"For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, [El Haggadol], a mighty, and a terrible [awesome God], which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:"
Deuteronomy 10:17
God is above all, and all other gods are nothing to Him. He is great, mighty, and awesome. He cannot be persuaded by the cunningness or intellect of humans, and He does not accept bribery.
"To call someone 'great' is to say there is only one-- there has never been, nor will there ever be another..." (Hudson, 16).
"God is great... because He owns the universe.... He graciously "set His affection" on the Hebrew people [and fallen sinners like you and me by living, dying, and rising again for us] …. He's great because He cares about the helpless [He listens to their prayers!].... He alone does 'awesome wonders'.... He blesses undeserving people (Deuteronomy 10:14-22).
What other god does such things?" (Hudson, 17)
Recently, I had lost both the post of "Renewer of Life" and this one to a great mistake of my own. I was honestly devastated. How could I rewrite two whole posts and remember what all God had me write? At first, I called my brother. Wrong first go-to. Then God reminded my anxious heart of 1 Peter 5:7 as well as Philippians 4:6-7...
"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
and
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
So, I did something that was very hard for me to do in that moment. I thanked God for allowing me to write about Him, thanked Him for His sovereignty despite my mistakes (He saw this one coming and allowed it!), and asked Him for His help. He directed my mind to notifications from past emails on these posts. Both would not show up on my website, but because of the great God, they showed up on my emails long enough for me to recover and and copy them! That is the God I serve... the only GREAT God...
You may find this blog post about Who God is to be different than the others. That is on purpose. You will be reading blips of passages about El Haggadol, and I will merely make comments on such...
After all, it is His Word that explains and penetrates best...so, here it goes.
Deuteronomy 10:20-22 says,
"Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear by His name. He is thy praise, and He is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible [awesome] things, which thine eyes have seen. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude."
Israel escaped Egypt because God did it for them. God literally defied the laws of His own creation by drying up the ground where a whole sea once laid, all the way to allowing food like manna to fall from the sky and a whole lot of quail to suddenly appear! They were witnesses of God's goodness, as we are today. We must remember His provisions. They were and are such a small nation, but God has made them a people and a name (Genesis chapters 12, 17, and 35 reference some passages of God's promise to do so, and He kept the promises like always).
First Chronicles 16:25-26 says,
"For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: He also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens."
God made all the things that mankind makes idols out of... ponder that for a little, and you will be amazed at the depth of this truth!
Isaiah 44 is the chapter on one of the amazing truths about El Haggadol the Great God:
1-5,
"Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel."
God almost seems to make a side note when He says He created and formed the Israelites from before they were born, and reminds them that He already has helped them and will continue to do just that... God is reminding Israel of His great faithfulness to His promises... He is promising them that He will always provide for their spiritual and physical needs.
6-11...
"Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together."
God reminds Israel that He is their Renewer of life and Redeemer. He reminds them that He is the Ancient of Days, and that He is a jealous God. He reminds everyone that He is the Mighty Creator. El Haggadol reinstates His love for His people. Those gods that mankind had to create? They cannot hear, see, taste, smell, feel, and they definitely do not know more than the Great God.
12-20,
"The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
They have not known nor understood: for He hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
Mankind puts his own energy into creating a god who is dependent on mankind's strength and help. The material he uses to create the god, he then has the ability to destroy that same material of which that god is made... yet, he worships and prays to it in false hopes that it can deliver him as if it is higher than himself (the one who created the god). Therefore, God gives them over to a reprobate mind, since they have chosen to do so. They have chosen to be ignorant and blind to the fact that they are committing an abomination to the true El Haggadol and are instead worshipping that which they fashioned, instead of worshipping the Elohim/El Kanna/Atik Yomin/Shub Nephesh Who created everything and is jealous for and is the Ancient One and is the Renewer of their life.
21-28,
"Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art My servant: I have formed thee; thou art My servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; That confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: That saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."
The man-made god will never even have the ability to remember Israel, because it is an idol; yet God will never forget us, and He actually obtains the capacity to remember in the first place. He redeemed us. He speaks, and it is done. He promises, and it is fulfilled. He creates, and none can destroy. He lays the foundation, and none can destroy His blueprints. He created, and did so all by Himself.
He gives knowledge, and one must ask the interpretation thereof. He holds wisdom and understanding, and one can only dream of such intellect. He defies the laws of science when He sees fit to save His people and glorify His name. He is not at all bound by His own established laws of science! He is the One Who we can trust with our life-- even with our own family (Jeremiah 49:11).
He is good and does what He will, because He is great.
God is El Haggadol.
"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.
I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.
Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else."
Isaiah 45:18-22
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