who is the lord part 3

WHO IS THE LORD PART 3

Like we discussed in who is the lord part II, we shall be considering another tyranic king in our discussion today. Join me as I introduce King Herod.

HEROD Acts 12:21-23.

King Herod dressed in his royal attire and sat majestically on his throne. He made an oration, and he was hailed as god on earth and that the speech he had delivered was super human and it was that of god in man. He enjoyed the flattery. His acceptance of the flattery confirmed what they said about him. He stole the glory of God and ascribed to himself the majesty of God as if to say, who is the lord besides me?

The Almighty answered immediately. He was smitten by an angel of the lord, and was being eaten by worms before he even breathed his last.

Having considered the already mentioned kings and their contempt and challenge for the supremacy of the Almighty and the consequences thereof, let’s see another personality who asked the same question as a result of genuine desire to know the king of kings.

MOSES Exodus 2
The question: who is the Lord? May be borne by genuine desire to know the Lord of Lords and king of kings.

When the Almighty decided to end the suffering of the Israelite in the land of Egypt, He appeared unto Moses through the burning bush. After He had sent Moses to Pharaoh to allow His people to go to the Promised Land, Moses enquired from the Lord.
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you: and they shall say unto to me, what is his name? What shall I say unto them? Exo.3:13.

The above passage indicates a genuine desire to know who the Lord is: not out of contempt but out of anxiety to know who has sent him to his people.
Listen to the re-assuring answer the Lord gave to Moses.

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. Ex3:14. Indeed God reveal His real identity to Him. Hear what God said:

And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Ex 3:15. Because Moses had a humble and sincere desire to know who God is, God revealed His true identity I AM THAT I AM.

Conclusively, let’s consider the implications of this great revelation:
1 This revelation means that God is the all sufficient one.
2 That God is the inexhaustible source of joy.
3 That God is the present continuous God.
4 That God is enough for all generation.
5 That God is the beginning and the ending.
6 That God is without a predecessor or successor.
7 That God is all you need for a life time.
8 That God is the creator and sustainer of all.

WHO IS THE LORD PART 2

WHO IS THE LORD PART TWO

As we discussed in who is the lord part one, this question may arise out of spite for the lord of hosts. It may arise to challenge the powers of God. It may also arise to challenge the integrity of God. However, we shall be using some personalities as our case studies in other to properly buttress this topic.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR (He was the king of the then world.) Dan. 4:1,Dan.3

Our first case study today is that of king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He set up a giant image and would want all inhabitants of his empire to worship that image. Three Hebrew faithful Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego refused to worship this image. King Nebuchadnezzar was a violent dictator who had the power of life and death over all hi subjects. These 3 faithful were brought before him and in a very threatening suppressing tone, he told them that if they refused to worship the golden image, he would cast them into the fiery furnace and he said,

Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made; well but if you worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Dan 3:15.

These faithful would not succumb to the black mail and threat of the king, He therefore, in fury …commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind shadrach, meshack, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Dan 3:20. These people were thrown bound into the fiery furnace in their full dress and with their hats on. It should be noted that two very important things happened:

1 The heat of the fire was so high that it consumed all the hefty men that threw the three faithful into the fire.
2 The fire consumed the rope, with which they were bound, like threads.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Dan 3:24-25.

WHO IS THE LORD

WHO IS THE LORD PART ONE

This topic may be a question which may be born out of:
1 Contempt for the lord of hosts
2 May mean to challenge His integrity
3 May mean to challenge His power
4 May be born out of genuine desire to know Him.
5 Or anxiety to be more intimate with Him.

“And Pharaoh said who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord; neither will I let Israel go”. Ex 5:2 Hear what the Lord declares:
See now that I even I, I am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive: I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out to my hand. Deu 32: 39.

God answers to the question are contained in the above passage. He manifested Himself to Pharaoh in the following different terrible graduating ways in answer to his question “who is the lord”?

First of all, He turned Moses’ rod to a snake and when Pharaoh’s magicians imitated Moses’ miracle; his (Moses) snake swallowed all their snakes. Exo 7;10-12.Please note that for every glory of God, the devil has his own counterfeit glory with which he deceives his victims.
Secondly, He turned all the water of Egypt to blood. Exo 7:17-25.
Thirdly, HE covered the whole land of Egypt with frogs and Pharaohs magicians’ imitated but could not recall the frogs. It was Moses who caused the frogs to die. Exo 8:5-12.
Fourthly, Moses caused the whole land of Egypt to be filled with lice but the magicians could not do this.. Exo 8:16-19.

Fifthly, the whole land of Egypt was filled with “swarms of flies”. But God separated the land of Goshen and no flies came there because the people of Israel lived there. Ex. 8:21-31.
Sixly, the lord separated the cattle of the Hebrews from the cattle of the Egyptians. The whole lot of the cattle of the Egyptians died. Ex. 9:3-6.

Seventhly, dust was blown into the air; Boil broke forth into sores on all men and beasts in all the land of Egypt. Ex.9:10-11.

Eighthly, God sent unprecedented thunder, rained hail mixed with fire on cattle, trees and humans on the field. This also was confined to the land of Egypt but the land of Goshen was free. Ex. 9:23-29.

Ninthly, Moses stretched his rod over the land of Egypt and the lord brought easterly wind throughout the night and in the morning, the whole land was filled with unprecedented wild locusts. They covered the whole sky and covered all trees and consumed all leaves and fruits and all kinds of shrubs. Ex. 10:13-19.
Tenthly, thick darkness covered the whole land of Egypt for 3 days when they could not move from one place to the other. But the darkness was confined to the land of the Egyptians but there was light in Goshen where the people of Israel lived. Ex10:22-23.

Eleventhly, God commanded them to borrow jewelry of silver and gold from their neighbors.

Twelfthly, the lord passed through the land of the Egyptians in one night and killed all the first born children beginning from king Pharaoh’s first born to the least family man in the land and the first born of all their animals. However, the Lord passed over all the houses inhabited by the people of Israel without harm to their children because the lord instructed them to mark the pillars of their houses with the blood of the lamb killed for the Passover.

Conclusively, after Pharaoh and all the Egyptians had suffered the tragedy of death of their first-born children, he permitted the children of Israel to go. However, no sooner he allowed them to go than he reviewed his decision and regretted the permission to let them go. He then led a battle to his ‘special squad’ soldiers his best chariots to meet his waterloo. Moses spoke boldly, to the children because he knew who the lord is unlike pharaoh.

And Moses said unto the people, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today, for the Egyptians whom ye had seen today, ye shall see them no more forever. For the lord shall fight for you and ye shall hold your peace”. Ex.14:13-14. The lord who is the Almighty opened the Red sea and the people passed through the dry ground in the midst of the sea. Pharoah and the Egyptian forces foolishly followed them into the sea. They all perished there.Ex.14:27-28.

From the above, God introduced himself in thirteen different ways.