The One and Only

Good morning!

Yesterday was so hectic that blogging got pushed to the side.  I'll be honest; I didn't open my Bible until last night, and even when I did, I was so exhausted I couldn't focus.  Some days just kick one's hiney.

We're still in Isaiah 44, but focusing on verses 6-28.

6“This is what the Lord says—

Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:

I am the first and I am the last;

apart from me there is no God.

7Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.

Let him declare and lay out before me

what has happened since I established my ancient people,

and what is yet to come—

yes, let them foretell what will come.

8Do not tremble, do not be afraid.

Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?

You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?

No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

(Please ignore the white line above; I can't delete it.)  In verses 6 through 8, God is proclaiming His uniqueness, His exclusivity.  Some world religions have a plethora of gods which are deemed acceptable.  The worship of Baal, in Bible times, was the worship of several gods.  Baal represents a plurality, not a single god.  The Romans and the Greeks worshipped many gods, as did the Aztecs, Incas and many other people groups.  The Hindu religion allows for the worship of many gods.

The Bible declares God to be a very exclusive God.  He emphatically declares that He is "... the first and the last.  There is no God but me." (verse 6)  And, what does He offer as "proof" that He is #1?

He makes it clear in verse 7 how He validates His supremacy: by prophecy.  He speaks through His Old Testament prophets to foretell the future - - - world events, kingdoms, natural disasters, the coming of Messiah (part I and part II).  A friend of mine is a Bible scholar and author.  I wish he'd write a comprehensive survey of Bible prophecies that have been fulfilled.  I read recently that the likelihood of Jesus fulfilling the O.T. prophecies of His first advent was 1:10157.  That's 10 to the 157th power.  (The blog does not like mathematical language!)  Think about that.  That's the number 10 with 157 zeroes following it.  And, those are just the Messianic prophecies of Christ's birth, ministry, death, burial, resurrection.  You can be very sure that, if God says it, it will happen.  He, Himself, demonstrated that in Isaiah 44:24-28.  Remember that Isaiah lived over 150 years before the days of King Cyrus of Persia, who is mentioned in this passage by name (!) as the monarch who would liberate the Hebrew people from the Babylonians!  And, it happened just that way.  Our Amazing God!

24“This is what the Lord says—

your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:

I am the Lord,

the Maker of all things,

who stretches out the heavens,

who spreads out the earth by myself,

25who foils the signs of false prophets

and makes fools of diviners,

who overthrows the learning of the wise

and turns it into nonsense,

26who carries out the words of his servants

and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,

who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be inhabited,’

of the towns of Judah, ‘They shall be rebuilt,’

and of their ruins, ‘I will restore them,’

27who says to the watery deep, ‘Be dry,

and I will dry up your streams,’

28who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd

and will accomplish all that I please;

he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”

and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’

American society has been for many years now very permissive, both in the behavior of its citizens and also in the acceptance of their attitudes and beliefs.  Just this morning I was watching a news clip about that man who beheaded a woman out in Oklahoma.  He had recently been suspended from work because of his pressuring co-workers to convert to Islam.  Afterwards, he returned to the job and cut off a co-worker's head.  And, we label that "workplace violence".  Religious jihad is what that was.

The one, true God does not call the Church of Jesus Christ to religious jihad.  But, He does call us to acknowledge and stand firm on the tenet that our faith is the one, true faith, and that our God is the one, true God.  We should not back down from that, in the face of political correctness.  He calls us to be "salt" and "light" to an increasingly dark world.  

You may ask a couple of questions at this juncture:
1.  All this one, true God talk - - - where does Jesus fit in to that?
2.  What about Israel, God's chosen people?  If God is working through the Church of Jesus Christ at present, has He forgotten the Jews?

As to question 1, remember that God the Father, Yahweh Almighty, had not at that time revealed the Person of His Son, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity, to His people.  Jesus' coming, the Messiah, had been predicted all through the Old Testament, but He had not yet been revealed.  This is why God the Father, speaking through the prophets, did not reference His Son, even though He was (and is) one with the Father and the Spirit.

Regarding the Jews, question 2, we only need to look at 44:21-23 to see how God feels about His chosen people, ever since He made that covenant with Abraham.  In verse 23, He states that in the Old Testament and until Jesus Christ's finished work He glorified Himself through the Jewish people.  Now, during the Church Age, He glorifies Himself through the Church.  During this Church age, as the Dispensationalists call it, Christians are God's chosen tool to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

21“Remember these things, Jacob,

for you, Israel, are my servant.

I have made you, you are my servant;

Israel, I will not forget you.

22I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,

your sins like the morning mist.

Return to me,

for I have redeemed you.”

23Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this;

shout aloud, you earth beneath.

Burst into song, you mountains,

you forests and all your trees,

for the Lord has redeemed Jacob,

he displays his glory in Israel.

God promises that, in the future, He will unite the Church of Jesus Christ with the Jewish people in that the Jews will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah.  This will occur in "the last days".  The cataclysmic events of The Tribulation Period will open the eyes of the Jews to their true Messiah, Jesus.  God will not forget the Jews.  Even now, He is ever calling them to return to Him, because He has redeemed them!

Father, I thank you that you are the Three-in-One, the Triune God.  It is confusing for me sometimes, and I do not truly understand the mystery of your Trinity.  But, I accept Your magnificence and rejoice that You are my God!  We should not need "proof" of Your preeminence.  But, I thank you for how incredibly accurate Your Word is!  How many indisputable fulfillments of prophecy it contains.  It's just flabbergasting, how You have revealed Yourself to us, if we bother to look.  Help us to stand strong in Your Truth today.  In Jesus' name, amen.