Ownership by Gary Rose
The name of GOD naturally occurring on a turtle? What are the odds of this happening? My first thought was that someone carved GOD on the turtle, but the striations around the name occur on other places of the shell so, this could very well be the “real thing”. But then, WHY would God do this, for HE has other ways of declaring himself.
Consider the following Psalm…
Psalm 50 ( World English Bible )
Psa 50:1, A Psalm by Asaph. The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
Psa 50:2, Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
Psa 50:3, Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
Psa 50:4, He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:
Psa 50:5, ”Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
Psa 50:6, The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
Psa 50:7, ”Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
Psa 50:8, I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
Psa 50:9, I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.
Psa 50:10, For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.
There you have it; God declares himself through nature. Look around and see, God is there. Random occurrence could never produce the intricate, intertwining ecosystem of this world, let alone the incredible machine we call a human being. The question still remains- does God sign his name on any of his creation? For the answer, consider the book of Revelation and Jesus’ revelation to the assembly in Philadelphia...
Revelation 3 (WEB)
Rev 3:7, “To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write: “He who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says these things:
Rev 3:8, “I know your works (behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut), that you have a little power, and kept my word, and didn’t deny my name.
Rev 3:9, Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.
Rev 3:10, Because you kept my command to endure, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is to come on the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Rev 3:11, I am coming quickly! Hold firmly that which you have, so that no one takes your crown.
Rev 3:12, He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own new name.
Rev 3:13, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.
He writes HIS name in heaven, on those who overcome evil; as for Earth- Who knows? One thing is sure, Ephesians 1 (WEB) says...
Eph 1:2, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Eph 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;
Eph 1:4, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love;
Eph 1:5, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,
Eph 1:6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved,
Eph 1:7, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Eph 1:8, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
Eph 1:9, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
Eph 1:10, to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him;
Eph 1:11, in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will;
Eph 1:12, to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:
Eph 1:13, in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation,—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Is being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise a name? Good question; I am not sure, but my best guess is an emphatic YES! God will explain everything to us in heaven, but by that time we will all have names identifying who we belong to! Problem solved; wait and see!
