BE STRONG – In the LORD

I have probably given way too much attention to Satan or the devil these past few posts, but only because our eternal destiny, Heaven or Hell, lies in our knowledge and understanding of his existence, of his diabolical ways, of our helplessness in ourselves to defend against them, and of his ultimate goal of separating us from the glorious life with God for which we were created – forever.

However, our knowledge of the devil, of his objectives and designs, and of His means of achieving those designs, what Ephesians 6:11 refers to as his wiles, mean nothing unless we come to the knowledge of how to escape them and are able to do so.  And  the Bible makes it clear that our ability to escape the snares of the devil depends on one thing and one thing only – our being strong in the LORD and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). And  that is what I purpose to focus on in my next few posts, God willing.

First of all, we need to clearly identify, who is the LORD we are to be strong in? It’s a question that must be answered and understood correctly and embraced with all of our heart if we are to escape our captivity to the devil’s lies and our love of this world of which he is the god of (Ephesians 4:4) (1 John 2:15-17).

It  is only within relationship with the LORD and our dependance upon and trust in His might and not our own, that  we can be set free from our slavery to sin and God’s eternal judgement on our sin,  and be restored to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1), wherein we can now by faith and one day by sight, see, behold, enjoy and willingly and gladly obey the LORD as we were created to do from the beginning  (Genesis 2:7-15) (Isaiah 43:7) (Psalm 8:3-9).

When the Bible speaks of the LORD, it is a term that is translated from the Hebrew word Yahweh or Yehovah in the Old Testament , and in the New Testament, the Greek word Kurios.

This term encompasses God’s self-identification to Moses in Exodus 3:13-15, where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and commissioned him to go to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of 400 years of slavery, to the promised land.  When Moses asks God, what should he tell them His name is, God responded, “I AM WHO I AM.” This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’.

I AM is the ultimate statement of self-existence, self-sufficiency and immediate presence – that no matter when or where, He is there (Psalm 139:7-9).  God’s existence is not contingent upon anyone or anything else. His plans and actions are not contingent upon any circumstances within His creation. He proclaims that He will be what He will be, that is, He will be the eternal, infinitely glorious God, who would reveal Himself as holy, just and good – the infinitely powerful, infinitely wise creator and sovereign ruler of the universe, who is to be worshiped and obeyed as such (Isaiah 45:5-25) (Psalm 96:9).

The LORD, the great  I AM,  stands, ever-present and unchangeable, completely sufficient in Himself to do what He wills to do and to accomplish what He wills to accomplish in His creation, independent of His creation (Romans 11:33-36) (Malachi 3:6).

In Exodus 3:18, the LORD instructs Moses and Aaron that after they go to the people to reveal to them God’s plan for their rescue, they are to go to Egypt’s king, the Pharoh, and command him to let His people go, that they may worship Him.

Thus in Exodus  5:1-2, God calls Moses and Aaron to deliver the following  message to Pharaoh: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.”

“ Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go”.

Pharaoh’s question regarding the identity of the one they referred to as the LORD, is not one of ignorance, desiring an honest and informative response from them,  but one of mockery and scorn of this being they referred to as the LORD.  As the “strongman” of Egypt, which was the most powerful nation known at that time, Pharoah was not willing to concede that there was a power higher than himself whom he should “fear”, to whom he was ultimately accountable to and dependent upon, to whom he must submit his will.

Pharaoh  saw himself as the ultimate authority over His life, over Egypt and the known world.  He and his predecessors had held Israel captive for over 400 years and he was not about to give them up now in response to the rantings of a former and present slave.

Despite numerous warnings and opportunities given him to submit his will to the LORD recorded in Exodus Chapters 7-12, and despite mounting evidence that this might be a really good idea, Pharaoh had hardened his heart so that he would not obey the LORD. And the LORD, in judgement,  subsequently hardens Pharoh’s heart so that he could not obey (Exodus 8:15) (Exodus 9:12).

Pharoah’s willful disobedience, driven by self-centered pride, would lead to his demise in which his prisoners would be set free, his nation would be plundered, and this self-appointed, self-deceived  “strongman” would be bound in a watery grave along with his army by the LORD, by the “King of Glory, the Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle” (Exodus 14:4)  (Exodus 14:18-31) (Psalm 24:7-10).

And this remarkable event in redemptive history points us to how the LORD deals with all  the  earthly strongmen, both rulers and commoners, who set themselves against the LORD and His anointed, the LORD Jesus, to magnify His glory by binding  the spiritual strongman – the devil or Beelzebub, destroying his works in the hearts of men, setting free His captives, binding him and his fellow demons forever, not in a watery grave, but a lake of fire and brimstone (Psalm 2:1-6) (Matthew 12:28-30) (1 John 3:8) (2 Timothy 2:24-26) (Revelation 20:10).

More on the LORD and the power of His might in my next post.

Grace and Peace ×