We topped the crest of the hill and that’s when we saw the field. It looked like a like a lake, miles and miles of solar panels as far as the eye could see. The small west Texas hill had been our horizon. We couldn’t see what was beyond. Now the solar panels filled the landscape all the way to our next horizon.
Horizons – the line at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet. We can’t see past them. It is not in our line of sight. We are limited. We are finite, but we have a God who has a bird’s eye view of our landscapes and paths. He is the Eternal God, El-Olam. The name literally means “to be hidden.” It speaks of something that cannot be seen or perceived. The idea is that there comes a point in the world where our senses reach their absolute limit. Some scholars have defined “Olam” as the vanishing point. Our Eternal God transcends what we can see and measure with our finite senses. He can see all things that are beyond our vanishing point. Take a moment and study your horizon. God sees what is beyond that last focal point of your eyesight.
”And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”“
Matthew 2:11-15 NKJV
Not to burst your bubble but our nativity scenes are wrong. The Magi or Wise Men were not at the stable at the birth of Jesus. Jesus was two or under when the Magi visited. We know this because Herod sent his assassins to kill all boys in Bethlehem age two and under, but Joseph did not know of Herod’s diabolical plot. After receiving the Magi’s gifts, and after they had left, Joseph puts his family safely to bed, shuts the door of his home in Bethlehem, and goes to sleep thinking all is well with the world. But God knew the whole of it. He had a plan. God saw beginning to end. He knew one day He would call His Son out of Egypt, the place of Israel’s slavery.
”When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.“
Hosea 11:1 HCSB
El Olam, the God who sees beyond our vanishing points. The angel of the Lord came and warned Joseph in another dream, “Go to Egypt.” Escape. Get out now. Assassins are coming to kill THE CHILD. Joseph arose right then, the murderous souls may even be near. He took Jesus and Mary immediately in the dark of the night and set out for Egypt with a caravan of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. El Olam had already provided for them to exist and live in Egypt, the Magi’s gifts. It wasn’t just a little gold, or a jar of frankincense, or a pint of myrrh. It was a caravan of gifts.
”After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.“
Matthew 2:1-3 HCSB
Their caravan made quite a spectacle in Jerusalem. It disturbed the whole city.
It was God’s provision. God saw beyond what Joseph could see. He provided all that the family needed to escape to Egypt.
Our Eternal God sees all that is beyond our vanishing point. He provides escape routes and He sends us provisions beforehand for all that we might need. THE CHILD was given a whole camel train laden with gold, frankincense , and myrrh. God is still El Olam. These are turbulent times. But God is there and beyond our horizon.
Thanks be to God that he see beyond my vision. I wonder how many times my life has been spared because God intervened. Going the speed limit instead of 10 miles over when you suddenly come upon a wreck. Slowing that much that time may have saved you from being a part of the wreck.