Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, 
and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:

I am the first and I am the last; 
besides me there is no god.

Isaiah 44: 6

One of the things that people associate with Silliman University is the acacia trees. It provides shade and relief from the scorching heat of the sun. Walking under its shade I often wonder what if these acacia trees can speak, what will they tell us? I told my children one time that those trees were there when Silliman was founded. When the war broke out the trees were witnesses of the events that happened in the campus. I saw pictures in the 60’s or 70’s were students sat under the trees in groups and also in pairs. Oh, if the acacia trees can speak.

Now we ask what if God speaks to a nation, what will be God’s word? The prophets, always preface their statements, ‘thus says the Lord.” Though it comes from their mouths but in a sense it is not their words but that of God. So have a word from the Lord today through the Prophet Isaiah. He introduced the Lord first – the Lord is the King of Israel and his Redeemer. This sounds strange because the nation Israel had series of kings ruling the land. Can you imagine someone saying that God is the President of the United States and God is the redeemer? Isaiah introduced God in this manner. There were no lawsuits claiming usurpation of power or claims about separation of church and state. Though kings sat on the throne and decided the day to day affairs of the nation – but they were all in agreement that at end the final say rests on God alone.

This is what the Lord said; “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” The Alpha and the Omega – the writer of the book of Revelation picks up this theme. God stands beyond what we call time. Everything on earth lives within the first and the last. In fact, our ‘time’ is just a small portion of the larger ‘time’ that God is talking about. God’s first and God’s last is so wide. If we can put it in another language we can say, “Thus says the Lord, I am God, I am so big, you are so small, even the biggest that you can imagine is within me because I am where everything begins and where everything ends.” What is it that you create or imagine outside the first and the last? God has set the parameters we live and play and die within the ‘first and the last’ framework but not outside of it.

Like a child in tantrum we can kick and shout in defiance. We can protest and in fact refuse to believe but God simply says “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” The truth of this statement does not depend whether we accept it or not. God is God, period and there is no other god. It is a bit scary if acacia trees can speak, it will tell the widely kept secrets, the painful happenings and so with the joyful memories that it witness all through the years.  Now imagine if Lord, he who holds the years of time in his hands speaks.

Prayer

O Lord, our God

there is no other god besides you. Amen.

[Like a seed planted in the soil, it is our prayer that God's Word will grow in us as we nurture it in our hearts. Allow the seed to germinate. Your reflections and responses are welcome. Please click on the Add a new comment icon below.] Past Daily Devotions are archived at the bottom of the Sermons page.