“Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the community leaders went to meet them outside the camp. But Moses was angry with the army officers, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds coming in from the battlefield. Moses asked them, ‘You let the women live?’”
Numbers 31:13-15
I was reading over this portion of scripture last night as I was preparing to film another one of my Torah portion videos, and something began to burn inside of me. I have read this passage before, so it wasn’t like this was my first time in reading it, but there was a different feeling this time. I noticed as I then began my small budget filming, which is no more than me talking into a cheap video camera, that I was getting mad on the inside. I was beginning to have a revelation right as I was speaking. I was beginning to feel a holy hatred suddenly.
Perhaps a little background is needed here. In the few chapters prior to this verse we read of the account of Phinehas (Num 25). It was he who took a spear and drove it into the stomach of an Israeli man and Midianite woman, thus breaking the curse that God was pouring out. God then honored him because he had zeal enough to stop the interbreeding of God’s people with those God never intended for His people to mix with. Why? Because the Midianites represented sin. Their ways were not the ways of the one true God.
It is in Numbers 31 that God said to Moses that the army of Israel was to take vengeance on this people. With this direction, Moses sent the army out and they killed the kings of Midian. However, just as King Saul did in his time with the Amalakites by reserving life for the ones he chose despite what God had ordered (I Sam 15), so the people of Israel did here. When Moses went to meet up with the army, he found the women and children spared. The command of God was to kill all, not to spare. This disobedience angered Moses and he questioned, “You let the women live? Why, these are the ones who – because of Balaam’s advice – caused the people of Israel to rebel, breaking faith with God in the Peor incident, so that the plague broke out among God’s community.”
The account continues, but I must stop because I feel so strongly the point that is being made in this account. It is the same holy vengeance that rises in me when I read of Saul in I Samuel 15. God expects to be obeyed. He doesn’t counsel us just because, but because there is purpose. He directs us so that sin is kept from our camp. But in letting these women and children survive, Israel was giving themselves the chance to be swayed again. These people, these Midian’s, did not worship God. They worshiped foreign gods, and they swayed the men of before in disrespecting God along with them and serving idols.
This anger rises in me as I read this account because I know of too many who have done the same. God has commanded they split from this evil, yet they stay connected, they keep a portion back, and they leave the door open. But I cannot help but wonder if this anger rises in me because I see it in myself. Am I too holding back a portion that God has repeatedly told me to get rid of? Am I, in essence, letting the women live when God has commanded to kill everything? Brothers and sisters, we have to kill the women. And no I am not speaking of our physical woman, but of our sin. She, sin, must die as God has commanded. Let us then be obedient to kill what God tells us to kill, to close the door that God commands us to close. If we fail, we leave ourselves open only to another plague.
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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
GOD'S GOT YOUR BACK
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:14
A few days back I was chatting on two different occasions with friends on Facebook. In one instance as I was reading the words typed, I began to feel as though God was saying to her that He was going to work things out concerning her employment. In the other instance, as we were going back and forth, I literally had the pages of my Bible blow and land on I John 5:18. This would not have been so strange except for the fact that there was no wind blowing in the stagnant office. But what was it about this verse God was speaking? Perhaps the part that reads, “…the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”
I honestly began to think to myself, as I later shared with my wife, that maybe God was not only using me to encourage these ladies in their trials, but perhaps He was also working to encourage me in mine. As I am sure you have felt at times also, life is hard. Truth be told, the enemy is constantly working to pound us down. Remember that game Whack-A-Mole? There are days when I literally feel like I am the mole that the enemy continues to hit and keep down. But despite what the enemy does, there is one key we must remember. That key is that the Lord fights for us.
We see this truth in I John 5:18, where we are told we are kept safe and the enemy cannot harm us. We see this truth in Romans 8:31, where we read that if God is for us, who can be against us. And we see this truth in Exodus 14:14, where when standing on the banks of the Red Sea, with Egypt ready to pounce, God delivers the Israelites. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” But what I love about this Exodus scripture is that it defines me. Why did God tell them to be still? He told them to be still because like me, they were running around in fret of what they were going to do. They could do nothing. They could not escape. And they could not redeem themselves. So because of this God told them to be still and watch His hand fight for them.
I am a numbers guy, and outside of history, math was my next best subject in school. Maybe it is for this reason that I find the next bit so exciting. It is true that when the Bible was written it was not divided with chapters and verses, yet still I think that we find the Holy Spirit at play in how we read the Bible now days with these divisions in place. That said, this promise that God would fight comes in Exodus 14:14. So then, what does the number “14” mean? To write fourteen in the Hebrew one uses the letters yod and daleth (יד), which together signify a hand on the door, or better yet, the opening of a prison door and the allowance of deliverance. It is in this verse that God states He will fight for the Israelites, and it is in the number fourteen that we find the meaning of deliverance and release. Coincidence?
Now with the number fourteen defined, let us look at a few other key “14’s” in the Bible. Numbers 14:14 shares, “And [the Egyptians] will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.” To me this shows not only God’s releasing Israel from their prison, but the power of God’s hand when on the door. Proverbs 14:14 reads, “The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.” Is it not safe to say that in this verse we again see the hand on the door, opening to God’s outpouring of blessing and deliverance?
Granted this is not true of each “14”, we can still see this definition of deliverance and release in other passages. It is in Judges 6:14 that God says to Gideon, “’Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midan’s hand. Am I not sending you?’” God again was fighting for Israel and sending His servant Gideon to open the door of imprisonment. Or how about in Daniel 6:14 where we see the king so distraught that until nightfall he was determined to rescue Daniel from the prison of the lion’s den. We may even want to recall I Samuel 13:14, where we read that King Saul had acted foolishly and already the LORD was looking for one who would open the door of imprisonment by having a heart to follow God’s command.
So what am I trying to point out here; what am I trying to make us aware of in all these verses and numerology? The answer is one thing. I am wanting us to understand that on those Whack-A-Mole days, when it seems like all we know is the prison of our situation, god has His hand on the door, opening it to our deliverance and release. There really is nothing we can do, just as there was nothing Israel could do when standing on the banks of the Red Sea. But what we must remember to do is be still and trust that God has our back and will fight for us.
Exodus 14:14
A few days back I was chatting on two different occasions with friends on Facebook. In one instance as I was reading the words typed, I began to feel as though God was saying to her that He was going to work things out concerning her employment. In the other instance, as we were going back and forth, I literally had the pages of my Bible blow and land on I John 5:18. This would not have been so strange except for the fact that there was no wind blowing in the stagnant office. But what was it about this verse God was speaking? Perhaps the part that reads, “…the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.”
I honestly began to think to myself, as I later shared with my wife, that maybe God was not only using me to encourage these ladies in their trials, but perhaps He was also working to encourage me in mine. As I am sure you have felt at times also, life is hard. Truth be told, the enemy is constantly working to pound us down. Remember that game Whack-A-Mole? There are days when I literally feel like I am the mole that the enemy continues to hit and keep down. But despite what the enemy does, there is one key we must remember. That key is that the Lord fights for us.
We see this truth in I John 5:18, where we are told we are kept safe and the enemy cannot harm us. We see this truth in Romans 8:31, where we read that if God is for us, who can be against us. And we see this truth in Exodus 14:14, where when standing on the banks of the Red Sea, with Egypt ready to pounce, God delivers the Israelites. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” But what I love about this Exodus scripture is that it defines me. Why did God tell them to be still? He told them to be still because like me, they were running around in fret of what they were going to do. They could do nothing. They could not escape. And they could not redeem themselves. So because of this God told them to be still and watch His hand fight for them.
I am a numbers guy, and outside of history, math was my next best subject in school. Maybe it is for this reason that I find the next bit so exciting. It is true that when the Bible was written it was not divided with chapters and verses, yet still I think that we find the Holy Spirit at play in how we read the Bible now days with these divisions in place. That said, this promise that God would fight comes in Exodus 14:14. So then, what does the number “14” mean? To write fourteen in the Hebrew one uses the letters yod and daleth (יד), which together signify a hand on the door, or better yet, the opening of a prison door and the allowance of deliverance. It is in this verse that God states He will fight for the Israelites, and it is in the number fourteen that we find the meaning of deliverance and release. Coincidence?
Now with the number fourteen defined, let us look at a few other key “14’s” in the Bible. Numbers 14:14 shares, “And [the Egyptians] will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, O LORD, are with these people and that you, O LORD, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.” To me this shows not only God’s releasing Israel from their prison, but the power of God’s hand when on the door. Proverbs 14:14 reads, “The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.” Is it not safe to say that in this verse we again see the hand on the door, opening to God’s outpouring of blessing and deliverance?
Granted this is not true of each “14”, we can still see this definition of deliverance and release in other passages. It is in Judges 6:14 that God says to Gideon, “’Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midan’s hand. Am I not sending you?’” God again was fighting for Israel and sending His servant Gideon to open the door of imprisonment. Or how about in Daniel 6:14 where we see the king so distraught that until nightfall he was determined to rescue Daniel from the prison of the lion’s den. We may even want to recall I Samuel 13:14, where we read that King Saul had acted foolishly and already the LORD was looking for one who would open the door of imprisonment by having a heart to follow God’s command.
So what am I trying to point out here; what am I trying to make us aware of in all these verses and numerology? The answer is one thing. I am wanting us to understand that on those Whack-A-Mole days, when it seems like all we know is the prison of our situation, god has His hand on the door, opening it to our deliverance and release. There really is nothing we can do, just as there was nothing Israel could do when standing on the banks of the Red Sea. But what we must remember to do is be still and trust that God has our back and will fight for us.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
FREEEEEE-DOM!
“What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1
In the year 1995, one movie alone took Scotland and the rest of the world by storm. That movie was Braveheart. In the retelling of the life and events of William Wallace, writer Randall Wallace sought to honor the praised Scottish hero of times past. It is at the end of the movie that now caught and being tortured, William Wallace yells out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as the cloth of his cherished fair-maiden floats gently to the ground. However, in reading the true events of Wallace’s life, Wallace suffered a different death. It is believed that the defeat of the Scottish army at Falkirk was also the defeat of William Wallace’s glory in the eyes of the nation. For the next quarter of Wallace’s life, he would continue to fight for freedom, but never be given the authority he had once possessed prior to this defeat. The worth of Wallace as a warrior for Scotland may have been lost, but the greater loss was the worth of Wallace in his own eyes. With little to live for, Wallace simply gave up on himself, or so it would seem. Long before he declared his final words he had already returned to slavery.
As I was driving into work yesterday this same concept struck me as I was meditating on the scripture only to be confirmed later on in the day when listening to a podcast by Perry Stone. The sad revelation is that so many people get freed only to return to slavery. Jesus speaks of this in John 8:30-38. It is here that Jesus tells us the return to sin is the return to slavery. Furthermore, “So if the Son frees you, you will really be free” (Jn 8:36). If we are really free then why do we return? With this thought then, I want to direct our attention today to words penned by Paul in Galatians 5:1 where he writes, “What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”
May I suggest that one of the main reasons we find ourselves returning to slavery has to do with our stance. Paul warns us that the way to stay free is by standing firm. This term of standing firm or standing fast in the Greek is STEKO, meaning to stand in persistence and keep one’s footing. This is the same term used by Paul in I Corinthians 16:13 where we are told, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” I am reminded of the product Stucco and the firm grasp it holds against the conditions of nature. This binding agent is applied wet but hardens to a very dense solid. In many ways we too are to be on guard, persistent toward the forces of the enemy like Stucco to the forces of nature, courageous, and strong. The question is, are we? Are we persistent against the enemy and his desire to bring us back into slavery, or is our footing found in our standing in mush?
Once we have experienced the freedom that can only be given by the LORD, we are to not allow ourselves to be wrapped up again in the slavery that once bound us. This in essence was the true downfall of William Wallace. Despite his victories in battle, the one loss at Falkirk pushed him to see himself again as a defeated Scotsman. His footing moved from solid and persistent to standing in mush, opening the doors of slavery. When he did pass away, and if he did indeed cry out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as portrayed in the movie, was his victory chat only because he would no longer be slave of his own demise? I cannot answer this, but I can take note that for myself I want to declare freedom now from the sin that has for so long enslaved me. Furthermore, I want my footing to be solid as opposed to wavering and allowing a return of slavery and bondage. The Messiah’s sacrifice has freed me, once and for all, but unless I stand firm I am subject to return. I do not want this for myself, nor do I want this for you.
Galatians 5:1
In the year 1995, one movie alone took Scotland and the rest of the world by storm. That movie was Braveheart. In the retelling of the life and events of William Wallace, writer Randall Wallace sought to honor the praised Scottish hero of times past. It is at the end of the movie that now caught and being tortured, William Wallace yells out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as the cloth of his cherished fair-maiden floats gently to the ground. However, in reading the true events of Wallace’s life, Wallace suffered a different death. It is believed that the defeat of the Scottish army at Falkirk was also the defeat of William Wallace’s glory in the eyes of the nation. For the next quarter of Wallace’s life, he would continue to fight for freedom, but never be given the authority he had once possessed prior to this defeat. The worth of Wallace as a warrior for Scotland may have been lost, but the greater loss was the worth of Wallace in his own eyes. With little to live for, Wallace simply gave up on himself, or so it would seem. Long before he declared his final words he had already returned to slavery.
As I was driving into work yesterday this same concept struck me as I was meditating on the scripture only to be confirmed later on in the day when listening to a podcast by Perry Stone. The sad revelation is that so many people get freed only to return to slavery. Jesus speaks of this in John 8:30-38. It is here that Jesus tells us the return to sin is the return to slavery. Furthermore, “So if the Son frees you, you will really be free” (Jn 8:36). If we are really free then why do we return? With this thought then, I want to direct our attention today to words penned by Paul in Galatians 5:1 where he writes, “What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.”
May I suggest that one of the main reasons we find ourselves returning to slavery has to do with our stance. Paul warns us that the way to stay free is by standing firm. This term of standing firm or standing fast in the Greek is STEKO, meaning to stand in persistence and keep one’s footing. This is the same term used by Paul in I Corinthians 16:13 where we are told, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” I am reminded of the product Stucco and the firm grasp it holds against the conditions of nature. This binding agent is applied wet but hardens to a very dense solid. In many ways we too are to be on guard, persistent toward the forces of the enemy like Stucco to the forces of nature, courageous, and strong. The question is, are we? Are we persistent against the enemy and his desire to bring us back into slavery, or is our footing found in our standing in mush?
Once we have experienced the freedom that can only be given by the LORD, we are to not allow ourselves to be wrapped up again in the slavery that once bound us. This in essence was the true downfall of William Wallace. Despite his victories in battle, the one loss at Falkirk pushed him to see himself again as a defeated Scotsman. His footing moved from solid and persistent to standing in mush, opening the doors of slavery. When he did pass away, and if he did indeed cry out, “FREEEEEE-DOM,” as portrayed in the movie, was his victory chat only because he would no longer be slave of his own demise? I cannot answer this, but I can take note that for myself I want to declare freedom now from the sin that has for so long enslaved me. Furthermore, I want my footing to be solid as opposed to wavering and allowing a return of slavery and bondage. The Messiah’s sacrifice has freed me, once and for all, but unless I stand firm I am subject to return. I do not want this for myself, nor do I want this for you.
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GOD OUR FATHER
If one were to move away from the misconception that God is so distant in His status and truly understand, as Christ so often pointed ou...
