LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Saturday 27th November 2021
EL-GIBBOR
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 10
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. Deuteronomy 10:17
Moses describes God as ‘God, mighty and awesome’ – El Gibbor. When used alone, Gibbor refers to mighty and heroic men. When ‘EL’ is added to it, it describes the greatness and awesome majesty of God.
Additionally, Gibbor has connotations of warfare. It carries the picture of one who goes into battle and wins. El Gibbor makes us understand God as the Champion who conquerors in battle.
God chose to identify with a nation of slaves. He identified with a people who were oppressed in captivity and in need of deliverance. Typically, people would not want to identify with the helpless and downtrodden in society. But God chose to associate with these instead of a nation of lords or kings and rulers.
Against the might of the Pharaoh of Egypt, the Lord showed Himself as the Ultimate Warrior. That is what Moses recognized in our passage today. Israel knew God as one who fights for His people.
We can also know the Lord as El-Gibbor. He then becomes for us a number of things:
• The Lord who fights for us. A child of God does not go into battle alone. The Lord is with us in every battle. Whether it be a spiritual or mental battle; regardless of the scope or nature of the battle, God is able and will fight for His children as they trust Him.
• The Lord who conquers our enemies. In His death and resurrection, Jesus disarmed all evil principalities and powers. He trampled them underfoot. There is no force or entity that can be named, that is comparable with God in greatness. Let this truth set you at peace and at rest.
• The Lord who gives us victory. In Christ, we have the victory. We are seated with Him in high places. His victory as the Mighty Warrior over every enemy is our victory and we can appropriate and affirm this always.
The Lord takes no bribe. Our God cannot be wrongly influenced. Those with money cannot use their money to get God to side with them against the weak. Neither can those with power coerce God to be on their side. The Lord fights for those on His side.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are mighty in battle; glorious in victory. I choose to be on your side in all my battles. In Jesus’ name. Amen.