LORD of Lords

When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses asked how he would be able to approach people and be able to explain to them who sent him. God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM, tell them I AM has sent me”. As pastor David explained in his Sunday school class on Exodus (you can learn so much by joining us in Sunday school), the original text of the Old Testament used YAHWEH which is translated I AM. Many of the translations we have today use LORD instead of YAHWEH throughout Scripture. LORD is more of a title that explains who God is more than His name. You will also notice that all the letters of LORD are capitalized, indicating a significant difference from all others who use the title Lord, signifying that He is LORD of all Lords.

As God continued to give Moses instructions, something that stood out is the fact that He wanted everyone to know that He is LORD. He began with Moses. In Exodus 6:2, He told Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I was not known to them by my name the LORD. 

God then instructed Moses to tell the Israelites in verses 6-7 that He was going to bring them out of forced labor of the Egyptians, that He will be their God, so that they would "know that I am the LORD your God”.

In chapter 7:1-5, God told Moses and Aaron how He was going to multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and that by these great acts of judgment, “the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD”.

In chapter 8, after Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t remove the frogs from the Egyptians, Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to remove the frogs, Moses told him that God would remove them so that Pharaoh would know that there is no one like the LORD. God also made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians by keeping the flies away from the Israelites so that Pharaoh would also “know that I, the LORD, am in the land”.

Before God sent the hail, He said that He will show Pharaoh's officials and people that there is no one like Me on the whole earth…and I will show you My power and make my name known on the whole earth. When Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to stop the hail. Moses told him that God would stop the thunder and hail, so that you may know the earth belongs to the LORD”.

God continued with the plagues of locusts, complete darkness for 3 days, and the death of every firstborn, in order to establish the fact that He was LORD for all time! Even after God destroyed Pharaohs army in the Red Sea, God declared that the "Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen”.

Just before the exodus from Egypt, God instituted the Passover as a means of declaring that He was LORD of all, striking every firstborn male in the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:12 tells us that in doing so, He executed judgments against all the gods of Egypt, something only he had the authority and power to do. The other thing that pastor David reminded us of, is that the Passover with the Passover lamb was a foreshadow of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who would die for everyone who acknowledges that He is LORD! God wanted everyone, for all time, to know that He is LORD! This fact is stated throughout Scripture and repeated over and over to the nation of Israel as God was preparing them to enter the Promised Land and throughout the history of that nation. 

The same is true for us today, and as the apostle Paul quoted from the book of Isaiah, he declared in Philippians 2:9-10, “For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” There will come a time when EVERYONE will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord. We who acknowledged that and by faith were redeemed by Him as well as those who denied Him as Lord will bow down before Him.

If God put so much emphasis on establishing the fact that He is LORD to the entire world, and we as believers acknowledge Him as LORD, do you think He wants us to live our lives in view of that? As I live my life, I have to remind myself that it should be Him that I am living for. Before I start each day with my plans and agenda, I need be more intentional and think about how I am serving my Lord. In what ways am I surrendering to Him and His will? I don’t want to just have the knowledge that Jesus is Lord, but have the same fear and respect for the I AM! Too often I fail to recognize Him for who He is. The God who just speaks things into and out of existence. The same God who brought about and removed the plagues in Egypt. And at the same time, to have the joy and peace of knowing that He loves me. As you meditate on this thought, I pray that you, too, will approach life with a whole new perspective, so that others we come into contact with will also be able to know that He is LORD!

Pastor Bryan