“You will know that I am the Lord”
God stating that someone will “…know that [He is] the Lord” is a familiar refrain for those who read the
Bible even casually. Chances are that
this language probably brings to mind a picture of God’s vengeance for most who
hear it. In fact, the most famous
cultural reference to this Biblical phrase comes from a movie almost 30 years
ago where one of the main characters, a hitman, paraphrases Ezekiel 25:17 as
the last words his victims hear before death, saying, “And I will I will strike
down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger… and you will know I am the Lord when I lay my
vengeance upon you!”
The Old Testament speaks of those who will “know that I am
the Lord” 88 times. Mostly in Ezekiel
and Exodus. In a few cases, such as the
prophesy against Philistia quoted above, and the promises to defeat Pharoah in
Exodus, these words are a reference to the defeated knowing God’s
vengeance. However, it is more commonly
a sign of God’s mercy and rescue for His people instead.
Sometimes it is Israel knowing that He is the Lord. Other times it is the nations knowing that He
is the Lord, so that they might turn to trust in Him, when they witness Israel
being rescued. Never, though, is it
merely directed vengeance executed for its own sake, nor is he achieving
victory for His own sake. Instead, whoever
is to know that He is the Lord, it is in the act of rescuing His people, and
His victory is on their behalf. In His
rescue of those He has chosen, He is known.
The ultimate victory in which He is known is in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. While we might long for the kind of the displays Israel repeatedly witnessed throughout her history by which the Lord was made known, those served only to foreshadow the greater rescue which He would achieve in the cross of Christ and greater victory which would be displayed when Jesus rose from the dead. That greatest victory is the foundation upon which all truth is built, and the assurance that God will rescue all who rely on Him from the penalty for sin and give them instead the eternal, resurrected life which is promised to all who trust in Jesus.
