Joel M Bradshaw

23Meanwhile, the officials of the king of Aram advised him, “Their [Israel’s] gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they…

…28The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”–1 Kings 20

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:24-25)

1. God doesn’t have geographic or spacial limits.
2. In Paul’s day, that meant that God didn’t actually need a temple or home.
3. This also means that God doesn’t need us in the same way that we need oxygen or water.
4. In 1 Kings, the Syrians (Arameans) thought that gods were limited by geography and that gave them power based on location.
5. God obviously knew of their beliefs and took special care to prove their theology wrong.
6. Do you ever limit God geographically? I can honestly say that while I am respectful of peoples and cultures, I have never personally prayed to anyone other than the God of the Bible, or thought that God wasn’t present just because I was in another land. And I have visited 5 of the 7 world continents!
7. Do you live as if God needs you? This would start down the path of selfishly making a god of your own image who had needs like you have needs. That kind of god could be manipulated and coerced. That is not the God of the Bible.–JMB