The Mighty God
By: M.E. Golder
Again our attention is called to this remarkable prophecy. We come to the pivotal appellation given to Him who has always been willing to condescend to meet man’s needs. In all of man’s dark history He has shown Himself to be Wonderful. In times of sore distress, He has been a Counsellor. And the glory of all things that He is, is that He is perfect in all of His ways, and limitless in His supply of divine resources. As it is written “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding!” (Isa. 40:28)
The title “the mighty God” recognizes at the very outset the existence of other gods. These “man-made deities” have been in existence ever since the scattering of the nations of Babel. Through the centuries, man has bowed and worshipped every creature under the heavens. The cow, the monkey, the frog, the serpent, the dog, even the common fly, along with the fish. In Egypt, the dog was a sacred animal when Israel sojourned there. There was also a household god in the likeness of the frog. We are told by a famous archaeologist that each plague in Egypt was an open rebuke to some god in existence among them. At least we know it is declared by God Himself “against the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.” (Ex. 12:12)
Various places in the Old Testament there is the constant plea from the Almighty to Israel begging her to forsake her worship of the “host of heaven.” The sun, moon and stars were the objects of the worship of this nation, and in some peculiar way they had made a “queen of heaven” that was adored by them. The fertility worship of the Canaanites is known by all Bible scholars as the most degraded, immoral form of worship of the ancient world.
By the time we come to the prophet Isaiah Israel is wholly given to idolatry. It is the voice of God through this prophet, seeking to turn Israel back to Himself. Instead of completely setting her aside as he could have done, He condescends in love, and submits Himself to a comparison with idols. “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall words, before you make your final decision in favor of idolatry, compare the “Holy One” with the idol.
Compare the origin of the idol. – “The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith speadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. (Isa. 40:19,20) “They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know: that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together. The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself: yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.”
But hear “the mighty God” declare Himself, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying “My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.” Hear Him as He declares further-“For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it; he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” (Isa. 45:18)
Moses also agreed in his Psalm “before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Ps. 90:2) This is the “Mighty God”; the God who is eternal, immortal, invisible and independent, yea, perfect in all of His attributes; thrice holy in all of His ways.
The idols were MADE; gold and silver, precious wood must be secured; a blacksmith and a carpenter must be had for his fashioning. And then, after being fashioned, they had to bear them upon their shoulder; carry him and set him in his place; and from his place, he could not move himself.
Again, hear the lofty declaration of the “Mighty God.” “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and mated out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath
directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? (Isa. 40:12-14)
“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. (Isa. 40:22-26)
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. (Isa. 41:17-20) WHAT A MIGHTY GOD!
Mighty in His condescension. The psalmist declared “though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly. He looketh down from the height of His sanctuary, and beholdeth the groaning of the prisoners.” Again; – “Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.” WHAT A MIGHTY GOD!
Mighty in His omniscience. He needeth no cabinet, council nor congress. He is His own counsellor. He takes counsel from no one. He stood alone in eternity, and gave “time” a beginning and an end; and issued a purpose in creation, and eternally declared, “My counsel shall stand.” He did not call the angels together to debate His purpose. Gabriel nor Michael were not asked to sit in on His plan: God alone, the High and Holy One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy. “I dwell in the high and holy place,” saith God, “with him also that is or a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Acts 15:18) By the word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generation.” (Psa. 33:6-11)
HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED THE MIGHTY GOD. Yes, mighty in omnipresence. The heavens, the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him. He asks, “Am I a God at hand”, saith the Lord, “and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Jer. 23:23,24) As David looked at the scope of God’s operations, he cries, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
He makes the rose an object of His care,He guides the eagle through the pathless air;
What a Mighty God in omnipresence. In His omnipresence there is no North, South, East nor West. He is everywhere present. It matters not what the manifestation used; invisible Spirit or corporeal beings, He is everywhere present. He could stand on earth in the body of Jesus Christ,and tell Nicodemus that, “no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.” (St. John 3:13)
He is “The Mighty God.” Mighty in omnipotence. The great God has unique ways of showing His eternal power. All creation harmoniously sings, “What A Mighty God.” “For the invisible things of Him from the creation are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Rom. 1:20) He takes “the weak things of the earth and confounds the mighty.” He raises the mountains to challenge the air-lanes, and they silently, majestically, lift up their craggy heads and sing, “I shall not be move.” What a mighty God. He delicately tints the rose, and makes her fragrance and beauty to praise Him, silently saying, “the beauty of Jesus is seen in me.” He sends the sun across the heaven, mightier than the armies of Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin, and forces darkness to take flight. He wrapped the sea in an eternal decree for a swaddling band, and put no patrol on her borders, and yet with her mad white-capped waves, she says, “Amen” to His will whenever the waves roll in.
Molech, Ball, Astarte, Diana, Dagon, Mars, Jupiter, Thor, Odin, and Zeus-behold the mighty God. He is the creating, sustaining, covenant-keeping, saving God. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.” Jean Paul Richter has said of the “Mighty God,” “holiest among holy, mightiest among the mighty; who with pierced hands and bloody, bowed head, turned the tide of history, and lifted gates of an empire, and turned the way of the centuries.” And more than that, he took a bloody, crucified body from Calvary to a borrowed tomb, and from the tomb to the throne in the heavens; dying for our offences, rising for our justification.
He can set at liberty them that are bound. He can save to the uttermost them that come to Him. hear his invitation to all-“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” A mighty God. Yes, His blood can make the vilest sinner clean; His blood washes whiter than snow; the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. “Thus it behooved Christ to suffer and rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46,47) Still “the Mighty God.” He ascends on high, but leaves a NAME here for all men to acknowledge and recognize if they will be saved; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) The salvation offered by the mighty God is in His name. Repentance, that is a complete turning from sin, is in His name. No man can be saved that is a “practicer of sin,” for his name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. (Mt. 1:21) And baptism is to be administered in the name of Jesus, which is the name of the Mighty God. From Pentecost until the close of the New Testament canon, men were baptized in the name of Jesus. This is the only saving name.
Do you really want a soul stirring experience, a “new birth,” friend? Then hear, the mighty God as he speaks through Peter at Pentecost saying, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)
Is your soul uneasy? are you weary? is your joy fleeting and life a burden. Then look to a God, the mighty God who is willing to save; call upon His name. HE IS THE MIGHTY GOD.
Who took my burden all away – Jesus
Who turned my darkness into day – Jesus
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