GOD OF GODS AND LORD OF LORDS

In Deuteronomy chapter 9, Moses has outlined to the children of Israel their repeated failures all the way through the wilderness. He reminds them that even as God gave them the Ten Commandments, they were already breaking the first one by making a golden calf as an idol. This resulted in the literal breaking of the tablets of stone. Despite this, God has still preserved them and, in the early part of chapter 10, we find He has instructed Moses to make a second set of tablets. Now, in verses 12-22, we have the essence of them summarised. The summary is remarkably similar to the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and … Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’, Mark 12. 29-31. The scribe, whose question prompted this response, then states that to adhere to this ‘is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’, v. 33, a response acknowledged by the Lord as showing he was near salvation.

Within this summary Israel are reminded, ‘the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of Lords’. Yet they had turned to vain idols. Sadly, our day is not any different. At times we displace Him in our priorities and affections with empty alternatives, maybe entertainment, sport, friendships, materialism, careers or even our closest relationships. Failure towards Him then results in failure towards man, our neighbours, as we fail in witness. Eventually these things which displace Him only disappoint and let us down, but He never fails or leaves us.

Like the nations around Israel, those following false gods surround us. For some, it is science and evolution, for others, the rigours of dead religion, for others, fanaticism. In a sad world, full of death and suicidal terror, parents even claim that their god asks them to sacrifice their children for him. What a contrast with our God who gave His Son for us. Men are in bondage to their masters, but our Lord tells us His ‘burden is light’. Well might we acknowledge the Lord our God is a God of gods and a Lord of lords. He reveals Himself uniquely in the person of the Lord Jesus who, like Thomas, we can each confess as ‘my Lord and my God’.