Al-Qahhar, the Irresistible, the Prevailer, the Subduer

• This picture is taken straight from vecteezy.com but the austere gold and black seemed appropriate to the meanings of this word.

Grappling with this name has been a struggle that has taken months.  I set myself a goal of a new name each week, and now months have gone by since my last post.  That has not all been getting busy with other aspects of my life, but wrestling with what to do with this name in a Christian context.

The root of this word is ق ه ر and according to the myislam.com website, it has root meanings which include to subjugate, to overpower, to compel against one's wishes.  Two names al-Qaahhar and al-Qaahhir are based on this word, and of the two, al-Qaahhar is the most emphatic.  So this emphasizes the idea that God is completely overpowering.  Basically, that if you try to fight against God, you haven't got a chance.

Jacob did wrestle against God (or at least against the angel of God and "prevailed" and thereby won the approving name Israel.  Genesis 32:28 NIV "Then the man said, 'Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome."  Jacob calls the place where he fought, Peniel, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." (Genesis 32:30).  

I think no one questions that God had the power to quash Jacob in this encounter.  He did dislocate his hip.  God allowed him to win, and blessed his endeavor.

Still, as Christians, we believe that God has said, "As surely as I live, every tongue will acknowledge God" (Romans 14:11 quoting Isaiah 45:23).  Isaiah 45:24 goes on to say that "Every tongue that has raged against him (clearly God in context) will come to him and be put to shame."  All of which makes it seem to me that there will be a time when God will compel assent to Himself.  We also have the similar statement in Philippians God gave Jesus "the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:8-11)

I must acknowledge that God is not always "a gentleman, who will not force me against my will" (as some popular sayings suggest that He is.)

Still, when will that day of God's forcefulness come?  In the book of 2 Peter, we read that, "in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.  They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised.  Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4 NIV).  The author goes on to say, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 NIV). In other words, the day will when God will come as the Irresistible, the Prevailer, when God forces everyone to submit, whether they want to or not--but God is in no hurry to get there.  He would rather draw us patiently into submitting willingly to his rule.

As I considered this name, I was also strongly reminded about the story of Jesus calming the winds and waves of the storm. (Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25).  In both tellings of the story, the disciples are amazed.  "Who is this, that even the winds and waves obey him?"  Why is this so amazing to them?  I think when people are healed or delivered there is always some lingering doubt that perhaps this is merely a psychological phenomenon.  Not that it is totally a placebo effect, but maybe when the human spirit is set right with God, then the body can heal itself.  But the winds and the waves?  No.  They are purely physical.  It takes someone special to control them.  And that someone was Jesus.

So where do I find myself in the midst of these considerations?  Right now, I am struggling with what I suppose I must acknowledge has become an addiction to computer games.  Challenged to lay them aside for a season, my own selfish desires are rising up like a storm of winds and waves in my soul.  I haven't yielded yet, but it's been an awfully near thing.  And I found myself singing, "O Subduer, come subdue me."  And perhaps I am getting a glimpse of what devout Muslims understand to be the "greater jihaad" the struggle against evil in ourselves.

Al-Qaahhar

I have no question, not a shred of doubt.

If we fight against You can take us all out.

Just a flick of Your finger, a puff of Your breath

We'd be flat on the floor at the gateway of death.

You've got the power, You've got the might.

You could wipe out our wills with a flash of Your light –

But You don't.

You wait

You are longing for folks to come in

To acknowledge your Kingship,

and turn from our sin.

To be rescued from death and be blessed with Your life

Still You patiently wait for us.

And I see in myself things that do not bow down 

Things that rise up and struggle against You

There are storms in my soul that I cannot control

Desires that I long to yield to

O Subduer, please come subdue me.

Great Subduer, come subdue me.

Al-Qaahhar, the Subduer

Come subdue me.