The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Yesterday, I quoted Tozer's prayer to "the God of the prophets and apostles," (not that of the intellectuals and the philosophers).

Today, it strikes me how important is that distinction.  There is a huge difference in the God we worship -- not so much between one religion and another, but in who God is to those who worship Him at all and those who do not.

If we claim that God is not a Person, we with one stroke must eliminate all of the world's three Abrahamic religions -- all based on the premise that there is a Person Who 'hears the cry of the poor' and responds; a Person Who has been in search of not only mankind, but of individual man, that He might have communion with us, both collectively and individually;  a Person who holds man accountable for his thoughts and actions; a Person who is Good, Just, Holy, beyond reproach, and Truthful -- or Truth itself.

If we hold that God is energy alone, not a Person, then we must per force eliminate all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament.  We must eliminate the truth of saints, prophets, apostles, hymnists, musicians, religionists, and the testimony of every Black woman who relies on God to see her through this day.

We can see Moses as saved from Pharoah's murderers by natural means and circumstances; we can see him raised under Pharoah's nose, in his very household, by chance and luck.  We can see his passion to deliver his people as arising from family and tribal loyalty  -- and failing by the usual turn of events.  But then, he goes into the back side of the desert in hiding, marries, raises sons and becomes a shepherd.  By nature, his desire to be a savior of his people diminishes; he has lost hope--and he now has other people to think about. 

But then, he encounters in the desert the burning bush.  Out of the bush speaks a Voice:  take off your shoes, for where you stand is holy ground.  And the Voice has a name (as only a Person can):  I am that I am.  (from His Name comes our ability to say "I am;" from His pure Existence comes our existence). 

That Voice, that Name, that Person has a mission and a purpose for Moses.  He will be sent -- as only a Person can send -- back to Egypt, because Yahweh  -- not simply "El" (God), but God-Who-Has-A-Name)--- has "heard the cries of His people in slavery" and is responding to those cries.  Moses is reluctant; he has no confidence in himself at all to do such a thing.  How will this mission possibly succeed?  He is still on Pharoah's most-wanted list.  "Please, please, send someone else," he says; "I cannot even speak rightly." (It is believed that Moses, like King George, stuttered, especially under pressure.) 

"How can this be?"  Moses wants to know.  "Why would my people even believe me?  Who shall I tell them sent me?"  I Am That I Am has an answer:  I will be with you.

If God is not a Person with a Mind, a Will, and a Heart, then nothing in the Bible can be held as true, for it all rests on His seeking of men, choosing of men, sending of men for a purpose, and equipping of men with His Presence and Power for that purpose.

If God is not a Person, then nothing of Jesus makes the least bit of sense.  He is no greater than a Greek philosopher.  And so too, the Apostles and Martyrs were fools, as was Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and all others who believe they have a mission from God.  All of the Old Testament prophets -- among whom the Jews include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- were fools and not to be believed.

Christianity, Judaism, Islam all worship a personal God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Can all of them be so wrong?