God Answers!

I serve a faithful God.

I have been feeling a little dry spiritually, so yesterday, I took a prayer walk.  During my time with the Almighty, I asked Him to give my kids a kingdom spark.  A faith boost.  More motivation to seek Him and less motivation to pursue the world's distractions.

A few hours later, I noticed that my daughter had made a comment on social media about the goodness of God.  This was followed by an excited comment by my son, agreeing with her wholeheartedly.

Here is what happened.

My daughter was on her break at work.  She happened to strike up a conversation with an Asian woman who turned out to be a missionary from the Philippines.  My daughter was very blessed and encouraged by the conversation, and proceeded to give a $20 donation to the missionary.  The lady accepted the donation gratefully and offered my daughter a handmade bracelet.

After work, my daughter went over to my son's place of work and told him what happened.  His eyes got as big as saucers, and he proceeded to tell her what happened to him that day.

A missionary from Thailand had stopped by his work and had a conversation with him.  He told her he was blessed by the conversation, and offered her a donation of $20.  She accepted the donation gratefully, and proceeded to offer him a handmade necklace.

Sometimes God answers prayers immediately.  Other times, He asks us to wait.  This was an example of an immediate answer.

A reminder of God's faithfulness

At the end of the day, both kids came home with more than a spark for the Kingdom.  My daughter is even more excited about her upcoming mission trip and prayer internship, and my son is now making active plans to pursue missionary training.

Coincidence?  I think not.

Watchmen on the Walls

I just returned from my third trip to the place where the Lord God has chosen to put His name - Jerusalem.

At the beginning of the trip, I asked Him for eyes like the servant of Elisha - to be given a glimpse into the heavenlies and the spiritual warfare going on over His holy city.  Then I waited and watched.

Throughout this trip, we were interceding for Israel - through prayer, worship, dance, and supporting our friends here.

We were blessed to be here for the day they celebrate called Shavuot. Biblically,  this is one of the three pilgrimage feasts required in the Levitical law.  

For the Jewish people, it is a grand celebration of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Many stay up all night studying Torah,  and the celebration continues all day. [Believers in Yeshua commemorate the giving of the Holy Spirit on this same appointed day of Shavuot, aka Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2].  As the festival drew to a close, we joined the thousands of worshippers at the Kotel, or Western Wall. They were dressed in their best and had come to the Wall to pray.

As I was praying for the Holy Spirit and the revelation of Yeshua to fall on these chosen people, God drew my attention to two groups of birds at the Wall.

On the right side of the wall where I was, in the women's section,  four doves were nestled in between the stones, keeping watch. The stalwart doves did not move the entire time I was there. They silently kept watch.

Meanwhile, to the left, a loud contingent of noisy birds made a ruckus. They appeared to be causing trouble as they swooped back and forth to the wall, screeching loudly, darting and disappearing like cockroaches into small openings between the stones.

At first I thought they were bats, but a team member told me they were barn swallows. Loud little buggers.

I was in awe as I watched the picture of spiritual warfare going on right in front of me.  (The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.)

Several nights later, we came again to the Kotel to pray.  The doves were still faithfully keeping watch in their places, unmoving and stalwart.  The loud, angry birds from the previous night were nowhere to be seen.  What a picture of God's steadfast watch over His chosen people, as He waits for His perfect timing to reveal Himself to them.  Meanwhile, the enemy noisily plots and schemes against them, all in vain.

 The Lord did not answer my prayer in the way I had asked Him.  Instead of giving me a glimpse into the spirit world, He chose to use the natural world to answer my prayer.  I know that the picture in the heavenlies is much bigger, but God in His mercy gave me what He knew I could handle.

God's Manifest Presence

This was not written by me, but was a devotional I came across this past week from a ministry in Israel.  The devotional was written with the weekly Torah portion in mind, from Leviticus 9.

Manifestation of God’s Presence: Aaron Begins His Ministry

 

“This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”  (Leviticus 9:6)

 

On the eighth day, the day following an entire week of purification, Aaron and his sons began their ministry by offering the required sin offering, burnt offering and fellowship offering.

 

After Aaron had done all that the Lord had commanded through Moses, he stretched out his hands and blessed the people before stepping down from the altar.

 

But the people were not only blessed once.  Moses and Aaron blessed them again after they returned from the Tent of Meeting.  At this, the fire of God came upon the offerings and consumed them.

 

“Then Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out, they once again blessed the people.  Then fire issued from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings and the fat portions on the altar.”  (Leviticus 9:23–24)

 

With this remarkable manifestation of the Glory of God, the people felt such an awesome experience of being in the presence of the Lord that they shouted for joy and even fell down on their faces!

Sadly, this incredible time of worship was followed by sorrow because of a tragic incident in which fire from the presence of God also came in judgment.

 

The sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who had just a short while earlier been instructed on the Temple service, changed the pattern of worship given to them by God through Moses.

 

In perhaps a grandiose, irreverent or drunken display of their ministration before the people, they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord (maybe offering incense at the wrong time) and, therefore, they perished:

 

“So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”  (Leviticus 10:2)

 

After reading about the spectacular event of God's fire consuming the offering and other miraculous, supernatural events in the Bible, some of us long for a dramatic manifestation of the Shekhinah glory of Adonai; however, we must keep in mind that the experience of the Israelites at this time was out of the ordinary.  

 

The fire of God did not consume the offering on a daily basis.  The people continued their worship, sacrifices, and offerings even when they did not “feel” anything special and nothing exceptional happened.

 

Likewise, our spiritual life should not be a pursuit of supernatural, dazzling encounters; neither should we think something is amiss in our relationship with the Lord if we are not continually riding an emotional “high.”

 

Just as a marriage relationship should not require continual thrills to stay committed, so should our hearts remain steadfast in our relationship with the Lord even when there seems to be no fresh fire.

 [This is not to say that the Lord will not give us supernatural manifestations today.  He can and He does, according to His sovereign will and purposes]

Who is the Rock?

Scripture has so many underlying pictures and themes!  Mountains, fish, trees, bread - to name a few.  A friend of mine recently did an exhaustive study on mountaintop experiences. In this post, I want to take a look at the elements of stones and rocks.  There are too many references to rocks and stones to mention them all, but I would like to highlight a few.

In OT Hebrew, the word for stone is 'eban, and the word for rock is tsur.   In NT Greek, the word for stone is lithos, and the word for rock is petra.  In all cases, whenever the word stone was used, the context was as something that was active and moveable, and when rock was used, it was more like an immoveable fortress.  The word Cephas (used nine times in reference to Peter - in John 1:42, as well as in 1 Corinthians and Galatians) is actually a Latin transliteration of the Aramaic word Kapha.  That particular word can be used with both moveable stone and and immoveable rock contexts.

Our first major theme of a stone is in Genesis 28, when Jacob was fleeing from his brother and on his way to find a bride.  One night, as he lay sleeping somewhere between Beersheva and Haran, he placed a rock under his head and had a dream. 

In this dream, angels were ascending and descending a ladder, or staircase.  When we fast forward to John 1:51, what do we see?  In the midst of a conversation with Nathaniel about whether Yeshua was the Messiah, we read this:  And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Yeshua was claiming to be the Messiah here.  Looking back to Jacob's ladder, we can see that it is a representation of the cross, bridging the heavens and the earth.  The Lord God revealed Himself to Jacob at this time and repeated the promises that were made to Abraham and Isaac - the promises of the Land, the Seed, and the Blessing of the Nations.

What did Jacob do in the morning?  Genesis 28:18 tells us:  Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.  (The Hebrew word for top is rosh; perhaps you have heard of the Jewish celebration Rosh Hashanah, which literally means head of the year).  When kings and priests were anointed, they had oil poured on their heads.  The words Messiah and Christ both mean anointed.  This stone, anointed by Jacob, was a picture of the future Messiah.  Jacob named the place Bethel, meaning House of God.

Many years later, Jacob comes back to the very same place, with his wives and children and having made peace with his brother.  In Genesis 35, God again reiterates the promise of the Land, the Seed, and the Blessing, and gives Jacob the name Israel, which means Contends with God.  Immediately, Jacob set up another pillar of stone and anointed it with oil.

In Genesis 49, tucked right in the middle of Jacob's blessing to Joseph, is another allusion to the Rock.  Verse 24 says, But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel).  This is giving us a snapshot of the future Messiah, our Good Shepherd.

In the book of Exodus, the Ten Commandments were written on - you guessed it - stone!   I find it interesting that the Law of Moses repeatedly says that when a crime punishable by death was committed, the guilty party was to be stoned.  It is a picture of judgment from God Himself!

When David slew Goliath, what was his weapon?  Stones, of course.  I just love David's words to Goliath here in 1 Samuel 17:   Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  It leaves us no doubt in Whose name David cast those stones!

Near the end of his life, King David was preparing to build the temple in Jerusalem (which his son Solomon would complete). 1 Chronicles 22:2 tells us,  So David commanded to gather the aliens who were in the land of Israel; and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God.

We cannot miss the connotation in Psalm 118:22 - The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.  Also Isaiah 28:16 says, Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Yeshua quoting Psalm 118:22, and it is repeated in Acts 4:11 by Peter. 

The book of Daniel has an awesome picture of a stone in chapter 2.  The context is the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had about the statue made from different elements, which represent different kingdoms of the earth.  Then what happens?  We read in verses 34 and 35, You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.  Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.  The stone is the Messiah of course, who will one day return and take dominion over the whole earth.

Later, Daniel was placed in a cave full of hungry lions, and a stone was placed over the cave to lock him in.  Could that stone be a picture of the One who protected him?  And where else have we read of a stone placed over a cave?  Hint:  When He came back to life, the stone moved!

When Yeshua performed His first miracle, it was at a wedding.  They had run out of wine, so He told the servants to fill the stone jars with water.  These jars were used for ritual outer cleansing.  Of course, we know that He changed the water into the most fabulous wine that anyone had ever tasted.  Again, the stone is a picture of Him - and when we allow Him to change us, we will never be the same.  Wine is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and these stone jars can also represent us, as living stones, filled with the Spirit - no longer with water by which we attempt to cleanse ourselves.

Romans 9:33 refers back to Isaiah 8:14, and we actually see both words used here.  As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

In Matthew 16, Peter had just declared Yeshua to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.  Yeshua replied, And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  In light of all the other scriptures regarding the rock and the stone, I highly doubt that Yeshua was saying that His ekklesia would be built on Peter himself, but rather, on Peter's declaration.  And Peter was to be one of the living stones, as are all who believe.

Ephesians 2:19-21 confirms this concept.  Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord

Peter himself tells us exactly who the Rock is, in 1 Peter 2:4-7:  Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion,a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” (He refers back to Isaiah 28:16 here).  Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” (referring back to Psalm 118).  I just want to say that any attempt to make Peter into The Rock takes glory away from God and places it onto a man.

And now for a little comic relief

In closing, there are so many more uses of rocks and stones in scripture!  Precious stones, memorial stones, water from the rock in the wilderness, and many more.  I hope you will take time to check some of them out. 

On Hell, Part 5

This is the last post from my recent study on hell.  Maybe.  Who knows?  I might disover something else as I continue to dig into what scripture says about these things.

One scripture that is often used for the eternal torture doctrine is found in Revelation 14:10-11.  Let’s take a look at it:  He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”  If you look at the context here, it is not hell at all.  This is in context of God’s wrath being poured out on earth at His return.  Notice that they are being tormented in the presence of the angels and the Lamb!  There is no rest for them (those who took the mark of the beast) day or night as this is happening.  The final judgment has not taken place yet.  You might question the use of the smoke of torment rising forever and ever.  It is important to study the Greek word aionin, translated here forever and ever. The word literally means ages, as in the life that hastes away in the breathing of our breath of life, life as transitory, the course of life and time of life – this definition can be found in the Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament by E. W. Bullinger, printed in 1999 and originally published in 1908.

In Revelation 15:1 we then see that God’s wrath is completed on earth – the wrath that was just taking place in chapter 14.  But if the idea of eternal torment is true, then God’s wrath is never satisfied.  Is the idea of eternal torment in hell truly a picture of God’s justice?Deuteronomy 32:4 says, He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.  What would be His point, to torment someone forever and ever?  Is this perfect justice for 70 years of sin on earth? 

Another aspect to consider is the question of how much God loves us.  Consider the following story.  A handsome prince in a faraway kingdom fell in love with a fair maiden and set out to woo her.  Eventually, he lovingly asked her hand in marriage.   She considered his offer and asked him what would happen if she decided against the marriage.  The prince told her that if she said no, she would have her eyes gouged out and be chained in the cold, dark dungeon for the rest of her life.  Number one, did he really love her, and number two, what kind of choice did she really have?

Think about it: A sentence of eternal torture would be far worse than anything Adolf Hitler or Yasser Arafat or Idi Amin or Joseph Stalin ever dished out against the human race.

And think about this:  God is all-knowing.  He knows who will be saved and who will not.  Do you believe that He really creates people, knowing full well that they are destined for an eternity of torture?  This is where Calvanism breaks down for me.

Romans 9:21-24 says, “Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?   What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 

Our God is truly a merciful, loving, perfectly just God, who mercifully gives to all who ask.  For those who reject Him, He gives them their wish and allows them to be destroyed.  Granted, the process will not be pleasant – there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when they realized what they gave up! I don’t know just how literal the lake of fire will be, but its description is so vivid that I don’t wish to experience it in any way.

In closing, it has become obvious to me that the idea of eternal torment in hell crept into the church via pagan concepts, and was then used by the church to control the people using fear as a motivator. The ancient and medieval church kept the scriptures from the common people.  Today, we have no excuse!  We have God’s Holy Scriptures available to us, and we must systematically study them if we want to have better understanding of His word!  The publishing market is currently flooded with books about hell.  Some are even on the New York Times bestsellers list.  I’d like to gently remind you that these books are not God’s Holy Scriptures.  Test all things in light of scripture.   I plead with you not to take my word for any of these things, but to do the research yourself so you can know exactly what you believe.  Be a Berean!

If you'd still like more, click HERE for my in-depth musings on the "eternal soul."

Can you repeat that?

Recently, I've been involved in conversations with people regarding the use of repetition during worship, whether it be singing or praying.  Last night our youth led the singing with the song "Let It Rain," with that phrase being repeated about 96 times.  However, my brain checked out after about the seventh repetition. 

In both Colossians and Ephesians, Paul encouraged the use of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs.  Six times in the psalms, once in Isaiah, and once in Revelation we are told to sing a new song to the Lord.  Obviously God loves variety and creativity!

Growing up Catholic, we used repetition a lot.  I have prayed many rosaries in my day.  Repeating the "Our Father."  The "Hail Mary."  The "Glory Be."  "The Act of Contrition."  And so on. 

Years later, as a no-longer-Catholic adult, I attended my uncle's funeral at a Catholic church.  My sister (also no longer Catholic) and I were sitting behind my grieving aunt.  The priest, who had a very Scandanavian accent, was saying "Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed."  Now I realize that this was from scripture, and it is ALWAYS a good thing to memorize scripture.  However, both my sister and I lapsed into giggles in the middle of the funeral when I leaned over and whispered, "It's like riding a bike," meaning, "we will never forget the liturgy that has been drilled into our heads."  I also don't think we would have giggled quite so hard had the priest not sounded like the Swedish Chef.  I don't know if my aunt heard our giggles or not, and if so, I hope she forgave us.

Anyway, the repetition to me has always been by rote.  As a child, I used to say the same five prayers before bed, hoping that they would satisfy God.  Now as an adult believer in Yeshua, Matthew 6:7 resonates with me.  And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Yep, that was me. 

Just a side note here: it’s not just the Catholics who do this. A dear Catholic friend of mine pointed out the Protestant use of the word “just.” And oh, my goodness, she was right. Once you know this, you can’t help but notice it happening.

Anyway, people will argue that Jesus taught the "Our Father" right after cautioning us about vain repetitions.  But He wasn't teaching people what to pray, He was teaching people how to pray.  Up until this time, God had not been accessible to the people; He dwelt in the Holy of Holies, accessible only by the high priest once a year.  Jesus was preparing people to have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.  If people were going to have a relationship with Him, they needed to know how to relate to Him personally and intimately.  Today, we are able to pour out our hearts to Him in praise, adoration, confession, thankfulness, intercession for others, requests, and so forth... whatever is on our heart!  Even though He already knows our deepest thoughts, He still wants us to talk to Him! 

If one of my kids came up to me and said "I love you, you're so awesome..." over and over again, I think that after about seven times, my brain would tune them out.  (And I would probably wonder what they wanted from me!)

What about the creatures in Revelation 4?  The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “ Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” The phrase "day or night" in Hebrew thought denotes continuity - not the endless duration of an action.  We can also let scripture interpret scripture here, because later in Revelation we see the living creatures engaged in other activities in addition to praise and worship, such as speaking a command (Rev 6:1), or handing bowls to angels (Rev 15:7).   Also, Hebrew does not have separate words for communicating the words "holy," "holier," or "holiest," so repeating something three times is a Hebrew literary method of communicating a superlative.  Another way of expressing a superlative in Hebrew is to say "king of kings" or "servant of servants," meaning the greatest king or the lowest of servants.

I am looking forward to praising my King in person in the coming kingdom - it will be AWESOME!  But But we will also be reigning with Him!  He will give us charge over things... there will be things to do!  We are His chosen bride and we will dwell with Him!  There will be times of passionate worship as well as awesome times of serving, and so much more!  God is a creative being Who loves variety.  I can't wait to see what all He has in store for us on the other side!

Does God Lie?

I have a friend - I'll call him "Al" - who has asked me some challenging questions lately.  I love these questions because they really make me dig into the word and into the very nature of God Himself.

Two questions came up this week.

One was regarding the account of Yeshua visiting the gentile region of Tyre and Sidon in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 (the only time He ever ventured away from Israel, other than His journey into Egypt as an infant).  A gentile woman begged for His help with her daughter who was demon-possessed.  In Matthew 15:23, He even ignored the woman, and His disiples encouraged Him to send her away.  In the next verse, He replied “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”    It sounds harsh, does it not?   Why would he say that?  Did He have no intention of providing a means of salvation to the gentiles as well as the Jews?

The next question from Al came from Exodus 32, beginning at verse 7.  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves (emphasis Al's)  Why is God calling them Moses's people?  And in verse 10, God says to Moses, "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”  The reaction from Moses was to intercede for his people; and to remind God of His promises, and to point out that His name would be tarnished among the Egyptians if He destroyed the Israelites.

What is going on in these scenarios?  Did God change His mind?  I discussed this with the kids tonight, and this is what we concluded:

Regarding the gentile woman:  The fact that Yeshua ended up healing the woman's daughter, in spite of what He said, tells us that something was going on beyond the face value of His statement.  He was about to expose His disciples to a great faith, and He was also preparing them for the near future, in which salvation would be offered to the gentiles.

I believe He was actually sharpening Moses in Exodus 32. And look at the incredible insight He was able to get out of Moses - Moses was able to articulate very well why God shouldn’t do what He was saying He would do. And in fact, if God DID do what He was suggesting, He would have had to break His promise, and therefore be a liar… He promised in Gen 49:10 that the scepter would not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Destroying the tribe of Judah would have wiped out the messianic line, and we’d all be toast.

Throughout scripture, God says or does seemingly outrageous things in order to teach a lesson or to test one's faith. Remember Abraham and Isaac?  That would be a subject for an entire post on its own ... we'll save it for another day.