I once told a friend about a book I had recently enjoyed, titled, The Introvert Advantage. After relating to him a few tidbits I had gleaned throughout its pages, he asked, “Well, what is the introvert advantage?” I chuckled at having talked all around the book without landing on its main point, then directly answered his question: when an introvert speaks, people listen. For introverts usually process a matter internally before sharing their thoughts out loud. Yet I hasten to add that most people—introverts and extraverts alike—give voice to what is important, and repeatedly so to that which is most important. Then may we assume that, if God repeats a matter, it must be most important to Him, as well? If so, we cannot overlook or minimize His deepest yearnings, voiced to us time and again. Listen to His heart expressed through His Word.
It began with a promise to Abraham. “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”1
It was in God’s heart when He called Moses to lead Israel out of Egyptian captivity: “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God”2
Establishing the letter of the Law, God revealed His heart behind the Law: “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands . . .I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”3
Calling the Israelites into a covenant relationship with Himself, God voiced His desire through Moses: “to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you . . .”4
Even toward His people in exile, God’s heart remained steadfast, as spoken through the prophet, Jeremiah: “My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. . . I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”5
Foretelling a new covenant—of a Messiah’s leadership and a good shepherd’s protection—God’s eternal purpose remained unbending: “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant . . .I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.”6
Jeremiah’s contemporary, Ezekiel, also prophesied a new covenant, proclaiming God’s promise: “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”7
Returned from exile to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, Zechariah foretold a time when God’s desire echoes back to Him through His people: “They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”8
And to John, God revealed a time yet to come when His desire is completely and eternally fulfilled “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”9
As we read “all around His book,” may we not miss this most important, repeated point: God wills to be our God, and He purposes for us to be His own. This is the heart from which God speaks; may we hear Him in great comfort and joy.
Father, at great cost, You have made us Your people. With grateful hearts we proclaim You as our God. Lead us in Kingdom work today. In Christ we pray. Amen.
1 Genesis 17:7
2 Exodus 6:7
3 Leviticus 26:3, 12
4 Deuteronomy 19:13
5 Jeremiah 24:6-7
6 Jeremiah 31:31, 33
7 Ezekiel 37:27
8 Zechariah 13:9
9 Revelation 21:3
See also Exodus 29:45-46; Leviticus 11:45; 22:32-33; 25:38; 26:45; Numbers 15:41; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 34:30; 36:28; Hosea 1:9-10; 2:23; Zechariah 8:8; 2 Corinthians 6:16; and Hebrews 8:10.
Categories
Paul Nordman—Author 