He Is LORD

By F. D. Adkins

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog on Luke chapter 16 after I had revisited and studied the story of the rich man and Lazarus. This week I have started reading and studying the book of Exodus. And as I read this week, one particular verse pulled me back to Luke chapter 16. My mind began to spin as a question that I have heard asked by people so many times throughout my life came into my head. It’s a question that has taken a few different forms, but in the grand scheme, I think it is the same question.  And here between a verse in the Old Testament and a verse in the New Testament, the answer jumps out at me… it leaps off the pages as these two verses collide in my brain. Now maybe these verses don’t speak to you in the same way. I am not a Bible scholar nor an expert of any kind. I am only sharing with you what I feel God puts on my heart from what I read each week. That being said, I also believe that God can speak to us through His Word in different ways at different times. I may read a verse today and then read that same verse six months from now and receive a message the second time that I didn’t get before. In the same way, you may read the same verse that I am reading, and God may speak to you differently through that verse than He did to me.

So… back to the question that started whirling in my mind or maybe I should say questions because I have often heard people ask or have had people ask me things like:

• Why doesn’t God show Himself as He did to Moses and Abraham?
• Why doesn’t God stop bad things from happening?
• Why doesn’t God speak out loud like He did from the burning bush or talk to us like he did to Adam and Eve or Abraham and Sarah?

And on and on go the many ways that I have heard the question phrased. But I think that question comes down to believing (having faith) in God when the person asking the question cannot physically see or audibly hear God.

Now, I will add more of my personal thoughts at the end, but for now, I want to share the scripture from Luke, Chapter 16, and Exodus, Chapter 10. As you recall, the rich man was crying out from his torment in hell. He is asking that Lazarus (the beggar that died and went to Heaven) be sent to warn his brothers because the rich man does not want his brothers to make the same mistake and suffer the torment that he chose and now cannot escape. In Luke 16:31 KJV, we read the reply given to the rich man in response to his request. Verse 31 says, “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

Let’s take a leap back in time to the book of Exodus, Chapter 10. God is sending Moses to Pharoah, but He also warns Moses that He (God) has hardened Pharoah’s heart and will not allow the Israelites to leave. God explains that He has hardened Pharoah’s heart because He (God) is going to perform great signs so that they will know He is the Lord. Exodus 10:1-2 KJV says, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.”

All of these signs… the staff into the snake, the river into blood, the frogs, the locusts… all of the plagues that crashed down on the Egyptians but never touched the Israelites, showed God’s power, His control of everything…  It showed He is Lord… and He meant that message to be passed on from generation to generation. “…that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and thy son’s son….” So, when the rich man asked for Lazarus (who is now in Heaven) to be allowed to go and warn the brothers, he is told that if his brothers refuse to believe what God has already shown them and been told to them by God’s Word written by Moses and the prophets, they are not going to believe just because He works another miracle.

I want to go a step further and share one more bit of scripture before I flood you with all of the thoughts flowing through my head on this topic. Take a look at Joshua 25:14-15. It reads, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (KJV). We each have the choice to follow God just as the rich man had a choice and just as Lazarus had a choice.

Here are my thoughts as I reflect on the question (questions) mentioned above. And please remember these are my personal thoughts and reflections.

The verse in Luke and the verse in Exodus remind me of how God has proven Himself to us over and over again. Yes, it is true we did not witness those signs that Moses wrote of in the book of Exodus. But God left that message for us, and it clearly says He left that message, so we would know that He is LORD.

Then if I look back over my own life at all the times when something happened that clearly was God’s providence, and was in no way a coincidence, I know that was God showing Himself to me. For example, quite a few years ago, my husband accepted a new job 17 hours away, and we were going to move. The problem was we could not move until we sold our house, so until that happened, our family would be separated because my husband was scheduled to start this new position in three weeks. But God stepped in… AND YES, I AM 100 PERCENT CERTAIN, but you decide your certainty as I finish the story. We put our house up for sale as soon as my husband accepted the position. The day after the realtor listed it, she called saying she had two showings that day. The next day, she called to give me the news that the first people that looked at the house had made a cash offer and wanted a closing in less than two weeks. We signed the documents on the last day of school for the kids before summer break and moved as a family to South Carolina. I see only one explanation… God!

If I walk outside, I can experience God in all of His creations. I have felt the heat from the sun. I have felt the rain on my skin. I have shoveled the snow from the driveway. I have held my hair to keep the wind from blowing it in my face. And, I love to stop and relish every creature and its unique handiwork. I love to take in the magnitude of the diversity of lifeforms. This past weekend, my husband and I spent a couple of minutes just watching the tiniest lizard I have ever seen. In its entirety, it could not have been over two inches long. But how amazing it was to look at its tiny toes and watch its little sides move in and out as it breathed. WOW! That is all I can say.

And about those verses from Joshua that I had you look at… the ones that make it clear that we have a choice to follow God. As difficult as it is to accept, especially if someone we love chooses not to follow God, each person has been given that choice. God does not force us to follow Him. So, if God does not intervene in the evil that goes on around us, I believe it is because He would be taking away the choice he has given us to follow and obey Him. God’s Word is clear. We can follow Him, love Him, and obey Him… or we choose not to.

But my question is… Why would we not choose to follow God who loves us so much that He wants us to spend eternity with Him?…. And He wants us to spend eternity with Him so much that “He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16 KJV).