Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Almighty (10/03/24)
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TITLE: A Private Lesson | Previous Challenge Entry
By Asha John
10/09/24 -
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An unexpected booming sound from the pulpit jerked him awake. To make himself heard above the momentary lapse of the microphone, Mr. Jones had raised his voice to read out that particular verse from the passage where God was talking to Moses.
There it was, that intriguing part.
"I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty"*
The sermon went on with Jake picking up random chunks of the message in between.
“…Implications of this divine attribute are simply marvelous, beyond the scope of the most impressive rhetoric. Not only are our minds too finite to fathom even a fraction of all what encompasses ‘Almighty’, but the richest language is insufficient to satisfactorily communicate the length and breadth of it…
El Shaddai. He is all sufficient. It refers to His ability to supply abundantly and pour out the richest of blessings, comfort, and strength…”
(After the late-night shift yesterday, Jake could hardly keep awake.)
Whatever do you mean, Mr. Jones? He whispered to himself as he nodded off again. I wish I knew how God appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty.
A few days later, listening to Jake’s animated narration at the Bible Study group, I was amazed at the ways in which God satisfies the desire of our hearts to know Him better.
“Honestly, guys, I have no clue whether I was half awake or had drifted off to sleep as the sermon went on. It seemed as if I was watching a kaleidoscope of various events from Genesis and Exodus.’
Vigorously moving his hands around, Jake continued, “In a terrain that appeared very desert-like, a very old Abraham is prostrate before a very spectacular being covered in brilliant light. Strangely, I could hear all the words without actually hearing a voice.
I am God Almighty, I will multiply you, I will make you a father of many nations.
A childless ninety-nine-year-old man, a ‘father of none’ was going to be a father of many! It was beginning to make sense: God almighty, the all- powerful alone could make that happen.”
The glow on Jake’s face punctuated the earnestness of his words as he went on to describe the experience of that Sunday, “I felt as if I was standing right beside young Isaac on Moriah. A 50-mile trek from Beersheba would have been very exhausting, even on a donkey. There he lay bound on a pile of wood, ready to be sacrificed. The picture of Abraham holding a knife in his stretched-out hand, ready to slay his son and all that ensued suddenly seemed to speak volumes more than it did before.
Once more, I sensed God was opening up my eyes to better understand His nature. Only the almighty could provide a substitute for Isaac in the form of a ram entangled in a thicket. Right then and there.
Then, it seemed as if someone was turning the pages of a book to another chapter. There was Jacob stretched out wearily on the ground, his head resting on a stone. The dream he had seemed to be playing out before my eyes: a ladder reaching the heavens with angels going up and down on it. Again, there was that clear but inaudible voice from God, The land on which you lie, I will give to you and to your offspring.
To a runaway cheat like Jacob, with probably just the clothes on his back, came the impossible sounding promise.
Who could deliver on that promise except the Almighty?
I don’t know what to make of it, friends, except that the Lord took me aside for some private tutoring” Jake laughed awkwardly, suddenly realizing how intently everyone was listening.
A few moments of silent retrospection followed in the Study group after Jake had stopped speaking. I was reminded of what Hamilton Smith says in his book, Abraham the friend of God:
“If then God is Almighty, God’s purposes and promises will surely come to fruition however impossible their fulfillment may appear to nature and sight and the flesh.”
Exodus 6:3*
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