Can you see the future? God can. This week, we begin to explore God's eternality in Deuteronomy 33:27.
"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
- Deuteronomy 33:27a
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Transcript: We're discussing the attributes of God, and we are in the middle of a series where we are talking about the eternality of God. I personally love to contemplate God's eternality, because I don't understand it all. It is mysterious. But nonetheless, I end up worshiping. And that's what I want all of us to do after we've had this discussion.
The text of Scripture today comes to us from Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse 27. You've probably heard it. "The eternal God is your dwelling place—" now, if you memorized it in the King James like I did, it is, I think, "The eternal God is your refuge." But then it says, "And underneath are the everlasting arms." The simple fact is God does not exist in time like we do, because He is eternal. I've struggled with this, trying to understand how can God be out of time and exist in another realm. But someone helped me by explaining it this way: Suppose I had a map here on the table, and I could see the entire map before me. And you might be in a car or riding a bicycle along one of the roads; and you'd see trees, and you might see buildings, and so forth. But you would have no idea what lies ahead of you. You'd have to get there first.
And that's why It's very difficult for us to remember the future, isn't it? Have you ever asked someone that? "How well are you doing remembering the future?" Well, we can't remember the future, because the future isn't here for us. But God sees the entire map. He sees the future. God has already been in the New Jerusalem. God has already seen the Great Tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth—everything. I mean, this is mind boggling. And we're gonna talk about this when we also talk about His omniscience.
But everything is present to God. You know what that means? I wish we could apply it very directly and say that there's really no use us worrying about the future, because clearly, God is already there. He is in your tomorrows. And underneath—the Bible says He is our refuge—and underneath are the everlasting arms of God. And I want you to remember that in your struggles and in your trial.
Come with me to 1939. It's Christmas Day, and King George is speaking to the people in England and trying to give them encouragement. Now, you must recognize that this was at a time when England was at war, and there was no way that they would know that they would win. It's so easy for us to look at it and say, "Well, they won the war." But during that period of time, they didn't know how it was going to go. So King George wanted to encourage the British people, and he quoted a poem by a woman by the name of Minnie Haskins. By the way, she was alive when that happened, but no one told her that he had quoted it. But she discovered that he had quoted it at a later time.
This is the poem—I'm gonna see if I can quote it to you from memory: "I spoke to the man at the gate of the year and said to him, 'Give me a light, that I might walk safely, tread safely into the unknown.' He said, 'Go into the darkness, but put your hand in the hand of God, and that shall be better than light to you, and better and more safe than a known way.'" Put your hand into the hand of God. "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms."
I may be speaking to someone today, and you are in darkness. Put your hand in God's hand, and it shall be better than light to you, and better and safer than a known way. I cannot help but think to myself that if we really understood—if we were to understand God better, we'd trust Him more. Because today, my friend, underneath you are the everlasting arms. Today, go with God, and I'll see you right here next time.