Who is the LORD?

O.T. #142  "Who is the LORD?"
Oct. 8, 2013
Exodus 5-Part 2
And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.  Exodus 5:2

LET IT GLOW


In verse 3, Moses only asked Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, for a three-day weekend for the Hebrew people to hold a feast unto their God. This was to test Pharaoh's heart. God gave him a chance to agree to something small and to have his heart softened before the big request came. (David Guzik)

Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice? Pharaoh asked that question as well as to let Israel go?

Pharaoh did not have the right heart, but he did ask the right question. Moses asked Who am I? (Ex. 3:11) The relevant question isn't who Moses is, or who Pharaoh is, but who God is.

Many ask that same question. Who is the LORD?
In verse 2, LORD is Yhovah, Jehovah, which means Self-Existent or Eternal. (Strong's Concordance)

He is God, who is, was, and is to come. He is the only true, living God. (Others gods are created by man.) God is the Creator of all things; He has always existed, which is difficult for our finite minds to comprehend, since we live in a world of created things and beings.

Jehovah, they (Moses and Aaron) made mention of, which, whether he (Pharaoh) took for the name of a deity, or of a king, whose ambassadors they declared themselves to be, was a name he had never heard of before; and this being expressed and pronounced, shows that this name is not ineffable, or unlawful to be pronounced, as say the Jews. Pharaoh knew of no superior monarch to him, whose orders he was obliged to obey in any respect, and particularly in this, the dismission of the people of Israel out of his land, though it was but for a short time. (John Gill)

Each Pharaoh was said to be the child of the sun; he was a friend to the greatest gods of Egypt and sat with them in their own temples to receive worship alongside them. Pharaoh was nothing like a public servant; the entire public lived to serve the Pharaoh. His power and authority were supreme and there was no constitution or law or legislature higher or even remotely equal to him. Pharaoh was more than a man; he consider3ed himself a god, and the Egyptians agreed. (David Guzik)

Wow! How they were deceived into worshiping the king as a god. Sounds like a method of control and power over the people, to me. Better yet, a scheme of Satan to detour people from worshiping the One True God, Jehovah.

Friend, who is the LORD to you? Will you accept Him as your LORD? He is waiting for you with open arms of love. After all, Jesus died in your place so you don't have to pay for your sins, if you will only believe in Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins and be your LORD.

LET IT GROW

Finally, Moses was doing God's will God's way. And what happened? Everything went wrong! Pharaoh rejected his request and tightened the screws of oppression on the Hebrews. Even Moses' own people turned against him, faulting him for their increased labors. (Swindoll)

Pharaoh refused the request. In fact, because of the request, he increased the work for the Hebrews. They now had to gather the straw which was used in making the bricks. It was more bondage for Israel! The sinner will either yield to God's Word and repent of their sins, when they heard it, or they will resist it, become hardened, and rebel against God's Word. Pharaoh hardened his own heart by resisting God's claims.

How will you react when you hear God's word calling you to repent of your sins and turn to God?
Are you obeying the voice of the LORD?

LET IT GO

Submit to the LORD Jehovah so He is LORD of my life.

Obey His voice and His Words.

Let go of what He wants from me.

Whatever it takes for my will to break, Lord.