“And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;” (Ge 35:11 AV)
Pretty simple, huh? Not too complicated. God is Almighty. Nothing more can be said. God is all-powerful. God will do what God will do and there is no one or nothing that can challenge that. There is nothing too difficult for God. God says this to Jacob in the context of two events. The first was the defilement of Dinah. A man of Shechem had relations with Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, without the consent of Jacob or her sisters. They may have forbade it anyway because they were not God’s people. Be that as it may, she was defiled because of a man’s lust. The king and men of Shechem made an agreement with Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers. They would be circumcised in return for co-mingling their people. The women of Shechem would marry the sons of Jacob, and vice versa. However, Simeon and Levi used this agreement to slaughter the men of Shechem. On the third day after the procedure, when the men were very sore, they entered their city, killed all the men, and carried off the women, children, and flocks. This caused Jacob and his family problems with their neighbors. The fear of God was on their neighbors but Jacob thought they would coagulate alliances and kill off him and his family. The second event was the death of his father, Isaac. A lot changed for Jacob. He had a lot to get through. Then anchor of his life, Isaac, was gone and Esau had departed for Seir. He was all alone. It was important for him to remember that God is omnipotent. It was important for him to make this a settled truth in his life.
Up to this point, Jacob had a hand in solving his own issues. They bordered on the side of deception. The thing is, if he trusted in God, things would have turned out the same. He did not need to manipulate circumstances to favor his own end. He didn’t need to purchase Esau’s birthright with bean soup. He didn’t need to disguise himself as Esau to steal his blessing. Somehow, God would have worked it all out for him. Jacob did not need to manipulate a larger flock than Laban’s. God would have worked it all out. Jacob took matters into his own hands and didn’t leave things to God. Or, as the world would phrase it, he didn’t leave things to chance. He tended to stack the deck in his favor. What Jacob failed to do is let God be God; at least to the fullest that he could have. He devised means to work something out which God would have worked out for him if he simply trusted an Almighty God. Jacob is no different than any of us. Jacob had a hard time trusting God by faith. We cannot have a conversation with God audibly. We cannot see God. We experience God through His Spirit. What we know of God must be accepted by faith.
When I read those four simple words, my response was, “Well, that’s it then. End of argument. Mic drop”. I am God Almighty. Nothing more can be added. I was struck by how simple those words are, yet how much they escape us. Why do we fret? Why do we worry? Why do we think we have to take charge of everything or it won’t turn out to our advantage? Those are such profound words. Words that need to be in the heart of every soul. Words that require meditation. Words that scream for application. Words to get us through every moment of every day. Through good times and bad, God is Almighty. When it appears the world is advancing toward total rebellion against God, God is still Almighty. When the church may very well have to go through one final great persecution, God is still Almighty. I am Almighty God. Four words that we should never forget. Four words that should define every aspiration, action, and disposition. I am God Almighty! And don’t you forget it!
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