OUR LORD WHO ALERTS US

The first two verses in the 3 third chapter of the book of Revelation say this;

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. 

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 

Our Lord Jesus, who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, sends a stern caution to the church in Sardis.

He tells them that even though they are known for being a living church, He who sees the heart, knows they are dead. He charges them to wake up and to strengthen what is left for they have not completed the tasks they were destined to do.

Here, the Lord bluntly tells the church at Sardis what their secret condition is and He gives them the steps to take in order to reverse their ailment so that they can rise to fulfill their callings.

Bless our Lord who stirs us from sleep and charges us to press on toward the prize.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO FAVOURS THOSE AFTER HIS OWN HEART

Continuing with the study of Samuel chapter 2, we get to the part of the narrative where Samuel reached Gilgal and found that Saul had just completed the offering that should have been left for Samuel to do. This is how the passage proceeds;

Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

“What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 

But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

Samuel, finding out what Saul had done, reprimanded Saul for doing something gravely wrong and because of it, God had chosen another man to be ruler of the people of Israel.

Saul had lost his favored destiny because he had not kept the command of God and had proven to be a man who was not after God's own heart. 

If we were to be people after God's own heart, we would first have follow God's directives and second, we would have to trust God in all circumstances even when following God's directives seem to result is situations going awry.

In Saul's case,  he felt compelled to override the command of God with His own plan because he lost trust in God's plan when he saw that His army was scattering in the face of the Philistines.

Being a person after God's own heart should compel  us to stick to God's directives and trust that God can and will make all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Trust and obey; there is no other way.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO SETS UP MEMORIALS TO THE SALVATION OF HIS PEOPLE

In Joshua 4 verses 3 - 7, we continue with the study of Israel's crossing of the Jordan river. The passage reads like this;

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.

Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 

When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

The instruction was given for twelve chosen men to go to the middle of the Jordan river and for each man to pick up a stone on his shoulder.

These stones would serve as signs to future Israelites who would see them and ask what their significance was.

Each stone would be a marker of a time when the Lord intervened on behalf of Israel to make a way out of slavery in Egypt, lead them through the wilderness and after 40 years, into the promised land across the Jordan river.

The twelve stones are reminiscent of the twelve apostles who were first of the living stones among those who gained the promise of God through faith in Jesus.

The ceremony Jesus instituted to commemorate the access given to the promised land was the last supper during which He called on His disciples to reenact the breaking of bread and the sharing of wine as a memorial to the Lord's death which was the price paid to buy us out of slavery and admit us into the land  promised by God.

Bless the One who we remember for saving us and who availed to us so rich a promise.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHOSE PROTOCOLS WE MUST KEEP

1 Samuel 13 verses 2 - 9 tells of the scene when Saul, the king of Israel, provoked the Philistines and the Philistines responded by mustering a huge army of charioteers and soldiers.

The Israelites became afraid when they saw how numerous and organized the Philistines were so they hid in caves and bushes to stay out of sight.

Saul was waiting for Samuel the priest to arrive to enact the sacrifices before the Lord but the time of his arrival passed and in a panic, Saul decided to carry out the burnt offerings himself. The passage reads this way;

Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven.

When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.  So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

Saul, under pressure, had needed to hold fast until Samuel arrived but he succumbed to the circumstances he could see happening around him such as when His army began to scatter in fear.

Saul decided to take matters into his own hands and offered up the burnt offerings instead of waiting for Samuel.

By responding to the situation in the flesh, Saul violated a number of rules including the primary rule that only a priest like Samuel could offer sacrifices before the Lord.

In violating these requirements, Saul negated the blessings of the Lord and lost the favour of the Lord over his life.

The item to heed here is that we must operate only on the Lord's cues and never circumvent His procedures and schedules no matter what we see happening around us.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO HELD BACK THE JORDAN RIVER

Continuing with yesterday's study from Joshua 3 verses 9 - 14, let's look at  Joshua 3 verse 15 - 17 and Joshua 4 verses 1 - 2.  The section of text reads like this;

Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan,  while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. 

So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Onto Joshua 4 ;

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,

The previous study looked at the step of faith that was needed to cross the river and we continue with this passage that describes the actual crossing as the flooded river dried up and all the people of Israel were able to cross to the Canaan side.

The water upstream is described as "piling up" in a heap some distance away as its flow was held back and downstream to the Dead Sea, the river dried up and so Israel was able to cross on dry land while those carrying the ark of the covenant stood in the dried river bed.

This presence and covenant of the Lord with His people was a shield and protector of Israel that restrained the destruction of the flood from harming them as they crossed over.

When they had crossed, another set of twelve were chosen with one from each tribe to mark the spot of crossing with stones.

A representative from each tribe participated in the carrying of the ark into Canaan and a representative from each tribe again participated in the placement of commemorative markers.

Bless the Lord who makes provision for us to cross over to Canaan and who commemorates our successes as we makes steps in obedience in Him.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO ASSURES US OF HIS PROVISION

In Joshua  3 verses 9 - 14, the story is told of the Israelites approaching the promised land and they were called by Joshua to listen to the word of the Lord.

Joshua explained the events that were going to  happen and declared that these events would confirm to the Isarelites that the living God was in their midst. The passage reads like this;

Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.  This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you.

Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

The first assurance that the Lord gave to His people was that the ark of the covenant would go ahead of them into the hostile territory of Caanan.

The Lord promised that He would drive out all the hostile inhabitants of the land so that they could settle in the place where the Lord had promised them.

In order for the children of Israel to gain the promises of God, the Lord gave them instructions to follow that would unfurl the promises that were made to them.

The instructions given to them were that they had to pick twelve men, one from each tribe, to carry the ark of the covenant and step into the Jordan river.

This act of faith, planted as a seed on the banks of the Jordan river, would initiate the fulfillment of God's promises which were to hold back the Jordan river so they could cross and then to drive out their enemies so that they could possess the land.

This type and shadow of faith is the model we must follow in our age. If the Lord promises us something, the fulfillment of that promise will often be predicated on obeying directives that represent a hidden wisdom that the Lord has laid up for us.

The people of Israel obeyed God and stepped into the river with no evidence that the river would dry up other than that the Lord made a promise.

God's promises cannot be broken and so reacting to them like they are already fulfilled without a pause for doubt, enables their fulfillment.

Amen

OUR LORD WHO DEFEATS THE OPPRESSOR

In Isaiah 19 verses 4 - 5, the prophet foretells of a time when the oppression of Egypt will be resisted by the Lord.

Is this passage, the Lord uses the tactic of placing the Egyptians (the oppressors) themselves under a cruel master and fierce ruler.

The ruthlessness of the leader over the oppressing nation does two things; first, it makes the oppressing nature get a taste of their own oppression of other people and second, it discourages the oppressing people so that their willingness to support their regime dwindles and the streams of vital resources dry up. The passage reads this way.

I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry..

Those who presume to oppressive power over God's inheritance with find that an exceptionally cruel ruler has gained power over them and that the resources they thought were inexhaustible, suddenly dry up.

Bless our Lord who saves His people from oppression.

Amen.