The name of God we discussed in our last weeks chapel was Adonai Kol Erets, Lord of All the Earth. I am taking a little liberty with the Hebrew translation as I just looked up the Hebrew words for Lord, all, earth from the verse we will be using to introduce this name of God.

Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion,

For your horn I will make iron

And your hoofs I will make bronze,

That you may pulverize many peoples,

That you may devote to the Lord their unjust gain

And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Micah 4:13

And their wealth to the Adonai of kol the erets…

Now as always for us to grasp the  meaning of this name of God we must put this verse in the context of the whole chapter and the chapter in the context of the whole book, and the book in the context of the entire Word of God. Now I can’t put the entire Bible in the post… but I will put all of Micah 4 in here… trust me it is well worth the read.

And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord  will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say,

“ Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.”

For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war.

Each of them will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

Though all the peoples walk each in the name of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

As I read Micah 4:1-13 I can’t help but let verses 12-13 resonate and rest on my heart and mind. It’s just one of those verses that I can grab hold of and stand on through what ever life throws at me.

I read this verse and I thought of my great grandfather sitting on his front porch with his fly swat in hand.  I remembered the way he just patiently sat there… waiting. He didn’t swat wildly at every fly that zoomed by his head. He didn’t have mad flailing arms just trying to whack what ever fly got close. He sat and waited for the flies to get comfortable, waited for them to think he had no clue what what was going on, He sat still and waited until they forgot he was there… and then when several had gathered together in front of him… he quickly, with lightening speed, nailed all of them with one deathly swat.

Our God will destroy His enemies in just this way. I believe that is what God is telling us by this particular name of His, Lord of All the Earth. The leaders of the nations get a big head and actually think they are in control of the world. Nebuchadnezzar thought so at one time as well. He forgot that the power that he had came only because God allowed it to work out His greater purpose and plan.

In Daniel 2 God let Nebuchadnezzar in on a sneak peek of the future of the kingdoms of the world. He gave him a dream and allowed Daniel to interpret to that dream. The dream was of a statue. Here’s a little video that illustrates the dream.

In the dream Nebuchadnezzar learned that he was the head of gold. He learned that after him another nation would come represented by the chest of silver. After this kingdom another would come represented by the belly and thighs of bronze. The legs of iron represented a fourth kingdom and the feet of iron and clay represented a scattering of this fourth kingdom, but then the mountain, formed not of human hands would come and knock this statues feet out from under it and destroy all other kingdoms and this mountain would fill the entire earth never to be destroyed.

If you look through the history books you see that everything described to Nebuchadnezzar by Daniel happened just as God said it would up to the feet of iron and clay. If all that is true then I would bet that big mountain is coming too!

Now Nebuchadnezzar was given this heads up by God and this dream was recorded in the Scriptures. He knew that his kingdom would end… but still he could not get his mind off that head of gold. He grew and grew in arrogance until he actually convinced himself he alone had accomplished his own greatness. God sent old Nebbie a warning in a dream and Daniel interpreted it and begged him to humble himself as he told the king the warning from God… but Nebuchadnezzar could not see past his own glory.

So God put him on his hands and knees in the woods eating grass like an ox for seven years. If the king would not humble himself, then God would do it for him.

After seven years of this Nebuchadnezzar  declared:

“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven

and my reason returned to me,

and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me

for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out;

so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.  

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven,

for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Daniel 4:34-37

Our God is Lord Of All The Earth always… even when it may not look like it to our human eyes. It may appear at times that the world is winning. It may appear that evil rules the day. The kings of the earth may laugh at the Word of God. They might scoff at those who trust in Him. they might try to kill and destroy all that represents His name. They may actually believe He is a myth, a lie, a fable, or just a little god like all the other gods. They may think He is dead, asleep, or just simply doesn’t care anymore… but our God says

“But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,

And they do not understand His purpose;

Micah 4:12