by Jim Schicatano

GOD’S COMMANDS

It is both interesting and revealing that throughout the Creation Story, God’s mere command produced a reaction. He created the universe, formed the Earth, initiated light, developed the atmosphere, and created plants, animals, and human beings. His mere desire both initiated and completed their creation.

The polytheistic cultures that existed in the ancient world wrote of their gods’ abilities to bring rain, to cause fertility, to grow crops, to win wars, to induce love, to assure a safe journey, and much more. The gods of those cultures were frequently specialized – each possessing the ability to deliver a particular request or desire of man. Many of the ancient cultures also had a divine leader who acted as the head of the other gods. For example, the Greek’s chief god was Zeus, while the Roman’s head god was Jupiter. While these divine leaders were very powerful, none matched the enormous power of the sole Hebrew God.

The power of the God of the Bible is unimaginable. How can any of us comprehend a Being that is able to create an entire universe and bring forth all manner of life with a mere command? In fact, God’s power extends far beyond that – to the point where it is infinitely boundless. His words do not seem to merely evoke a reaction; His very words seem to be the action. If God wishes to create a universe, it is thus created – not by any strenuous actions, physical or otherwise by Him, but merely by His words. And since God’s words are a reflection of His thoughts (assuming it is possible, or even reasonable, to distinguish between the two), then God’s very thoughts will always be fulfilled and can never be denied. Since God’s thoughts cannot be denied, then what He thinks is reality. Truly, God’s words are truth. For God does not merely speak the truth as we do; His words are the truth, in the sense that it impossible to be otherwise.

Remarking on His complete sovereignty over His entire creation, the Lord says:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” – (Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV))

If all of this seems incredible for us today, imagine how awesome the power of God must have seemed to the people that lived thousands of years ago, without the scientific knowledge that we possess today. This in itself, I believe, makes a strong case for the God of the Bible to be the One and only God – the true God. Polytheism was the general religious persuasion of that time. For the Hebrew people to have simply concocted such an omnipotent Being seems highly unlikely. It is understandable that creative storytellers of old could conjure up ancient tales of great wars between the gods, and gods engaged in titanic battles with colossal monsters of the sea. But how could any ancient author or authors possibly contrive a divine Being Whose very words – indeed, Whose very thoughts – are truth itself? This impossibility strongly suggests that the Scriptures are not merely the product of imaginative storytellers, but rather the inspired word of God.