The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb

RV195-02

The time is the final weeks of the seven-year tribulation era. God has given Satan his last shot at deposing Him as King of the universe. The devil's guilt now at the end of the tribulation will be complete. The glorious kingdom of man built by the antichrist based on economic socialism and new age religion is coming apart at the seams all over the world. Mankind at the end of the tribulation is once more at war. People are trying to destroy each other while reeling from the impact of the natural disasters and widespread death which has been brought upon the human race by the judgments of God.

At this point in time, John sees in his vision God lining up seven angels, each with a bowl in his hand which contains a final, devastating plague to be poured out on mankind. The end of God's patience is now just about at hand, and the point of His mercy will soon be past. The bowls of the plagues will be His final judgments before Jesus Christ returns to the earth.

Martyrs

This company of saints, however, possesses the imputed absolute righteousness of God. So, they stand upon this sea, representing God's holiness, with perfect calmness. They do not fear death. They have been completely exonerated of all their moral guilt. The martyred saints are actually declared to have gained a victory over the antichrist, who will have taken their lives, even as he thought that he had won out over them. These people had faced off with the antichrist. They refused to blaspheme God by worshiping him. They refused to bow down before the statue of the antichrist in the temple. They have refused to accept the mark of the antichrist. They have suffered horribly on the earth, but they have remained loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ, even at the cost of the very lives.

We have had reference to them back in Revelation 12:11, where this quality was enunciated: "And they overcame because of the blood of the Lamb." That's the basis of their cleansing from their moral guilt – the death of Christ. And because of the word of their testimony, and because they had the courage to speak forth the truth of God and the true gospel in the tribulation years, they did not love their lives even to the death: "They did not love their life even to death." They were willing to even hazard their very lives, and many of them indeed will pay for their testimony with their lives.

Harps

Music

The Song of Moses

They sing a song which is called "The Song of Moses." The occasion of the song is that they are standing here upon this sea of glass before God's throne in heaven. This is reminiscent to them of another great sea that their forefathers once faced, namely the Red Sea of the Exodus generation. That is the connection here. This is a place where, God parted the waters of the Red Sea, or the Sea of Reeds, more exactly, to bring the fleeing Jews safely through to the other side. God then proceeded to destroy Satan's agent, the Pharaoh, who was persecuting the fleeing Exodus Jews. The Red Sea incident is here seen as a preview of God's destruction of another satanic agent in the form of the antichrist in the tribulation. This will be an act of God once more to save the Jewish people.

The Jews were fleeing from Pharaoh and his army. They suddenly found themselves boxed-in by the mountains on the right, and on the left, the sea in front of them, and Pharaoh, with his 600 chariots and soldiers charging down upon them. These people had never known freedom. They had only known what it is to be a slave. They had only known what people of socialist countries know, where the government provides everything for you, and takes care of you. And any time you need something, you go to the government to get your needs provided. That in turn results in the government's feeling that they have the authority to tell you what to do, and to treat you if they wish to treat you.

So, these people didn't know too much about freedom, and it is understandable that they were in an enormous terror as they found themselves in this boxed-in canyon. And they expected the worst to happen to them. But God took this occasion to clearly demonstrate that He is a God of faithfulness, and that He intends to keep His Word to Abraham, their founder. Moses and the Exodus generation of Jews were drawn to praise God for His miracle of preservation against all odds that took place at that Red Sea incident.

"The Song of Moses," which is spoken of here in Revelation 15, refers to this song that Moses sang, then, as he looked back upon the waters as they closed back over the Egyptian army. Moses broke out into a song of praise. This song in the ancient synagogues was sung every Sabbath day as a reminder to them of the sovereignty of God. Indeed, "The Song of Moses" will be an appropriate reminder in the tribulation once more of God's faithfulness to those who are true to Him, while they will be fleeing from the antichrist and his agents. The tribulation martyrs at this point, will have crossed over from the land of the antichrist to the Promised Land of heaven, and they'll go there in full victory.

The Exodus

God is now leading the ex-slaves out of Egypt. Finally, after the ten plagues, the tyrant Pharaoh has broken, and permitted the Jews to leave. In verse 2, Moses is told to tell the sons of Israel to: "Turn back to the camp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, and you shall camp in front of Baalzephon opposite it by the sea."

What actually happened here was that there was this extended arm that actually comes from the Red Sea (little small sections). It is probably one of these that they actually crossed. And the Jews had come down from Egypt, and they headed in this southeasterly direction. Then God comes along and says, "Go back. Come up in this direction and head for the sea." Well, of course, the agents of the Pharaoh were constantly watching this. The capital city here was getting the information back as to what the Jews were doing. And apparently Pharaoh concluded that they were lost. They were wandering around, muddling out in the wilderness. They're not organized. And the thought came to him that they had made a terrible mistake to let these people go, and they were going to go out after that. So, they think that the Jews are out of control, not knowing that God is directing them.

Verse 3: "'For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.' Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them, and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord,' and they did so."

People who want to exercise negative evolution toward the truth of God are going to find, as these people did, and as you will find in your experience, if you want to pursue that foolish role, God says, "Fine. I'll let you be negative, and I'll let you stiff-neck against Me, and I'll let you stiff-arm Me. And I will take that as an occasion to show My authority by the consequences that I will bring upon you for that act of rebellion."

So, he said, "Pharaoh is misinterpreting the intelligence information being brought to him, and I'm going to use Pharaoh's renewed rebellion against Me, and negative volition to My will, to show who is in charge. It is not all those crazy animal gods that the Egyptians have." It is amazing that people still admire the great religion of Egypt. At the heart of the religion of Egypt was the dung beetle. This beetle who lives on manure. Every day, it made a nice round ball of the manure, and then pushed it across the sky. That was the sun. It was the dung beetle that was doing that. The next day he made another one. If you want to talk about people making up stories, that is made up.

Yet, I have had people tell me that they have sat in Europe and looked at some great displays, in the museums like the British Museum, of the Egyptian culture and the Egyptian religion, and it hit them how these people who knew God as the Christians know that God. No. That's what Pharaoh thought. Pharaoh thought that he was on friendly, knowledgeable terms with the real gods, but he knew nothing.

Verse 5: "When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done – that we have let Israel go from serving us?" So, he made his chariot ready, and took his people with him. And he took 600 select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly."

So, here the sons of Israel were boldly going out of the land under Moses' leadership. Suddenly, they see on the horizon the dust, and they hear the thunder, like a herd of buffalo who are on a rampage. They see the chariots coming, and they're boxed-in their doom.

Verse 9: "Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army. And they overtook them by the sea beside Pihahiroth, in front of Baalzephon. And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened. So, the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord."

It's understandable that they should be frightened. There was nothing wrong in this situation for them to be in fear, and they certainly, quite properly, did the right thing by turning to God, and calling upon Him for their preservation. But unfortunately, these people were still slave mentalities. They did not know how to fully trust in the God of all grace, and to realize that when God has said, I'm going to give you freedom," that's exactly what they were going to get, no matter what anything appeared to be at the moment.

So, verse 11: "The people said to Moses, 'Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt?'" This is the old story again. The prophet is not without honor except in his own congregation. That's where all the empty seats are. That's where all the people are too bored, and too tired, and too busy, and too preoccupied to show up. And now when they're disturbed, they come whining and bellyaching. These people are on the verge of becoming permanent spiritual casualties, which is exactly what happened to them. This was their first step toward their death in the wilderness, and the loss of the Promised Land.

"Is this not the word that we spoke to in Egypt, (we told you so), saying, 'Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness?'" You see what Moses had been faced with. Moses was faced with getting the gang together; getting a crowd; and, building up a following by doing what? By giving people what they wanted instead of what they should have had from God. That is the ever-present danger. A congregation that does not attend church has found itself very often left with a leader who gives them what they want. They enter heaven as pauper poor Christians, and they pay a price for all eternity. Nothing is so terrible as when God finally delivers you over to someone who will give you what you want instead of what you should have from the Word of God.

Now Moses is getting that same old line: "Should you have listened to us? We would rather be slaves than to die here in the wilderness." But Moses, who has learned to take flack, in his patience, says to the people, "Do not fear. Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever." He is saying, "These Egyptians are going into hell. You people are going into heaven. Heaven will never look into hell. You're never going to see these people again after today, on this side or on the other side of life." And Moses says, "You need not be afraid."

The Lord will Fight for you while you Keep Silent

How many Christians destroy themselves, like James says: "You bite, and you snarl at one another until you have devoured each other, and then you're spiritually destroyed. That is because some of you never seem to be able to learn the lesson, that if you keep your mouth shut, and you stay in temporal fellowship, and you turn the problems over to the Lord, He's going to fight for you. And He's going to remove all the barriers. He's going to remove everybody and everything that should be removed. You are going to be a victor, and you will prosper. He will give you good health. He will give you good psychological stability. He will give you everything that you would like to have in life, because you know the Word of God, and you take him seriously. You do not stay at home because you don't feel well, or because there's a good program on, or because it's too dark. A lot of people do not come to the evening service because it's always so dark outside.

Verse 15: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.'" God says, "Why are you praying?" Isn't that interesting? God says, "Why in the world are you praying? I've already told you what's going to happen. I've already given you the instruction. Why are you asking me what you already know? Why are you not acting upon what I have told you? But as for you (to Moses), lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land." That is something! It has been wet down there at the bottom. The water's going to be parted, and the land is instantly going to be dry. That is not the way it normally is. The bottom of the ocean is not dry. The bottom under water bodies is wet down several feet below the surface, depending how much water there is.

If you've ever been scuba diving, you know how the bottom is not dry. If you remove the water, it would not instantly be dry. And it is very clear that for water to suddenly disappear after removing tons and tons of water from the surface, that's a miracle in itself.

Harden their Hearts

This is what's happening to Pharaoh and his followers: "I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Angel of God (the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ) had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went from behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them." The Angel of God here had been going in front of Israel, and had been moving them along. So, He moves and goes behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and that stood behind them.

What is going to happen is that God's going to interject some confusion among the ranks of the Egyptians: "So, the cloud came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there was the cloud along with the darkness. Yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night." Here was an amazing thing. The cloud of God is bright on one side, illuminating all night long the progress of the Jews toward the sea. On the other side, it's dark. And the military operation is brought to a standstill.

"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned to sea into dry land so that the waters were divided. And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left."

Now, that must have been impressive. Anybody who was there to see that kind of a miracle, and to see God operating through their spiritual leader in this way never complained again, right? They never got discouraged again. They never drifted off again because they had really been with God. No, they didn't. They did just the opposite. They no sooner got out of this pickle that they were in, then they drifted off to what they were: slaves again.

Verse 23: "Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit. And all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen went in after them, into the midst of the sea." The tail end of a million-and-a-half people walking through this wide expanse on the sea bottom is now almost through. Now God lifts the cloud. The Egyptians see what is happening, and they come charging into the sea. The people are almost out of the canyon of water.

"And it came about at the morning watch that the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty." The Egyptians do get down into this canyon of water, and suddenly the dry ground is no longer dry. The chariot wheels are bogging down. They can't drive the horses properly. They're swerving back and forth. There is confusion. And pretty soon, there's a huge roadblock down there in the bottom of this canyon of water. And some of the Egyptians begin to put two and two together. It's enough for them to see this miracle before them. But they now see that they can't even drive through: "Their God is bigger than our gods. Let's get out of here."

"So, they said, 'Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians.' Then the Lord said to Moses." All the people are through. Moses is standing and looking back at the canyon of water: "God says, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots, and their horsemen.' So, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it. Then the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea."

It was about 3:00 in the morning when the cloud had been lifted, and it was still dark. So, there was confusion. When daybreak came, the people had made their transit through, and now the Egyptians were moving in (in full mass) to cross over after them. At that point, Moses raises his rod, and the waters crash back upon the chariots, the horses, and the men:

"The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them. Not even one of them remained. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them, on their right hand and on their left. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore."

The soldiers came floating to the surface. The currents began moving again. And the result was that the bodies began drifting to the seashore. This was a thing that was not an uncommon sight in World War II during amphibious operations, where men who were killed in the amphibious maneuvers before they ever got to the land. The bodies would come drifting into the beach.

"And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord, and in his servant Moses." Here again, we have the reason for miracles. Yes, there was a purpose in this in getting these people safely through to the other side, to protect them from the Egyptians. But the ultimate purpose of a miracle is always to confirm that God has spoken. That's why we had miracles in the New Testament church – to confirm the New Testament Scriptures.

Now, with this event concluded, Moses and the people of Israel are standing there just overwhelmed. They are so awed by what they have seen. And Moses suddenly bursts out in a song, and this, in Exodus 15, is what is being spoken of as "The Song of Moses" in the Revelation passage. Here again is God's people, doomed under the hand of the antichrist, and God coming through to preserve them so that they are victorious, and the agent of Satan is defeated.

On the background of Exodus 15, here's the song. It is divided into segments. The first six verses go together. They deal with the destruction of the Egyptian army in the sea. Exodus 15:1: "Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang the song to the Lord and said, 'I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol him. The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army He is cast into the sea, and the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy."

Remember that this was set to music. This was rhythmically sung, and it was very effective. One of our teachers in one of our prayer meetings in the Academy this past week brought a tape recorder in, and he played a tape that had music which had been set to one of the Psalms. And there it was. We were reading the very words out of the Bible, but this time we were listening to it as it really was a song book. It was very impressive to hear this psalm being sung to a musical melody. That's what this is. These words are powerful, but the music that accompanied this heightened the impact.

Verses 7-11 are the next section, and that deals with the mighty power of God. Verse seven: "And in the greatness of Your excellence You overthrow those who rise up against You. You send forth Your burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. And at the blast of Your nostrils, the waters were piled up like flowing water stood up like a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, 'I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the spoils. My desire shall be gratified against them. I will draw my sword. My hand shall destroy them. You blew them with Your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You: majestic in holiness; awesome in praises; working miracles?

The next section is the section of verses 12-18, and it deals with the consequences of the deliverance: "You stretched out Your right hand. The earth swallowed them. In Your lovingkindness, You have led the people who You have redeemed. In Your strength, You have guided them to Your holy habitation. The people who have heard: they tremble. Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. The leaders of Moab: trembling grips them. And all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away."

The word got out. When the word left from Egypt to the surrounding countries, the people of Canaan were in deadly fear. Up to now, they had been passing off these wandering Jews as a bunch of ex-slaves who were not to be feared, who were a trivial lot. Suddenly, they discover that these people have a God that makes these slaves something outstanding. Now the word goes out, and the countryside is in deadly fear of the Jews.

Verse 16: "Terror and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of Your arm, they are motionless as stone until the people pass over, O Lord – until the people pass over whom You have purchased. You will bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance – the place, O Lord, which You have made for Your dwelling – the Sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever."

Then there is sort of a postlude in verses 19-21 – a conclusion that calls for the people to praise God. The song ends at verse 18: "For the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea. And the Lord brought back the waters of the sea on them. But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea. And Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. And Miriam answered them, 'Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted. The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea.'"

So, as the saints of the tribulation, those martyrs, stand there upon that glassy-like sea in front of the throne of God, they sing "The Song of Moses" because it is apropos to their own situation. And the water becomes the power that God has used to honor Himself, and to demonstrate His care of His people.

God has done this in reference to the waters of the Noah flood also. It was water that was used to destroy the world of unbelievers, and at the same time to preserve the believers of Noah's family. So, Peter refers to this use of water in the same way. 1 Peter 3:20 is speaking of these evil spirits who were once disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah – these demons who had intermarried with women, and God's patience came to an end. They had created a hybrid race of half-demon and half-human: "Who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few (that is, eight persons) were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh (baptism doesn't save you), but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

The waters of baptism are a symbol of how God carries you, as he carried Noah, through the death that comes upon those who reject the Savior to the salvation that your water baptism portrays as you go down under those waters, and come back in newness of life. So, water is not an uncommon element by which God demonstrates His power. And the water of ritual baptism then symbolizes the death to of sin on the one hand, and the resurrection to holiness on the other hand. The waters of ritual baptism are compared to the water of the Red Sea, interestingly enough, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, and the waters of ritual baptism are also compared here to the waters of the flood in 1 Peter 3:20-21. So, the water of the flood and baptism both recall for us the judgment of God against unrepentant sinners, and His great salvation for those who will trust in Him.

The Song of the Lamb

Great

Marvelous

I heard a man the other day say that any kind of sickness is totally out of the necessity of human experience. I think that's a little extreme, but this man has demonstrated again and again that when the body is fed; when the body is cared for; when the body is rested; and, when it is exercised, the problems that people have are overridden by the body's amazing capacity that God has built into it to preserve itself.

So, here this is simply saying that human creation is astonishing – the creation of the body.

Then 1 Chronicles 16:9 also has a reference to this: "Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Speak of all His wonders." Here the works of God are wonderful to think about. When we gather at the fellowship hour (at 4:30 next Sunday), there's your guideline: "Speak of His wonders."

So, the first thing that comes out in "The Song of the Lamb," which is in praise of Jesus Christ, is that His works are great and marvelous. Then he is addressed as "O lord God, the Almighty." Jesus Christ is addressed as deity. Jesus Christ is true God as well as true humanity.

It certainly would be blasphemy here in heaven to address Jesus Christ as Lord, which is the word that means deity, and to call him God, if He were not divine. There are the liberals who say that Jesus Christ never claimed to be God. They say that the Bible really does not teach that He is deity, but that He is simply a good man. It is very clear here that this song, which God approves, and which is being sung on His holy sea of glass before His throne, by these martyred saints, they begin with these words "great and marvelous are Your works," as the psalmists have observed. And to whom did they address that to? They addressed this to the Lamb. And what do they call Him? They call Him, "O Lord God, the Almighty."

Please turn with me to Philippians 2:6. Here in Philippians, the apostle Paul is exploring this question of the deity of Jesus Christ, because some people found the problem that He looked like a man; He lived like a man; and, He required all the necessities of a human being, yet, He is presented as being very God of very God. Is that true? The apostle Paul said, "Yes, it's true:" "Who (referring to Jesus Christ) existed in the form of God:" "Who existed?" I have to show you this word. It is the article "huparcho." The word "huparcho" means to exist on the basis of some antecedent condition carried to the present. This is not the ordinary word for "to be" that we use. "To be" simply means to exist without any previous connection. The very word that God the Holy Spirit used out of the Greek language talks about somebody who is here in time as a result of a past connection. He's here in time, but He has a past connection.

Immediately, that tells you something about Jesus Christ. It refers the status of His existence before the incarnation. It was easy enough to see that he was in existence once he was in a human body. But this verb speaks about His existence before the human body. So, He was in existence in eternity past; that is, He was eternally in existence as eternal God. It says, "Although He existed in the form of God." And this is the Greek word "morphe." This word has no reference to external appearance. The form of God is not a human being like the Mormons teach. This is a Greek philosophical term which means the essential nature of a being – that which a person is by essence.

Actually, there is no good English word to translate this Greek word. This is a mode of being which expresses the quality of deity. Perhaps the closest we can get is to watch somebody who is playing in a tennis match, and we say, "That player has good form." What do we mean? He's got good physical structure? No. He's well-shaped. No. We're talking about his innate ability to be where that ball is, and to have that racket ready to return that ball. He's got the ability. He has good form, and he does it with grace and with capacity because this is what he is. He's a champion tennis player.

So, what is being expressed here is a very inner essence of Christ – His invisible quality. And what is that inner essence? He, although He existed from eternity past in the essence of God – that's what He existed as. That was His form.

So, the nature of Christ's innermost being was that of deity. His deity was the form that He was from all eternity past. And He continues to be a member of the Godhead, equal to the Father, and equal to the Holy Spirit.

So, this is the point that, quite appropriately, this "Song of the Lamb" is presenting: "Great and marvelous are the works of Jesus Christ." After all, who was the Creator agent directly? It was the Son of God that we're told that actually did the creating work. And obviously, that in itself demonstrates how true His work is as great and marvelous.

Then it addresses Him as "O Lord God." It is quite appropriate to call Jesus Christ deity. Sometimes, before I put people under the water in water baptism, I ask them, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?" And if they were say, "No," I wouldn't be able to baptize them, because that is the essential factor of eternal life. So, again, we've got this vast number of human beings in liberal religion who say, "Jesus was a great man. He was our great example. He was a great martyr, but He was not deity." The moment they have said that, they have slammed the door of hell on themselves. The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ never apologize for the fact that His innate nature from eternity past was that of deity.

So, these people could stand before God, because they know their doctrine, and they could address Christ on that occasion as "O Lord God."

Then, as we shall see next time, they proceed to a tribute to Him the kinds of attributes that one could only attribute to deity. Either these people are the world's greatest blasphemers, or else they are the true exalters and the true devotees of the living God. I doubt that God the Father would have permitted this blasphemy in His presence if Christ were not indeed the very God of very God – true God, as well as true men. It is our great blessing and our great honor that we are related to Him in the intimacy of a husband to his bride. That's who you are in Christ.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1992

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