QUESTION: Why do we keep secrets?  When are times it is OK to keep a secret from someone?

          Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, Special Gifts, poverty mothers who don't want to tell their  kids there is no food for tomorrow, Sometimes when people are not able to handle the burden of  knowledge, it is kinder not to tell them.

QUESTION: Does God keep secrets? Does He keep secrets from us?

          -He never hides anything from us to harm us.
          -He doesn't let us know when we will die, that would be devastating.
          -He doesn't tell us everything about Himself.
           -His justice would depress us, His goodness would confuse us... we are not God.

    A. Biblical Usage
         1. El Olam is the secret name of God. It is seldom used in the Bible. It reveals God's ways with fallen  man, showing
             Himself patient and wise.

         2 The El expresses power  as in El Shaddai but is translated correctly   'God'.

         3. The word OLAM is translated Everlasting. It contains in it's meaning, the idea of a  'secret' as well as  a 'time' or 'age'.
             -First:  'Secret' 'to conceal' or 'to hide'  or 'something hidden'. ( 1 Sam. 12:3 )
             -Second: 'Time' or 'age'
             -It  is often translated " for ever" (Ex. 21:6) or 'time indefinable' but in almost very  place it may mean "for an age".
             -It is used most often to speak of a 'limited time' (Ex. 21:6 ) ( Lev. 25:46)
             -Olam expresses "time" or "lifetime" or "age" but it always speaks of some passing period, which runs it's course and
              fulfills it's purpose in  God's dealings with man.

      B. Historical Significance
          1. This name is first used in the life of Abram. It occurs after his name was changed to  Abraham. It occurred when this
              man of faith received the heir of promise, Isaac.

          2. 'At that time' a gentile comes  to  Abraham and a covenant is made with him at Beer-sheba, the "Well of the Oath"
              Gen. 21:22-33

QUESTION: What does the term 'squatters rights' mean?

          3. Beer-sheba was a desert oasis that Abraham had claimed and then dug a well.
              -He exercised what we would call 'squatters rights'. Giving Abraham and his descendants  the rights to the only water
               at Beer-sheba . It was the last well a desert traveler would pass before entering the desolate Sinai  peninsula.
               Beer-sheba was a strategically  located oasis. It also happened to be in  the lower part of the Promised Land.
               This was part of the 'everlasting' 'olam' covenant God made with Abraham, and Abraham probably didn't realize it.

QUESTION: What happened to make Abraham and Abimelech meet?

         4. Abraham had  the well taken from him violently by the servants of  Abimelech, a tribal chieftain of the Philistines.
            -Abraham confronted Abimelech and it was out of this confrontation that a covenant of  peace was made between
             Abraham and Abimelech. It was symbolized by animal sacrifice and accompanied by an oath.

         5. Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, an offering, a symbol of an everlasting relationship between Abraham and
             God, one that would be extended to his descendants.

         6. Abraham called on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

Question: Why do you think Abraham called upon this name of God here and at this time?

           -To recognize his everlasting  commitment to Him.
           -To call upon God to remember His everlasting covenant to him. (Gen. 21:33)

     C. Theological Significance
         1. This name tells us that God reveals Himself  to  us  by different  dispensations, "at sundry times and in diverse manners"
             (Heb. 1:1)  as they can bear  it;  in all, carrying out His one unchanging purpose, to bring us out of our fallen state and
             make us partakers of His own blessedness.

          2. "Age God", or "God of Ages" That is the God who works His will, not all at  once, but through  successive times and
               varied ways. In the restoration of His fallen creatures there are stages.

          3. It shows El Olam as the "God of times and seasons" (Heb. 8:13) God reveals Himself in varying degrees, according to
              man's capacity to receive  this growing revelation.

QUESTION: What does this name tell us about salvation and redemptive history?

          4. God of the ages, after Isaac was born, continued His eternal covenant, not with Ishmael , but with Isaac, the son of
              promise. This was God's plan, this was His time, this was the order in which He wanted redemptive history to go.
              This name denotes / speaks of an appointed order in the restoration and redemption of mankind.

         5. El Olam works in successive times and ways and this is a 'mystery' or 'secret' which is only revealed to us as we grow
             in grace.  (Rom. 16:25-26)

    D. Personal Application

QUESTION: What does this name mean to us? Why should we call on the name El Olam?

         1. By  calling on God as El Olam, we call on the One who is always and eternally available to us. The God who is
             eternally changeless. We need to depend on a  God that doesn't change. He can be the steady influence in our lives.
             He is patient with us and will love us and show us mercy  and kindness whenever we need it.
             -David said " the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations." ( Ps. 100:5 )
             -El Olam means " the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His
               righteousness unto children's children" ( Ps. 103:17 )

QUESTION: What does the 'secret' name of God tell us about our relationship with Him and He with us?

         2. The secret name of God gives a new meaning to trusting in God . Since believers must walk by faith, we must
             understand the nature of faith.
            -Faith is affirming what God has said in the Bible. To walk by faith is to obey the principals of the Word of God.
              The better a person knows the Scriptures, the better opportunity that person for a successful life of faith.
            -(Deut. 29:29) This verse says that God has withheld some secrets from us. Yet the secrets of God challenge us to
              trust Him all the more.

QUESTION: On what grounds do we have for trusting the secrets of God?

          First, we have already learned that God will always act right and judge  right. God cannot go against His righteous nature. Second, the things God withheld in the OT and revealed in the NT were all for our good and for  the glory of God. So He has proven Himself  worthy of our trust in the way He has already dealt with secret things. Third, because of our loving relationship with JEHOVAH, we know  that His purpose is to redeem us from a fallen , sinful state. Nothing can go against that covenant relationship that we have with Him.

         3. The silence of God gives new meaning to the voice of God.
             -Sometimes when you think that God hasn't spoken, it's because He already has.
             -The believer learns how God speaks to us.
                     -Through His word (Heb. 1:1,2)
                     -Through His creation (Rom. 1:18-20)
                     -Through our conscience. (Rom. 2:15)

         4. Since God reveals Himself to us in various ways at various times, we are only responsible for what we know and what
             has been revealed to us about God. (1 Cor. 2:12-14) We have the responsibility to respond to what we do know
             about God.

ILL: It is not the things about the Bible I do not understand that bothers me. It is the things I do understand.