And They Shall Know That I Am the Lord

Photo source: elizabethficken.com

I just finished reading the book of Ezekiel and was amazed by how many times a particular phrase popped up:

"And they shall know that I am the Lord"

My ESV Study Bible says that this phrase--known as the "recognition formula"--is actually used more than 50 times throughout the book!

This phrase recalls to mind the Egyptian plagues in the book of Exodus, when God performed signs and wonders so that Pharaoh would release the Hebrew people from slavery. Many times, God would express to Moses, or through Moses, that He was performing these plagues so that the Hebrew people, and also the Egyptian people, would know that He was God--YHWH, Yahweh, Jehovah, the one true and personal God.

So this got me to thinking...

Why does God want to be known so much?

Why has He seen fit to give us His Word?  His Son? His indwelling Spirit? Why does He reveal truth about Himself through nature?

And yet, as image bearers of God, we see and feel this in our own lives--

We want to be known.

We want to be loved.

We want to make a difference, to be remembered, to make an impact.

I don't have any answers as to why God reveals Himself to us--why He wants to be known.

But the Scriptures make it very clear, particularly the books of Exodus and Ezekiel, that He does.

Although I can't understand it or explain it, I can thank God for this!  I thank Him for revealing Truth to us, revealing Himself to us, and making a love relationship with Him possible!

May we, dear one, live in light of this awesome reality this week--that God wants to be known, and He makes a way for us to know Him through His Son and His Spirit.

Praise Him!