Many Battles Ahead After The Greatest Victory

Deuteronomy 7 (NLT) “When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them… For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors… He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him. Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today… Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them… “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.

Death and destruction seem to be a big part of God’s instructions to His chosen people. How is that evidence of a loving God and how different are we from any other religion that terrorizes non-believers?

The Only And Greatest Security

Numbers 34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the Israelites: When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your special possession, these will be the boundaries… Then Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide among yourselves by sacred lot. The Lord has commanded that the land be divided among the nine and a half remaining tribes. The families of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their grants of land on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho toward the sunrise.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun are the men designated to divide the grants of land among the people. Enlist one leader from each tribe to help them with the task.

The saying ‘never count your chickens before they hatch’ certainly did not matter to this nation that stood at the extremities of the land they were about to divide. This whole division was to take place before they even conquered the land and instead of God choosing military leaders, He chose was who would divide the land in each tribe. What is God speaking to us today through this mysterious story?

Consequence Of An Ungrateful Heart

Numbers 11:1,5-6,11,16,21-23,33 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp… “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”… And Moses said to the Lord, “Why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me! What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people?… Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you… But Moses responded to the Lord, “There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!’ Even if we butchered all our flocks and herds, would that satisfy them? Even if we caught all the fish in the sea, would that be enough?” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”… But while they were gorging themselves on the meat—while it was still in their mouths—the anger of the Lord blazed against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.

Reading this chapter left me with mixed emotions because in one context, the response of the Israelites seem terrible and in another context, God’s reaction to their complaining seems far worse.

How are we to understand this chapter and apply it into our lives today?

God The Perfect Orchestrator

Numbers 1:2-4,16-19,45-50,54 “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe… These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.” So Moses and Aaron called together these chosen leaders, and they assembled the whole community of Israel on that very day. All the people were registered according to their ancestry by their clans and families. The men of Israel who were twenty years old or older were listed one by one, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So Moses recorded their names in the wilderness of Sinai… They were registered by families—all the men of Israel who were twenty years old or older and able to go to war. The total number was 603,550. But this total did not include the Levites. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Do not include the tribe of Levi in the registration; do not count them with the rest of the Israelites. Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it… So the Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Theocracy is the rule by people in positions of political authority all of whom share the same religious beliefs and preferences. Theocracy may manifest in a form of government in which a state is understood as governed by immediate divine guidance provided to ruling clergy or other ruling officials (Credit – Wikipedia).

As the fleeing Israelites are being shepherded by God into their own land, it seems God is raising a nation. How is that relevant to us today?

Jesus – The Sum Total Of All God’s Demands

Exodus 30:1,6,12,16,20,21,25,36 “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense… Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you… “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them… Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives”… Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the LORD by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come”… Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil… Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

If not for awe, I am unsure what other emotion I can express for God who has not left a single stone unturned in terms of His plan for a place to dwell among His people.

Not only has God shown an ability to plan to perfection but His provision of skills, material and willingness to the Israelites show He is a master orchestrator and is beyond brilliant!!!

The question again this morning is to understand how all this relates to us who live nearly 3,500 years after this incident?

Be Counted In The Countless

Revelation 7:9-17 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

As we journey through the book of revelation, we can see an obsession for worship of God and His son Jesus Christ that is beyond our understanding. I cannot imagine what life would be if all I did was worship someone and nothing else mattered to me. What would happen to my family, my responsibilities, my dreams and goals…?

I am being asked by many including people I dearly love if I have lost my beans! What’s with the obsession for God suddenly and why am I on this ‘holy trip’ and when will I come back to being ‘normal’? My only response is that if they knew what God has done for us and is doing and will complete in due course of time, they will be far crazier than me in worshipping Him.

To the world that I once was a part of, this God who is unseen and unheard is non-existent. To them, believing in something that is tangible, provable, indisputable and most importantly something that benefits them is what they are willing to put their trust in.

So money is a basic need before food and water, power is exciting and stimulating, sex is the expression of love, drugs are another way to peace, prosperity is having all of these in abundance and hope is in that which brings one glory.

Jesus Christ is often pictured as one who stands with his arms wide open. This is to show that He wants to have a relationship with each and everyone of us and that He has love enough to cover the entire world and He has given enough of himself to save the entire mankind if we would only accept Him.

The reason for accepting Him is not that our problems will vanish, that we will become successful or that we will have mystical powers but the reason is that we who are broken in sin are in desperate need of fixing and only God can fix us. In Jesus is the perfect spiritual doctor who medicates with His blood that washes us clean from inside out.

We are then robed in Him and our lives are transformed by His love. When He does this, we join the hosts of heaven to celebrate the greatest gift of life, our salvation. Better still, Jesus tells us that He is going to take us to be with Him soon and has gone before us to prepare room in His father’s home for us.

When John talks about the multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne of God, he is speaking about the you and me who God has called to be His own. What a privilege it is to be a part of the hosts of heaven and what more can we do but worship this Great and Glorious GOD who is WORTHY!

Are you still driven by the aspirations of this world or do you want to be counted in that countless multitude who will live in joy for eternity in God’s holy presence?

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered.

A Worthy Lamb?

Revelation 5:1-5,12 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”… In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

The imagery of majesty and supremacy continues in today’s chapter with God holding the scroll that refers to what is to come, then a question asked by a mighty angel about who is worthy to open the scroll and the answer coming from a lamb! In all the might, splendour, power and majesty of heaven, what’s a little lamb doing there? Should it not be Jesus?

One of the realities of the christian faith is that we are to the world nothing but a broken set of people who admit failure and defeat and operate in God’s strength alone. We are not a clan of intelligent, strong and wealthy people who have been chosen to fit God’s standards and furthermore what we become after God transforms us is for His glory and not ours.

To save us from our brokenness and poverty in spirit, God sent His own and only son Jesus Christ to come into this earth in simple human form, live a life of absolute simplicity, show us that only He could meet the requirements of the law and finally was sacrificed like the perfect sacrifice that could atone for every human’s sin.

This was the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the entire world by taking the curse of human sin on Himself and dying on the cross of Calvary for no fault of His. This lamb was raised up by God after 3 days and seated on God’s right-hand side to one day judge the living and the dead. This Lamb is the one who is worthy to open the scroll of God.

As we realize the significance of Jesus in our lives, I pray that we along with the countless hosts of heaven are able to sing praises unto Jesus’ name for only He is worthy!

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Heavenly Celebrations

Revelation 4:6b-11 In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

I’m guessing that the most confusing part about the book of revelation is being able to relate to everything John writes because it is beyond surreal, more like out of a grand science fiction movie. Try as we might, it seems impossible to conjure up the images of grandeur that he shares.

In today’s chapter, is there something that we can learn beyond all this imagery of heaven, the 24 elders, the worship by the 4 creatures and all the riches ever imagined together on one platform?

As mentioned previously, to try and define God in our paradigm is doing God serious injustice because we live in a dimension that we are able to comprehend and praise God that we only have our own world-view and not more to contend with. To God who was able to create the heavens, the earth and even time and space by the mere words of His mouth, this heaven described by John is more than a possibility and so I believe we should understand God beyond our paradigm and give God our full attention.

The ultimate goal of every christian’s life is to spend eternity in God’s presence without the aches and pains of life as we know it. As we walk with Jesus daily, we grow in His knowledge and love for Him and when we are in His presence, the only thing that would captivate our minds is Him for what He has done for us.

Some of us believe and are saved by the grace of God. However, as life continues and we just live, we lose sight of the cross and of what Jesus has done for us and start living as everyone else around us, motivated and driven by the world rather than God. When Jesus keeps knocking on our hearts and we open the door again, we realize what we have nearly lost and that causes us to worship Him.

When I think of heaven, I realize that we like the hosts of heaven will be continually worshipping God and His son Jesus Christ because we have been fully redeemed and are full of gratitude for God’s salvation. The words spoken are words we can say even today if we truly know the new life Jesus has given us.

Are you living without the joy that the hosts of heaven have for God and His son Jesus Christ? Can you sing praises to God every moment of your life to thank Him for His gift of new life?

I pray for those of us who have never experienced the joy of the hosts of heaven to be able to do so by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I pray for those of us who have been transformed by the Holy Spirit at some point in our lives that we would not live as though dead but wake up to celebrate what Jesus has done for us.

In His Loving Service,
ServantBoy

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

True Source Of Spiritual Food

2 Peter 1:16, 19-21
We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty… And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

One of the joys of knowing God is that He has given us His word to know Him, to hear from Him, to learn about Him, and therefore to be directed by Him alone. As Christians in today’s fast paced life, we tend to like everything spoon fed to us and so instead of making the effort to seek God through His word, we seek Him through people we consider inspired by Him and who therefore are able to minister to us most effectively because what they preach is God’s word and what we are therefore directed to do is God’s will. Is that not what God is directing us to understand from the passage above?

The Right Choice

1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

One of the challenges of living is that we are constantly faced with choices and some of these choices are not easy to make. Sometimes it is an urge or craving that causes us to falter, sometimes it an offer of something that’s too hard to refuse, sometimes it is difficult circumstances in our lives which color our thinking and results in bad decisions, but there are always choices and wisdom is something we always wish we had. As a christian, it gets worse because we are called to live a life that glorifies God and in God’s sight all bad choices, whether ignorable or not in human eyes, are bad. How are we expected to make right choices and is God setting us up for failure?