Who is the Lord?
And Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2 NKJV)
Knowing the Lord is more than knowing about Him. We can know about people without really being their friends or without really having an intimate relationship with them. In the Bible, knowing the Lord means we worship Him. It means we pray to Him. It means we fear Him, that is, we know we are accountable to Him.
Pharaoh did not know the Lord. He knew a pagan god that he represented and worshiped. Some think that he presented himself as divine. Whether he considered himself divine, I am not sure. I do know that he did not intend to have his god defeated by the LORD. So, in Pharaoh’s case, there was war between darkness and light. All the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and his own hardening of his heart took place after he had rejected the Lord. Not knowing the Lord, that is, rejecting Him for some other man-made deity did not work out well for Pharaoh or for his country. He and his people ended up losing their first-born sons and cattle, and then his army drowned in the Red Sea. They had plenty of reason to change their minds, that is repent, and trust in Jehovah. But the pride of Pharaoh was costly for him and for his people.
For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. (Acts 13:27 NKJV)
The religious leaders of Israel did not know the Lord when he came as a babe in Bethlehem’s manger. Herod, the gentile leader, feared the possibility that he could cause him political problems and so he had all the children under two years of age killed. But he was a gentile, it could be expected that he would reject the Lord. But why would the religious leaders reject Him? It didn’t turn out very well for them either. Ultimately, Titus, the Roman general came and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. All because “they did not know Him.”
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. (Mark 1:34 NKJV)
Demons did know Him. While those who should have known him rejected Him, demons who were doing the work of Satan did know him. But the Lord didn’t want or need the testimony of demons and he did not allow them to speak. Demons who have followed Satan and who do his bidding have no offer of redemption. They have no opportunity to change their minds. Apparently when Satan fell and when angels followed him, they sealed their doom at that time. But they know the Lord. They have had dealings Him and they have lost. Even though they know Him, I would hesitate to say that they have a relationship with him. The term may have different implications in different circumstances.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20 NKJV)
Do we know the Lord? That is the important question, is it not? Many people say that they know Him, and they act like He is someone that they really don’t want to be around. They don’t pray to Him. They don’t worship Him. They refuse to get immersed or baptized after claiming that they have come to know Him (or better to trust Him for salvation). But knowing Him is a subject that we need to take seriously. We are not like the demons with no chance of a personal intimate relationship with the Lord. We would be foolish to outright reject the Lord like Pharaoh did or like Herod did or like the religious rulers did. The Lord has given us many good reasons to want to “know Him.” And knowing Him is more important than knowing any one else. It will make life worth living. It will take the fear out of dying. We just aren’t ready to live until we “know Him.”
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week February 17, 2019