding place and my shield..." (Psalm 119:114, NKJV).
"Am I a God near at hand, says the LORD, 'And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him?' says the LORD; 'Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the LORD." (cf. Jer. 23:23-24).
"The eternal God is your dwelling place [refuge], and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27, ESV).
"He is there, and He is not silent." --Francis A. Schaeffer
Abraham sure found out that God is never AWOL, or even MIA, but always the "God who is there," to borrow from one of Francis Schaeffer's books. He is the God "who was, who is, and who is to be": the everlasting God--El Olam. We can be assured that God is not some state of being (Is-ness), but a living Being (Is-ing) that is alive forevermore. Jesus was dead and is alive and is the eternal Son of the Father---He didn't become the Son upon birth.
God's nature is permanent--we can sure count on God--and God is always in character--never capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical like we are; He is predictable in the sense that He is the Great Promise Keeper and can be counted on to live up to His Word, which He exalts above all His name (cf. Psalm 138:2). "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8, NIV); this should give us comfort that He will never change His mind concerning us and our status in Him, though our state of fellowship may vary--we're still family to Him.
Abraham found out that God was still God no matter where He went and that He wasn't just some local deity that ruled Canaan. We cannot escape His sovereignty or power! God transcends time because He created it! The time-space continuum is relative to us and doesn't relate to God at all, for He is neither defined, confined, controlled, limited, nor improved by time itself. What is time but a corollary of space and matter, and if neither of these existed, neither would time! In our conception, things only go in succession--forward as they progress.
Therefore, we conclude that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning or origin, even the universe--God is not in that continuum and therefore had no beginning. Scientists even speculate that time began at the big bang; Scripture references the inauguration of time in 2 Tim. 1:9 and in Titus 1:2. So theologians knew this before scientists "discovered time." Now, the concept to be understood, is that if God created or invented time, He cannot be subject to it nor controlled by it as its slave--God is totally free and self-existent, slave to nothing. God is outside time as it were and is able to manipulate it to His will--one year is as a thousand!
We can be assured of God's providence and guidance because He controls the future and also is able to know it by virtue of His sovereignty over time. Everything seems like NOW to God! He dwells in eternity and we live as the slaves of time. But what happened at the incarnation of Jesus, but that God the Son entered our dimension of time and lived in subordination to the Father, emptying Himself, known as the kenosis, of the independent usage of His divine nature.
This fact of the eternity of God may have been novel. Had it dawned on him that God is still God everywhere and isn't territorial or local? It was also in vogue to think that the more gods, the better! But having knowledge of the one true God was enough for him to feel secure and safe from his enemies. Abimelech told Abraham that God was "obviously" with him "in everything [he does]." The testimony of the eternal God is apparent even to the outsider as we witness to them.
It is the preaching of the Word that can brings conviction, not our brilliance or arguments (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5); 2:13)--Abraham kept his faith in God and it showed. Thanks be to God that we can count on Him always being in character and never out of harmony and sync with His plan (we can be on the same page of His will)--for He's not subject to moods, maudlin sentimentality, nor any human vulnerability. Soli Deo Gloria!
Abraham found out that God was still God no matter where He went and that He wasn't just some local deity that ruled Canaan. We cannot escape His sovereignty or power! God transcends time because He created it! The time-space continuum is relative to us and doesn't relate to God at all, for He is neither defined, confined, controlled, limited, nor improved by time itself. What is time but a corollary of space and matter, and if neither of these existed, neither would time! In our conception, things only go in succession--forward as they progress.
Therefore, we conclude that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning or origin, even the universe--God is not in that continuum and therefore had no beginning. Scientists even speculate that time began at the big bang; Scripture references the inauguration of time in 2 Tim. 1:9 and in Titus 1:2. So theologians knew this before scientists "discovered time." Now, the concept to be understood, is that if God created or invented time, He cannot be subject to it nor controlled by it as its slave--God is totally free and self-existent, slave to nothing. God is outside time as it were and is able to manipulate it to His will--one year is as a thousand!
We can be assured of God's providence and guidance because He controls the future and also is able to know it by virtue of His sovereignty over time. Everything seems like NOW to God! He dwells in eternity and we live as the slaves of time. But what happened at the incarnation of Jesus, but that God the Son entered our dimension of time and lived in subordination to the Father, emptying Himself, known as the kenosis, of the independent usage of His divine nature.
This fact of the eternity of God may have been novel. Had it dawned on him that God is still God everywhere and isn't territorial or local? It was also in vogue to think that the more gods, the better! But having knowledge of the one true God was enough for him to feel secure and safe from his enemies. Abimelech told Abraham that God was "obviously" with him "in everything [he does]." The testimony of the eternal God is apparent even to the outsider as we witness to them.
It is the preaching of the Word that can brings conviction, not our brilliance or arguments (cf. 1 Thess. 1:5); 2:13)--Abraham kept his faith in God and it showed. Thanks be to God that we can count on Him always being in character and never out of harmony and sync with His plan (we can be on the same page of His will)--for He's not subject to moods, maudlin sentimentality, nor any human vulnerability. Soli Deo Gloria!
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