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The Everlasting God (El Olam) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking and welcome to the Deep Dive, where
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we take your source material and distill its most valuable
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insights, helping you grasp significant topics quickly and
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thoroughly. Today, we turn our attention to
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something truly central to our understanding of God and our
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faith. We're taking a close look at a
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concept at the core of the Hebrew Scriptures and fully
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embraced within Reformed theology, God as El Olam.
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This isn't just some, you know, theological term.
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It actually tells us about who God is, his very character, and
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how that shapes pretty much everything we believe and
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experience as Christians. That's right.
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Our sources for this deep dive are well, they're wide-ranging.
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We're drawing from biblical texts, historical theological
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discussions, even contemporary analysis.
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Our goal today is really to unpack the meaning of El Olam,
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see how this idea unfolds throughout the Bible, how
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systematic theology brings it all together, how the church has
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held onto this truth through history, and maybe most
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importantly, what it means for your daily walk with God.
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It's about understanding the everlasting God, sometimes
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called the Mighty One of the age.
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Yeah, we want to see how this truth provides a stable anchor
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for our faith in a world that, let's face it, often feels quite
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unsettled. You'll hear about how God's self
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existence and his unchanging nature make his promises
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completely certain, and why that matters.
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So much for your own assurance. Exactly.
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We'll follow this concept, tracing it from, you know,
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Abraham planting a tamarisk in Genesis all the way to the
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Worshipful statements of Paul in the New Testament.
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We'll look at what El Olam tells us about God's fundamental
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qualities, how it supports core form doctrines like his eternal
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plan and the covenant of redemption, and how it shapes
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our understanding of Christ himself and his saving work.
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We'll also examine some historical challenges to this
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understanding of God and how the church has responded over time,
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even looking at how this idea is discussed in modern theology.
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And finally, we'll draw out the real comfort and daily relevance
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this truth holds for you, whether you're worshipping God,
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dealing with suffering, or simply facing the everyday
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challenges life. Yeah, it's a look at why.
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Because God is El Olam. Every promise he makes really
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does last longer than any fear we face.
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Let's let's get into it, OK? So let's begin with the name
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itself, El Olam. It sounds powerful to even just
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hearing the name. What does El Olam literally
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mean? Well, El Olam literally means
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the mighty one of the age. It's a compound name for God,
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meaning it's made of two parts. The first part L that's in
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Hebrew. It points to divine strength and
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God's absolute rule, as it speaks to God's inherent
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ability, you know, to act as he chooses without needing anyone
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else's permission or strength. OK, so L is about his might, his
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power. What about Olam?
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That's where the sense of time comes in, right?
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That's right, the second part, olam in Hebrew, it brings to
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mind both an immeasurable past and an unending future.
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Think of it like a vanishing point on the horizon.
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Olam is what lies beyond any creature's ability to see or
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measure in time. Now sometimes this word can
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describe a very long but still finite period like ancient
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times. But when it's connected with
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divine names like L or YHWH, it's meaning really expands to
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limitless time so. It's not just about a very, very
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long stretch of time, then it's something different in kind.
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Exactly, That's a great way to put it.
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It signals a quality of duration, not just a quantity.
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God doesn't simply live longer than ages, He lives outside
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their flow. To speak of YHWH as El Olam is
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to know a God who utterly goes beyond the concept of duration
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itself. He exists in an eternal present
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where all moments past, present, and future are present to him
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simultaneously. He's just not constrained by
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sequences of time like we are. Wow, that paints a truly vast
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picture. This idea sounds like it's woven
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into the very early stories of Israel.
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Where do we first see this specific name for God used in
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the Hebrew Scriptures? Yeah, we see the first explicit
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use of Olem in Genesis 21, verse 33.
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This happens when Abraham, after making a covenant and finding
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some security in the land God had given him at Beersheba, the
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text says he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting
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God. That specific setting in Genesis
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must tell us something significant.
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Abraham is settling into a new place, making arrangements with,
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well, human rulers. What does calling on the
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everlasting God in that particular situation tell us?
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It's very telling, Abraham's act of worship here.
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It's a public declaration in a land full of shifting agreements
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and mortal rulers. You know, where human deals
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could easily be broken. Abraham's confession shows that
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the stability of God's promise, the covenant, to his
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descendants. It rests on why HW, which is
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eternal faithfulness. It's not about human strength or
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temporary arrangements. It highlights that God's plans
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are anchored outside the fleeting nature of time.
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Yeah, OK. And this really sets a clear
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pattern for the rest of the Bible.
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Whenever Israel faces passing troubles, whether it's wandering
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in the wilderness, living in exile, or seeing human rulers
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falter, the prophets and poets bring up this idea of eternality
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to ground their hope again. So it's a recurring theme, not
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just a one off mention in Genesis.
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Can you give us some other examples of how this truth of El
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Olam appears throughout Israel's history in the Old Testament?
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Oh, certainly the songs contain some of the most striking
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expressions of this. Think about Psalm 90.
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Often connected to Moses, it dramatically contrasts our brief
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human life, which fades like grass, with God's transcendence.
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It says before the mountains were brought forth from
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everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
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That juxtaposition is powerful. It is and this vast difference
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between our short lives and God's unending nature.
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It leads to awe and that prayer for wisdom teach us to number
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our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
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Another example is Psalm 102.27 where God is described as the
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one whose years have no end and. What about the prophets,
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particularly when Israel was facing really hard times like
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the exile? Did they draw on this?
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Oh definitely. The prophets, especially Isaiah,
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frequently brought up Al Olam to speak into those moments of deep
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uncertainty. Jeremiah 10.10 refers to YHWH as
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King of eternity and Isaiah 40.28 that serves as a strong
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answer to fears that maybe the gods of Babylon had overshadowed
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Israel's God. It proclaims the Lord is the
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everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth.
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He does not faint or grow weary. This passage directly connects
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God's eternal nature with His inexhaustible life and, you
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know, His endless ability to keep His covenant.
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It's a clear statement about God's unending might and
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reliability. That must have given people such
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comfort during the exile. What other insights does Isaiah
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offer about El lol? Well, Isaiah 57.15 gives us
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another remarkable insight. It brings together God's
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transcendence and his compassionate nature in a
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beautiful way. It tells us that the high and
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exalted 1 inhabits eternity, yet simultaneously revives the heart
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of the contrite. Yeah, this shows that God's
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eternal nature isn't some distant, cold idea, but the very
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place from which God bends down, saving pity.
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He is both utterly beyond us and incredibly close.
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Isaiah 46.4 also speaks to this nearness, saying the everlasting
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God carries his people even to Gray hairs, highlighting his
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care through every stage of life.
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And Isaiah 40 versus 6 to 8 provides that heartfelt contrast
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between fleeting human life. All flesh is grass and the
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lasting Word, but the Word of our God will stand forever.
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That's a really clear line from the Old Testament.
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So how does the New Testament take up and deepen this theme of
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God's eternality, particularly with the arrival of Christ?
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The New Testament fully embraces and I'd say strengthens the idea
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of God's eternality. It shows both clear connection
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with the Old Testament and a definite climax centered on
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Christ. It doesn't weaken classical
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Jewish belief in one God. Rather, it takes it and includes
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it in a richer understanding of God's eternal glory, especially
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through the Person of Christ. OK, can you give us some
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examples from Pauls writings? He often talks about God's
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eternal plans, doesn't he? He does Pauls doxologies.
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Those expressions of praise directly connect God's
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eternality to the gospel. In Romans 16.26, the Gospel
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itself is identified as the revealing of the command of the
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eternal God, rooting the mission to all nations in a purpose that
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is literally older than creation.
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So the gospel wasn't an afterthought.
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Not at all. It was part of God's timeless
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plan. In a similar way, First Timothy
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1.17 bursts forth and praise to the King of the ages, immortal,
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invisible, establishing the church's worship language around
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these Old Testament ideas of God's eternal nature.
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And then, and when we consider Jesus himself, the application
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to him must be quite striking. It is.
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It's the most remarkable development really.
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The New Testament applies El olam directly to the Son Jesus
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Christ. Consider just an 8.58 where
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Jesus makes that astonishing statement before Abraham was I
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am. This just compresses measures of
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time and declares his shared line timelessness with the
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Father. He's not simply pre existent, he
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exists outside of time altogether.
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And John 1.1 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
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with God, and the Word was God as also points to this, doesn't
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it? Absolutely.
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John 1.1 introduces the eternal Word, who was with God and was
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God. It makes clear that this eternal
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Logos entered time in the fullness of time, as Galatians
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4.4 says. But crucially, he did so without
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giving up his divine timelessness.
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The incarnation is understood as something added, not something
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taken away from Christ's divine nature.
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He took on humanity, but he remained fully God eternally.
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And this eternal nature of Christ seems vital for his work
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on our behalf for salvation. Precisely, Hebrews 1.7 to 12
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applies Psalm 102, which was originally about YHWHS
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unchanging eternal nature, directly to Christ.
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It states that while the heavens will perish, but you remain.
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This protects His ability to secure an ever westing covenant
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for His people. As Hebrews 1320 he puts it, His
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unending nature is what makes His saving work for us eternally
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secure, and His resurrection further seals this truth.
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Acts 2.24 says it was not possible for him to be held by
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death because death is a temporal interruption
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incompatible with His indestructible life.
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Therefore, a believers union with Christ means participating
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by grace in the life of the Eternal One.
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Our eternal security is found in His eternal being.
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Our salvation isn't just for a season.
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It really sounds like the New Testament takes this idea and
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grounds it firmly within the very nature of God encompassing
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the whole Trinity. That's right, the New Testament
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includes classical Jewish belief in one God within a strong
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Trinitarian statement where Father, Son, and Spirit equally
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share eternal glory like you see in Revelation 1.428.
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Eternity is understood as the shared life of Father, Son, and
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Spirit. The Father is the eternal
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source, the Son the eternal Word, the Spirit, the eternal
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breath. Yet there are not 3 eternal
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beings, but one God. This mutual indwelling or
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periclesis outside time means that divine love comes before
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and gives reason for all created fellowship.
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Worshipful statements and revelation such as Revelation
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5.33 rise to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever
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and ever, including the Trinity in eternal worship.
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So how does God's eternality relate to his plan for history
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and, well, for us? Yeah, the New Testament
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consistently confirms God's eternal plan and foreknowledge,
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which rule all events. Acts 2.23 describes the
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crucifixion as happening according to the definite plan
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and foreknowledge of God. This wasn't surprised to God,
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not Plan B. Acts 17.31 states that God fixed
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a day when He will judge the world, showing His timeless rule
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over history and suggesting that conversion itself belongs to an
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eternal decree, even the covenant of redemption.
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That internal agreement within the Trinity was made before the
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ages began, as Second Timothy 1.9 tells us, and Titus 1.2
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speaks of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised
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before the ages began. This means that history's
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unfolding is really the temporal carrying out of an unchangeable
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eternal decision. Nothing in time is outside of
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God's eternal design. So it's more than just a
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theological idea, it's like an immovable pivot point for the
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entire storyline of salvation history.
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Can you explain that a bit more? Yes, exactly.
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The biblical storyline from creation all the way to the
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final resolution is truly fastened to an immovable pivot
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point. El Olam.
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Think about it. Creation itself is announced by
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the God whose years have no end, the covenants with the
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patriarchs, the prophetic declarations of restoration, the
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incarnation of the eternal Word into human flesh, and the
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resolution of history and revelation.
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All these things come from this eternal reality.
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Understanding it this way prevents us from just, you know,
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proof texting verses out of context.
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Instead, it shows that God's eternal nature is Scriptures own
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explanation for why covenants don't break, why promises are
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certain, and why the church's worship echoes ages of ages into
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the everlasting day. It's embedded in the Bible's
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inherent structure. That's a truly strong framework
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for understanding the biblical narrative.
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Now, when we move from the biblical story to systematic
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theology, how does El Om fit into a structured way of
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understanding God? How does it relate to his other?
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Well, Lol really runs through every part of the church's basic
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understanding of God's nature and actions.
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First, God's eternal nature secures his the.
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Sayity, meaning he exists from himself.
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Precisely. It means God has life in
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himself, as John 5.26 says, and exists from himself.
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A say. Eternity is the very motor way
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God exists. He has no beginning, no growth,
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no decline, because nothing causes him or sustains him.
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And this connects to his simplicity too, doesn't it?
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The idea that God isn't made of parts.
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Absolutely. Fahity is closely tied to
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simplicity. The Westminster Confession of
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Faith says. God is without body parts or
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passions. This means God isn't made-up of
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separate qualities that add up overtime.
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His very being is the same as his perfect qualities.
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So eternity isn't an extra feature.
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It's more like the boundless scope within which all those
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qualities simply are. His wisdom, his love, His
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Holiness. They just are eternally.
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They aren't gained or developed. So his simplicity protects his
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unchanging nature. That's his immutability,
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correct? That's correct.
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Simplicity protects immutability as act as pure.
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As pure act, God remains the same yesterday, today, and
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forever. That's Hebrews 13.8.
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This means every purpose that comes from God's will stands
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unchangeable. Why?
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Because a changing plan would imply a changing being, and
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God's nature does not change. He is the unchanging rock in the
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middle of a rush of the river, while everything else shifts
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around him. And furthermore, God's Infinity,
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His qualitative transcendence of all limits, is directly tied to
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his eternal, unchanging life. No created measure whether it's
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space-time or even thought can fully describe or contain Him.
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That's a really complete picture of God's being.
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How does this eternal nature of God L Olam influencer
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understanding of his activity in history, specifically his
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eternal decree in Providence. Because God is Al Olam, His
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decree, His plan, is timeless. It's not like a chronological
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first step he took ages ago, but rather it's the timeless reason
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for history's entire chain of causes and effects.
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The Westminster Confession 3rd .1 says God have foreordained
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whatsoever comes to pass. This means history's unfolding
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doesn't surprise God or cause him to make mid course
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corrections as we might say. It is simply the temporal
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carrying out of an unchangeable eternal decision.
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So what we see happening in the world, down to every detail, is
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the working out of this eternal plan, even the messy parts.
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That's the classical understanding.
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Providence as expressed in Westminster Confession V .1 is
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the working out of this decree in time, and this provides a
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deep sense of certainty. No event, no matter how chaotic
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it may seem to us, falls outside the everlasting God's wise
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design. This isn't fatalism.
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It's more like the assurance that an author's plot unfolds
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exactly as eternally conceived, even as the characters act
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freely within it. That's a profound thought,
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definitely comforting in some ways.
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How does El Olam and this eternal perspective relate to
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God's covenants with humanity? God's eternal nature is really
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the foundational principle of Reformed salvation teaching or
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soteriology, the covenant of redemption, that agreement
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within the Trinity where the Father gives the people to the
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sun, the sun takes on their salvation, and the Spirit brings
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it about. The Bible tells us this was made
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before the ages began, citing Second Timothy 1.9 again.
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This means that all the historical covenants we read
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about with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David are not separate trials or
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experiments, but progressive unveilings of a single heavenly
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design. So when Scripture calls the
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Gospel an everlasting covenant in Hebrews 13.20, it's not just
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being poetic. Not at all.
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It's acknowledging that the benefits of the Gospel, which
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are given in history, actually rest on agreements older than
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creation itself. This eternal foundation is why
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core beliefs like election, Christ saving, atonement, and
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the perseverance of the Saints get their certainty from the
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unchangeable will of Al Olam. It's all rooted in his
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unchanging character and purpose.
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This all seems to come together so clearly in the person of
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Christ. How does Al Olam specifically
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shape our understanding of Christ's person and the
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relations within the Trinity? Indeed, Christ is the apex, the
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fullest expression of Al Olam, the eternal Word who was with
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God and was God from John 1 entered time in the fullness of
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time without giving up His divine timelessness.
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Remember that phrase? The incarnation is an addition,
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not subtraction to His divine nature.
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OK, think about this. Jesus could suffer hunger,
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thirst, and pain in His human nature while at the same time
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holding up the universe as the everlasting God, as Colossians
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1.17 suggests. His resurrection in Acts 2.24
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further seals this. It was not possible for Him to
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be held by death, because death is a temporal intrusion
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incompatible with His indestructible life.
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So a believer's union with Christ means participating by
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grace in the life of the Eternal One.
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Our eternal security is grounded in His eternal being.
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The stability of our salvation rests entirely on who He is.
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And the Trinity fits into this how?
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All of this is completely Trinitarian.
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Eternity isn't some abstract quality of a single divine
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being, but the shared life of Father, Son and Spirit.
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There are not 3 eternal beings, but one eternal God.
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Their mutual indwelling that Periclesis outside time means
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that divine love comes before and gives reason for all created
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fellowship. When those doxologies in
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Revelation 5.32 rise to Him who sits on the throne and to the
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Lamb forever and ever, they're explicitly including the Triune
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God and eternal worship. So to ignore or try to revise
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God's eternality is really to pull at a theological thread
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that frankly unravels the entire fabric of our understanding.
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But holding to it grounds every doctrine and every anxious heart
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and the unsearchable, unassailable life of the
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everlasting God. It's a bedrock truth that makes
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everything else stand firm. It's certainly clear that Lol
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forms a core part of Reformed theology.
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Now let's shift gears slightly and look at how this
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foundational concept has been understood and defended
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throughout church history. How did the Patristic era, the
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early Church Fathers, grapple with and defend this truth
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against early challenges? Yeah, the early Church fathers
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consistently viewed God's eternality as central.
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They kept returning to El Olam whenever the lasting nature of
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the Gospel was questioned. Justin Martyr, for instance,
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argued against a kind of philosophical fatalism by
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insisting that the God who created time also directs it
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towards specific end which preserved human moral
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responsibility. OK, and what about someone like
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Irenaeus dealing with the Gnostics?
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They had some pretty different ideas about God and time.
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Exactly. Irenaeus made a similar argument
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against Gnostic ideas of dualism.
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He emphasized that because the Father is before all, yet
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lovingly present in history, history can be neither just a
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meaningless cycle nor some tragic accident.
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There's a purpose to it all because an eternal God is
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guiding it. But a major shift in really
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articulating God's relationship to time came with Augustine's
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Confessions, particularly Book 11.
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Right the famous What was God doing before creation?
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That's the one. Augustine wrestled with that and
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suggested that created time itself flows from an eternal act
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of God. He famously said that God's now
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embraces past and future totah silently, all at once.
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This idea gave later theologians a powerful framework to affirm
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both God's absolute freedom and his meticulous Providence, his
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careful guidance of all things. Augustine's ideas certainly cast
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a long shadow. How did medieval scholasticism
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build on these foundations and refine the concept of God's
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eternality? Medieval scholastics definitely
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refined Augustine's insights. Boethius famously defined
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eternity as the complete possession all at once of
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limitless life. That's a classic definition.
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It is, and Anselm later used that definition to uphold God's
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necessary existence in his ontological argument.
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And Thomas Aquinas, he was obviously a towering figure in
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that era. Aquinas.
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Yeah, He skillfully brought together Boethian eternity with
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Aristotle's idea of actus purus, or cure act in his system.
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He argued that because God is pure act and lacks any potential
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to become something else, he cannot be measured by movement
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or change and is therefore not subject to temporal succession
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to moments following moments. Yet Aquinas was also careful to
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protect God's free creation and sustenance of temporal beings
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without God himself becoming dependent on them or changing
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because of them. So by the time of the
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Reformation, God's attorney was really a settled truth of
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Catholic orthodoxy in Western theology.
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OK, so it was a well established doctrine.
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How did the Reformers like Luther and Calvin apply this
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doctrine, especially pastorally, for the comfort of believers?
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The Reformers gave renewed pastoral emphasis to the
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doctrine. Martin Luther, for example,
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grounded the comfort of justification are being declared
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righteous in the eternal and unchangeable counsel of God.
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He argued that our assurance falters if we think God's
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purpose sways with human response.
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He directly connected assurance to God's unchanging, eternal
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design. That makes sense.
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John Calvin and his institutes gave a thorough explanation of
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God's transcendence, stating clearly that God's eternity
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contains the principle of immutability.
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This allowed believers, he argued, to rest on promises
21:53
unaffected by the changes of time.
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Calvin also used God's eternality to counter charges
21:59
that justification by faith was some novel idea, showing its
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grounding in God's eternal nature and plan.
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A generation later, you see the Heidelberg Catechism, Question
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26, bringing Reformation teaching in line with his
22:11
classical doctrine, stating that God upholds and governs all
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things by his eternal counsel and Providence.
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It's clear this doctrine continued to be systematized and
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defended. How did post Reformation
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theologians and later thinkers continue this defense even up
22:25
into the modern era? Well, post Reformation
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scholastics like Francis Turretin, who was arguing
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against Sicilian views that question how an eternal God
22:32
could truly act in time. He distinguished between God's
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imminent operations, his eternal decree, and His transient
22:38
operations, the temporal carrying out of that decree.
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This helped preserve God's simplicity while still allowing
22:44
for genuine novelty and action within history.
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Interesting distinction. Then you have figures like
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Stephen Charnock whose work on the Eternity of God explored how
22:52
contemplating God's eternity nourishes devotion using those
22:56
wonderful biblical pictures. Like God being our rock and
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refuge, John Owen linked Christ's ongoing priesthood to
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his indestructible life, thereby grounding the perseverance of
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the Saints are continuing in faith in the everlasting sons,
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steady ministry for us. And of course, the Westminster
23:13
Confession of Faith in 1646 codified this consensus view,
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stating God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable, and His
23:20
decrees are from all eternity. And moving into the 19th and
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20th centuries, as new philosophical challenges arose,
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did reform thinkers hold the line?
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They did. Charles Hodge, for example,
23:30
challenged emerging process philosophers by restating
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classic simplicity, arguing forcefully that a temporal God
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would necessarily be changeable and therefore ultimately
23:39
unreliable. Phoebe Warfield used L Olam as a
23:43
key argument for defending Christ's full divinity against
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liberal attempts to diminish it. Herman Bavink, while engaging
23:50
with new philosophical questions, still concluded that
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God's eternality is religiously essential because certainty
23:56
about God's covenant collapses without it.
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But more recently, John Frame has highlighted eternity's
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practical payoff. A timeless decree guarantees
24:03
that God's promises come with a date already stamped.
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Sure, they're not yet seen. And alongside this you have
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things like the 2003 Alliance Confessing Evangelical statement
24:12
explicitly rejecting any view of God subject to temporal
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succession, echoing Westminster's language.
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So it seems each era received, and in a sense polished the
24:21
confession of Al Olam. That's a good way to put it.
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It demonstrates the resilience and theological fertility of
24:26
this doctrine. In guarding the gospel's
24:28
permanence, the church consistently understood that
24:32
without an everlasting God, the gospel itself risks becoming
24:35
just a fleeting hope. That historical overview truly
24:39
shows the steadfast defense of El Olam across centuries.
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But of course, theological ideas continue to develop and be
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debated. What are some of the modern
24:48
theological views that challenge this classical understanding of
24:51
God's eternality today? Yeah, there are several modern
24:54
theological approaches that either diminish or outright
24:56
discard classical eternality. Probably the most prominent
24:59
challenge comes from open theism, popularized by figures
25:02
like Clark Pinnock and Greg Boyd.
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They argue that God is everlasting but not strictly
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eternal, meaning he endures through time, perhaps adjusts
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his strategies based on creaturely choices, and
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crucially, doesn't know all future free actions of creatures
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exhausted. OK.
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And what's the reformed response to that idea?
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How does it stack up against Scripture and Tradition?
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Well, the Reformed response is multifaceted.
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First, it argues that open theism misunderstands divine
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authenticity, mistaking contingency for relational
25:31
richness. Scripture grounds God's
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faithfulness precisely in His for knowing sovereignty.
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Think of Isaiah 46.9 to 10, where God declares the end from
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the beginning, or Acts 2.23, showing the crucifixion happened
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according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
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Pastorally open theism offers sufferers A deity who can only
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commiserate after the fact, potentially jeopardizing
25:54
eschatological certainty. Our hope for the future, our
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intimacy with God and the Reform view is based on a childlike
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trust that the Father's eternal plan holds every unknown
26:02
tomorrow, not on mutual surprise.
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So the argument is that if God doesn't comprehensively know the
26:07
future, our hope becomes less secure.
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What about process theology? How does that view challenge
26:12
Olam? Process theology, often
26:14
associated with thinkers like Alfred N Whitehead and Charles
26:17
Hartshorn, sees God and the world as an organic,
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interrelated whole. In this model, God has a
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consequent pole or aspect that grows with each cosmic moment,
26:28
absorbing value and thereby perfecting the divine life.
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Eternity in their system is perhaps one pole, but it exists
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within a larger temporal dynamism, meaning Guy himself is
26:39
in a sense caught within the same temporal flux as creation.
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That seems to change God's very nature in a fundamental way.
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He's becoming rather than being. Exactly.
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Reformed Thought argues that this view fundamentally equates
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mutability with rich, but a God who acquires perfection was
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previously imperfect, which is inconsistent with the biblical
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portrayal of the God whose name is I am.
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Furthermore, if God is caught in the same temporal flex that
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includes the cross and resurrection, how can He be the
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ultimate ground of the crosses efficacy?
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Classical eternality affirms the Tryon Lord, eternally complete,
27:11
enters history without forfeiting perfection, making
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His acts in time redemptive precisely because they originate
27:17
from an unchanging eternal will. OK, Are there other, perhaps
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more nuanced views that still challenge God's timelessness?
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Yes, some theologians who might affirm God's exhaustive
27:27
foreknowledge still lean towards theistic presentism.
27:31
This suggests that God exists within time, perhaps at every
27:34
moment of time simultaneously, but still experiences intrinsic
27:37
succession. It implies moments earlier and
27:41
later inside the divine mind. And what's the Reformed
27:44
counterargument to that idea of God having earlier and later
27:47
moments within his own consciousness?
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The Reformed tradition replies that succession, any kind of
27:51
sequence, is foreign to the simplex Devonis, the simple,
27:55
noncomposite God. A being whose inner states vary,
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even if only cognitively, is arguably composite and mutable.
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Seeing God as intrinsically temporal, even if everlastingly
28:05
so, tends to dull the covenant's edge, because a God who is
28:08
undergoing temporal moments might imply a promise made today
28:11
rests on a divine state that could in some sense differ
28:14
tomorrow. The Westminster Confessions
28:17
phrase, without body parts or passions, guards against such
28:20
drift, affirming that the God who promises is his promise,
28:23
eternally and unchangingly. Right.
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And what about Mullen ISM and the idea of middle knowledge?
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How does that fit into this discussion regarding eternality
28:32
in God's decree? Mullen ISM, while often
28:35
attempting to preserve God's timelessness and sovereignty, is
28:38
sometimes seen by Reformed critics as introducing
28:41
contingency into the divine decree in a problematic way.
28:45
It proposes middle knowledge, a category of divine knowledge
28:48
where God knows what any free creature would freely choose
28:51
under any possible circumstance he could place them in.
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God then decrees the actual world based in part on this
28:58
knowledge. That sounds quite complex.
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What's the reformed objection there?
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Reformed theologians typically raise 2 main objections.
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First, the grounding objection. How can these counterfactual
29:08
choices possess truth value independent of God's decree?
29:12
If they do, it seems to posit truths outside of God
29:15
challenging his society. Second, there's a pastoral
29:18
clarity. Objection assurance can feel
29:21
like it collapses into fragile logic.
29:22
If God's ultimate plan leans on hypothetical human choices
29:26
rather than resting squarely on God's unconditional election
29:29
flowing from an eternal decree, it shifts the ultimate ground of
29:32
certainty away from God's sovereign will alone.
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OK, stepping back from these more academic debates, how does
29:38
the doctrine of Ella Long speak to the broader cultural
29:40
challenges we face today? Things like shifting identities
29:43
and moral relativism. That's a crucial question in
29:46
late modern culture. Identity politics often prizes
29:48
fluid self construction, and therapeutic forms of
29:52
spirituality sometimes seek a validating, evolving deity.
29:56
Into this context, El Olam speaks a profoundly
29:58
countercultural word. Remember Psalm 90.2 before the
30:02
mountains were brought forth from everlasting to everlasting,
30:05
I am God. There's an objective reality
30:07
there. Pastors and teachers have the
30:09
task of translating this timelessness into existential
30:12
bomb, into real comfort and guidance.
30:14
How so? Can you give some examples?
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Sure, against the feeling of a chaotic society and rapid
30:19
change, we can point people to El Olam, whose internal decree
30:22
choreographs even digital epochs.
30:25
His plan isn't derailed by tweets or trends.
30:28
Against the anxieties of aging and decay, we affirm that the
30:31
eternal 1 is not subject to entropy and secures for it
30:34
fortifies, assurance profoundly. Many believers wrestle with
30:38
intrusive doubts, feeling their salvation is perhaps as unstable
30:41
as their moods or circumstances. But if God elected us before the
30:45
ages began, as Ephesians, one says, and if His love is
30:49
grounded not in our performance but in His eternal, immutable
30:52
nature, I the Lord, do not change.
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Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
30:57
Malachi 3.6 Then a believer standing cannot be undone by
31:01
tomorrow's failures. That's huge.
31:04
It is, pastors teach, the perseverance of the Saints, not
31:07
as a hopeful guess based on our willpower, but as the logical
31:10
fruit of God's eternality. What the everlasting God has
31:13
eternally willed, He will in defectively finish.
31:16
Echoing Philippians 1.6 He who began a good work in you will
31:19
bring it to conclusion. Counseling grounded and divine
31:22
timelessness offers concrete comfort, the comforting thought
31:25
that your name is graven on palms that do not.
31:27
Wrinkle. That's incredibly comforting.
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How does grasping El Olam enrich our public worship when
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congregations gather together? Public worship gains, I think, a
31:36
new texture, a deeper resonance, when congregations consciously
31:41
sing, pray, and confess with God's eternity in view.
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Hymns like Oh God Our Help in Ages Past or Immortal, Invisible
31:49
God Only Wise actively school the church's affections to savor
31:53
a God who outlasts musical fashions, political regimes, and
31:57
the rise and fall of empires. Yeah, those hymns take on new
32:00
weight. They really do.
32:02
And liturgists, those planning worship, can shape services to
32:05
echo the biblical timeline. Creation, fall, redemption,
32:08
consummation, immersing worshippers in the story the
32:11
everlasting God is writing across the ages.
32:14
Even benedictions, when they speak of God from everlasting to
32:16
everlasting, assure the Saints that Monday's tasks unfold under
32:20
the same eternal gaze that Blessed Sunday's gathering.
32:23
It connects our whole lives. That adds a whole new dimension
32:25
to our corporate gatherings. And what about our ethical
32:28
resolve? How does El Olam sharpen our
32:30
moral compass in daily living? In a culture that often promotes
32:33
fleeting truths or trends, meditating on God's eternal
32:37
nature exposes these as mirages. It can liberate disciples from
32:41
the tyranny of the now by encouraging us to live Coram deo
32:44
before the eternal face. This has very practical
32:47
outworkings. For instance, stewardship of
32:49
time takes on a kind of Sacramento wheat.
32:52
Each hour isn't just hours to kill.
32:54
It's a gift from the timeless Lord to be invested wisely,
32:57
prompting that prayer from Psalm 90.12 teach us to number our
33:02
days. Makes you think about how you
33:03
spend your time differently. Exactly.
33:06
Even things like marriage vows gain gravity by mirroring an
33:09
eternal covenant. Breaking them isn't just a
33:11
personal failure, it's seen as a betrayal of the Gospel story
33:14
they signify, and our social justice work finds ballast.
33:18
We pursue it not just because it's currently popular, but
33:21
because the unchanging character of El Olam delights in steadfast
33:24
love and justice. Echoing Micah 6.8, our ethics
33:28
are grounded in who God is. It provides a sure footing in a
33:31
shifting world. How does this doctrine offer
33:33
solace in perspective when facing suffering or the
33:36
inevitable process of aging? This is where El Olam offers
33:38
profound comfort for those dealing with chronic pain or
33:42
wrestling with that cry. How long, O Lord?
33:44
The ultimate answer isn't a timetable, but a person whose
33:47
years have no end because God inhabits eternity, yet Stoops to
33:51
dwell with the contrite. As Isaiah 57.15 says, sufferers
33:56
can pour out lament without fear of exhausting divine patients or
34:00
discovering God has moved on. He is eternally present to their
34:03
pain. That's a powerful comfort.
34:05
It is, and for aging congregants, perhaps feeling
34:07
marginalized or useless, Olam reminds them their worth is not
34:11
indexed to vigor, the God who is their dwelling place in all
34:14
generations. Psalm 90.1 promises to carry
34:17
them even to Gray hairs. Isaiah 46.4.
34:20
Their value is secure in Him. This allows funeral liturgies
34:23
then to genuinely mingle tears and triumph, declaring the
34:26
deceased body will be raised and perishable because it is united
34:29
to an imperishable Savior. Hope is grounded in His nature.
34:33
That offers a true hope beyond our physical limitations and
34:35
temporal struggles. Lastly, how does the doctrine of
34:38
El Onam fuel mission and evangelism?
34:41
It provides both urgency and confidence, which might seem
34:44
paradoxical but aren't his urgency because the everlasting
34:47
God has fixed a day when he will judge the world.
34:50
Acts 17.31. This implies that temporal
34:54
windows for gospel conversations will close.
34:56
We don't have forever in this life.
34:58
But there's also confidence. Yes, immense confidence, because
35:01
conversion ultimately belongs to an eternal decree.
35:05
Missionaries and everyday evangelists are announcing a
35:07
Kingdom already secured in timeless council.
35:10
Not trying to build something based on a speculative future or
35:13
merely human effort. This paradox, fervent pleading
35:16
built on a certain outcome rooted in God's eternal plan,
35:20
allows believers to labor with tears and passion, yet also
35:23
rest, knowing the everlasting shepherd ultimately loses none
35:26
whom the Father has given him, as Jesus says in John 6.39.
35:30
That balance is key. And finally, how does this
35:33
doctrine nourish the connection between generations within the
35:35
church and families? Yeah.
35:37
How does it foster continuity? In things like family devotions
35:40
and catechism, parents who grasp El Olam realize they are passing
35:44
on truths older than their surname, rooting their children
35:47
in the same grand narrative that studied Abraham and thrilled
35:50
Augustine. It connects them to something
35:52
ancient and enduring in an age marked by crumbling institutions
35:56
and shifting loyalties. The Church, by holding fast to
35:59
this doctrine, models stability by rooting identity in El Olam,
36:03
the unchanging God. Ultimately, ministry shaped by
36:06
God's eternality cultivates the people who endure hardship with
36:09
poise, celebrate joys without idolatry, lament losses without
36:13
despair, and labor for holiness without hubris.
36:16
Why? Because their lives are hidden
36:17
with Christ in the bosom of the everlasting God, where no moth,
36:21
rust, or revolution can sever the bonds of covenant love.
36:23
Wow. What a rich, deep dive into the
36:25
everlasting God. We've really gone from Abraham's
36:28
confession at Beersheba all the way to the glorious vision of
36:31
Revelation, seeing how God's eternality is truly the well,
36:34
the molten core of every biblical promise and every
36:37
Reformed doctrine. Indeed, to truly grasp El Olam
36:41
is to plant your feet on a bedrock that neither the erosive
36:44
winds of cultural limb nor the pounding surf of personal trial
36:48
can dislodge. It means His covenant is
36:50
inviolable, His Providence is purposeful, and the salvation
36:54
secured by the everlasting Sun is well.
36:57
Forever. And what a comforting thought
36:59
that is for you, our listener, especially maybe in a generation
37:01
that can sometimes feel so restless and uncertain, knowing
37:04
that God's years have no end, that his faithfulness is
37:07
unbroken, that His Holiness stands unchanging.
37:10
That's a truth that truly grounds everything else.
37:12
It really encourages us, doesn't it, to find the cadence of our
37:15
laments in his unending patients, to make our ethical
37:18
stands reflect his unchanging character, and to pursue mission
37:21
with a focused urgency because his everlasting Kingdom is
37:24
indeed near. So as you go about your week,
37:26
whether you're facing moments of joy or challenge, maybe consider
37:30
this. How might living with the
37:31
awareness of El Olam, the Everlasting God, change the way
37:35
you perceive your current circumstances and shape your
37:38
hopes for what lies ahead? Thank you so much for joining us
37:41
on The Deep Dive. We really hope this conversation
37:43
has offered you clarity and encouragement.
37:45
Until next time, keep seeking truth.