“As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?'” (Acts 9:3-5a).

Often times, questions posed by the characters in biblical narratives are aimed at the readers as well (e.g., Mark 4:41). “Who are you Lord?” Several strategic allusions to the story of Israel at Mount Sinai help us form a biblically informed response. A blinding light from heaven flashes around Saul (9:3), his traveling companions hear a voice/sound but do not see anyone (9:7), and Saul goes several days without eating or drinking (9:9). Does any of this sound familiar? It should. When Israel met God at Mount Sinai, fiery light shone from heaven (Deut 4:11), the people with Moses heard a voice/sound but did not see an image (Deut 4:12), and Moses did not eat or drink for forty days and nights (Deut 9:9). “Who are You, Lord?”

Any answer to this question that makes Yeshua anything less than fully God simply misses Luke’s intended meaning in light of the Torah!

“So watch yourselves carefully, since you did not see any form on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire” (Deut 4:15).