Week Six - Day Three: All-Powerful

The word almighty is used of God 321 times in the NIV translation of the Old Testament. God is omnipotent; He has power without limits. And this is clearly an important part of how God has communicated Himself to His people.

Let’s let a couple of thinkers jam on this idea for a few minutes and then let’s look at an application of it from the Bible. Give yourself some time with these quotes. It will be worth it to chew these slowly.

“The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of His will may resolve.” Stephen Charnock

“God’s power is like Himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of men cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the Omnipotent One. He sits on no buttressed throne and leans on no assisting arm. His court is not maintained by courtiers, not does it borrow its splendor from His creatures. He is Himself the great central source and Originator of all power.” C. H. Spurgeon

“God possesses what no creature can: an incomprehensible plenitude of power, a potency that is absolute … Since he has at His command all the power in the universe, the Lord God omnipotent can do anything as easily as anything else. All His acts are done without effort. He expends no energy that must be replenished. His self-sufficiency makes it unnecessary for Him to look outside of Himself for a renewal of strength. All the power required to do all that He wills to do lies in undiminished fullness in His own infinite being.” A. W. Tozer

This next one is especially worth contemplating. Listen to J. I Packer compare us to God.

“Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. But God is not so limited. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He has us in His hands; but we never have Him in ours. Like us, He is personal; but unlike us, He is almighty.”

Before You Start Your Day

1. Read through Jeremiah 50:33-38 and 51:10-19. As you read, keep in mind this historical setting:

   The last vestiges of the nation of Israel – specifically the capital city Jerusalem – were overrun by the Babylonians in 531 B.C. Many of the citizenry were taken into captivity. Jeremiah had predicted this would happen (a prediction that went largely unheeded). But here at the end of his ministry, God gives him this message: Babylon itself will fall. This will ultimately lead to the return of another generation of Jews to Palestine and to Jerusalem.

   Jeremiah 50:33-38

   "The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. (34) Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

   (35) "A sword against the Babylonians!" declares the LORD—"against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men!

   (36) A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.

   (37) A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become women. A sword against her treasures! They will be plundered.

   (38) A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.

   Jeremiah 51:10-19

   (10) " The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done. (11) Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. (12) Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon! Reinforce the guard, station the watchmen, prepare an ambush! The LORD will carry out his purpose, his decree against the people of Babylon.

   (13) " You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off. (14) The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself: ‘I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.’

   (15) "He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. (16) When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

   (17) "Every man is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. (18) They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.

   (19) He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the tribe of his inheritance— the LORD Almighty is his name.

   1. Make note of all of the images used in these passages to describe God’s power.
   2. What are the fruits of His power (what does it produce)?
2. The term “almighty” is used in at least three ways by the Old Testament prophets. It is used as a description of who God is (He is not like us; He can do whatever He wants to do). It is used as a confirmation of what He says (God really said this and it is, therefore, absolutely true). And it is used to set up something He is about to do or has just done (The Lord Almighty will destroy you).
   1. How is the term used in this passage?
   2. What kind of emotional response does each kind of usage elicit?
3. As you move through today, be mindful of God’s power working around you!

Comments (1)

Day 6 a.m.

1Wednesday, 03 November 2010 08:26

lee Ann Howdershell

Re: Spurgeon's comment, "God’s power is like Himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of men cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the Omnipotent One." Makes me think about or re-think my reasons for serving God.

yvComment v.1.25.3