Doctrine of God - The Everlasting God - Psalm 90 (Sermon 2)

When Jesus was travelling through Samaria he met "The Woman at the Well" (John ch 4).

• The woman asked Jesus whether the right place to worship God was

at the Temple in Jerusalem or at the rival Temple in Samaria.

• Jesus told her that true worship of God is not confined to a particular place:

Now, because God is a Spirit, he is not limited in any way:

• There is no person or thing which may be truly likened to God.

• So far as Space is concerned, God is Everywhere: He is Omnipresent.
• So far as Knowledge is concerned, God Knows Everything: He is Omniscient.
• So far as Power is concerned, God does whatever he chooses: He is Omnipotent.
• So far as Time is concerned, God is Eternal: He alone has Immortality in & of himself.

This evening we will consider the Eternity of God. The Scriptures say:

"From Everlasting to Everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:2);

"The Lord is the Everlasting God … He Lives Forever… He remains the Same

and his Years will Never End" (Isaiah 40:28; 57:15; Hebrews 1:12).

"He is the Fountain of Life and the Fountain of his own Being" (Psalm 36:9).

"He is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come" (Rev 1:8)

God's Eternity is one of the most difficult aspects of His Being for us to grasp:

• This is why the Lord God never teaches Doctrine in a vacuum.
• He teaches it in a manner that is relevant to the circumstances of his people.

• Due to our nature & experiences, we can think only in terms of past, present & future.
• Life unfolds for us in a series of sequential events.
• With God, however, there is no past, no present, and no future, strictly speaking.
• God has no beginning and will have no ending.
• All things depend on God, but God himself is self-existent.

We'll look at the way God revealed his Eternity to Two Patriarchs, Abraham & Moses

1. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Abraham through his need for a Dwelling Place:

• Abraham was uprooted from his home in Ur of the Chaldees, near the Persian Gulf.
• He became a Nomad who wandered from one place to another, dwelling in tents.
• He was never sure where he would rest his head for the night.
• He was never sure what the next day would bring.

In a life filled with uncertainty & insecurity, he longed for a Permanent Dwelling Place.

• At Beersheba, Abraham found what he was longing for.
• After the birth of Isaac, Abimelech, King of Gerar, allotted Abraham an area of land. Then they made a peace treaty with one another (Genesis ch 21).

Abraham said to Abimelech:

"Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well" (21:30).

• The well symbolised a Permanent Dwelling Place.
• Abraham then planted a tamarisk tree - a tree which produced firm and durable wood.
• Again, the tamarisk tree symbolised permanence & durability.

The NEW NAME that God taught Abraham in this situation is very significant:

"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of

the Lord, the Eternal God (El-Olam). And Abraham stayed in the land of the

Philistines for a long time" (Genesis 21:32-34).

This is the FIRST TIME the Name Everlasting God is mentioned in Scripture!

Remember how God described the Covenant he made with Abraham:

"I will establish my covenant as an Everlasting Covenant between me and you and

your descendants after you … to be your God … The whole land of Canaan, where

you are an alien, I will give as an Everlasting Possession to you and your descendants

after you; and I will be their God" (Genesis 17:3-6).

God had established an Everlasting Covenant with Abraham;

- But, at that time Abraham had not received the son of promise, Isaac,

let alone the many descendants who would become a Great Nation.

• He was living in a tent and had no permanent dwelling place,

let alone the whole land of Canaan as an Everlasting Possession.

Nevertheless, Abraham had FAITH in the Almighty God:

• The birth of Isaac was a sign that God would keep his Everlasting Covenant.
• The provision of a Permanent Dwelling Place was a sign that

God would give his People an Everlasting Possession.

- Only then did God teach him how to worship, by calling on the Everlasting God!

Notice how God taught Abraham a theological concept in the context of his need:

• Abraham & Sarah were just like any other married couple - they longed for a child

Because of their faith in God, the Lord God gave them a child in their old age.

• Just like any other married couple, they longed for a permanent home of their own.

After many years of wandering, God gave them a permanent dwelling place.

Through these circumstances, the Lord God taught Abraham the Name Everlasting God

• What an encouragement at a time when Abraham needed a home for his new-born son.

• What an encouragement to know that God was in full control of every circumstance.

• God was teaching Abraham that he had been around from eternity past and

would be around for eternity to come.

• God was teaching Abraham about his faithfulness & unchanging nature;

• God was showing Abraham the Permanence of the Covenant Relationship.

Hebrews 11:8-10 sums up Abraham's situation and his faith in God:

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his

inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By

faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he

lived in tents, as did Isaac & Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For

he was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect & builder is God"

Abraham realised the truth that was to be taught by the Apostle Paul:

"Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there,

the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).

Andrew Jukes, in his book The Names of God, explains the meaning of the

Name Eternal God - the actual Hebrew name is El Olam:

When the word Olam is applied to God, the literal translation is the key to its meaning:

"El Olam is the Age-God, or the God of Ages, that is, the God who works his will,

not all at once, but through successive times and varied dispensations. El Olam shows

him as the God of times & seasons … Thus this name foretells exactly what the

Apostle Paul calls 'the Purpose of the Ages or his Eternal Purpose' (Eph 3:10-11)."

As the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:8-10:

• The work of Salvation reveals to us the Eternal & Unsearchable Riches of Christ.
• Every aspect of Salvation reveals to us the Eternal & Manifold Wisdom of God.
• In ages past, the Mystery of the Gospel was kept hidden in God.
• But now it has been made known through the Lord Jesus Christ.
• All has taken place according to the Eternal Purpose of the Eternal God.

APPLICATION

The Application of God's message to Abraham is obvious.

• The very Name Eternal God speaks to us of a God who provides us with an

Eternal Salvation and an Eternal Dwelling Place for his Chosen People, which is

accomplished according to his Eternal Purpose.

• Because God is Eternal, his Covenant to Save his People from there sin is also Eternal.

Hebrews 6:13 tells us that this Covenant is founded upon the Eternity of God;

Hebrews 7:21-28 tells us God confirms this Covenant through an Eternal Saviour:

"The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever' … Because

them."

Paul tells us that God has Chosen us according to his Eternal Plan (Eph 1:11)

This is the God who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

Furthermore, God gave us the promised Eternal Holy Spirit.

Paul describes the Spirit as: "A Deposit Guaranteeing our Inheritance" (Eph 1:13-14).

• The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will (Romans 8:27).

The Eternal God, Eternal Spirit & Eternal Son work together to provide an

• Eternal Salvation. Therefore, our Eternal Salvation is absolutely guaranteed.

Our Eternal Salvation should cause us to worship God in the same way as Abraham:

"He called on the Name of the Lord, the Eternal God" (Gen 21:33)

Our Salvation should also cause us to worship God in the same manner as the Psalmist:

"The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed

with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was

The whole of our salvation should cause us to praise God with the Apostle Paul, saying:

"I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his

unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive

eternal life. Now to the King Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour &

glory for ever & ever. Amen" (1 Timothy 1:17).

We are looking at the way God revealed his Eternity to Two Patriarchs

1. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Abraham through his need for a Dwelling Place.
2. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Moses at the end of his life

through TWO LESSONS about Life & Eternity (Psalm 90:1-6):

Moses lived to the ripe old age of 120.

• In his old age, he thought a great deal about the impermanence & brevity of life.
• He found himself thinking about the same truth that God had revealed to Abraham.

Moses wrote his thoughts down in Psalm 90.

• This Psalm is probably one of the clearest statements in the Bible about God's Eternity.

The First Lesson was that: The Dwelling Place of God's People is NOT in this world:

"Lord you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations" (Psalm 90:2).

God taught Moses this lesson in a very dramatic way:

- Remember that Moses did not live in a land he could call his own.

• The author of this Psalm is a man without a country and without a home to call his own.
• He was the son of an Israelite slave in Egypt.
• He led the People of God out of Egypt, toward the Promised Land of Canaan.
• He was now a fugitive from Egypt.

It is important to note that Moses died without entering Canaan.

- God allowed this to happen in order to teach Moses a Special Lesson:

God took Moses to Mount Nebo to show him the Promised Land, and said (Deut 34:4):

"This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac & Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to

your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it"

Just like Abraham, Moses longed for a Permanent Dwelling Place.

• We have seen how God gave Abraham a dwelling place at Beersheba.

However, God said to Moses:

"I will let you see the Promised Land, but you will not cross over into it."

God is saying:

"You mustn't put your trust in a particular earthly country as your dwelling place.

You mustn't put your truth in house built with bricks and mortar.

Rather, you must learn that GOD HIMSELF is your Dwelling Place."

Psalm 90:1 shows that Moses had learned this lesson.

• Moses says: "Lord YOU have been our dwelling place throughout all generations."

• Moses believed that the greatest blessing of God's People,

is to have a personal relationship with their God.

• Moses knew that ultimately man's dwelling place is NOT in a Place but in a Person.
• It is in God Himself that we find security, safety & peace.

The writer indicates that this relationship between God and his people is permanent:

"Lord you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations" (Ps 90:1).

Literally, the text reads "in generation and generation OR in successive generations."

• When Moses came on the scene of history, a number of generations had already existed, beginning with Adam, and going through the time of Abraham.

• The People of God have ALWAYS known and enjoyed his Divine Protection.
• The Lord God has NEVER FAILED to watch over, care for and provide for his people.
• This verse speaks historically of Israel's experience with God as their dwelling place.
• It also speaks prophetically about Israel's future security in her God.

Moses gives an emphatic REASON why he believed that the

relationship between God and his People is Permanent:

"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:2).

• Why has it been possible for the Lord to be the Dwelling Place of His People for

a countless number of generations?

• It is because of the nature of God's relation to time.

• God existed before creation. God existed before the mountains were born.

Moses says: "from everlasting to everlasting you are God."

• This is the Hebrew way of expressing Eternity.
• God has always been God, God is God now and God will always be God - Forever.
• He has no beginning of days and no end of days.

Note again how God teaches us theology in terms we can understand.

• We can grasp the meaning of one generation.
• We have can understand historical facts which cover a number of generations.
• We understand why we weren't around when our father and grandfather were born.
• We understand that there is a relationship between one generation and another.

• Moses is saying that: the Eternal Security of God's People rests on

the Eternal Existence of God Himself.

This concept of Generations helps us to understand the Central Point of this Psalm.

• Generations come and go, but God is always the same in every generation.
• God is never affected by the passage of time, or by the passing of different generations.
• God is outside any limitations of time - he never grows older and he never gets weary.
• He doesn't look back upon his earlier period of existence, and

he never looks forward to his future existence - God always is.

God's Eternity enables Moses to speak comforting words to God's People

• While our existence is dramatically influenced by time, God's existence is never affected

• Consequently, God's relationship to his people is not bound by time.
• God cares for and provides for his people in every generation.
• His Providential Care for his people is never affected by the passage of time.

Moses showed that he had learned this lesson, when he blessed the Tribes of Israel

just before he climbed Mount Nebo to view the Promised Land. (Deut 33:27):

"The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him'"

Matthew Henry says:

"The word for refuge here, signifies "Thy habitation or mansion house, in whom

thou art safe and easy, and at rest, as a man in his own house."

This is the meaning reflected in Psalm 32:7:

"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and

surround me with songs of deliverance."

APPLICATION

God's People of today must learn to think in the same way as Moses:

If I were to ask you the question: Where do you live? OR Where is your dwelling place?

You would most likely reply by giving me the address of your house.

However, to the Hebrew mind, that same question would bring a very different answer.

• The religious Israelite would say: "The LORD is my dwelling place."

• He realised that this life is very brief and full of problems.

• He knew that only an Eternal God can provide a dwelling place of comfort & refuge.

• He realised that the proper dwelling place for the child of God is in God Himself!

From what perspective do you look at the circumstances of everyday life?

• Because of advances in technology, we seem to have a high level of stability in our lives.

• Moses tells us that, in spite of appearances, life is at best fragile.
• Life is subject to change and instability.
• Therefore, more than ever, we must learn to place our faith in Eternal Issues.

At any moment, our lives may take a turn for the better or a turn for the worse.

• Sickness and a long period of poor health may strike at any time.
• People who seem to be financially secure, can suddenly come into financial difficulty.
• A secure job can suddenly turn into many years of unemployment.
• Severe family problems can arise out of what may seem to be a trivial incident.

• A decision to move house can cause severe stress due to the nature of the housing market

The marvellous truth that God Himself is our dwelling place, is a source of

great comfort in a world full of change and full of problems.

• Whatever problems you may be facing, think of them in the light of God's Eternity.
• Don't dwell on the problems of the past, but put your hope in your Eternal God.
• You may well have to face even worse circumstances in the future;

But, be assured that God always remains the same through every difficulty.

• No matter what may happen to you. Never forget that God is your Dwelling Place.

In Psalm 90:1-6, Moses outlines TWO LESSONS he had learned about Life & Eternity.

Firstly: The Dwelling Place of God's People is NOT in this world (Ps 90:1-2).

Secondly: God's concept of time is different to man's concept of time (Ps 90:3-6):

"You turn men back to dust, saying, 'Return to dust, O sons of men.' For a thousand

years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like the watch of the night.

Verse 3 shows that man is bound by time & creation, but that God Lives Forever:

"God turns men back to dust"

At the time of the Fall, God said to Adam:

"By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, since

from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust your will return" (Genesis 3:19).

Men are created beings - they are born, they live, they die, and so they cease to be.

• There is a beginning and an end to the existence of man; He is bound to creation!

• But God existed in and of himself before creation.
• God created man, but no-one created God.
• Man comes out of the dust of creation and he returns to dust
• But God REMAINS Forever!

Verse 4-6 illustrate how God's Measurement of time is different to man's:

• A God who Lives Forever, a God who is unaffected by the limitations of time, will have a different view of time to man, who is created, and therefore governed by time.

On Man's time-scale - A thousand years is an incredibly long time.

A thousand years are more than TEN TIMES the usual life-span of a man.

• A thousand years is a massive segment in the History of Mankind.
• Whole Empires rise and fall. Thousands of Great Men & Women have come & gone.
• Thousands of significant events have long been forgotten in the annals of antiquity.

To illustrate the concept of Eternity, think about your own lifetime:

• Ask yourself the question - What are your earliest memories of childhood?
• Most people can remember some incident from their early schooldays.
• Others can remember an incident which happened when they were two or three years old

Now ask yourself another question - How long ago does that seem now?

• Many people would say - that was donkeys years ago.
• Others would say - that seems like an eternity.

However, the True Span of Eternity is infinitely greater than the lifespan of a human being.

The Apostle James asks the question: "What is your life?"(James 4:14).

"You are a mist (or a vapour) that appears for a little while and then vanishes"

On God's time-scale - A Thousand Years are just like a day that has already past.

• God is Eternal - God has no past, no present and no future!
• To the God who created time, a thousand years is meaningless!
• To God the whole of history is an ever-present moment!
• God has witnessed an Infinite Number of Thousand Year periods.
• God will witness an infinite number of thousand year periods in the future!
• As far as God's Being is concerned - Time is insignificant.

On God's time-scale - Men are no sooner born than they die.

• We are likened to tiny pieces of drift wood which are carried away by the flood.
• We are like grass which sprouts up new in the morning, but withers by the evening.

• Man is born to die; It is absolutely certain that life is very short indeed.
• No matter how long Men & Empires survive - ultimately they will all perish.

The Main Point is this - Eternity does NOT MEAN that God Lives for a LONG TIME.

• It means that God ALWAYS EXISTS.
• It means that God is NOT BOUND by TIME.
• It means that God is above & beyond time.
• The problem is that our explanation of Eternity is limited by the

constraints of human language and the constraints of human thought processes.

• God's Eternity is beyond our concept of Existence itself.

APPLICATION

All men & women must learn to look at themselves in the light of God's Eternity.

• The duration of man's life is insignificant compare to the Eternity of God.
• A man begins dying as soon as he is born.
• Yet people have the audacity to make profound statements about the Greatness of Man.
• Scientists make bold statements about the Universe which the Eternal God Created.
• They try to explain the Universe through Evolution instead of through Biblical Creation
• False religions and pagan philosophies try to describe the meaning of man's existence.

Some Scientists speculate about the age of the universe, and then present their theories as facts relating to an evolutionary process.

• How can man make such fundamental pronouncements, when he is like a blade of grass that sprouts up and withers in a single day?
• Some scientists reject an eternal God because they cannot put him in a test tube and examine him or explain all his ways.
• If they could explain him scientifically or explain him fully, then he would not be God!

Philosophers speak about the meaning of life.

• Yet, they have experienced life for only a brief moment, compared to God's Eternity.

• The main problem is the pride of man.
• Man prefers to exalt himself rather than exalting a Creator God.

One writer (James Bordwine - An American Presbyterian minister) says:

"Even when you combine all the science and all the philosophy and all the religious

ideas that mankind has produced, they still amount to nothing in the light of God's

Eternity; they still represent a momentary period of observation by those creatures

who won't even acknowledge that they are creatures. Man is showing great arrogance

and stupidity when he boldly announces this 'fact' about his existence or that 'fact'

about the universe. Can such pronouncements really be taken seriously when we

know what the Bible says about the brevity of man's life?"

Moses tells us how to think about our life-span in the light of Eternity (Ps 90:12):

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom"

- These are the words of a man who was schooled in all the sciences of the Egyptians;

• He concludes that true wisdom is for man to number his days in the light of Eternity.

• True wisdom compares the finite nature of man with the infinite nature of God.
• True wisdom compares the mortality of man with the Immortality of God.

NEXT SECTION - ONLY IF TIME

We are looking at the way God revealed his Eternity to Two Patriarchs

1. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Abraham through his need for a Dwelling Place.
2. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Moses at the end of his life

through TWO LESSONS about Life & Eternity.

Firstly: The Dwelling Place of God's People is NOT in this world (Psalm 90:1-2).

Secondly: God's concept of time is different to man's concept of time (Psalm 90:3-6).

3. God revealed his Eternal Nature to Moses through his Eternal Name

Remember what happened at the beginning of Moses' Ministry

• The Children of Israel were living in bondage in the land of Egypt (Exodus ch 1).
• They were oppressed by task-masters who placed on them an ever increasing workload.
• God raised up Moses to lead his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land (Ex ch 2-3).

Moses was a very meek man and felt inadequate for the task, saying to God (Ex 3:11):

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

Who am I to change the course of history for the Children of Israel?

God said, "I will be with you" - I, the Lord, will take my people out of Egypt (3:12).

The Lord had already told Moses the reason for his calling:

"I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt … So I have come down to

rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a

good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex 3:7-8)

Note what God said to Moses in verse 10:

"So, now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh."

God is reminding Moses of a prophecy from the days of Abraham (Genesis 15:13):

"Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own,

and they will be enslaved & mistreated for four hundred years. But I will punish the

nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions"

God is saying: Moses, NOW it is time for me to bring an end to my people's oppression.

• I am the God who is from Everlasting to Everlasting.
• I can see both the beginning and the end of history. What is four hundred years to me?
• I have not forgotten that the four hundred years of enslavement have run their course.
• The Israelites may well think that they have been forgotten and left to rot in Egypt.

• I left them there because they needed to learn a lesson about of their sinful ways.

• But, now, they will learn that I am the God who cares for my people.
• The hour for Divine Intervention in the history of God's people has finally come.

It was at this point in history that God revealed to Moses his Eternal Name:

"Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your

fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell

them?' God said to Moses, 'I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the

Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' God also said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites,

'The Lord (Yahweh), the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac

and the God of Jacob - he sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by

which I am to be remembered from generation to generation" (Exodus 3:14-15).

God is saying to Moses -I am the God who Inhabits Eternity:

• I am the God who possesses an Eternal Name - I AM WHO I AM.
• The literal meaning is: "I was, I am, and I shall always continue to be."

This is the SAME GOD who revealed himself through His Eternal Son, who said:

"I am the bread of life … I am the Good Shepherd … I am the Door …

I am the Light of the World … I am the Way, the Truth and the Life …

I am the Resurrection and the Life … I am the True Vine …

He is the Eternal I am - "The Same, Yesterday, and Today, and Forever."

God is saying to Moses:

• I am Yahweh, the self-existent One, beside me there is none other.
• I am without beginning and without ending.
• My Eternal Name will never change - It is My Name Forever (Exodus 3:15).
• My Eternal Name will be remembered from generation to generation (3:15).

"Go, assemble the Elders of Israel and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your

fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, appeared to me" (Ex 3:16)

• Tell them that I am the Same Eternal God who worked through great men of the past.
• I am the Eternal God who has Decreed all things.
• I am the Eternal God who has the Power to intervene in every situation I choose.

Louis Berkhof says:

"The Infinity of God seen in relation to time, is called his Eternity. While this is

usually represented in Scripture as endless duration (Ps 90:2; 102:12), it really means

that he is above time and therefore not subject to its limitations. For him there is only

an eternal present, and no past or future."

APPLICATION

Our Eternal God NEVER CHANGES - he is eternally the same

The God who worked in Mighty Power in the past can work in the same way in our own day.

It is now many years ago since God intervened in revival power in our nation

Do you often think that God may never revive his Church in Britain again?

The Children of Israel waited 400 years for God to bring them out of the oppression of Egypt

• It is only 50 years since the Revival in the Hebrides.
• It is only 100 years since the Revival in Wales.
• It is only 250 years since the Great Awakening in America and the Revival in Britain under the Whitfield and the Wesleys.

Now, I am not saying that we have to wait 400 years for Revival to come.

• Moses mentioned the 400 years to indicate that time is nothing in view of Eternity.
• We should not be despondent because we have waited many years for Revival to come.
• The God of Eternity has the Power to bring Revival at any time and in any place.
• God's Power to send Revival does not diminish with the passage of time.