“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” Genesis 17:1
Why is nothing impossible to God, in the will of God, for the glory of God? The answer resides in the meaning of the word, “Almighty.” Why is it that God would address Abraham in this manner, declaring that He was the Almighty God, if Abraham did not need to see Him as such. It seems that throughout Scripture God reveals Himself in a manner, specific to his character and nature, in such ways that calls for specific faith in Him at certain times. For example, after the death of Lazarus, the Lord Jesus was speaking to Martha his sister. He told her that her brother would rise again. Martha then responded to HIm that she knew that he would arise in the resurrection “at the last day.” (Jn. 11:24) Martha’s theology was right, but her knowledge of what the Lord was then going to do, was not. Jesus would then lay the foundation for her faith, so that believing, she should see the glory of God. He tells her, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (v.25) In other words, Jesus revealed Himself to Martha specifically in the manner that she needed to see Him, in order to trust Him to be such, and to work in a certain way. In this case, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead, that which would require faith in the One who was the resurrection, and had power over death.
Returning to our example of Abraham, we find that the Lord’s call to him was that of an exemplary life, one that was to be lived wholly to God. How would Abraham be able to do this unless he saw the Lord as the Almighty, who was able to empower him to live such a life? Abraham was called upon to believe God for a miracle, just like Martha. For Abraham it was for the birth of a child when he was one hundred years old, and Sarah beyond the age of child-bearing. For Martha it was for the resurrection of one that was dead. Both the birth and the resurrection of the dead were impossibilities. And yet, God revealed Himself to Abraham and to Martha in such a way that their faith was strengthened to believe Him for the miracle.
In Jeremiah’s day, when Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians, there was little hope of survival. In fact, Jeremiah had told the people that Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonians because of their rejection of God. God, through Jeremiah, told the people that they would be exiled for seventy years, but then, He gave them a promise: “For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” (Jer. 29:10) While Jeremiah was a prisoner in Jerusalem during the siege, God told him that Hanameel, a relative, would come to offer him a piece of land that he was to buy. This was to be a testimony by God, that there would one day be fields that would again be bought and sold in Israel, and around Jerusalem. The promises of God for this period of the return, first of His blessing and presence, and then of the people, were extraordinary. But it was that little piece of land that was the “evidence” of the promise of blessing. It was for this reason that Jeremiah would declare: “Ah, Lord God! behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” (32:17) The Lord Himself would even go on to declare, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?” (v.27)
Dear Father, Open our eyes to see and believe Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.