Who Is The Lord?
When someone asks us if we know someone, we usually respond according to our experience with that person. Sometimes our answers are quite superficial and general, such as if someone asks us if we know a football player, actor or politician. We may never have met them personally, but we know of them through what we read in the newspapers or saw on television. If we have met them, spent time talking to them or went to the same school, then our description of them would be different and more detailed. The depth of our knowledge of someone is based on the level of experience we have with them. But even if we have lived in the same house, we can still not really know them. Knowledge of someone is first through self-revelation and then through the experience of what has been revealed.
If I would ask you to describe the Lord, how would you answer? He is distant, silent, angry, absent or non-existent? Is that your experience of Him? Some may respond by saying He is energy, warmth, peace or power. Is our description of God really accurate and conclusive? Is our experience of Him sufficient to say we really know Him? Moses was a Hebrew who was raised as an Egyptian. He knew there was a God, but didn’t know Him personally. One day, as Moses was tending his father-in-law’s sheep, God revealed Himself to him. When Moses asked God His name, He replied: “I Am”. (Ex. 3.14) This was the beginning of close relationship between the two.
Moses spent a lot of time talking with the Lord. Just being in the Lord’s presence changed Moses’ countenance. His face glowed so much from each encounter that the people asked Moses to hide his face with a veil. God spoke to Moses face to face and revealed Himself to Moses. The Lord said: “I am the Lord, your healer”. (Ex. 15.26) The great I Am was disclosing Himself to Moses, and as a result the people were brought into the experience of this revelation. When the Amalekites attacked the children of Israel, the Lord revealed Himself as a banner, (Ex. 17.15), and victory came. Others, who desired to know Him, were told that the Lord is righteous, (Jer. 23.6), or that He is always present, (Ez. 48.35), or that He is our shepherd, (Ps.23.1). Each revelation opened the door for an experience of the same.
Abraham was called the friend of God. His communion with the Almighty was intimate and endured throughout his whole life. When God spoke to Abraham, he believed. He didn’t question or doubt. Real friendship is when there is no deception, no undisclosed motives or lingering suspicions. What God says He is, He is. His self-revelation is clear and can be experienced. He never says: “What I really meant to say was…”, or, “Sorry, I made a mistake”. What God says is true; all the time. Paul, the apostle, wrote to the Philippians saying all he wanted in life was to know God. Can we say the same?
We must be careful not to make God into an “it” or a “thing”, to which we pray. He is our Shepherd, the Most-High and All Sufficient One. He has revealed Himself to us so that we might know Him. He knows us by name. He knows all there is to know about us. He created us. Shouldn’t we get to know Him? You cannot know God vicariously, nor virtually, nor theoretically. You can only know Him personally. The Lord is knocking at your door. All you have to do is open the door of your life and ask Him to come in. To know Him is to love Him.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Ex. 31.13; 33.11; 34.6-7; Phil. 3.10; James 2.23; Prov. 18.24; Acts 17.22-27