This was one of those “so what?” scriptures –
Then God spoke to Moses, telling him, I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them” Exodus 6:2-3
—until Henry Blackaby in his devotional Experiencing God Day by Day took me deeper. And yes, taught me a lesson through this exercise.
He said that God has walked with His people through the generations. He has progressively revealed His nature according to His purposes and the needs of His people. Okay, I can accept that – but why?
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew Him as God Almighty. Blackaby explains that they needed His mighty power to protect them from their enemies. They learned He was Lord, Master over everything and sure enough, He delivered them from the most powerful ruler in the world AND brought them into the Promised Land. They needed to experience Him as Lord, one who was more powerful than the pagan gods that surrounded them in that day and age.
Before you smugly, as I did, retort that we don’t have any of those pagan idols while in your mind picturing wooden hand-carved (or even coated with gold) objects – some big, some small. Yes we DO have pagan idols today – more deceitful and most definitely stealing our attention and worship.
In Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods, he outlines how the empty promises of Money, Sex, and Power are the idolatry of our day holding us captive and sending roots down into our hearts. Want a great definition? Keller says an idol is “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
Keller goes beyond the big, obvious idols and points to ones most Christians might fail to discern: doctrinal accuracy, religious communities, political activism, and even traditional family values. Say what? Those can be idols? Yes, hidden idolatries lurk in the church — often masquerading as spiritual gifts and ministry success, and here’s a tough one: trust in the rightness of their views making them feel superior!
Trevin Wax, in his blog reviewing Keller’s book, said it well. “The counterfeit gods are mere parodies of the one true God who has come to conquer our idols and restore us to himself.”
See, I think it would be a lot easier to have those biblical Asherah poles or Golden Calves or a statue of Artemis as idols. But honestly, they were just as deceived as we are today – we have to look deeper into our hearts to find out what really is so important to us (and thus, we worship it).
So, back to Blackaby’s point, which now makes a bit more sense to me. He explains that God will reveal His character to us “according to your needs and according to His purposes.” Now, here’s the key to this lesson: “You will come to know more and more about Him as you obey Him.” Yep – another lesson on ‘obedience’, but not one I had considered related to obedience.
As illustrations, he points out that when you grieve, God will come to you as Comforter. When you are in need, He will demonstrate that He is the Provider. When you face a serious challenge, He will reveal that He is God Almighty.
That should be so comforting! And it is – but I am disappointed in myself for not recognizing it. As Blackaby points out, though, my understanding of God’s character ought to be greater now than when I first became a Christian. And when I give it that perspective, I can see what he is saying.
Here’s the hard part – as Blackaby notes, some Christians, sadly, continue to live year after year with the same basic knowledge of God that they had when they first began walking with Him. No growth – stunted.
Key lesson for me? Blackaby nails it. Whatever your present situation, view it in the light of what God is teaching you, through circumstances, about Himself and you will come to know God in dimensions you have never known Him before.
Pull out that yardstick and start measuring going back to when you first “walked” with Him. Definition? When you first began living in a close, continual relationship with Him, marked by “obedience”, faith, devotion and heartfelt reliance on His presence.
And no, you don’t have to be a Moses or Abram as we know them – amazing servants of God. In truth, the people God used mightily in Scripture were all ordinary people (in their day) to whom He gave divine assignments that they by themselves never could or would have initiated.
God saw their hearts, says Blackaby, and He knew they were trustworthy. Through the ages God has taken the initiative in the everyday lives of people to accomplish things through them that they never could have imagined.
Here’s the challenge from Blackaby – for you and me – the Lord may be initiating some new things in your life. When He tells you what His plans are, trust Him and walk closely with Him. You will see Him accomplish things through your life that you never dreamed were possible (Ephesians 3:20). S – T – R – E – T – C – H out your hand and grab His and experience all that He has in store for you (and me).
