Bibledoorajar: Fighting Technique

     The Bible says that Amalek picked the fight. It was over water that he wanted. Israel had never picked a fight or fought a battle, not in Egypt and not on their journey thus far. But now battle had arrived. Moses commanded that men be selected to fight Amalek. Joshua was to lead. The way to approach the battle was to trust the efforts of Moses and Aaron and Hur who would hold his arms up if he tired. As long as the arms were up, the Israelites would prevail. The Bible says that Amalek was not totally defeated. The Word says that he was discomfited. He was routed and forced to flee by the edge of the sword. Amalek would be a constant source of trouble for generations of Israel, but God made a promise that he would ultimately be defeated.
     Our preacher this morning spoke of the last verses of Romans 11. In that passage, Paul writes that God recognized that ALL men were disobedient, but His plan to save them would bring Him much glory and praise. The Bible says that the flesh picks the fights. Usually when we are feeling blessed and at peace, it attacks us. Galatians 5 says the the flesh lusts after the spirit and the spirit lusts after the flesh. The question becomes which technique will be used to "discomfit" the flesh?  Christ said that He would send a Comforter to help us. He has given us the Word to read and implement in our lives and He, himself, intercedes with groanings that we cannot understand. Isn't it wonderful to know that He is helping our shortsighted pleas to be full and complete? Meanwhile in Heaven, Jesus takes that effort made complete and intercedes as our High Priest before the Father. If we worry that our prayers are heard, we should be assured that this technique works. Grace and mercy will flow to help us because as the song says, standing on the promises cannot fail. This method of resisting evil will put the flesh on the run if that is what we really desire. The challenge for us is to admit we are in the battle and use the edge of our sword (Word of God) and declare that we have every ability to rout the enemy through Christ. He is trustworthy.

O God, our help in ages past,

our hope of years to come, 

Our shelter from the stormy blast. 

And our eternal home!

Isaac Watts

Bibledoorajar: Moses, You, and the Glory of God

     When I was in Graduate School, my class was given an assignment of dissecting an autobiography of an individual in order to try and understand the life dynamics that led that particular person to impact society in the way that he did. It was a fruitful lesson, but fell short in explaining the man's totality of being in his latter days. Here we are today, trying to ferret out some of the things that impacted Moses, but we soon see that the forty years of Moses' life experiences in Midian are not enumerated very much. We know he worked as a shepherd, an occupation not well respected by many. We know that he married and lived among his wife's people. We know that life was pretty ordinary compared to that of the Egyptian palace from whence he came.
     So "average" was his existence that the reader wonders just how God would empower him to do what he must in the courts of Egypt. But there on the desert floor, we are made to understand. Moses would find himself in the presence of the Shekinah glory of God. He looked afar and saw a thorny bush burning. The interesting thing was that it was not being consumed. The fire did not go out.
He was compelled to go nearer; he was compelled to know more.
     It seems that for any of us, Moses, me, you, who want to serve our Lord, we must first find ourselves in the presence of the Shekinah--the glory of God. From this perspective--all of Him and none of us--do we find the empowerment to do what we are called to do. Just as the thorny bush did not go out, the crown of thorns does not diminish in our lives. We have been redeemed and empowered by Everlasting Grace. And so we sing...

            "Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
           Anywhere He leads me in this world below...."
                                                             Jessie Pounds

Later, a chocolate heiress, Helen Cadbury, would forsake her fortune and become a humble servant of God. She wrote this verse to the hymn:

            "Anywhere with Jesus,
             Over land and sea,
            Telling souls in darkness of salvation free;
            Ready as He summons me to go or stay,
            Anywhere with Jesus when He points the way,"

And so it is, for those who have confronted the Shekinah---the thrice Holy God.

Bibledoorajar Speaks of Faith's Direction

     During the past week, I have been helping my eleven year old great niece think through her speech topic for the  Leadership Training conference coming soon in Dallas. The topic the participants were given was "Give It Up" based on the passage in  Luke 14: 33 in which Jesus details the kind of disciple He desires. As she developed her speech she focused on making decisions that would be in God's will and that would bring glory to Him. What if she had to select one activity over another? How would her faith and her walk with God be involved? Which way would bring glory to God?
      In the story of Moses, we are reminded of how God is involved in matters and of how the way we attempt to handle something may have to be "adjusted".  The book of Hebrews says that Moses accepted his fate with the Hebrews by faith. But faith in God got adjusted when he chose to take matters into his own hands. God had to act to protect His own glory and He did this by allowing not only the Egyptians to know that Moses had gone about suffering with the people the wrong way. but  also the Hebrews. 
    This brings up the difficulty Christians sometimes have of choosing the best route: waiting on God in faith. Waiting on God is hard sometimes. Especially if it becomes apparent that you are not going to get to do something for Him or His kingdom in the way you thought it would happen. Once Moses became aware that everyone knew what he had done he fled. We get to see just where God took him to wait and just how long it would be before God would be ready for Moses to take action in the way that God wanted it done. God's action would not involve murders or assassinations, but the people would go free in a way that they nor the Egyptians would ever forget.
     Faith's direction often involves waiting to see just what God needs from us and just when will that be. The human tendency is to think that time has past, but rather it may be to our advantage to wait for time that is right. Only God knows how to develop the servant that He desires. What is the servant willing to give up? There is probably not anything more fulfilling than waiting to see how God will work something out in our behalf but allowing time after time to pass is sometimes hard. We have a tendency to think that nothing is happening; we are doing nothing for God. But faith's direction is often quiet and internal. And then, just when unexpected, faith presents the opportunity for service and we can accomplish something that brings glory to God.

bibledoorajar Deborah con't

Last week we spoke a bit about Deborah's role as wife, mother and the 4th judge of Israel. Before we continue the story of this amazing woman, let's first look at the detail God took in forming the nation she proudly served. Moses outlined this in Deut. 4:33. Moses wanted the people to know how special they were to God. He pointed out that they heard the voice of their holy God in fire and had not been consumed. No other god had EVER taken for HIMSELF one nation out of another nation as God had done with Israel. The nation had been rescued by 1) miraculous signs and wonders, 2) by war, 3) by God's mighty hand and outstretched arm, and 4) by awesome deeds done by God before the very eyes of the people of Egypt. These comments by Moses well demonstrate the unsurpassed operations of God in calling out Israel as a nation unto Himself. One cannot help but sense the force, the power and the supernatural energy which God employed in this endeavor. This reminds us of the statement, "nothing is impossible with God" and reassures us that by miraculous signs and wonders, by spiritual warfare, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by awesome deeds before the world's very eyes Jesus is taking his kingdom with power ( Matt. 11:12). Moses dealt with God and obediently brought God's desire for Israel to light. Israel was to share the wonder of God with a pagan world. Today, we follow the Pattern Son as He wonderfully brings His church out of the world. As servants we are to shed light on His desires for a world that is just as much in bondage as Israel ever was.
     Moses carefully brought light to God's intentions for Israel. There would be understanding as to how they were to relate to Him and to others. The laws and order that resulted from the Ten Commandments are now known as the Mosaic Covenant. Later, when the Israelites were in Moab (a very carnal gentile nation with a mind set on life in the flesh), God recognized that His own people shared the same carnality as Moab. But He loved His special nation and reestablished His covenant with them. Here are some important parts to this new covenantal statement: 1) even in their sin, they were to be His and were a nation unto Him, 2) they would not always understand everything God was doing and their revelation and understanding would be progressive, 3) The promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be included in their covenant, 4) gentiles would share in the covenant, 5) Israel would be exiled from their country 6) parts of the covenant would remain a mystery of God--secret and known only to Him, 7) Israel would one day return to their land and 8) grace would replace law and God's word would be found in the hearts and minds of His people. Read more about this in Deut. 29 and 30. Before Moses died he blessed the tribes of Israel. Of our heroine's tribe he said:
          "And of Joseph he said...let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the
            head of him that was SEPARATED FROM HIS BRETHREN, His glory is like the....with them
            he shall PUSH the people together to the ends of the earth. And they are the TEN THOU-
            SANDS of Ephraim..." (read in entirety at Deut. 33: 13-17)
How precious indeed is it that our brother who was SEPARATED FROM HIS BRETHREN was glorified by the Father and is now PUSHING the people together to the ends of the earth. Hey, did you think nothing was going on?
     Moses died and the leadership passed to Joshua. He, too, was a great leader and Israel entered a nearly incorruptible period. The great Joshua led the tribes into their promised land, their physical home on earth. For a long time the people were loyal to Joshua and obeyed the law. Joshua challenged every household to do as his was going to do---commit and serve the Lord! The people responded with a loud "we will". God wanted to lead the people through a head/heart relationship with Him. If they trusted Him, He would share His light through their priests and prophets and also in their hearts. But alas, the people could not keep their promise and lawlessness so abounded that it was necessary for God to raise up judges to settle disputes and confront lawlessness. In the next blog we will return to Deborah, the lady  who could speak gently or with a little fire and many would listen and accept her rulings.