That people will know God is Lord
By: Walter Wiens
In this weekly column our church family has been encouraged, challenged and inspired by God’s Holy Spirit through the words of Pastor Scott. He has requested Lorraine and me to write this column when he is on vacation. As a church family we are grateful for how God is leading us. May we continue to listen to one another, seek God’s face and voice as we fulfill the mission God has for us.
I wish to preface my words with the familiar line the Apostle Paul wrote, “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17). When Paul wrote these words about Scripture, the Scripture Paul referred to was all the Old Testament and only a few parts of the New Testament.
Certainly we agree that these words describe the whole Bible. Yet, if we are honest, we may have doubts and question whether some portions are genuinely useful for “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
My response to these doubts and questions is on two levels.
First, we accept and affirm the inspiration and truthfulness of all Scripture.
Second, I wish to apply the Apostle Paul’s assertion to the Bible passages that I am recently reading in my personal Bible devotions. In the past several months I have been reading the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. As I read Ezekiel 32 on July 15 the study note with this passage states that this is the sixth oracle against Egypt.
There are several themes or repeated phrases in these six oracles. One phrase is, “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says” or “declared the Sovereign LORD.” The second phrase is, “then they will know that I am the LORD.”
There are many observations we can learn from these prophetic passages that will “teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness.” One biblical doctrine is this: even when God’s nation was conquered and his people were in exile, God was very much in control. Babylon had defeated Israel but not Egypt. But, God’s prophetic word was given to his prophet, Ezekiel, in exile. It was directed to the proud and wicked nation of Egypt – and repeated six times.
When we may wonder whether God is aware of what is occurring in the nations of our world we can be fully assured: God is aware. Nothing has happened in the past, or is happening in the present, or will happen in the future without God’s knowledge.
Ezekiel had a clear and definite word to the pagan nations. We cannot claim such a prophetic word. But God’s word to the nations, including our nation, has the same purpose as was with Ezekiel’s words, “Then they will know that I (God) am the LORD.”
May our words have the same intention and purpose – that people will know that God is the LORD.