Dune was Fiction, but God is Our Rock!

I hate to admit it, but I’m a huge science fiction fan. Going where no man has ever gone before has always been my dream. To explore and discover has been my heart’s desire ever since childhood. A great book series that produced a poor movie was DUNE. In one scene in the movie Paul Atreides tells the Fremen warriors of Sietch Tabr to hit this large rock, that looks like an obelisk. They try kicking it, hitting it, sawing it, but the rock is untouched, undamaged. Then Paul shows them the ‘weirding way’, and by directing his voice through a ‘weirding module’, he obliterates the rock. It is totally destroyed. However powerful the ‘weirding way’ was, it was not powerful enough to penetrate the defensive ‘Shield Wall’ surrounding Arrakeen (a large rock wall). For that, they used Atomics.

Even in Dune, rocks represented power. They represented strength and protection. It took super power to destroy the rock, and even greater power to obliterate the rock ‘Shield Wall.’

God is called “The Rock” – (the Hebrew word ‘tSur’) in the Bible.

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. (Deut 32:4)

To the Jews, the rocks they saw certainly seemed impenetrable. They understood what it meant to call God “The Rock”. They understood that some rocks were larger than other rocks. “For their rock is not as our Rock” (Deut 32:31). “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” (I Sam 2:2).

The Jews saw God as a Rock that was indestructible, impenetrable. He is the Rock of Refuge, the one David ran to for protection from his enemies. “Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.”(Ps 71:3)

I fear that this analogy is lost on this modern day generation. Just as in Dune, there is no Rock that cannot be destroyed by some man-made force. Given enough time and nuclear bombs, we could destroy the largest mountain if we had to. Why, we can even shoot an asteroid out of space (at least in the movies).

By comparing Himself to a rock, God wants us to see His Strength, His endurance, His ability to be a Fortress in times of conflict and confusion. When life gets crazy, we need to run to the rock that is greater than you or me. He truly is our Strength and Refuge.

Man may try to obliterate God, or dismiss Him as weak and ultimately destructible, but that does not matter. He is the Rock, there is no other god (even man) that is bigger and more powerful than He. We need to come to that point in our lives where we cry out as David did: “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me.” (Ps 33:1)

In the storms of life, God has made provision for each of us to know Him intimately as our Rock. When Moses struck the Rock in the wilderness with the Rod of God, it split the rock and caused water to rush forth: “They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.”(Isa 48:21) In like manner God broke His only Son, Jesus Christ, and through His death on the cross, Rivers of Water gush forth through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has now become our Rock, the Rock of Water, the Rock of Refreshing, the Rock of Redemption. He has become our life, our strength, our refuge. All who are weary and heavy laden find rest in Him. All who are thirsty find refreshment in Him. All those lost in sin find forgiveness and redemption in Him.

Those who fail to see Christ as the Rock of Refuge, will only see Him as the Rock of Offense. Peter (little rock) declared: “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” (I Peter 2:7-8)

How do you view God? Is He just another rock, something in your path that you stub your toe on? Or is He the Almighty, Eternal, Invincible Rock of your salvation. You can’t ignore Him. He will always be in your path. He will either cause you to stumble, or He will provide you shelter and refuge. The choice is yours. May you rejoice with David: “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” (Psalm 95:1)

What Does God Think When You Pray?

As a Pastor, I am called on to pray quite often. Whenever a prayer is in order (meal time, sickness, tragedy) somehow, everyone turns to me to pray, as if I have some special connection with God. While prayer is my ‘business’ so to speak, it should be the common outgrowth of every life that has been given to Jesus Christ. Prayer is our life-line to God. I find that many Christians feel inadequate when it comes to prayer. That is sad, because it is a reflection of their walk with God. I was reading in Jeremiah and stumbled upon an instance where the remnant leaders asked Jeremiah to pray to the Lord YOUR God for us.

Jeremiah 42:1-6 (ESV) Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, for all this remnant— because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do.” Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your request, and whatever the Lord answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the Lord your God sends you to us. Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.”

These Jewish leaders believed that Jeremiah had a better relationship with his God than they did with theirs. In fact, the way the text reads, you wonder if they even had a relationship with any God. Jeremiah took their request seriously, even though I suspect he knew they were not serious about obeying whatever God told him.

What is curious to me is the 10 days it took for God to respond to Jeremiah’s prayer. Did he tell Jeremiah “I’ll get back to you”? Or was Jeremiah used to waiting upon the Lord. Ten days wouldn’t work in our fast-paced society. I wonder how the leaders reacted to the delay. Did they send a messenger everyday asking “Any word yet?”. Did they grow impatient and think that Jeremiah had lost his ‘pull’ with God? I don’t know. Some suggest the delay was to show that they could survive in Israel, because they were thinking of leaving and going elsewhere.

Jeremiah 42:7-17 (ESV) At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.

But Azariah and Johanan got mad at Jeremiah and yelled: “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ ³ but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” They clearly had already made up their minds about what they were going to do. That is the really strange part. God knew they weren’t serious about finding out what God wanted them to do. He knew they had already made up their minds. Jeremiah called them hypocrites.

Jeremiah 42:19-22 (NKJV) The Lord has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, 'Do not go to Egypt!' Know certainly that I have admonished you this day. For you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it.' And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, or anything which He has sent you by me. Now therefore, know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to dwell."

How many times do we pray to God, asking for something, some indication of His will, but deep down inside we have already decided what we will do.

Does God shake His head at us, and mutter “you hypocrite!”? Does He give us an answer knowing we won’t do it?

Too many Christians, I believe, use prayer as a ‘last resort’. It’s something that they do when they are faced with some difficulty, some disease, some loss. Most of the time they don’t pray, they don’t abide, they don’t commune with the Creator God, the one who lives in them through Jesus Christ. IS it any wonder God is not excited about answering our prayers when we come to Him as a last resort? It’s as if prayer is a magic talisman we waive when the evil spirits gather around our lives.

Jesus Christ lived the type of prayer-life that God demands of His people-a life that begins and ends in prayer. It is a life of total dependency upon God, a life spent in prayer. His prayer to the disciples concerned God’s will, forgiveness of daily sins, and provision for daily food. We are to depend on God for His daily direction, protection and provision. Jeremiah was forced to go to Egypt with these sorry leaders. The wrath of God followed them, and according to God’s promise, they all perished. Jeremiah as well. He tried to get them to repent, to follow God, but these verses indicate the sad state of their lives:

Jeremiah 44:15-17 (ESV) Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster.

The truth is that we live our lives the way we want to, Christian or not. We either humble ourselves before Almighty God-doing His will, or we live our life the way we think is best, and call on God when we think it’s out of control. Next time you pray to God, perhaps you should ask yourself, “Am I being obedient to God and His Word?” James said that the prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much. We are all sinners, but when we follow Christ, we have His righteousness. And because we have Christ, we can come boldly before the throne!

What does God think when He hears your prayers?

Is El Elyon Really in Charge? (What do you see when life goes dark?)

Ps 92:1 (A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.) It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High;

I have encountered death in a really strong way this week. First with a lady who has lost her husband, her mother and a brother all in the last 8 months. She is struggling with God and what He is saying to her. She feels as if she is at the end of her rope, and god has her in a strangle hold. She was wondering what she could do to try to re-connect with God. She is one of the countless millions who made a profession of faith as a youngster, but neglected and even ignored God as she was growing up and raising a family. Now she finds herself all alone in the world and wondering if there is any hope for a renewed relationship with God. Another man did not connect with God until he was 65. In the last year he has buried his daughter, his wife and most recently a close brother. Through these deaths his faith in God has remained strong. His resolve to follow after God is stronger than ever. Another woman I visited in the hospital. Basically she is waiting to die. She has beaten cancer in the past, even miraculously, but now she finds herself on the losing end. Her husband is afraid of the inevitable. They have been together over 50 years. He cannot imagine life without her. His faith in God is wavering and wondering. Their anger is simmering beneath the surface as they await the inevitable. In the midst of this I look at the name of God - “El Elyon”. Part of me sees a God that is Most High and because of that is detached at the pain and misery of His created beings. Here I am supposed to minister to three of His created beings and try to impart some “meaning” for what God is doing. In the core of their being death has brought emptiness and pain. Death has brought questions. Death has brought doubt. Daniel had this perspective on God’s activities: “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' Daniel 4:35 While that may be Daniel’s attitude, even devout Christians I know certainly ask God “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” As a Pastor it is heart-wrenching, especially when it comes from someone you have prayed with, you have rejoiced with, you have cared for, you have loved. What is the answer? What comfort can we offer. Anytime we experience loss and grief, we become inward in our focus and in our emotions. It is hard to see beyond ourselves and the pain we are experiencing. Our mind starts to run rampant with thoughts of ‘bad luck’, ‘uncaring God’, even ‘no God’, because we simply can’t imagine God allowing this, or even worse, doing this. Christians, even solid, devout, pillar of the church Christians, will become prey to such thoughts because of a failure made early on in their life. That failure is a commitment to know God, who He is, the way He works, the way He loves, the way He deals with this world. David was a man who made such a commitment as a young boy. David testifies to this in Psalms 25: “ Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. 5Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalms 25:4-5. When David was besieged with problems, and faced impossible situation after situation, because of that commitment, He drew closer to God, in fact he would set God between his problem and him. He knew the name of God, and because of that, God set him on high no matter what the situation was. "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. Psalms 91:14 David knew God as “El Elyon”, God Most High! “I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High. (Ps 7:17) “I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.” (Ps 9:2) David knew that if God was the Most High God, then He was in control, He was accomplishing His will.

WE ARE NOT VICTIMS OF CHANCE OR FATE OR LUCK. You can have God or chance, but you can’t have both.

When a cowboy applied for health insurance, the agent routinely asked if he had had any accidents during the previous year. The cowboy replied, "No. But I was bitten by a rattlesnake, and a horse kicked me in the ribs. That laid me up for a while." The agent said, "Weren’t those accidents?" "No," replied the cowboy, "They did it on purpose." The cowboy realized that there are no such things as "accidents." How about you, Christian? Do you believe that some things catch God by surprise? In the words of a good friend, "God is too sovereign to be lucky." Even as I am writing about this awesome God, I received a call that Mary has passed away. With tears her husband and I have prayer together, praising God for taking His dear saint home. There will be tears of grief. There will be tears of sorrow. There will be questions, there will even be anger. But through it all, El Elyon reigns. Hearts will either be drawn to Him as God, or they will be scattered, because they refuse to acknowledge His sovereignty.
In Isaiah 46:9-10 God testifies that He is absolutely sovereign, declaring "Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; [I am] God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done (proof of His sovereignty is His ability to control the future), saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure." My prayers are with Marvin and Mary’s children and grandchildren. I know that through Mary’s death, El Elyon will leave His mark upon their souls. He will accomplish His will. We simply must look up to the God Most High.

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.(Ps 103:19) Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps 73:25-26)

These thoughts are dedicated to Mary Borth, organist at my former church Edgerton Baptist Church. God allowed her to beat breast cancer just so she could see her husband saved and serving God. He also allowed her to touch my life with a serving spirit that was always fervent and alive no matter the circumstances. Her love for El Elyon has impacted many, especially me. It will be a difficult funeral to conduct, but I will do so because I know that our Redeemer Lives! And because He Lives, Mary lives with Him also! That is our hope, that is our confidence, because El Elyon reigns!

El Shaddai - Almighty God

El Shaddai: The God Who Supplies My Needs

The amazing truth about being mighty is that unless it comes with tenderness, it is no good to humans. Mighty Mouse, Mighty Superman are pretty cool in a movie or cartoon, but when it comes to living with one or around one, they are better off in the circus. Cool to watch but not so cool to take home. El Shaddai is the God with Strength and Might, but with love and compassion to use that strength to fulfill His Word,His Promises and to meet our needs.God is Titanium-strong enough to solve our problems Velvet-tender in His care for us.

The meaning of Almighty God

The different names of God are a compound of El (Elohim-God) or Jehovah (LORD), plus an attribute.

El is the Strong God/Creator.

Shaddai is His protection and sufficiency in time of pressure. Sometimes promises cannot be kept. Good reasons often lie behind a failed promise, but one reason, the lack of power or authority to keep the promise, is devastating. “A promise should not be made if it cannot be kept” is a familiar cliché. The Almighty God never failed to keep His promises; He had the power and the strength to see His promises through.
The name shadday means “All Powerful”; it occurs thirty-one times in Job and nine times elsewhere. It may come from the root shadad, which means “to be mighty.” Or, more likely, it may come from combining she plus day, meaning “the one who is sufficient.” In the Hebrew Bible, it is compounded with ʾel to form ʾel shadday, meaning “God Almighty.” This name of God is used with the patriarchs six times and always in connection with the Almighty’s promises of keeping His covenant with them. He promised to multiply their descendants and give them the land of Canaan (Gen. 17:1-8; 28:3; 35:11). Jacob prays that the Almighty would grant his sons success in bringing Benjamin back from Egypt (Gen. 43:14), thus, preserving the promised seed. Using “God Almighty” in these cases ensured that the promises made were kept.

As the Almighty, God provided visions to Balaam, the Mesopotamian seer (Num. 24:4, 16). God could bring destruction as only the Almighty could do (Isa. 13:6; Joel 1:15). By His might, He scattered the enemies of Israel (Ps. 68:14); His voice was like the roar of the wings of the Cherubim and other creatures in Ezekiel’s visions (Ezek. 1:24; 10:5). Yet, the psalmist says that to abide under the shadow of the Almighty is to find complete rest and safety (Ps. 91:1-2). In the time of Moses it was made clear that ʾel shadday was Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel (Exod. 6:2-5). The name of the “Almighty,” shadday, was on the lips of Job and his “friends” thirty-one times in the poetic sections of the book (Job 5:17; 40:2). Yet, the use of the name Yahweh twenty-one times in the prose sections, and six times in the poetic sections, shows that Yahweh and ʾel shadday are one and the same God. Job appeals to the Almighty to argue his case, but ultimately he submits to the greatness and almighty power of the Lord (Job 40:1-5).

The promise inherent in the name Shadday is that the Almighty can do everything He has promised. No man or other power can thwart His ways. He is an awesome God.

—Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words

Shaddai and the Hebrew word for shad, meaning breast, are different words, but sound alike (see Gen. 49:25; Job 3:12; Ps. 22:9). Some say El Shaddai really means "The Many Breasted One" (see notes below). Taken together El Shaddai mean that God is both mighty and caring. He has the strength and power that can provide for the greatest as well as the tiniest of needs. El Shaddai appears 48 times in the Old Testament, which includes 31 times in the book of Job. Under pressure, Job called on the names of a tough-but-tender caring God. Job was counseled not to despise chastening. Job was counseled, "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty." (Job 5:17)

El Shaddai occurs 12 times in the New Testament, which includes 9 times in the book of Revelation (see 2 Cor. 6:18; Rev. 1:8). (The translation "Almighty" goes back to ancient times, at least as far back as the LXX, which translates shadday as pantokratōr (greek) "all powerful." This is also reflected in the Vulgate, omnipotens—Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)

The First Reference to "El Shaddai"

God appears to Abram after long testing (see Gen. 15-17:2). Abram is 99 years old (see 17:1) and "as good as dead" (Heb.11:12).

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."

God reassures Abram of His promise and in so doing, introduces Abram to a new name, for God is not only Jehovah, "covenant keeper", God is now "Shaddai" the one mighty enough and compassionate enough to bring it to pass.

New problems demand a new understanding of God, which is received by learning a new name for Him (see Exod. 3:13,14; 6:2,3). Abraham (name changed from Abram: see Gen. 17:5) was supernaturally given a son, conceived at age 99 (see vv. 1,2), born at age 100 (see vv. 15-17; 21:2). We need faith to carry us from His Promise to His Provision.

El Shaddai: He Strengthens and Satisfies

Abraham passes the name El Shaddai to Isaac, who later used it in his prayer for his son Jacob to find a wife (see Gen 28:3). Jacob used the name to bless his son Joseph (see Gen 49:22,25). God is faithful to his nature (see 1 Thess. 5:24) to chastise when we rebel (see Heb. 12:5,6,10) and to bless when we obey (see Ps. 1:1-3, Deuteronomy 28,29). El Sha ddai may delay, but He never ignores.

Steps for El Shaddai's Provision

What we know about problems: We can't run from them; we can't stop them; and we can't solve them. We need El Shaddai.

1. Separate - negative holiness. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate…touch not the unclean thing….And ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty [El Shaddai]" (2 Cor. 6:17,18).
2. Seek - His presence-positive holiness. "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty [El Shaddai]" (Rev. 4:8; Rev 1:8; Rev 15:3; Rev 19:6).
3. Rest - in His presence or promise. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty [El Shaddai]" (PS. 91:1; see also Ps 27:14).
4. Follow - to follow or obey His commands. "I am the Almighty [El Shaddai] God; walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1).
5. Evaluate - your spiritual health. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
The problems may indicate a spiritual problem (sin, rebellion, calloused heart). (see Heb. 12:8).
6. Claim by faith His promise. "The Almighty [El Shaddai]…shall bless thee with blessings" (Gen. 49:25; also I Thess 5:24).

If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, and He indwells you; then you know El Shaddai. Being in human form he is now touched by every infirmity. His compassions are not just unfeeling. He has experienced everything we have, and more, for He felt it infinitely! But now He reigns with all-power, awaiting that day when His redemption can be completed, and Satan's reign completely obliterated.

Jesus is El Shaddai

Interesting Clarifications about El Shaddai:

Writer	Verse/Subject	Context
Adam Clarke	Ge 17:1 I am the Almighty God	I am the Almighty God—‏אני אל שדי‎ ani El shaddai, I am God all-sufficient; from ‏שדה‎ shadah, to shed, to pour out.
Adam Clarke	Ge 48:3 God Almighty	God Almighty—‏אל שדי‎ El Shaddai, the all-sufficient God, the Outpourer and Dispenser of mercies, (see Genesis 17:1), appeared to me at Luz, afterwards called Beth-El; see Genesis 28:13; 35:6, 9.
Matthew Henry Unabr.	Ex 6:2-8	When the salvation of the saints is completed in eternal life, then he will be known by his name Jehovah (Revelation 22:13); in the mean time they shall find him, for their strength and support, El-shaddai, a God all-sufficient, a God that is enough and will be so, Micah 7:20.
Spurgeon (MTP)	Christ's Prayer And Plea	You do not see this in our translation, but in, the Hebrew it is, "Preserve me, O El. ... But our Savior, whose knowledge of God was perfect, here selects a name of God peculiarly suitable to the condition in which he was when he offered this prayer; for, according to most commentators, the word "El" means "The strong One. ... " Others say that "El" means "The Ever-present One. ... What a blessed title is that of Shaddai which Bunyan uses in his Holy War,-El Shaddai, God-all sufficient or, as some render it, "The many-breasted God," the God with a great abundance of heart, full of mercy and grace, and supplying the needs of all his children out of his own fullness!
Thomp. Companion	Genesis 17:1: Commentary	The Hebrew for "God Almighty" in this verse is El-Shaddai, a special name of God. ... El-Shaddai means "the God who is manifested in his mighty acts" or "God Almighty. ... " In the Septuagint the Hebrew name Shaddai is translated a number of times as the Greek word ikanos, which can be translated "all sufficient. ... Thus in this name, Shaddai or El-Shaddai, the idea is conveyed of the sufficiency of the Almighty One (Php. 4:19; De. 2:7; 1Ki. 19:6; 2Ki. 4:6; 7:8).