July 10, 2019 - Suggested Reading Jeremiah 10 for July 14th's message on Amos 4:13 in our worship service at 10:00AM

“He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

    for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

    the LORD Almighty is his name.”

Jeremiah 10:16 (NIV)

It seems clear from the overall message of Jeremiah 10, which is a comparison of the false gods of nations with the True God of Israel, that when Jeremiah calls God the LORD Almighty, He is referring not to God’s authority and power over the hosts of God’s people, nor over the hosts of angels, but over the hosts of nations. I have no understanding of how many people are alive on the face of the earth today. If I google it, I get the answer 7.7 billion, which is useless to me because I don’t know what a billion of anything looks like, let alone a billion people. However, it is safe to assume that 7.7 billion people constitute many hosts, and according to Jeremiah 10, it is biblical to declare that no matter how many people are alive, there is no one who is outside of God’s authority and power. Jeremiah asks; Who should not fear you, King of the nations? Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance from Assyria through angelic intervention declares this truth as well for Hezekiah says; you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. The LORD God Almighty, is God over the hosts of His people, and God over the hosts of angels and God over the hosts of peoples who hate Him and hate His people. This sets God apart from the ‘gods’ of a nation, or the ‘gods’ of a household, puts Him above all ‘gods’ and not only gives Him the right to destroy any nation He desires, it also gives Him the ability to save any person from any nation whenever He decides to do it. The gospel is not for 1 nation, the gospel is for all nations, and all peoples.

How can it be that the good news that Christ Jesus died for our sins, is able to save people from every people group and every tongue?

It is only possible because the LORD Almighty is the Maker of all things and is the King of all nations. He alone is God, all by Himself with no need of any help, nor any constraint on His power to save anyone on whom His favour rests.

It is the fact that God is the LORD Almighty that gives the gospel its power.

Praise His holy Name!