There is No Other

"I, even I, am the LORD,
And besides Me there is no savior...
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will reverse it?...
I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King...
But you have not called upon Me ...
Do not fear, nor be afraid ...
Is there a God besides Me?
Indeed there is no other Rock."
Isaiah 43:11,13,15,22; 44:8 (NKJV)

Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said: "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it." ~ Job 40:1-2 (NKJV)

But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,' and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. ~ Nehemiah 9:17-19 (ESV)

In Isaiah 44:8, the Hebrew word for God is Eloah (thought to be the singular of the plural noun Elohim). It appears in Scripture only a few times, in poetry and prophecy, and is used four times by God Himself. Its context is usually passages which emphasize fear of God for His ability to deliver—or His ability to bring down.

God here reminds His people that there is no other to save but Him, and there is no other to save from Him. It's no good to call 911, or the doctor or the plumber or anyone before calling upon Eloah. Any of those people may be His instruments to save from trouble, but they cannot reverse God's work if He is behind what we see as trouble.

Nehemiah 9:17 is another of the few instances using Eloah. It is a humble call upon God carrying the reminder that even when He needs to rebuke us, He shows great mercy and grace.

Eloah, You are our Creator. You are our only God, our only Savior, our only King. There is no other God besides You. Please forgive us when we rely upon others for deliverance. Please help us be discerning when You would use others to help us. Please remind us to call upon You first.

Feedback invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy