This article is part of a series on the Names of God. Below are links to the rest of the series.
Names of God
Yahweh
Adonai
El
El Elohe Israel
Elyon
Elohim
El Olam
El Roi
El Shaddai
Definition
This name of God is a combination of the word El, which means God, and Olam. Olam means “long duration, antiquity, futurity, forever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.” (lexiconcordance.com)
When combined we have the name “The Eternal God.”
El Olam occurs in Genesis 21:33:
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD [YHWH], the Everlasting God [El Olam]
The word Olam is also used of God in other verses:
But the LORD [YHWH] is the true God [Elohim];
he is the living God [Elohim] and the everlasting [Olam] King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
Jeremiah 10:10
Trust in the LORD [YHWH] forever,
for the LORD [YHWH] God [YAH] is an everlasting [Olam] rock.
Isaiah 26:4
Application
We worship a God who is everlasting and eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He existed before time began, and He will never cease to exist. He is the only necessary being. All other things and all other beings are contingent upon His existence, and they would cease to exist without His sustaining power.
Stop for a moment and try to grasp this amazing truth. It is mind-blowing. I always find myself overwhelmed when I try to understand what it means to be eternal. How can something have no beginning? It is rational to believe that Someone must have created this universe and that that Someone must have existed before time. And yet my mind cannot really come to grips with what that entails.
So how do I apply this mind-bending truth to my life and worship?
- Greater. God is greater than anything we can comprehend. It is always good for us to remember that God exceeds our understanding.
- Necessary. Everything comes from God. He is the only necessary being. He is the source. God does not need me. But I need Him.
- Perspective. God sees time and our lives from a different perspective. His view is so much more expansive than ours that it is as if we are looking at a few pixels in a massive digital image. We think we understand what is happening as we look at our few pixels of light. But God sees the whole image from beginning to end. Are we going to trust our view or God’s? Are we going to pursue our goals or God’s? The wise person will trust the guidance of the One who sees all.
Trust the Eternal God. He is greater than you.
Trust the Eternal God. He is the source of all things.
Trust the Eternal God. He sees all things.
by Jerry Wyrick