Hello Tucker. Sorry for the delay. I've been at Biblical Hermeneutics on Stackexchange. You asked if we can know all of God's creation, and also what is outside of it. I have to humbly answer that I don't know what God will permit us to know. But then you said that you believe we can know "parts" of it. And this is where I'm confused. How is it that an infinite entity can have "parts"?
I have some concerns with excepting experiences as divine revelations of truth. I cannot outright deny the importance of experiences; otherwise, why would I, a gentile American living 2000 some years after a Jewish man lived, believe anything he says if I did not experience his words as truth? I believe experiences are very important, because I believe that cause (experiences) and effect (outcomes) have determined every step I'll ever make and every thought I'll ever think.
However, to believe my experiences are truth would leave no room for correction. No matter what anyone tells me or what the Scriptures say, I could assert that everything I've experienced is true and I therefore know all things. I don't believe the God that Yeshua revealed to us is eternal,
because I do not believe there is a word in the Scriptures that mean eternal. The God that Yeshua revealed to us is the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, so whatever qualities they ascribe to Him is our description of the only true God. Here is what I believe the Scriptures teach about our God:
"For a
thousand years in thy sight
are but as
yesterday when it is past, and
as a watch in the night." Psalm 90:4
This verse says a thousand years is like a day to God. Augustine says:
"In the eminence of thy ever-present eternity, thou precedest all times past, and extendest beyond all future times, for they are still to come — and when they have come, they will be past. But "Thou art always the Selfsame and thy years shall have no end." Thy years neither go nor come; but ours both go and come in order that all separate moments may come to pass. All thy years stand together as one, since they are abiding. Nor do thy years past exclude the years to come because thy years do not pass away. All these years of ours shall be with thee, when all of them shall have ceased to be. Thy years are but a day, and thy day is not recurrent, but always today. Thy "today" yields not to tomorrow and does not follow yesterday.
Thy "today" is eternity.
— St. Augustine,
Confessions, Book XI, Chapter XIII
That's not what the Scriptures say. Augustine made all of this up in his own head.
"I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient (
עַתִּיק H6268: ancient, aged) of days did sit, whose garment
was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne
was like the fiery flame,
and his wheels
as burning fire." Daniel 7:9
Daniel says God is the ancient of days, not the eternal of days.
"Thus saith YHVH the King of Israel, and his redeemer YHVH of hosts; I
am the first, and I
am the last; and beside me
there is no God." Isaiah 44:6
YHVH says He
is the first and the last. Not before the first, not outside of the first, but He
is the first.
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting (
עוֹלָם olam H5769: antiquity, futurity, long time) to everlasting (
עוֹלָם olam), thou
art God." Psalm 90:2
Olam is equivalent to aionios in Greek, which means "age-enduring". So God is from past ages to future ages. This does not say He is timeless, just very old and still has many more years to go.
God speaks. In order to speak, one must be in a condition of not speaking, and then a change must occur where words are uttered. If God was timeless and unchanging, He could not speak. He specifically tells us this is something that sets Him apart from the false gods:
"They are upright as the palm tree,
but speak not: they must needs be borne,
because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Forasmuch as
there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might." Jeremiah 10:7
"Wherefore should the heathen say, Where
is now their God?
But our God
is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Their idols
are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
They have mouths,
but they speak not: eyes have they,
but they see not:
They have ears,
but they hear not: noses have they,
but they smell not:
They have hands,
but they handle not: feet have they,
but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them are like unto them;
so is every one that trusteth in them." Psalm 115:2
So my question does not concern whether it is
possible this eternal god exists. I simply want to know where in the Scriptures it speaks of him. If they do not, then what reason do I have to even continue to think about him?
Thank you tucker and God bless you my friend.
. Humm? "Why should you continue to think about God if scripture does not say that God is "eternal"?" Well anonymouswho, I can't think of any reason why you personally should think about God whether God is eternal or not. I met God through Lord Jesus when I was five years old, over sixty years ago, and He and Lord Jesus have been a part of my life from that time on. I have years of experience with Them on a one on one bases through thick and thin. Without that experience I would probably be inclined to look at things like you do. And based on that experience a thinking mind can never know God, only a quiet mind can know God. And only a quiet mind in the presence of Lord Jesus can know the Father of Lord Jesus.
