This is mind boggling

Our Life Group began a new study last night, The Seven Churches in Revelation 2 & 3. In order to get the setting for this, we looked at chapter 1. What an amazing chapter! There are a lot of wonderful and powerful truths in this chapter, and I want to talk about one now.

Which one? It is a phrase that occurs twice in chapter 1 (v 4 and 8), the one who is, and who was, and who is coming. *

This speaks to us of the eternality of God. Today, yesterday, tomorrow, He is. He didn’t begin. He doesn’t end, He is. He is always.

I believe this is the New Testament version of a well known Old Testament saying. In Exodus 3, God is calling Moses to go down to Egypt and deliver Israel; one of Moses’ objections is found in v 13-14

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?  
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

This is powerful. God defines himself, I Am that I Am, or simply, I Am. Wow! What is God? I Am.

The Septuagint (LXX) is an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament. Since I don’t read Hebrew, but can navigate Greek, I often turn to it for insights into a passage. This is Exodus 3:14 from the Septuagint:

And God said to Moses, I am the One who is. And he said, Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, The One who is sent me to you.

It is at this point that we see the connection between Exodus, I am the one who is and Revelation, the one who is, and who was, and who is coming. They both use the same phrase, ο ων – the one who is.+ This is God, the One who is.

He simply is. This is the eternality of God. This is also the unchangeableness of God. He didn’t use to be something he isn’t now. He’s not something now that he didn’t use to be. He’s not going to become something tomorrow that he never has been. To quote Keith Green, "He don’t change." He is. He doesn’t grow in wisdom or strength or knowledge. He is. What He is He has always been.

I know I keep saying, He is. I don’t know how else to put it. Actually, I can’t improve on how God himself put it, I am the one who is. One person in our group said, “I feel like we need to stop. This is mind boggling.” And it truly is. But since this was only verse 4 and we had to cover the rest of the chapter, we pressed on and found other wonderful, mind-boggling truths! Hallelujah!

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, 

who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.

* I prepared a version for us to use in our study, this is my translation. In Greek it is ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος. Strictly speaking, in English this would be, “the One who is, and the One who was, and the One who is coming.” The KJV has it, “which is, and which was, and which is to come.” The NKJV and the ESV have, “who is and who was and who is to come.”

+ Exodus 3:14
εγω ειμι ο ων            ο ων
I am the one who is    the one who is

Revelation 1:4
ο ων και ο ην και ο ερχομενος
the one who is, and who was, and who is coming

My morning prayer this month

The Breastplate of St. Patrick -- a morning prayer

The original of this is a kind of rhymed or half rhymed utterance. The language of the poem is very old Gaelic. (This is one of three of Patrick’s writings that we still have – this, his Confession, and a letter requesting the release of a slave.) It is called the “Lorica” and also “The Deer’s Cry.” According to tradition, St. Patrick uttered it while on his way to Tara, where he was for the first time to confront the power of the Pagan High-King of Ireland. Assassins were in wait for him and his companions, but as he chanted the hymn it seemed to the hidden band that a herd of deer went by.
stanzas I-X are Gaelic; XI Latin

I
I bind to myself today
The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity
the faith of the Trinity in Unity
the Creator of the universe

II
I bind to my self today
the might of the incarnation of Christ with that of his baptism
the might of his crucifixion with that of his burial
the might of his resurrection with that of his ascension
the might of his coming on the judgement day

III
I bind to myself today
the power in the love of the seraphim
in the obedience of the angels
in the ministration of the archangels
in the hope of the resurrection unto reward
in the prayers of the patriarchs
in the predictions of the prophets
in the preaching of the apostles
in the faith of the confessors
in the deeds of righteous men

IV
I bind to myself today
the power of heaven
the brightness of the sun
the whiteness of the snow
the splendor of fire
the speed of lightning
the swiftness of wind
the depth of the sea
the stability of the earth
the firmness of rocks

V
I bind to myself today
God's power to pilot me
God's might to uphold me
God's wisdom to teach me
God's eye to watch over me
God's ear to hear me
God's word to give me speech
God's hand to guide me
God's way to lie before me
God's shield to shelter me
God's host to secure me
against the snares of demons
against the seductions of vices
against the lusts of nature
against everyone who meditates injury to me
whether far or near
whether few or with many

VI
I invoke today all these virtues
against every hostile merciless power
which may assail my body and my soul
against the incantations of false prophets
against the black laws of heathenism
against the false laws of heresy
against the deceits of idolatry
against the spells of women and smiths and druids every power of the enemy
against every knowledge that blinds the soul of man

VII
Christ protect me today
against poison, against burning
against drowning against wounding
that I may receive abundant reward

VIII
Christ with me, Christ before me
Christ behind me, Christ within me
Christ under me, Christ above me
Christ at my right, Christ at my left
Christ in lying down, Christ in sitting
Christ in rising up

IX
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me

X
I bind to myself today
the strong power of an invocation of the Trinity
the faith of the Trinity in Unity
the creator of the universe

XI
Salvation is of the Lord
Salvation is of the Lord
Salvation is of Christ
May Thy salvation, O Lord, be with us forever.

Domini est salus, domini est salus, Christi est salus ;
salus tua, domine, sit semper nobiscum.