The Omnipresence of God, Genesis 28:16

Did you know that the doctrine of God's omnipresence is a source of peace! Yeah, you heard me! This foundational teaching gives us peace!

I was reading the story of Jacob's ladder and something he said struck me...“Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16, ESV)

I was caught by this passage as I considered what might have been for Jacob a developing understanding of God’s omnipresence in correlation to our, at least, basic belief of God being everywhere always.

So, quickly, let’s define the doctrine of God’s omnipresence.

1^st it is what theology calls an imcommunicable attribute, meaning it’s an attribute that only He has and doesn’t share with anyone. Nothing and no one else in all creation can claim omnipresence. This is part of what makes God magnificent, especially when we consider the fact that makes Himself known at specific times in specific ways, most significant of which is Jesus coming in the flesh. See, now my head hurts… Jesus is omnipresent, but at the same time seated at the right hand of God as the firstfruits back from the dead in a glorified body. (1 Cor. 15:20; Eph. 1:20)

2^nd There is no one place that can contain or hold God. Psalm 147 :5 says, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” The adjective “great” refers to something immense in size, power, and number, in a sense it is undisclosed in its greatness. This is greatness beyond measure.

The word translated “abundant” comes from an old Aramaic word that originally referred to high military rank, like a general ranking higher than a lieutenant. So, to say that God’s power is “abundant” is to say that His power outranks any other power. When the word translated “beyond” is used certain ways, like it is here, it means nonexistence. Meaning, there is no measure for God’s understanding, or limitations to God’s understanding are nonexistent.

I had a professor who would always speak of God’s omnipresence in terms of His understanding, because omnipresence reaches beyond specific terms like “here” or “there”; it extends beyond the confines of both space and time. God’s understanding has no limit because He experiences everything throughout all time consistently at the same time.

Ugh!… again, my head hurts!

I said "briefly" so we’ll just leave defining God’s omnipresence there… “His experience of everything and all time consistently at the same time.” Now, back to Jacob…

What's going on with Him? Why is he surprised by God’s presence in this place, and why didn’t He recognize it before?

There is a level of fear in his voice like when you open your daily calendar and notice that you are supposed to be somewhere important right now, but you're still in your pj’s! He experiences shock and awe because of the dream he just had and the realization of God’s presence. He says in verse 17 that the place is “awesome!” This comes from a word that usually expresses a sense of smallness in comparison to the unimaginable, undefinable greatness of God.

In short Jacob’s mind is blown!

He names the place Bethel or “House of God.” This, for Jacob, is a way of recognizing God’s sovereign participation in his life. For Jacob it's an important moment of realization as God's  transcendence (beyond, greater than, and surrounding all creation) and imminence (in, through, and present) in creation becomes real for him.

In verses 20 and 21 we see Jacob make a vow to God that basically verbalizes God’s promise to him in the dream, presence and provision that results in a return to the land of his fathers. Jacob accepts his role in the covenant by submitting to God’s sovereignty in commitment to God, the sanctity of the place Bethel, and a tithe.

But by now you must be thinking, “What does this mean for me?”

It is true for us as it was for Jacob… You never can know God in the moment until you know God in and over everything. Until you truly come to terms with our God who is omnipresent, you will never know the peace of trusting God in the most exhilarating moments in life or the most heart wrenching moments. When we know God as omnipresent, we are reminded that in times of plenty we live out our days before Him who is the sovereign judge of all creation. There is a level of healthy fear in that, and that's a good thing! Knowing God’s omnipresence keeps us on the “road to everlasting life.” As David prayed, “God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24, NCV)

A knowledge and faith in God’s omnipresence “keeps” us even in the most heart wrenching moments. Because no matter how bad it gets, God is over it, above it, right there in it with us, and it has not taken Him by surprise. He is with us and provides for us even when the baby dies, the boss calls on your day off and sends you on an indefinite vacation, or the bank changes the locks on your door. He is greater than any situation, and He holds you in His hand, doesn’t let go, and doesn’t let you fall out. He knew it was coming and before the foundation of time He knew how He would carry you through.

Rest in His omnipresence.

Mark 6:45-52, Not Quite what We Expected

Tradition holds that the Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark (who Paul and Barnabus argued and parted ways over in Acts 15:36-41). If Mark wrote the Gospel, it’s likely that He was going off much of what the Apostle Peter taught. If this is the case, then I think it’s interesting that verses 45-52 unfold the way they do.

In Matthew 14:22-32, Matthew tells the story with Peter getting out and walking with Jesus until he becomes more focused on the wind and the waves and begins to sink. If Mark’s gospel is based on Peter’s teaching than why is this part left out? Especially since it ends with one of Peter’s “A-Ha!” moments as the Holy Spirit opens his eyes to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah?

John talks of Jesus walking on the water as well. His account is in John 6:16-21, and he leaves out Peter walking on the water too! Why?

In all three accounts it comes after Jesus feeding the 5000, which is another impossible event! To the rationalistic mind, the answer is easy, “It didn’t happen, there must be a reasonable explanation for what the disciples saw and for what Matthew says Peter experienced.” And though many of us are okay with excepting that God incarnate had the ability to do miraculous things that backed up His claims of being God, we’re still left with questions that need answers if we are going to understand what God is trying to communicate through these authors.

Let’s take a closer look at what Mark writes… first he says, in the beginning of verse 45, “Immediately.” So, there is some level of urgency, “Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat.” Jesus rushed the disciples off, why?

To answer that question, we might get a little insight from John’s perspective of this event. John writes in 6:14-15, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Jesus ministry in this “desolate place” (Mark 6:32) created such a stir the people were ready to grab Jesus, make Him king, and take over the world! But it wasn’t time, so Jesus sends the disciples off ahead and withdraws to the mountain to pray.

We don’t see Jesus off alone praying mentioned a lot. In Mark it only happens three times (1:35; 6:45; 14:35–39). James Edwards observes that “in each Jesus faces a formative decision or crisis. Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus reaffirms by prayer his calling to express his divine Sonship as a servant rather than as a freedom fighter against Rome.” (Edwards, 2002)

The people, likely including the disciples, want to set Jesus up to overthrow the government. Jesus shoo them across the sea and sends the crown away (Mark 6:45). Then He goes to pray and wrestles with the direction of His ministry. Then He catches up with the disciples in the middle of the lake, but they’re in a boat and He’s on foot!

The disciples are out in the middle of the lake, without Jesus, and there “making headway painfully.” In the Greek this literally means that it was tormenting to get the boat to move in the direction they wanted. This was a rough night for the disciples. They just saw their Lord feed probably about 12,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish with way more left over than they started with. They were ready to set Jesus up and take Israel back from the Romans, but Jesus turned it all down. Now they’re stuck in the middle of the lake in a storm.

To the believer Jesus is everything, we praise Him as Lord and Savior, but rarely is He what we expected. And this too is the case with the disciples. They had imagined an outcome to their day that was way better than where they find themselves, and we’ve all been there. But this is when Jesus walks by doing something only God can do. He’s walking on the water.

No matter what the disappointment is that you are facing, God wants to show Himself to you as God. He doesn’t have any interest in living up to your expectations, but He has every intention of showing Himself to you. When everything doesn’t go our way, we’re afraid and don’t see a way out. Jesus walks by and says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:50) He may not live up to our expectations, but He wants to show you something more, something bigger than what you expect.

Jesus steps into the boat with His disciples, the storm becomes calm, and verse 51 ends with “And they were astounded.” Verse 52 tells us that they were astounded because they didn’t understand about the loaves. So, what’s that all about?!

They didn’t understand that Jesus wasn’t there to take over the government as they expected the Messiah to. He wasn’t there to make their lives what they always wanted. Like the loaves and fishes, He was there to be what seems like could never be enough, but when it’s broken it becomes far more than was ever needed. He didn’t come to be exalted; He came to be broken and die. And because He was faithful to stay His course He was exalted by the Father far above all authority and power and now is seated on the throne of power sovereignly ruling all creation and bringing it to it promised end… complete restoration!

It’s not always what we think we want or expect, but the outcome is way more than sufficient! Praise God for His faithfulness!

Works Cited

Edwards, J. R. (2002). The Gospel according to Mark (p. 197). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.

Genesis 3, the serpent, sin, and the Scriptures

Did you ever think that the serpent that tempted Eve in the garden could encourage us to read and know our Bibles better! Well, here you go! The worst event in human history, and how it encourages us to read the Bible.

The serpent in Genesis 3 has always intrigued me. Given there’s been some discussion within our little group around the identity of the serpent in Genesis 3, I thought I’d dig into it a bit more to see what we might learn from this character in the Bible’s origin narrative.

First, tradition recognizes the tempter as a serpent, though not directly Satan. There’s good reason to think that it is not a direct reference to Satan himself, though I don’t think there is any harm in seeing Satan himself in this story line.

One of the descriptions we’re given that introduce us to this tempter/serpent are that He was more crafty, or cunning. This is the Hebrew word ʿārûm. We see this word used again in Proverbs 12:16; 12:23; 13:16; 14:8; 14:15, 18; 22:3; 27:12. In Proverbs, the crafty are contrasted with the “fool” or the “simple.” ʿārûm is also used in Job 5:12; 15:5. All of these uses of ʿārûm lead us to believe that the word crafty is not to be understood as either a negative or positive trait, meaning it becomes negative or positive based on how it is used.

Another description we’re given is that the serpent is an animal in the field. This is clearly a created being that is subject to the sovereign authority of the one Creator God, which eliminates any possibility of a balance in the power struggle between good and evil. Evil is in every way shown to be subservient to God’s divine authority.

In the text the verbal exchange is between the serpent and the woman. But all of the “you” pronouns are plural which shows that both the man and the woman were involved in the exchange, which is later confirmed in verse 6 where it clarifies that the “man was with her.” I find this interesting as I was always taught that the woman was somehow inherently flawed or somehow downgraded because of her part in humanities fall. There is something to be recognized in her being “deceived” as Paul highlights in 1 Timothy 2:14, which in my understanding is Paul putting the feminist women in Ephesus back into equal footing with the rest of the body rather than trying to dominate the men in their church community, as the Greek word translated “authority” in 1 Timothy 2:14 suggests. So, our thinking about Eve in the fall of humanity needs to be tempered with Adam being judged based on his part in listening to her rather than to God’s instructions, and the subsequent cursing of the ground as a result. The point being that both genders have a part in the fall and both share in the consequence.

But to the point of the passage, not so much which gender is to blame, but the subversivness of sin and how sinful choices become “good options” in our minds. Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls this “the first conversation about God,” and it is extremely significant! Notice the serpents 1^st question! “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” We see God presented in chapters 1 and 2 as a benevolent creator/provider, who introduces His crown jewels of creation to the wondrous world that He’s created for them and their pleasure, but the serpent turns God into a maniacal oppressor. As if God is holding His creation back from something good!

The woman responds by clarifying that God’s directive was to eat from all the trees excluding the one in the middle, but she overstates God’s claim a bit falling into the pattern of framing God as a bit of a stickler. Now, since there’s a twist in God’s suggested character both presented and accepted by the woman’s words, this provides the serpent with the opportunity he wants. He comes back with a clear assertion that mischaracterizes God as selfish and self-interested. This sets the stage for the first sin to be a “good idea!” The choice to sin, for the man and woman, wasn’t because they got confused and made a “oopsy!” They accepted a mischaracterization of God and His character and chose to liberate themselves from their false image of God. Their sin, in the moment, was justified in their minds because they were believing in a false and oppressive god.

This illustrates very clearly the way sin works in our hearts, and it highlights the importance of having an accurate view of God and His character. Sin becomes a “good idea,” because we begin to view God as keeping us from something good rather than protecting us for the good He’s already given.

I’ve said before that faith is trusting that God is good in all situations. Keeping our eyes fixed on God, as He’s revealed Himself, by faith, keeps us from veering off the path we’re called to walk with Him in the cool of the evening. The place where we are completely exposed and ashamed of nothing, because we’re innocent and have nothing to fear. But when we allow our view of God to be twisted we “suppress the truth” as Paul writes in Romans 1:18. And in suppressing the truth in our twisted view of God we do “not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but become futile in our thinking, and our foolish hearts become darkened.” (Romans 1:21)

This is the benefit of disciplined Scripture reading. When we are discipline in reading and knowing the Scripture, through which God speaks to our hearts through the Holy Spirit in us, are view of God is consistently realigned with how God has revealed Himself. This continues to renew our minds from its fallen state. As our minds are renewed we are filled with awe and wonder at the magnificence of our God and creator who created us to share in His goodness, saves us for His glory, and continues to express His love for us in renewing us and the creation we distorted through our choices.

The is great benefit in reading and knowing the Scriptures! Through it we fill our view, minds, and hearts with God as He’s revealed Himself, which strengthens our faith and further prepares us for our promised future in the fullness of His presence for all eternity.