Isaiah 63:12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name
Oftentimes we refer to people when what we really mean is some greater force. We get confused between the means and the person behind the means. For instance, we say that Putin invaded Ukraine. Do we mean that a man named Putin literally grabbed a rifle and attacked Ukraine? No, there is a massive Russian army that invaded Ukraine, but the person behind it all would be Putin. In other words, there is something beyond the means that we can see.
We might say, “The White House said thus and so.” Do houses talk? No, we are talking about the administration of a President, the means and the actual mind behind the means. During campaign season when people are running for office, we talk about campaign surrogates, by which we mean deputies, people who speak for the campaign and ultimately for the person running for office. So, there are means and then there is the mind behind the means.
Second Thessalonians 3:16 says, “Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means.” So, the Lord is the source of peace himself, but He gives peace and the Bible says He gives peace by all means. So, God is the power and there are a number of sources or ways that He uses to accomplish what He wishes to accomplish. In short, the entire world is God’s surrogate. God is the mind behind the means. Now, not everything in this world pleases God, but don’t miss God in His means. We see things that happens in our own lives and wonder where God is. God has not abandoned you and God is not without power.
Let me give you a couple of examples. The first part of Isaiah 63 talks about the judgment of God, the day of vengeance. Then in verse 7 and following Isaiah says, “I will mention the lovingkindness of the LORD…goodness toward the house of Israel…according to his mercies, and according the multitude of his lovingkindnesses…In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them.” He didn’t just send them help; He was the help, the angel of His presence.
Then He gives us two historical examples, Moses and Abraham, two different points of time in the experience of the nation of Israel where God had a man who was merely a means. Each man was not the end itself; he was the means to an end. For instance, verse 12 says that God “led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name.” Moses is the one who led Israel out of Egypt, but God is the one who led Moses. Moses was simply a deputy, a means. If all you see is Moses, you are missing something.
Abraham is another example. Verse 16 says there will be people who say, “Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.” So, Abraham did not know these people because he was gone. Israel did not acknowledge them, but they realized, “God, ultimately Abraham is not merely our father. You are our father.” So, don’t miss God in His means. It is very easy to do.
There are several areas we should be mindful of God and His means. First, whom do you follow? Someone says, “I obey God and not man.” Well, you should obey God, but if you obey God, then you are going to obey the authorities He has placed in your life. When the children of Israel rejected Moses on more than one occasion, God took that personally because their complaining was not against Moses but against the God who commissioned Moses. No authority is perfect and no authority is God, but there is God behind authority. So, whom do you follow?
Second, how do you identity? I am a Southerner, a father, a preacher, a Baptist. I believe all those things to be good. I am all those things passionately, but I need to remember that there is a God beyond those means. For instance, if I am in a Baptist church that starts denying the veracity of God’s Word and the deity of Christ, then the name Baptist means nothing. What matters is that I am called by God’s name. I belong to God, so I need to be in a church that is standing on the authority that God gives in His Word. So, how do you identify?
Third, whom do you trust? That is the ultimate question. I think we should trust the means that God gives. Maybe that is the money, building, or people that God provides, all of which I need, but don’t forget God Himself. In verse 17 these people say, “Return God for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.”
Sometimes, I pray for things and I find that I am praying for the means instead of the end. I really need one thing and I just make an assumption about what I need to get there. For instance, right now we are raising money to repave part of a long road here on the Bill Rice Ranch. I pray for money, that God would provide what we need to get this road done. Ultimately what I want is not the money; it is a road that provides a good way for campers to get where we can give the Word of God. God is able to drop a road down out of heaven, although I am not expecting that. What I am saying is I don’t so much need the money as I need the end, and I don’t need so much the end as I need God. What I want is God. What I want is a road so I can transfer God from His Word to the ears of people in ways that will help them and honor God.
Means are important, but they are not God. So, whom do you trust? How do you identity? Whom do you follow? The bottom line is the entire world is God’s deputy. It doesn’t mean the world is perfect or honors God, but it does mean there is a God in the world. Do not miss God in your life today simply because you are focused on the means.