THE GOD OF ISRAEL IS THE UNIVERSAL LORD  Stemming from our discourse on the Notion of GOD, it is pertinent to tie the knots of the matter by agreeing with Matthew Henry (2003) who by divinely inspired reasoning postulated that,"Natural light (science and logic), no doubt, is of excellent use, as far as it goes, but it is necessary that there be a divine revelation, to rectify its mistakes, and make up its deficiencies, to help us out where the light of nature leaves us quite at a loss, especially in the way and man's recovery from his lapsed state, and his restoration to his Maker's favour; which he can not but be conscious to himself of the loss of, finding, by sad experience, his own present state to be sinful and miserable. Our own reason shows us the wound, but nothing short of a divine revelation can discover to us a remedy to be confided in"  According to this pious man, every human is very aware that this world could have been better, desires it to be better; luckily the way to achieve that perfection is there waiting to be uncovered by divine revelation, the key to which is, first acknowledging that the world was created and that the Creator has laid down procedure that leads to perfection – in the course of this essay the only way to perfection will be unveiled.By rational observation, every benefactor demands devotion; this is the objective of religion which that erudite Bible scholar, Matthew Henry (ibid), deems an absolute necessity for human co-existence. With words comparable to gold, he etched his observation in marbles thus,"It is necessary to mankind in general, that there should be religion in the world, absolutely necessary for the preservation of the honour of the human nature, and no less for the preservation of the order of human societies"Religion being, as it is, so important for the management of human and societal relations; can we seriously contemplate a religion that has no Creator at the centre? It is devotion to the Creator with absolute powers to create and destroy that keeps man from fully unleashing their basest instincts. That is what keeps more than 64

million unemployed youths with idle intellect from taking to the streets with clubs, machete and guns. Can any city control 1 million brutish men simultaneously on rampage? In this regard, this prophet of GOD was right to prophesy that,"A man that is endued with the powers of reason by which he is capable of knowing, serving, glorifying and enjoying his Maker and yet lives without GOD in the world, is certainly the most despicable and the most miserable animal under the sun" Any religion therefore, that denies the existence of the Creator is inappropriate and defective; such religion is of no particular use, either to the person or the society; for who else will deter man from his inherent and continuous desire to commit wickedness that assuages his ego, if there were no God? And so when scientists spend $10 billion of tax payers' money to conduct an experiment that seeks to prove we were not created, and hence no GOD, I conclude with utmost rapidity that somebody is inspiring them to teach humanity to destroy itself – such a man is trying to create a situation of kill or be killed with all the sublime by-products of such a regime; for I see no other use for a burning desire to prove we need no GOD.However, and indeed the world was created or how can anti-creationists explain spiritual experience and the influence of evil incantations? Which element would they hold responsible for these supra-human phenomena?If they will, let scientists do this simple and cheap experiment: build a large container and remove all the air. Spin it round for two billion years by stimulation, and then stop it to observe what element or life that would be formed inside the container! The inference here is that without the primordial dusts of elements, no matter, dense or not, can be formed. Since no element can be formed in a vacuum (that is, on its own from nothing), it suffices to generalise that the ones in the universe were not formed on their own. On the basis of this, the Big Bang Theory was only designed to bang the heads of unsuspecting and hardened reprobates against the statute of common reasoning.

Run as humanity may from the Light that unveils their wicked inclinations, they can not but agree that the world was created by the Almighty Being called GOD.This being a settled matter, and in the face of various claimants; who really is the Universal LORD – that is, the True GOD?Just like any mathematical set, the Universal LORD is defined by certain characteristics that set Him apart from impostors. We will examine a few qualities by summarising as brief as I can, some of the whispers I know about the GOD of Israel. Any religious group that feels its god can enter the contest is free to do so by examining the attributes of its god against the reasons I have adduced for the universal LORDSHIP of the GOD of Israel or give attributes of The Divine that The God of Israel can not or has not measure up to:The CreatorBy this, I mean a self- sufficient creator who has the ability to create, re-create defective and worn-out creatures, and sustain both old and new sets of life experiences.In Genesis 1:1, by introducing Himself as YHWH Elohim, the GOD of Israel proclaimed in unequivocal terms that He alone, has this credential of self-existence.Absolute PowerThe universal LORD must not be a community of gods. He must be responsible for every natural and unnatural phenomenon.This necessary implies that the universal LORD must be ONE. Unlike other religions that boast of 8 million gods, and of some that can count up to 330 million gods, Judeo-Christianity, the religion that witnesses for the GOD of Israel; preaches the existence of one GOD (Isaiah 45:5, 46:9, Deuteronomy 6:4).Exclusive Right to WorshipSequel to the above divine characteristic; because He is alone in power and action, He must be the only one to demand and receive worship. Without a shade of doubt left, the GOD of Israel declares that He is the only one that must be worshipped. (Isaiah 42:8, Deuteronomy 5:7, 9). Other religions claim you can worship 330 million gods and it will still be counted as worshipping one god! Others claim that if you worship the chief-god of 360 gods, it is ok.

Clearly this is what Lucifer used to entice the fallen angels of GOD right from the beginning of his pride. Certainly they and he are getting their dose of worship from this arrangement, but it only shows that they are not the rightful recipient because worship must have exclusivity and The One who alone demands exclusive worship is the rightful recipient and thus the universal LORD. Too transcendent to be modeledThe universal LORD must transcend the universe or material existence, and above comprehension; thus any comparison is a futile exercise and a gross underestimation of the divine personality. The Creator of a living universe must be alive and too busy to be depicted by dead and immobile objects.   The GOD of Israel passed this test by proclaiming that no image should be made of Him (Isaiah 40:12-18, 25; Deuteronomy 5:8; 4:23-24). In Isaiah 44:9-20, He condemned those who make and bow down to graven images as confused and irrational beings. What better way to show that you are far and above human imagination, than this? The Oldest named GOD Whoever is the universal LORD must have been known early in the history of man, in fact He has to be the first known GOD for obvious reasons. This knowledge must include facts about His abilities, attributes and personal name. In 255 A.C. (After Creation – about 4000 years B.C.), as recorded in Genesis 4:26, men had already known the GOD of Israel enough, for them to begin to call upon His name in times of trouble, and in worship. Any god that comes after Him must sufficiently prove that he (such god) is not a counterfeit and impostor or else be consigned to that ignoble class.  Causative RevealerOne of the outstanding qualities of the Divine is the ability to accurately forecast what will happen in the life of a person, nation and the whole world. (Isaiah 46:10). The revelation concerning the House of Israel being so many and mostly fulfilled, the GOD of Israel went further to reveal what will happen at the world stage. Some came to pass so accurately that professional skeptics attempted to show, quite unashamedly, that events that were

recorded, some as much as 400 years prior to their fulfillment, were written after the events had taken place!The prediction about the rise and fall of empires from Babylon to present day is a case in point; please tell me was the Bible written after Britain gave birth to America? (Daniel 2:28-45; 8:3-24; Revelation 17:9-11). Certainly the GOD of Israel is the Undisputed Champion in this category! In Isaiah 41:4, 41:21-24, 42:9, 44:7, 46:9-11 and 48:3-7 He declares His absolute abilities to bring to pass all His predictions. He is never afraid to make predictions because He knows He has the memory and the power to bring all He has spoken to pass. Those who try to ape Him, He makes mad! (Isaiah 44:25) Absolute Universal SovereigntyIt is inescapable that following from the above, the Universal Lord must be the only determinant of the fates of nations other than that of the custodian of the faith that professes Him. As can be seen from the above, what the GOD of Israel decreed thousands of years ago are happening with frightening rapidity and accuracy. Please tell me what has the GOD of Israel spoken about world geography, demography, politics and economics, and has not come to pass?  Though some are yet unfulfilled but with the benefit of hindsight it certain that all will come to pass.However, apostate men will continue to attend expensive conferences on all global issues without solving any because they have refused to acknowledge an important constant, the Cause of all causes; and because they will not; their models will continue to break down, and suddenly He shall come upon them with unrestrained vengeance.Must have a Living WitnessBy this, I do not mean a group of devotees committed to propagating the ideals of a religion or mystic but a group that have documented their experiences under their GOD, both in adversity and prosperity. The GOD of Israel calls Israel His witness (Isaiah 43:21, 49:3)In fact in Isaiah 43:9-13, the GOD of Israel challenges the pantheon of false gods to show with records all they did in the past or else bow to their Master. In Exodus 16:32-34, GOD instructed,

and the House of Israel kept a token of remembrance of what they ate in the wilderness for nearly 2000 years until the Ark of Covenant was lost. The fact that the Ark was present in historic times is a testimonial to fact that all the feats recorded by Moses were performed by GOD. Moses himself challenged Israel to witness for their GOD (Deuteronomy 4:32-35; Leviticus 23:41-43) Before Israel or any other nation or people can successfully deny that they do not know the LORD their GOD, they have to prove Israel does not exist, Abraham was not their father, they were never slaves in Egypt, Moses never existed, David is a mythical figure, Jerusalem does not exist, the Sabbath was never a sacred day, the Temple was not cited where the Provocation now sits, they were never scattered into the four corners of the Earth, Hitler did not put them to the sword, the Earth did not rise to their aid in 1948, they were not expecting the Messiah, they never crucified the Carpenter's Son, Christianity does not exist, etc.All these were either recorded or predicted and being fulfilled in our era! O Israel, witness for your GOD or those formerly called Gentiles will continue to make Him glad!Because you are His witness, it is your duty to proclaim your LORD GOD. He said in Isaiah 44:8 that you entered into a contract with Him as His witness, then stand still without fear to do what ever He commands you. As a token of your national repentance, you must declare that Jesus of Nazareth is the Material Manifestation of The LORD GOD, and then Temple must be rebuilt. Selah.He must have Answers to human Questions.Ranging from simple to complex problems; humanity likes to ask: `why', `how', `when', `who', `what', and `where'. No matter how unconcerned a man may be, he can not but ask one of mankind's greatest questions: How did I get here? Who got me here? Why am I here? Why all the sufferings and imperfections around? What next after now? What hope do I have? Where do I go after now? When do I get perfection back? With countless narratives, the GOD of Israel has shown the beginnings of all our questions and the end thereof consistently;

not even one of life's sobering questions has evaded His eagle-eyed radar called the Bible.With regards to the beginning of all beginnings, how did I get here; one religion claims that the beings of the universe are reborn without beginning in six realms as gods, demigods, humans, animals, ghosts, and hell beings. This same religion claims they have discovered the law of dependent origination, whereby one condition arises out of another, which in turn arises out of prior conditions! I do not know how humans can believe in `a beginning' and `no-beginning', all at the same. In fact I do not have words to comment on this type of inconsistency. May be that is why they chose to call it `the Silence'Another world religion expresses skepticism on the matter of how we got here thus;He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.( Encyclopedia Britannica.)Please, can this logically qualify to be a religion, which does not even believe in a supreme being? I leave you to your consciences.Yet on our list is a philosophical school of religion that claims that, "…The creating of things has no Lord; everything creates itself. Everything produces itself and does not depend on anything else…" Hmm, no wonder man can live 100 years without food! Little wonder that when you bring all the element of life (who ever created them) together, it begins to form a human being! Please tell these men to stop confusing themselves and taking our intelligence for a ride. I will not conclude on this point without mentioning the myth of Deus Otiosus, the deity who retired from the world after creation, and the myths that supports the physical and intellectual fatigue of that deity after creation. In the first instance, that god didn't have a purpose for creation and doesn't qualify to be a god in the first place. You can not claim to be God when what you created were unnecessary or without plans. May I ask mankind this question: can a god who had no plans for creation create a world with so much potentials and promise like our Earth? I think the myth of Deus Otiosus was inspired and accepted by men who

desire to have a purposeless god so that they can assume the place of that god. Sadly for such men, this can not be because the GOD of Israel clearly had a plan for His works.  In the second instance I ask, who is god that will die out of exhaustion? Who is god that can not see in advance the end product and consequences of his enterprise? Probably, that god couldn't see the end from the beginning; does this type qualify to be addressed as god? This is not the way with the GOD of Israel; He knew exactly what will happen and the exact permutations to use to remedy them. Little wonder that The God of Israel is called The Alpha and The Omega, The Controller of everything in between. That is the true God in action – always simultaneously on billions of chessboards, watching and moving His own pieces at will – each move, a guaranteed victory for Him. By His standards, He has never lost a game in this universal chess competition called life! Confirms wholesome Rational InvestigationThe universal LORD must have pre-scientific knowledge that correlates with modern scientific discoveries. In this sphere, the GOD of Israel has no rival. Below are a few scientific information that the GOD of Israel unveiled ever before man had the capacity to investigate their environment:

He gave a hint on the vastness,  multi-starred and multi-planeted nature of the universe (Genesis 2:1, 4)

He told men, before they knew it, that they are the youngest creatures on the planet (Genesis 1:1-31)

He hinted at the concept of time differential between the planets. According to the GOD of Israel, one day with Him is like a thousand years in our eyes. Our nearby neighbour proves this; on Neptune, a solar system planet, one year there is equivalent to 164 years on Earth. Can man really understand how difficult it is for someone whose life span is eternity, to describe time to people whose active lifespan is 70 years? I think GOD has done well trying to explain time to us, because it is not easy for a man that counts in multiples of infinity to relate to those who count in unit of ones. That not withstanding, Jesus has shown that He created in literal

days by the miracles of restoring withered hands, recreating dead bodies, etc. All these took place instantly, and not gradually, and so when GOD said He created in literal days, I believe Him. If men have calculated that the Earth is 4.6 billion years, I take it that, it only shows how long it would have taken a human super hero to create the Earth if GOD had given him the technology and raw materials used for creation.

That man has the same elements found on Earth in his system is no longer news; it is equally known that if they do not take doses of these elements to replenish their system, they get sick or mal-developed. Who then can dispute with the GOD of Israel who taught man that he was made from Earth's substances (Genesis 2:7, Job 33:6). And this was even before men learned to clean their teeth!

Before men learned to note and compare their observations, the GOD of Israel inspired men to know that, in terms of material composition, they are animals and share the same characteristics with them; the only difference being the destination of their spirits at death (Eccl. 3:18-21), which the Psalmist says goes to GOD (Psalms 49:15), and confirmed by the Creator Himself (Luke 23:46). Without mincing words He told men that they are animals (Eccl. 12:6-7). Thus when they make Him angry enough, He takes away His Mind from them and they begin to act like the basest animals (Daniel 4:27, 31-37). Biologist, sit up, nothing is new.

The GOD of Israel is the only one to describe correctly the first home of man. After many false moves, inaccurate and vexatious theorising, mankind has finally come home to the truth that its first home was in the Middle East, precisely  the area around ancient Babylon (Gen. 2:8-15)

While men are still speculating on the cause of the East African Rift Valley, the GOD of Israel had already hinted and I believe that it was a river called Gihon (Gen. 2:13)

He made man a biologist, long before modern man rediscovered himself (Gen. 2:19-20)

The GOD of Israel described the rain cycle eons before any scientist understood the process of cloud formation (Job 36:27-38; Amos 5:8, 9:6; Eccl. 11:3). Even the purity of rain water is documented! (Job 36:27-28).

The sphere called Earth was properly described by the GOD of Israel long before men got over the shock from a fairytale called `Flat Earth' (Isaiah 40:22)

In ancient times, it was convenient to `joke' that the superman carrying the Earth was standing on a tortoise! Thank GOD, I was not born then, else somebody would have explained how the tortoise managed the trick of floating in mid-air. In this modern time, scientists have spends billions (and still counting) trying to discover "the dark matter" – whatever that is; in which they suppose the universe is floating! Hmm, humanity! For mercy sake, these people have traveled out of this planet, and sent numerous probes into outer space; no dark `whatever' had blocked their paths. If they are expecting to find a jellylike substance in which the world `baths', then they have to account for what holds this jelly in place.  But the GOD of Israel who knows exactly what law He promulgated to hold the universe together, said in the clearest terms that He hangs the world upon nothing (Job 26:7). According to Matthew Henry (ibid), "the vast terraqueous globe neither rests upon any pillars nor hangs upon any axles-tree…the art of man could not hang a feather upon nothing, yet the Divine Wisdom hangs the whole Earth so…it is poised by its own weight…" . This is unparalleled technology!

Long before men knew enough of astronomy for them to rely on horoscope, the GOD of Israel said only He can unlock the influence of stars on men (Job 38:31). On this I ask, would you rather trust the power behind the influence or the influence? I will rather rely on the one who has the power to rearrange the stars in my favour!

While men of the ancient world were busy building pyramids and grooves to worship the sun and the moon, the GOD of Israel had already taught that the sun and moon were just our

servants, instructed to help us calculate time, days, years and seasons (Gen. 1:14-19). As Matthew Henry (ibid) states in his commentary, "…they must be for the distinction of times, of day and night, summer and winter, which are interchanged by the `motion' of the sun, whose rising makes day, his setting night, his approach towards our tropic summer, his recess to the other winter…they are for the signs of the change of weather, that the husbandman may order his affairs with discretion, foreseeing by the face of the sky, when second causes have begun to work, whether it will be fair or foul…" Every human knows that the phenomena discoursed above are common place and have been properly accounted for by rational observation and documentation. But The God of Israel had already told us so!

It is of recent that men have come to understand that the Earth core is a living pool of molten magma yet the GOD of Israel had already declared that the same Earth that gives food, harbours the most lethal liquid fire humanity has ever known (Job 28:5). Just ask those who know, what Mount Vesuvius did, when she spew her heart.

An important impetus for the industrial revolution, the GOD of Israel had already pointed to where iron ore can be found (Job 28:2)

Left alone to the imagination of man, the origin of the human species would have remained a mazy jungle of lies and psychopathic conjectures that evolution set out to achieve. Teaching us through inspiration, the GOD of Israel saved mankind from this global headache by setting out the origin of the tribes and races in a way that only a man born without the gift of logic and reasoning would dare attempt to refute. Even the cause for a continent perpetually in diapers is unmistakable (Gen. 10:1-32). It is more rational to believe this account of world genealogy than any monkey-related mid-summer fairytale.

The existence of dinosaurs, through a description that fits Stegosaurus had been documented while some scientists have

just come to believe that these reptiles existed ( Job 40:15-18)

Scientists today, know that when white light is spread apart by a prism or diffracting grate, the colours of the visible spectrum appear as: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red in that order of increasing wavelengths. The dispersion, diffraction, parting or separation of light into its component parts was a scientific feat Job could not have achieved because the quest and technology was not simply there, but the GOD of Israel knew all about it;  because He made light itself (Job 38:24)

 By common observation, a rainbow can only appear against a moisture laden cloud; which most often than not signals the approach of rain or that has just ended. Thus rain and rainbow are related in a way that can only agree with the purpose of the GOD of Israel (Gen. 9:13-16)

It is a geographical fact (even by keenly observing the world map) that some years ago, the plate tectonics on which the continents rest, moved apart carrying the continents to their present location thus giving shape to the landmass of the Earth as seen today. As is usual with the GOD of Israel, He did not leave us clueless on this important matter; a man was named Peleg (the only one so named) to record for, and remind the coming generation of that occurrence (Gen. 10:25, I Chronicles 1:19)

It is not yet twenty years since men started observing activities in outer space, and the events they have witnessed there have only help men to realise how right the GOD of Israel was, when He said that the universe was formed with hot primordial dusts and particles coming together before they are hardened into planets and stars (Job 38:37-38)

Whereas men have cited the fact that some land animals bear resemblance to sea animals, to support the notion that life evolve from a single-celled organism that lived in the oceans, the GOD of Israel said that He ordered some land animals to come from the sea. By His purpose He ordered fowls of the air to come out from the waters (Genesis 1:20-22). Why He

ordered it so, we may never know but we know who fashioned all the animals in their order! I suppose science will soon stop looking for evidence to insult GOD, because the more discoveries it makes, the more the Bible and GOD are proven incontrovertible by them. I will not be surprised if scientists start consulting the Bible before announcing their discoveries.

 The GOD of Israel is the Father of science and scientists; He is the institutor of science and Grand Patron of scientific interest (Eccl. 1:13; 3:10-11).  Thus any scientist, who seeks to blaspheme His name or to invalidate the exclusive patent He holds for His pioneering scientific work, as encapsulated by creation, is already indicted for irresponsible and unprofessional procedures and generalizations. We have shown beyond any doubt that there is God and that He is the GOD of Israel. From the same Holy Bible, we have shown that Jesus of Nazareth is The Material Manifestation of The God of Israel. Believe and live.

An extract from “The Trinity Demystified”By Michael Nkanyi Uyeh.