DO YOU KNOW, YET, THAT GOD IS SOVEREIGN?

© 2021 by Tom Boynton (editing by Kathy Boynton)

God chose Abraham’s descendents as His own people to make them a blessing to the entire earth.

“And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18)

Eventually, Abraham had a grandson named Jacob.  God changed Jacob’s name to “Israel.”  Thus, his descendents were called Israelites.  During a great famine, God moved the Israelites into Egypt where there was food for their families and animals.  There, the Egyptians, who worshipped false gods, made slaves of the Israelites for four hundred years.

God purposed to show both the Egyptians and the Israelites that He, alone, is the sovereign God.  He would do this by delivering the Israelites from the Egyptians whom He would destroy in the Red Sea.

“And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5)

In addition to Israel’s actual physical existence, Israel also provides a picture of God’s spiritual people who have come to be known as “Christians.”  Christ died to save them by paying their sin penalty.  They obey, follow, and trust Him as Savior.  They shall dwell with Him forever.  The apostle Paul explains that not everyone who was part of physical Israel is part of God’s spiritual Israel. Only those who trust Christ are part of the spiritual Israel and therefore true spiritual children of Abraham.

“…For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Romans 9:6-8)

Who are the spiritual “children of promise?”  The apostle Paul clarifies this in his letter to the Galatians.

“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7)

All shall come to know that Christ the Lord is sovereign.  Some shall know this by faith in Him.  All others shall know this by eternal banishment from Him.

How about you?

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