Who is the Lord God of Israel?

Moses tried to tell Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews said “Let my people go.”  They didn’t belong to the Pharaoh; they belonged to God.

Exodus 5: 1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 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. 3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us.

The devil works on us to get us to doubt. When we’re lost he tries to keep us from losing our faith. After we’re saved he jumps on that faith. He can’t take away our ability to believe. We need a heart knowledge of God not just a head knowledge. We constantly learn from others and we know each other. When we first met, you and I didn’t know a lot about each other but we’ve learned some things over the years and we keep learning.

Moses experienced God is a marvelous way. As a baby the male children were commanded to be thrown into the river to drown. Well, Moses was put in the river but in an ark of bulrushes for safety. He flowed up the Nile River. It took faith for his parents to do that. It takes faith for us to survive. God wants us to do more than survive; he wants us to thrive in our relationship with him. Pharaoh was looked at as a god YET he died and another Pharaoh took his place. He was embalmed and bandaged, put in a sarcophagus, and a carving was put on top of it. We saw some of these when we were in Egypt. The God Moses served is not embalmed somewhere. He’s alive!

Moses floated up the river to Pharaoh’s daughter who was bathing by the water. She saw the baby and wanted him. Moses’ sister Miriam was keeping up with the ark as it floated and ran over and said that her mother would be happy to help her take care of the baby. So Moses’ own mother was able to help raise him and teach him about God. He was educated in the finest places Egypt had to offer, but he knew his God. The very Pharaoh who wanted all the boy babies killed became Moses’ grandpa. Who is the God of Israel?  We know! We need to settle it in our hearts who God is. It makes all the difference.

Moses’ step brother acted like he was a god; he was just a spoiled brat. Moses and Aaron were poor boys and the Pharaoh knew who Moses was. I’m sure Pharaoh waited for them to bow to him. Don’t let the world talk you into bowing down to the devil. Society asks who is God. God is treated less than we treat each other as fellow human beings. People go through days and never acknowledge God. If they do it’s with sarcasm and blame because he didn’t do what they wanted.

We are not gods. Man has gotten to the point he thinks he is. Pharaoh had to take all his garb off and he was just like other men. He got sick like others. The plagues didn’t bother Moses but Pharaoh had frogs in his bed and lice in his hair. Some god! I’m glad to know the real God. Moses didn’t say “a” god said to set Israel free. He didn’t say “one of our gods” said it. He said the God of Israel said it. Moses was nothing and he knew it. God took him out of the wasteland and brought him back to Egypt. When he said “thus saith the Lord God of Israel” he was speaking of THE Supreme Being. Without God there is nothing. Without God creation is gone. We can replicate but we do not create. We can’t but God can. God IS! He still IS! He always will be “IS.” How dare we ever even think “who is God?”

Who is he?  Just look around. Think about what’s inside your own body. What would we be without Jesus? He’s our everything. The Supreme, one and only God. When he speaks we’d better pay attention. Let my people go! We can be free, victorious, happy, and as full of peace as we want to be. It’s all through our belief and trust in God. He is not just the Lord God of Israel. He’s God period. The best choice we ever made was when we chose to believe in this God. It makes all the difference in life. We overcome the devil and ride out the storms that come our way. With God you can stand before the Pharaoh’s of this world.

Two rag-tag Hebrews came into Pharaoh’s court. Guess who won? Israel left Egypt after 430 years of captivity. God led them out. When the gauntlet was thrown God took the challenge and broke the shackles of Israel leading them out and to the Promised Land. Nations have come and gone in the Middle East. Israel stands. Her boundaries are challenged just as ours are. Let’s serve God. He is a consuming fire and will take care of it all. Be careful to maintain faith in who God is.