God’s Reason for all that He Does

“This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands. ” 1 Samuel 17:46-47

These last few weeks I have been teaching through Ezekiel 38-39 in my Ladies ABF class.  I noticed that the LORD repeats His reason for the events of the Battle of Magog eight times in these two chapters.

“They will know that I am the LORD,” is declared in Ezekiel 38:16, 23: 39:6, 7, 21-23, 28.

God’s whole purpose for this amazing battle, earthquake and supernatural destruction of Israel’s enemies is that all of mankind would know that He alone is God.

Then, in the course of my daily Bible reading, I read the famous narrative of the battle between David and Goliath.  Because the Ezekiel verses were fresh in my mind, the purpose of this battle jumped off the page at me – “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

Very few adults have never heard of David and Goliath.  They may not be Christians, but they have heard of this story.

Suddenly, it struck me that the whole reason God shows us His power is that He loves us and wants us to know Him.

Throughout the Old Testament, we read so many accounts of God’s miraculous intervention on behalf of the nation of Israel.  In each case, He is revealing Himself to us in hopes that we will pursue an intimate relationship with Him.

What will be the spiritual outcome of the Battle of Magog?  I hope it is revival and a great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God.

How will the world react to the LORD’s demonstration of His power and holiness?  Some will be angry at Him for all of the lives lost in the earthquakes, storms, and the battle itself.  Yet, some will come to faith in the Lord Jesus as their Savior as they see the fulfillment of this prophecy.  I hope that many of these will be Jews who embrace Jesus as their Messiah.

Are we, the church, ready to proclaim the gospel as well as minister to hurting people throughout the world as a result of the earthquakes and natural phenomenon?  I hope so.  This could be an unprecedented opportunity to show the love of God by helping the wounded heal and sharing God’s plan of salvation with the spiritually lost.

The situation has quieted down slightly in the Middle East – unless you live in Syria.  Putin plans on visiting Israel in June.  Mostly likely, he will seek to intimidate Netanyahu and Barak in an effort to prevent an attempt to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities.

It is hard to know what Obama’s real position is on Iran and Israel.  He seems to be willing to present a hard line now with the intent to soften his position after his re-election.

I find it comforting to remember that God is in control and not these world leaders.  And, I find it even more comforting that God’s reason for all of history’s events is that we might know that He is LORD!