A Nation in Denial

     The naïve believe America is now in good hands with the newly elected president where everyone will prosper and be safe from their enemies.  Nearly daily we hear our leaders state that America’s greatest days lie ahead.

     Numerous times the Bible states that nations and individuals should not place their confidence and trust in man, but rather trust should be placed in the One who made man.  However, such is foolishness to the majority of humanity known as the ‘world.’

     One of the major Scripture passages that speak of the sovereignty of God is found in Isaiah.

     “…For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’ Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass.  I have purposed it; I will also do it.”  Isaiah 46:9-11

     Isaiah prophesied between 739 and 680 BC, several hundred years before the time of the kings.

     The Hebrew for ‘counsel’ means ‘plan.’  Likewise ‘I have purposed it,’ also means ‘I planned it.’

     We will elaborate on three major attributes, or characteristics, of God from the above passage.

1)     God is God; there is no other

2)     God reveals the end of days from the beginning, and

3)     What God has planned from the foundation of the world, He will certainly bring to completion

     Presently the focus will be on number 1) by examining several additional passages from the time of the Exodus to the prophets.

     Recall the plagues God brought on Egypt to force them to release the Israelites from bondage in 1445 BC.  Just prior to the seventh plague, God told Moses to speak His words to Pharaoh.   

     “Let My people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues…that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.”

Exodus 9:14

     God first gave Pharaoh the opportunity to obey His word, but if he chose not to obey, God said, ‘I will send all My plagues.’  Only deity has the authority to say, ‘I will…’   God proclaimed there was none other like Him in all the earth.

     Interestingly, in the verse that follows God told Pharaoh that He was being merciful by sending the plagues because if He chose to He could totally eradicate him and his people from the earth. 

     God then proclaimed He was going to use Pharaoh in order to demonstrate His sovereignty over all nations.  This great truth was repeated by Paul to warn the nations in the church age that nothing had changed.

     Approximately 700 years after the Exodus:

     “‘You are My witnesses,’ says the LORD… ‘That you may know… and understand that I am He.  Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.  I, even I, am the LORD…’” 

Isaiah 43:10-11

     God reminded the Israelites that they had witnessed His power in delivering them out of Egyptian bondage to prove His might and sovereignty.  God then proclaimed that there was no God before Him, nor would any rise after Him. 

     “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me…I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.”  Isaiah 45:5, 7

     Only God can do the things recorded in the above passage, there is none other with such power.

     Jeremiah prophesied approximately 100 years after Isaiah.

     “Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?  For this is Your rightful due.  For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You…the LORD is the true God; He is the living God…At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.” 

Jeremiah 10:7, 10

     God is the King of the nations: the nations will experience His wrath and will not be able to endure His indignation.

      

     Is America preparing for the inevitable?