God Has Everything Under His Control

We are watching the destruction and total dismantling of the US Constitution. There is rampant dis-information and junk science calling for Global Warming (which has been disproved, so they now call it Global Climate Change). Daily we hear news regarding the outbreak of terror and calamities happening throughout the earth. Every day we wake up to learn of another disaster. Some observers say we are witnessing the beginnings of World War III. The whole world is trembling right now .

Non-believers are becoming convinced there are no solutions left, that everything is spinning into chaos because there is no “all-seeing governance.” But how are God’s people, who are supposed to know differently, supposed to respond?

Well, the truth is that there is no reason to fear. The Bible reminds us again and again the Lord has everything under control. Nothing happens in the world without his knowledge and governance.

The Psalmist writes, “The kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah declares to the world, “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein” (Isaiah 34:1). He’s saying, “Listen, nations, and give me your ear. I want to tell you something important about the Creator of the world.”

Isaiah states that when God’s indignation is aroused against nations and their armies, it is the Lord himself who delivers them to slaughter. “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance…. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing…. It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers…. To whom then will ye liken me?” (Isaiah 40:15, 17, 22, 25).

Isaiah then speaks to God’s people, who are battered and troubled by world events. He counsels, “Look up to the sky, to the glorious heavens. Behold the millions of stars placed there. Your God created and named every one. Are you not more precious to him than they are? So, fear not.”

We are to know there is a map in heaven, a plan that our Father has outlined for the course of history. And he knows the end from the beginning. As this plan comes to fruition, I believe we are to ask ourselves this question: “Where is the Lord’s eye focused in all this?” God’s eye is not focused on the world’s tin-god dictators or their threats.

Scripture assures us these wild men’s bombs, armies and powers are as nothing to the Lord. He laughs at them as mere specks of dust, and soon he will blow them all away (see Isaiah 40:23-24).

 

Putting our need for Obedience straight . . .

As long as Sha’ul lived there was bitter war against the P’lishtim. Whenever Sha’ul saw any strong or courageous man, he recruited him into his service —I Samuel 14:52

Lately I’ve been going through each book of the Old Testament and while studing I Samuel I reached one of my more favorite chapters, chapter 14, The final verse  reminded me that the defeat of the Philistine garrison at Mikhmas in no way equated to the subduing of the Philistines in general. Despite the several military activities and victories of King Saul, the Philistines remained intact and a constant source of trouble for Israel. I can do no better than to quote Dr. David Tsumura about where things stood with Saul as a transition from 1^st Samuel chapter 14 to chapter 15:

“Humanly speaking Saul continued to make progress in strengthening Israel’s military power and administration. His drastic failure will come not from his mishandling of the people or his enemies, but from his neglect and disobedience to God’s Word.”

It was this neglect and disobedience to Israel’s God by Israel’s king that not only eventually proved to be fatal for King Saul and his sons, but also allowed Israel’s enemies to survive and fight another day as a never ending source of oppression and trouble for God’s people.

It’s a lesson that while preached and recorded and commented on in history books, and lamented especially by the elderly of every generation the lesson goes on ignored.

It’s a lesson that modern day Israel refuses to acknowledge and makes the same mistakes that their ancestors made. The Lord says not to tolerate shrines to pagan gods in their midst, and Israel is full of them. The Lord says to drive out God’s enemies from the land, and instead Israel tries to make peace with them. The Lord says never to give away any piece of the Kingdom of God, and Israel only negotiates how little or much they must give away to attain respect and friendship with the world.

It’s a lesson that our precious Church, itself a gift left by our Messiah, fails to grasp. A lesson that says that obedience is the only acceptable demonstration of love to God that humans have been given. And yet false doctrines have arisen that irrationally proclaim that Christian obedience to God’s Word is legalism and that obedience isn’t only a thing of the past but something to be shunned. Since Messiah’s advent we are to primarily demonstrate love of God in the form of affection and feelings of warmth towards Him and our fellow man.

Our Christian leadership often has no fear of creating self-serving doctrines and then attaching the Lord’s name to them. On the other hand the modern Christian congregation feels no obligation to seriously examine God’s Word and compare it to our leaders’ proclamations; we assume that if a man of the cloth says it, we have no obligation to do anything but to believe it and accept it as truth. That if we are given false information and we decide to live by it, that it’s his sin and not ours. The he will bear the consequences, not us.

It is a lesson that says that while we might wish we could separate ourselves and our fate from our leadership, things just don’t (and never have) worked that way. The Lord indeed bestows His redemption on us, individual by individual, as He deems it appropriate. But almost all else in this world is interconnected. The most despotic tyrants this earth has ever known, even those loathed by his own people, will in time drag his nation down with him. It is the fear of that leader that usually keeps the people from taking courageous action, preferring instead to hope that “something” (whatever that is) will happen that will remove him and save them. But in the end it’s the people who are held accountable before God for their inaction in the same way that the leader is held accountable before God for his actions.

I wonder how much more will a free nation of citizens who are given the privilege of selecting our leaders peacefully, and removing them peacefully if need be, are held accountable by our Lord for our apathy, inaction, and poor judgment. I think we tend to look at a godless nation like Russia and wonder how great God’s wrath will be on them; but in fact they don’t actually have the freedom to choose at all and are persecuted mercilessly if they look to God for wisdom. Yet those of us in the West turn around and, like King Saul, first of all absolve ourselves from the terrible and godless decisions of our leaders who we chose and aren’t obligated to keep. We who have full liberty to discover the principles of the Word of God and to live in harmony with those principles usually prefer to just put on some blinders, live our private lives, gripe a little bit, wring our hands, and compromise.  I believe that our sin is greater and our consequences will be greater, and I think our present circumstances are but the harbinger of God’s disgust with us. It’s a familiar picture; one we’ve been reading about for months and months.

 

The Simplicity of it all . . .

There’s not much that irritates me more than to hear a Believer (or worse a Christian leader) say that grace didn’t exist until the New Testament era. That statement is either one of utter ignorance of the Scriptures or is itself an act of purposeful blindness or rebellion meant only to fulfill a manmade denominational doctrine.

If what we are reading right now isn’t about divine grace, then grace doesn’t exist at all. And by the way, grace goes back to Creation, and we can read about the Lord bestowing His grace when human merit was nowhere to be found, over and over in the Torah. By God’s grace Israel is always forgiven for its continual affront to God. And all He requires is for them to reestablish their trust and faith in Him and to demonstrate their sincerity through their obedience to Him. And how is this obedience demonstrated? By scrupulously following His ways, as defined and already established in His Torah. It’s there for us to read and examine to this very day. Their circumstances wouldn’t change, but they could set their hearts on God and be faithful even within these circumstances.

I the 12^th chapter of I Samuel, we see the second part of God’s (and Samuel’s) concern expressed beginning in the 21^st verse. If Israel is convinced they are doomed and with no hope, they will seek to replace Yehoveh with the false gods of the region, which amounts to placing their hopes in nothing. And on the other hand if they want to stick to God Almighty, in their great desire to show repentance and sincerity they might be tempted to do all sorts of whacky, hollow, and meaningless things that accomplish absolutely nothing. Things that don’t add to their righteousness, don’t atone, and aren’t at all demanded by God. And the effect of either of those two bad choices is to wind up even further from the Lord, offending Him even more. And yet, these two choices are probably the most common ones that Believers choose when we have sinned and our guilt has overwhelmed us.

God merely says, “Come home.” Grace. Come home, the door’s open. But you must come home on God’s terms, not yours. God’s terms seem too easy so they don’t satisfy our human desire to do something big! God’s terms are the terms that have always been, but we want to do something new and spectacular. Sell our house and drop $100,000 in the collection plate. Shave our heads, put on an itchy brown burlap robe and check in to a Monastery. Pray 12 hours a day. I’ve known of people who have quit their job, left their family behind and penniless, and go on a mission trip, the whole time thinking they are doing a righteous thing that will show the Lord just how serious they are about wanting to please Him.

Folks, it’s this same kind of misguided mentality that has kept millions (maybe billions) of men and women from coming to Messiah; the New Testament calls it The Stumbling Block. It is that faith, trust, and love of God (through Yeshua) are the only requirements for redemption. Anything we try to add to it only demeans it. However for the bulk of mankind, faith is just too easy and it doesn’t satisfy our want to do something that makes us feel as though we’ve merited our salvation through deeds and expressions of worthiness. Samuel knew His people well and that they would immediately begin to think of countless actions to work their way back into God’s good graces, none of which had any value to Yehoveh whatsoever. And you know what? Those ways were bound to look suspiciously like the ways their pagan neighbors would attempt to get back into the good graces of one their gods that they thought they had offended.

So there’s the good news: God is going to conditionally forgive Israel for rejecting Him and choosing a human king to rule over them. But there’s also another piece of information supplied that although not new is humbling all over again. Verse 22 says, “For the sake of His great reputation He will not abandon His people.” Sometimes it’s implied by theologians that all that God does is for our benefit; not true. The protection of His Holiness and Holy Name easily outweigh our needs and well being. His concern is less for the people of Israel (who have knowingly and purposefully violated the covenant and if not for His decision to offer grace are done for); but it’s to uphold His Holy Name. In fact, Samuel will continue to intercede on Israel’s behalf not so much for Israel’s sake, as for the sake of God’s reputation.

So in verse 23 Samuel reiterates that he will continue to be an intercessor for Israel because to do otherwise would be a sin added to his account. This is just another way of saying, “I’m not going to intercede for you because you deserve it. I’m going to intercede for you because that’s the assignment God gave to me and for me to not do it would  be my sin.” Charles Spurgeon once said, “If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” Keith Green said, “I’d rather have people hate me with the knowledge that I tried to save them.” God told Jeremiah, “You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you” (Jeremiah 1:7) and Ezekiel, “If you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood” (Ezekiel 3:18)

Leaders (especially of congregations), I am speaking specifically to you now so please hear this: when your people speak against you, show you disrespect or ingratitude, gripe and are never satisfied, you are not given permission by God to abandon your post. When the people you have taught, cried with, loved, cared for, and served for years hurt you or demand more than you can possibly give, you must not stop striving to lead them in the ways of righteousness. You must persevere all the more because obviously your people need it all the more.

Easy? Hardly. But perhaps you can look at things another way. If you don’t see the people reciprocating in an appropriate way to your dedication to them, maybe you can see that for God’s unfathomable reasons it remains your holy job to teach them the ways of the Lord and to care for them on behalf of our Savior. And it would be sinful to do otherwise.

 

Saul and Jonathan

I have been spending my spare time writing a study of I Samuel. Chapter 14 is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible (notice I said “one of my favorites” not my favorite. Romans Chapter 8 would probably be my favorite). But I Samuel Chapter 14 introduces us to Jonathan, Saul’s son, and it demonstrates some interesting things about him (and his father). Chapter 14 continues a time when the Philistines were hassling the Hebrews, again. and verses 6-16 says that Jonathan looked at his armor bearer and said, “Hey lets see what God can do. Naturally the Lord is going to win the battle, whether by many or a few. Hey, just for fun, let’s see if He does it by a few—like two?” It reminds me of David’s encounter with Goliath when I read about Jonathan’s faith and certainty that if the Lord wants Israel delivered it doesn’t matter whether it’s accomplished by 2 men, or 2,000.  Numbers don’t matter. Y’honatan and his servant (called here an armor bearer) would see how the Philistines responded to their provocation. If the Philistine soldiers say, “Stay there until we come down to you,” then that’s what they’ll do. If they say, “come up towards us,” then this will be a sign from God and go up to them.

Now I have to tell you, if we were there at the time I’m not sure how many of us would have regarded Jonathan’s plan as good and commendable faith, or a suicidal and brash attempt to test God by a couple of guys suffering from a testosterone rush. But me? I love men of courage and boldness. It’s infectious and encouraging. And the armor bearer seems to be either merely faithful to his leader or a man of courage, as well, because he didn’t ask for an immediate transfer. However, there is a lesson for us all about how the Lord makes use of those who inhabit His Kingdom and trust Him in all things. In many ways Jonathan was just like his father, Saul: impetuous, kind of a show-off, hot-tempered, and rash. Yet the difference is that Jonathan was as unselfish as Saul was selfish, and as noble as Saul was base. Jonathan was as determined in his faith and belief in God’s power and wisdom and ability to deliver as Saul was determined that he would manipulate the Lord for his own purposes and risk nothing.

We see how two men of essentially the same temperament and personality can at the same time be so opposite in their natures. Saul was being used by the Lord to show us everything that a leader in the Kingdom of God should not be; and Jonathan was a demonstration of what can happen when a person focuses on God and not his circumstances. King Saul was led by his own lusts, desires, and inner demons. Jonathan was led by the Holy Spirit. And despite the deep faults and troublesome personality traits that characterized them both, their destinies were night and day apart due to a single all-encompassing personal choice that each had made at some point in their lives: would they or would they not obey the Lord at all costs.

 

Desperation

^40-42On his return, Jesus was welcomed by a crowd. They were all there expecting him. A man came up, Jairus by name. He was president of the meeting place. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his home because his twelve-year-old daughter, his only child, was dying. Jesus went with him, making his way through the pushing, jostling crowd . . .

⁴⁹While he was still talking, someone from the leader’s house came up and told him, “Your daughter died. No need now to bother the Teacher.”

^50-51Jesus overheard and said, “Don’t be upset. Just trust me and everything will be all right.” Going into the house, he wouldn’t let anyone enter with him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s parents.

^52-53Everyone was crying and carrying on over her. Jesus said, “Don’t cry. She didn’t die; she’s sleeping.” They laughed at him. They knew she was dead.

^54-56Then Jesus, gripping her hand, called, “My dear child, get up.” She was up in an instant, up and breathing again! He told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were ecstatic, but Jesus warned them to keep quiet. “Don’t tell a soul what happened in this room.” –Luke 8:40-42, 49-56

I love this story. When Jesus returned from across the lake, there was a large crowd greeting him. In fact, verse 40 says they were all expecting him . . . That’s great! We should live our lives in expectancy! But then the next verse introduces us to someone who didn’t come to welcome him, he came desparate for Jesus. Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue–a big-shot–but none of that mattered, he came to see Jesus out of his need and desparation. His daughter was dying and he threw himself at Jesus’ feet pleading for her life.

Jim Cymbala, in his book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, wrote, “I discovered an astonishing truth: God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him.” This certainly described Jairus. He even reminds me of the centurion in Luke 7. He seemed to understand the concept of authority because of his own authoritative position. He seemed to understand that one ruler existed before whom all others should bow, even if one of those “others” was a ruler of the synagogue.

Go ask any parent what happens when one of their children was sick or in some kind of serious danger or distress, what they do. They would probably tell you they can hardly focus on anything else. This was certainly the case with Jairus. Jesus was his last hope. Who else could heal his little girl from death?

Who do you know who is on their hope? Think of these people and keep them in your your prayers, because Jesus is there for the desparate. He specializes i the hopeless. Every time you think of your friends who are suffering, think of Jesus, who know the path through dire need.

Pray for those who would say with David, “God, deliver me. Hurry to help me, Lord. I am afflicted and needy; hurry to me, God. You are my help and my deliverer, Lord, do not delay. (Psalm 70:1, 5). Bring them before your Lord by name and need . . .

(adapted from Jesus: 90 Days With The One and Only, by Beth Moore)

 

Power and Compassion

“Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way” (Matthew 15:32).

I believe Christ was making a statement to his disciples here. He was saying, “I’m going to do more for the people than heal them. I’ll make sure they have enough bread to eat.  I’m concerned about everything that affects their lives. You have to see that I am more than just power. I am also compassion. If you see me only as a healer, a miracle worker, you will fear me. But if you also see me as compassionate, you’re going to love and trust me.”

I am writing this message for all who are on the brink of exhaustion, about to faint, overwhelmed by your present situation. You’ve been a faithful servant, feeding others, confident that God can do the impossible for his people. Yet you have some lingering doubts about his willingness to intervene in your struggle.

I wonder how many readers of this message have spoken words of faith and hope to others who are facing distressing, seemingly hopeless situations? You have urged them, “Hold on! The Lord is able. He is a miracle-working God, and his promises are true. So, don’t lose hope, because he’s going to answer your cry.”

“Do you really believe in miracles?” That’s the question the Holy Spirit asked of me.  My answer was, “Yes, of course, Lord. I believe in every miracle I’ve read about in Scripture.” Yet this answer is not good enough. The Lord’s question to each one of us really is, “Do you believe I can work a miracle for you?” And not just one miracle, but a miracle for every crisis, every situation we face. We need more than Old Testament miracles, New Testament miracles, and by-gone miracles in history. We need up-to-date, personal miracles that are designed just for us and our situation.

Think of the one difficulty you’re facing right now, your greatest need, your most troubling problem. You’ve prayed about it for so long. Do you really believe the Lord can and will work it out, in ways you can’t conceive? That kind of faith commands the heart to quit fretting or asking questions. It tells you to rest in the Father’s care, trusting him to do it all in his way and time.

 

Looking at the New in the Old . . .

I want you to see something that may greatly surprise you . . . Read 1^st Samuel 10:6:

“the Spirit of ADONAI will fall on you; you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man!

What? It says that after the Holy Spirit falls on Saul, he will prophesy, and then he will be turned into a new man! You’ve got to be kidding me? Doesn’t that sound like Pentecost, to you?

Oh but it gets better; verse 7 says that once all these signs have come over Saul he is to go ahead and do whatever he feels led to do because God is with him. Actually, more literally, this is saying that Saul is to “do what your hand finds.” Compare this with the prophet Nathan’s answer to King David in I Chronicles 7:3 where he says, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for Yehoveh is with you.” They are told to surrender themselves to the divine impulse, with the assurance that if it is of God, He is with you and is directing your movements. And somehow this is in co-operation with your own mind and free will. Isn’t this exactly what a Christian today would call being led by the Holy Spirit?

Folks, it’s all about patterns; God patterns. Our understanding of God and of His Word isn’t predicated on searching His Word for “why,” but on “which pattern.” The New Testament didn’t establish any new patterns; they simply fulfilled and continued on the patterns that were established earlier. When we toss aside the Old Testament, then we toss aside the establishment of all the patterns of God and we can’t recognize them in the New Testament. The result is that we come up with some wild and off-the-mark explanations. Right here we see in the Old Testament a pattern established that will be seen again (and God’s people are supposed to recognize it) in the New Testament. That pattern will be followed both by Messiah Yeshua and by His followers.

If you continued on to verse 9, you would read that as soon as Sha’ul was anointed with oil (symbolic of the coming of the Holy Spirit), God gave him a new heart! Whoa! It’s almost as if we’ve traveled through a time tunnel from 1020 BC to 30 AD! Every Christian knows that once there is a sincere profession of faith in Jesus Christ we are considered as a new man with a new heart. What does it mean that Saul became a new man and got a new heart? It means that Yehoveh so affected Saul’s inmost being that he became as a new person with a new understanding. Saul began to feel differently, having deeper emotions; he began to think differently.

When Sha’ul arrived at the place called the Hill of God (Giv’ah elohim) and found the group of prophets (that Samuel told him about) the Spirit of God descended on him and he began to prophesy just like these prophets. When a group of people who had known Sha’ul for several years witnessed this happening, they were stunned and confused. Everyone knew that Sha’ul didn’t come from a line of Prophets, and he was never declared a Prophet. He wasn’t trained in these things, he was just an ordinary man, so how could he possibly know what he seems to know and speak this way?

The festival of Shavu‘ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from the sky like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. They were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

Now there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the believers speaking in his own language.

Totally amazed, they asked, “How is this possible? Aren’t all these people who are speaking from the Galil? How is it that we hear them speaking in our native languages? We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Y’hudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome; Jews by birth and proselytes; Jews from Crete and from Arabia…! How is it that we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?” Amazed and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?” But others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!” —Acts 2:1-13

The Holy Spirit acting on men with such profound effect that it made them speak in ways that didn’t seem possible, or to see things they couldn’t possibly see, certainly happened in the New Testament, but it also happened centuries earlier in the Old Testament era.

 

Christians vs. Legalism

In the 9^th chapter of I Samuel you will see how Sha’ul was chosen to become (what’s usually called) the first King of Israel. However, in the Lord’s eyes, Saul wasn’t Israel’s first king; Saul was going to be Israel’s first human king. Yehoveh was Israel’s king from the moment He redeemed them from Egypt and not in a merely ethereal or idealized sense, but in a fully legal sense. So in chapter 9 the Lord (through Samuel) told the leaders of Israel who were demanding a governmental change from a system of Judges to a monarchy modeled after their gentile neighbors, that they were essentially establishing a new legal arrangement and that this legal arrangement would be between Israel and the human king that they demanded. This issue of divine legality is a core issue in the Bible, Old and New Testament, and one that few Christians are particularly familiar or comfortable with.

The 10th chapter drags you (somewhat unexpectedly) into several deep spiritual issues some of which may sound (on the surface) like a review; however it’s going to be more of an expansion or maybe even an unveiling of sorts. Interestingly, Christians tend to tune out and have a knee-jerk ho-hum attitude when you start to discuss the biblical legal codes. It’s the modern-day Believer’s mantra that we avoid the dreaded “legalism” that’s the Church’s chief historical bogyman. At the same time what the Church typically doesn’t realize is that our own Salvation is totally dependent on the biblical legal code because it is the fulfillment of these legalities by Yeshua that qualified Him to be our Messiah and Redeemer. Let’s start by addressing this broad issue of law and the biblical legal code by remembering something that Jesus said:

“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill —Matthew 5:17

Our Savior says two very important things in this single verse that are central to our study (and also especially to any New Testament study). First He says that He did not come to abolish the Law (meaning the legal section of the Torah that Jews often call the Law of Moses), nor did He come to abolish the Prophets (meaning He didn’t come to discard or change what Yehoveh proclaimed would eventually occur regarding Israel’s future and mankind’s redemptive history). Second, He repeats (for emphasis, apparently) that while His purpose and mission isn’t to abolish, His purpose is to fulfill the biblical legal code as well as the many ancient prophecies of Scripture (especially as pertains to Him).

Many, many times I’ve talked about this passage (and the next three verses that further cement what I’m about to tell you). I’ve explained to you that the sense of the word “fulfill” is not to “end” something (not to eradicate or stop something), which is the way we typically and erroneously explain what most denominations offer. Let me quote for you Webster’s New World College Dictionary as to the meaning of the word “fulfill.” 1) To carry out something that has been promised. 2) To obey. 3) To fill all the requirements. 4) To satisfy all the conditions. All four of these various definitions of “fulfill” are generally in line with what the Greek word that’s being translated (pleroo) intended. A 5^th definition is offered and it’s to “complete or end” in the sense of finish writing a term paper, or deciding that your family is large enough so won’t have any more children. If you complete a term paper and turn it in, you haven’t abolished your term paper or the requirement to have one. The arrival of the last child you intend on having (or “completing your family”) certainly doesn’t mean that you have abolished your older children or discarded them in favor of something or someone else.

So just as He so plainly said, Christ didn’t end the biblical legal code; He obeyed it. Yeshua didn’t erase and discard the Laws of Moses; He carried them out to their ultimate purpose and accomplished every requirement. So was Jesus a legalist? Should we accuse Messiah Yeshua, His disciples, Paul the Apostle and others of legalism because they continued to obey the Law of Moses? Weren’t they “under grace”? Did the grace offered to them collide with their obedience to the Law? If someone is under grace does this, of necessity, separate a person from the obligation of obedience to God’s laws?

Let me ask you another question: are you committing “legalism” because you obey your community’s posted speed limits? Are you committing legalism because you pay your taxes? Are you a slave to the law because you don’t murder people or steal from them?

Here’s the point: the relationship that all disciples of Yeshua have with God is absolutely the result of Yehoveh’s laws that are written down in His covenants. At Mt. Sinai the God of Israel established the basis of any relationship we might hope to have with Him, and it includes laws and a justice system that enforces those laws. God established and maintains a legal relationship with the people He redeemed, Israel. And that legal relationship continues with everyone who is spiritually grafted-in to Israel: the Church.

Of course what entitles us and obligates us to that legal relationship between God and every member of His Kingdom is our faith and trust in His Son, the Messiah Yeshua. And ironically the legal relationship is formed from a mutual love between God and us, His worshippers. I didn‘t say that Salvation comes to us by following God’s Laws. Under-line that; write over it with a yellow hi-liter. What I am saying is that the legitimacy of Our Savior, Yeshua, indeed was established by His faithfulness to God’s Laws and bringing about what the Prophets foretold.

Let me illustrate another aspect of how it is that as Believers we have agreed to subject ourselves to a way of righteous living that is defined by and expressed in God’s laws and ordinances. As an American citizen living in whatever State you live in, do you have a legal relationship with England? No you don’t, but if you go there, you will be subject to some of their laws. If you voluntarily become an English citizen (even a dual citizen of the United States and England) then you have established a legal relationship with England and are now subject to all of their laws. You will receive the benefits of that legal system as well as the consequences of violating its laws.

Yeshua is Our Messiah because He met all the biblical legal requirements. That is, He didn’t sin. What is sin? Breaking God’s legal code. Does obeying all of our American laws make you or keep you a citizen? No. Neither does obeying all of God’s laws make you or keep you a citizen of Heaven. But, there are varying degrees of consequences when you don’t obey God’s laws. Generally speaking God’s grace offered through trust in Jesus mitigates those penalties so that we’re not eternally destroyed.

Now, from a legal standpoint, God has made it clear that He is king over those who He has redeemed. In turn, Israel agreed that God was their king. So those who are redeemed are subject to the laws set down by the king.

 

The Philistines, The Ark of the Covenant and all Believers

I was reading the even told I Samuel where the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant. Now there’s no doubt the Philistines had confiscated many idols or sacred artifacts from an enemy they conquered and brought it home to set in submission to its own gods whom they were sure weren’t only superior, but also provided them with their victory; but this time something was going terribly wrong.

What happened is that in the 5^th Chapter, the foolish and apostate leadership of Israel, secular and priestly, had (without consulting the Lord) decided to take on the Philistines in battle and were soundly thumped, losing 4000 soldiers. Figuring they could reverse their fortunes and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a more direct route by involving their Israelite God, Yehoveh, they ordered the Ark of the Covenant be brought to the site of the battle. The presence of the Ark brought shouts of joy from the worried Israelite soldiers and moans of doom from the formerly confident Philistines who figured that with the unexpected arrival of the God of Israel the battle was as good as won for the Hebrews. They were all proved to be wrong.

Now there’s something that has really been bugging me about this story (and others like it). I’ve been wondering how the Philistines were able to handle the Ark of the Covenant and not be instantly killed by God. The reason this bug me is because in Leviticus, Israel is told that only a certain clan of Levites is authorized to carry the Ark and only certain Priests are authorized to pack and unpack the Ark. Otherwise the violator will be instantly struck down dead and of course in a later story concerning the Ark and King David, that’s exactly what happens. So how were the Philistines able to handle it and live?

It took a little digging (and much praying) for me to understand it, but what I discovered is an important God-principle that every Christian must understand. And that is that only those who are joined to Israel’s covenants are subject to the terms of those covenants. In other words, the curses and the blessings that come with our membership in the Kingdom of God are only for the members of God’s Kingdom and not for outsiders. Huh? That’s right. The relationship between Yehoveh and His people is established through His covenants; for those who have never signed on to those covenants, have no relationship with the Lord and as a result, the terms of those covenants (both positive and negative terms) don’t apply to them.

Now this might rattle your cage a bit, but here’s one of the greatest of all Biblical principles: God’s Laws are only for God’s elect. There is (generally speaking) no requirement for a pagan to live by the 10 Commandments. There is no requirement (and no outstanding penalty) for the heathen to avoid worshipping the heavenly bodies; in fact, the Bible makes it clear that the Lord put those lights in the sky for that purpose. As I’ve said many times, the Torah, the Law, Jesus Christ (and all the covenants of God with humans) are only for those who He has covenanted with. And the only people He has ever created a covenant with were the Hebrews. However, and this is important, He did make provision that any gentile (foreigners, ger) who wanted to join themselves to Israel’s covenants made with Israel’s God would be accepted into the Kingdom of God. The invitation has always been made, but until a person was willing to submit themselves to Yehoveh, they weren’t subject to the demands of that Covenant. Now, until Yeshua came, that joining had to be a physical commitment which was usually accompanied with a pledge of national allegiance to Israel, even involving circumcision if the foreign convert was a male. But ever since Messiah arrived and was crucified and then arose, the joining with Israel’s covenants by an outsider is a better joining, a spiritual joining, by means of faith in the Jewish Messiah (Yeshua of Nazareth).

Yes! Without a doubt there is a universal curse placed on all mankind that has nothing to do with any covenant: Jesus admitted that He didn’t come into the world to judge it. Why? Because it has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son (John 3:18). The curse of physical death is due to mankind’s inherent sin nature as originally caused by our common father Adam. That’s something every man shares without exception. But, when it comes to eternity and spiritual death, there is only one way out, and that is by means of God’s covenants.

You know: a non-Believer isn’t automatically plagued by the Lord of all of his or her days. A pagan isn’t automatically assumed to expect a worse earthly future than a worshipper of the God of Israel. The rain falls on the wicked and the good. There is no earthly penalty per se for remaining a pagan . . . except first, your spiritual destiny is one of assured destruction and secondly, you will have no relationship with the Godhead and you won’t be eligible for the special blessings, comfort, direction, protection, and wisdom that such an invaluable relationship brings with it.

The Philistines by definition were pagans and not party to God’s covenants with Israel. They weren’t among those who were prohibited on pain of death from touching or looking at the Ark; but the Israelites were. The Philistines weren’t subject to the curses and penalties God ordained for violators of His Law. Why? Because they had never agreed to abide by His Torah. In fact, when the Philistines returned the Ark, it wasn’t a requirement of God or the result of any commandment of God; it was simply an intelligent and pragmatic choice to end God’s oppression on them.

Believers, worshippers of Yehoveh, hear me: you have been joined to God’s covenants with Israel (even if you never realized it) so you do have obligations to the Lord. If you begin to be disobedient and it’s causing harm to yourself or your relationship with God, you will be divinely disciplined (partly to try to get you back on track) because you’re violating the covenant you signed on to. You will suffer consequences for violating His Law, because violating His Law was, is, and will always be called “sin.” What else is a sin than violating God’s commands? Now as Believers, you and I have the benefit of having a Messiah who pays the price for our violations of God’s commands, but that doesn’t mean it has no effect on us. The point is that a penalty is always due (and is always extracted) when a Believer trespasses (sins) against God; it’s just that Yeshua takes our stripes instead of us so many times we don’t even feel it.

 

Communion With Christ (pt 1): The Indwelling Spirit

IN THE beginning before all time was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.

In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it through him. He was not the Light himself, but came that he might bear witness regarding the Light. There it was–the true Light was then coming into the world the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light that illumines every person.

He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which belonged to Him, and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him.

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority and privilege to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in His name–who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh nor to the will of man that of a natural father, but to God. They are born of God! —John 1:1-13

Many of us are trying to maintain unbroken communion with God, but how do we do that? That one question is probably one of the greatest in our hearts, because the new spiritual life we receive the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Savior can only be sustained by constant fellowship with Him and our Father (who is its source)—just like in our physical life we need to breathe again and again to continue living, right?

My first granddaughter was born recently which got me thinking again. I remember when our children were born I was amazed at how much they needed to learn just to grow; but one thing, above everything else, it has to breathe! Well, as new Christians, we have a whole bunch we need to learn and experience, and the Lord spends a lot to do in training us, but above everything else, we also have to breathe—breathe in new life day-by-day in communion with Him, and He will lead us on as we are able to endure.

The dictionary defines communion as “discourse, interchange of thought,” and describes communion as the act of “consulting, conversing, or talking with someone else.” Well, that’s what communion with God means—a ceaseless “consulting” with Him; a blessed conversation over every problem, concern and difficulty—and every joy and pleasure. A sharing of “one-on-one.”

Amos wrote:

“Do two walk together except they make an appointment and have agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where there is no trap for him? Does a trap spring up from the ground when nothing at all has sprung it? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be alarmed and afraid? Shall misfortune or evil occur as punishment and the Lord has not caused it? Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets” —Amos 3:3-7

Look at that. There is a lot to learn in those simple three verses. First, in the 7^th verse we see that God has always warned the world of coming judgments. He warned Noah of the coming flood (Genesis 6:13); Abraham and Lot of the future destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18:17; 19:14); Joseph of the seven-year famine (Gen. 41:30); Moses of the ten plagues on Egypt (Exod. 7:1ff.); Jonah of the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:4); Amos of the downfall of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1 and 2). Various prophets were told in detail about the final events in connection with the captivities of the chosen people, and in every case the warnings were startlingly executed. Jonah announced the destruction of Nineveh, but judgment was postponed following repentance. When later generations of Ninevites backslid and reverted to extreme wickedness, the warning of Nahum was carried out completely against them. Christ’s coming was foretold throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. Equally plain and inevitable of fulfillment are the warnings of Jesus and the prophets concerning the future that each day comes nearer to every nation on earth.

Back in the 3^rd verse, we see that two won’t walk together unless they make an appointment. Well, God made an appointment to meet each sinner at the cross of Calvary, and spiritual communion begins there. In our natural state we are enemies of God, but God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and that peace was made by the blood of the cross of Jesus. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

So it all clear on God’s side, and He issues an appeal to His enemies and makes an appointment to meet them at Calvary—the place of reconciliation.

It’s there—in full sight of that wonderful sacrifice—that He brings us into agreement with Himself. First He shows us our sins nailed to the cross (I Peter 2:24), but our salvation goes a whole bunch further than that. We are spared years of struggle and failure if we simply learn—as the converts did in the days of the Apostles—that we were also put to death in the death of Christ. With our past blotted out, we are accounted crucified with the crucified Lord, and from that point on, we are joined to Him and share His very Life. As Paul said, “it is no longer I who lives, it is Christ who lives . . .” That is indeed salvation! As Conybeare says, “Saved by sharing in His life.” (Romans 5:10).

However, as great as that is, you will never realize and experience it in your own life—in all its depth and meaning—you have to yield completely to God (Romans 6:13). How can we hold back anything for ourselves? How can the Lord Jesus dwell in us, and manifest His own life through us, if we won’t give Him the throne?

Our will is all that we really have to give our Lord. He does all the work, if we will just let Him have absolutely right-of-way—complete surrender—no looking back. The reality is we can neither save ourselves or deliver ourselves from our sins. He has redeemed us, and He will do the work in us we need—if, read that in all caps: IF, we give Him entire control. He simply asks us decisively to take sides with Him against everything in us and in our lives, from which He must set us free.

Well so what do I mean? Let me explain. Paul wrote:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?

What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial the devil? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

What agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. So, come out from among unbelievers, and sever your relationships from them, says the Lord, and touch not any unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, and I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty —II Corinthians 6:14-18

In short, we need to give ourselves irrevocably into His hands so He can make of us whatever He pleases. By His Grace we must resolve to say, “Yes, Lord” to every indication of His will.