EL OLAM – EVERLASTING GOD

NEW STUDY ON EL OLAM – THE EVERLASTING GOD. How important are the Names of God? Jesus gives us a clue in the disciple’s model prayer that begins – “Our Father (Spurgeon sermon) (= Name) Who art in heaven hallowed (set apart, consecrated) be Thy NAME. (Mt 6:9KJV-note)

The first mention of EL OLAM is associated with Abraham’s cutting covenant with Abimelech, Moses recording that “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and there he called on the Name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” (Ge 21:33) Note that Abraham’s response to this new revelation of God as El Olam was to worship, a good pattern for us to practice when God’s Spirit gives us some new insight into the Word of Truth (2Cor 6:7, Col 1:5-note, 2Ti 2:15-note, Jas 1:18-note).

Alexander Maclaren wrote that the Everlasting God is the “unchanged, unchangeable, inexhaustible Being, (Who) spends & is unspent; (Who) gives & is none the poorer; (Who) works & is never wearied; (Who) lives & with no tendency to death in His life (Who) flames with no tendency to extinction in the blaze.”

The Hebrew word for everlasting is “olam (see word study)” which is used over 400x in the OT & describes a number of entities – everlasting covenant (16x-Ge 9:16-Spurgeon sermon, Ge 17:7-note, etc), everlasting lovingkindness (44x 1Chr 16:41, Ps 100:5, etc), everlasting joy (Isa 51:11, Isa 61:7), everlasting love (Jer 31:3-Spurgeon’s sermon), everlasting kingdom (Da 4:3-note, Da 7:27-note, Ps 145:13), everlasting life (Da 12:2-note), everlasting Rock (Isa 26:4-Spurgeon devotional).

 When we pray “Hallowed be Thy Name, El Olam” we are acknowledging God as holy, as unlike any other, for there is none other Who can claim to be everlasting! And because He is everlasting, all of the glorious attributes of El Olam (goodness, mercy, love, faithfulness, etc) are everlasting! Indeed, the Everlasting God has also cut an Everlasting Covenant (Heb 13:20-note) with all who by grace believe in Christ Jesus, Who is Himself the Everlasting God, “the Alpha & the Omega, the first & the last, the beginning & the end” (Rev 22:13) for He is “the same yesterday and today, yes and forever” (Heb 13:8-note). The upshot is that the Everlasting God is able to keep His saints safe forever! As F B Meyer said “If God maintains sun & planets in bright & ordered beauty, He can keep us!” J C Ryle (bio by John Piper) added that “No soldiers of Christ are ever lost, missing or left dead on the battlefield!” In short, the eternality of God assures us eternal security founded on His eternal covenant. And so we may confidently sing Isaac Watts great hymn (play this hymn)…

My God, my Help in ages past,
My Hope for years to come,
My Shelter from the stormy blast,
And my Eternal Home.

On the basis of the truth about God gleaned from His Name El Olam, we join David in praying this doxology:

“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting (olam) to everlasting (olam).
Amen and Amen!”
(Ps 41:13-Spurgeon Note)

Related Resources:
In Depth Study on El Olam: Everlasting God
Summary of Names of God in Chart Format
Play Chris Tomlin’s worship song: Everlasting God