I am aware that my love of vocabulary is not shared by everyone. I like to use old words, big words, words that are interesting to me – even words I make up. But… I know that not everyone has the same delight. Yet, I’m going to continue my use and practices, because I think we should all grow a little now and then. A case in point might be the theological words like “omnipresence” and “omniscience.” There was a day when I didn’t know what they meant, and now since I use them frequently, I hope that we all understand them. “Omnipresence” speaks of God’s presence being everywhere at once – “omni” or “all” – “present.” This morning, I’m going to turn things upside down and reduce that word to its basic root. Verse 10 speaks of the “omnipresence” of God by simply saying – “the Lord was there.”
Ezekiel was one of God’s prophets during Judah’s incarceration in Babylonian exile – Babylonian prison. The Lord was not pleased with either Israel or Judah. The Babylonian captivity was the sentence God ordered for the criminals of Judah. And they did serious time in that place; Judah had been brought to the brink of total decimation. But the Lord had not cast away His people, nor will He ever completely cast them away. They will some day once again be the head of the nations, rather than the tail. It doesn’t matter what Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia – the Moabites, Syrians or Assyrians – might say… The promise of God to Abraham, Isaac, David, and Jacob – “Israel” – will come to pass – guaranteed.
With only a remnant of Israel in the land, her various enemies thought to take advantage of the situation. And Edom was just one of them. But the God of Israel was not pleased with that. So Ezekiel 35:1-9 describes God’s upcoming judgment on Edom. And verse 10 outlines the reasons why God was going to judge her. Like all secular nations and secular people, Edom had forgotten the Lord, and had come to the idea that they had escaped His presence.
The lesson I’d like us all to remember that THE LORD IS NEVER ABSENT – never gone.
The Lord is always, everywhere present at once.
And that is true even when HIS BLESSINGS appear to be gone. Judah had sinned so heinously, and so often sinned that the Lord had sent famine and pestilence. When that didn’t awaken the people, the Lord sent fiscal inflation and even the Babylonian army. What professed allies Judah had at the time, such as the Egyptians, had melted away. The remnant of Judah were destitute – homeless – living under the Edomite overpass. But just because the Lord had withdrawn His blessings, it didn’t mean that He had Personally withdrawn. Edom was doomed because she raised a hand against the Lord’s anointed. And Judah could have been comforted if they had just realized the Divine Asset which they possessed. May we never forget – Just because the Lord’s blessings are gone, it doesn’t mean the Lord is gone as well.
And Jehovah is still with us when it appears that ALL THE BRETHREN are gone. In days of infant Israel, there was poor Joseph, sold into slavery and carried off into Egypt. It was bad enough when he was forced to work as a household servant to Potiphar… But when he was cast into prison for righteousness’s sake, he appeared to be forsaken of everything. He had no family, no friends, no legal council, no hope, nothing. But even while serving people who were truly criminals, Joseph had the Lord. And then there was Elijah, the great prophet of God. Elijah believed that he was the only servant of the Lord in all the realm of Ahab and Jezebel. He was convinced that there wasn’t one of his brother prophets left alive in all the land. We know that this wasn’t the case, but until the Lord rebuked him, that was his thought. But even if he didn’t have a brother on the face of the earth, the Lord was yet there. So Elijah raised the dead and multiplied the food of the poor widow – by the power of God. He was the man who, at the behest of the Lord, commanded famine and famine came. Elijah was the man who prayed for rain and rain came in abundance despite an absence of years. The Lord was there when the blessings were gone and the brethren were gone.
And the Lord is yet here when the BAIL MONEY is gone. Look at poor Paul and Silas, snapped into the stocks and locked into a cell deep within a dungeon. They had been arrested on false charges. They had been beaten contrary to the law. Their torture was on-going through the pain of the stocks. And bail had been denied. But God was there, even though He couldn’t be seen by the wicked magistrates or the sin-blinded jailor. The unbelievers should have seen Him, when the Apostles healed the demon-possessed woman. They should have recognized God working into and through the little Baptist Church in Philippi, but like the Edomites, they said that there was no God for Paul and Silas. And yet the Lord was there even when there wasn’t any bail money.
And Jehovah is yet here when OUR BALANCE is gone. Do you ever experience light-headedness? Do you ever feel like you are going to pass out? Do you ever sit down too hard in a dangerous camp chair and feel the world sweeping up over head? Despite the feeling, there is always a sense in which the Lord is there to catch you or at least cushion your fall. Jonah and Paul were both caught in horrific storms on the mighty Mediterranean. It appeared that in both cases their ships were going to go down. They were throwing the cargo into the sea – the furniture and even the tackling of the their ships. The sailors in both cases considered their cases to be hopeless. But the despite the fact the ships were rocking so badly their balance was gone, the Lord was yet there. In Paul’s case He sent an angel to convey the promise of God. And in Jonah’s case He sent a whale to be a different kind of conveyance.
On another occasion, the Lord’s disciples were in the midst of the Sea of Galilee in a storm. The Saviour was asleep in the bottom of the boat, but He didn’t permit the storm to disturb Him. The disciples again thought that they were lost. But despite having no personal balance they possessed a divine balance – the Lord was with them. He rebuked the waves and the ship made it to port quicker than it ever had before.
The Lord is yet here even when OUR BRAINS are gone. In Revelation 2 and 3 we can read the Lord’s letters to seven of the churches of Asia. Those were mostly churches on the brink of destruction. I know how easy it is for a church to get itself into trouble. I’ve been there, seen that or caused that. We can make associations that we shouldn’t make. The preacher can get into some kind of sin or heresy. It might be that a new member brings with him some sort of false doctrine and begins to spread it like kneeding yeast through the dough. Churches can get into trouble by simply falling asleep. As we look that those seven churches in Revelation, from our high and perfect vantage point, we think to ourselves that they were pretty dumb. If their pastors and if their deacons, just had a few brains, they wouldn’t have gotten into that trouble. Common sense should have either protected them or delivered them. Despite the fact they didn’t have the brains we think that should have had, yet the Lord was there. He was walking around in the midst of the candlesticks, just as He is today. The Lord is with Calvary Independent Baptist Church, and He is ready to bless, or to chastise if necessary.
Furthermore, the Lord is here even when THE BLISS has passed. Moses had been used of God to greatly impress both Egyptians and Israelites together. There had been about a dozen miracles of greater or lesser degree. And eventually, there came the Passover night. Israel had collected, as wages for their slavery, the wealth of many of their Egyptian neighbors. The death angel had passed through the land and there was mourning in every Egyptian home. But with a high hand and great joy the children of Jacob began their march toward the Promised Land. Those people couldn’t been more exhilarated and delighted if they shared the winning Powerball jackpot. Everything was bliss and joy. But when they found themselves pinned between the Red Sea, the mountains and the furious army of Pharaoh, their bliss evaporated. It looked as if they would be crushed under the chariot wheels of Egypt or drowned in the sea. And yet even though their former bliss was gone, the Lord was there. Like Jonah and the disciples, like Joseph, Paul and Silas, the Lord was there, and He met their needs. When it appeared that there was absolutely no hope whatsoever, the Lord came through.
We have had a great week at camp. We may not have ever had a more blessed camp week. But that week is passed and we are in the first day of a new week. Satan is probably not very happy with how things went last week – there wasn’t even a broken bone. So he may be ready to turn up the heat today and tomorrow – on me and on you – on us. But if even if the physical excitement wanes – the bliss evaporates – the Lord is still here. God may pour out new blessings beginning in an hour or maybe this afternoon.
The Lord is there when THE BEAUTY is gone. Job had a job that any man would take. His daily responsibility was to make sure that his family was well, that his empire was running smoothly, and that his heart was still surrendered to the Lord. He had servants watching his flocks, and more servants tending his cattle and camels. He had a good wife, tending to things in a good home. He had lots of children, with each of them well situated in life with their own homes and responsibilities. Ah, life was good for Job. But then Satan stepped in, and, with the permission of God, turned Job’s apple cart upside down. In a couple hour’s time that saint of God, lost just about everything he possessed. His cattle, His children, His wealth, and his health were taken from him. His friends turned against him. About all that remained to him – his wife – became a discouragement to his soul. Everything beautiful in Job’s life was gone within a few days. But while the beauty of his former life was gone the Lord was still there. And after the lessons were taught and the examples were laid out for centuries of students, Jehovah blessed that man once again.
Even though the BLESSINGS, the BRETHREN, our BALANCE and our BRAINS are gone… Even though there isn’t any BAIL MONEY, any BEAUTY or any BLISS left in our lives… If we be children of God, then the Lord is yet there. “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else” – Deuteronomy 4:39 . “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD” – Jeremiah 23:24. “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” – Ps. 139:8. Oh, what a marvelous thought.
And what does that MEAN?
When the Edomites plot and plan, thinking “these two nations and these two countries shall be mine,” the Lord HEARS and KNOWS everything they plan to do. Satan cannot raise a finger against the Lord’s anointed without asking the Lord’s pleasure first. And to think about trying to afflict us against the Lord’s will is unthinkable. It is like trying to rob the café with a dozen on duty policemen there drinking coffee. If there is a band of hooligans waiting for Paul to be sent to the governor so that they can kill him, the Lord is there, overhearing their plans, and foiling their plot. If there is a Balaam thinking about coming to curse you, God knows and can turn his donkey against him. If there is an Abimelech plotting to steal your wife, the Lord is there and hears the plan; He can stop him in the midst of his tracks. When there is an Absalom making plans to take your kingdom, the Lord knows about that as well.
The Lord is here and He CARES and CURES. When Joseph appears to be hopelessly locked away in prison, God knows and controls the security system. All he has to do is send his baker or his butler to rescue him. When Laban has armed his servants with the intention of inflicting bodily harm against God’s Jacobs, Jehovah watches and intervenes. He can put a bug in Laban’s ear – “Don’t even think about revenge or meanness.” When we’re dehydrating in the wilderness, the Lord is there caring and curing. He has already put a spigot on the rock with enough water behind it to meet our needs for ever. Even when we’ve backslidden and moved to Moab, lost our husbands, our family wealth and our dignity, the Lord is still there. He can give us a Boaz who is a hundred times better than Mahlon or Chilion.
If you gave this theme some thought, you could go for quite a while finding other expressions of the Lord’s presence and His blessings upon His saints.
Let’s just conclude by saying that because the Lord is here, we are NEVER WITHOUT HOPE. And that is true, even if we are as backslidden as Judah in the days of Ezekiel. I’m not saying we should try to be as wicked and backslidden as Judah. What I am trying to say is there is hope even when we have really messed things up. “The Lord was there” – the Lord is always there.