Never Trust a Man Who Doesn't Limp

As in Old Testament Jacob’s case, prior to his developing a “limp”, could he be trusted?  Ask his dad, Isaac.  Better still, ask his brother, Esau.  The real clincher is to ask his father-in-law, Laban.  In this latter case Laban just about outdid Jacob in deceitfulness, but Jacob finally “did a number” on Laban.

After an unpleasant separation experience from Laban, Jacob takes his family and acquired wealth and heads back to the land of Canaan.  Critical to Jacob’s return is a face-off with his brother Esau whom he cheated out of his birthright twenty years previous.  In anticipation of this meeting Jacob is desperate, employing every stratagem at his command in hopes of appeasing the supposed anger of Esau.

Never mind a recent word of assurance of the Lord’s continuance with Jacob, “Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and your kindred, and I will be with you’” (Genesis 31:3).  In all this we would say Jacob “was beside himself”, desperate, knowing Esau is coming toward him with four-hundred men.  What was he to do that he had not done?

This anxiety sets the scene for something historic to happen.  Where Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather had his defining experience with Isaac on the mount of sacrifice, assuring his place as the “father of the faithful” and the “father of many nations”, Jacob will have a defining moment with God every bit as critical.

So, what will Jacob do?  He will pray.  He will pray as never before.  He will pray mightily. He will pray all night and veritably wrestle with the angel of the Lord.  Out of this most notable wrestling match came a changed man.  That which had been latent in Jacob’s character; that something (of divine origin – see Genesis 25:23) which caused him to conspire with his mother to cheat his twin brother out of his birthright; all this rushed to the fore causing him to cry out in the wrestling match, “I will not let You [the angel of the Lord] go unless You bless me” (Genesis 32:26b)!

The response:  “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel: for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28).

Once he was “Jacob”, a “heel-grabber”, a “deceiver”; now he is “Israel”, a “Prince with God”.  In a moment Jacob’s character was changed and a nation was born, a nation at its best whose “chief house”, the Temple, “shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7b). 

Basic to this whole "prayer process" was Jacob having his hip put out of joint so he walked then on with a limp. Jacob’s experience demonstrates the critical need for all God’s servants to be “dealt with”, or, in a manner of speaking, their hip being “put out of joint”.  If they don’t "limp" they haven’t been dealt with and cannot be trusted.  Do you have a noticeable limp?

Afterward.  What of Esau?  The meeting between the brothers came shortly after the wrestling match and proved of no consequence.

God's Training Program--The Desert

It’s been said, “God’s callings are His enablings”, yes, but the way He may be pleased to prepare His vessels is as varied as the vessels themselves.

Consider God’s way with Moses.  Easy enough to see the divine set up of God’s having Pharaoh’s daughter take in hand Moses to raise him as her own son, providing all the educational and cultural advantages needful in a one-day, founding ruler over Israel.  Yet in those earliest years when it was not uncommon for mothers to not wean their children until three to five years of age, Moses mother, Jochebed, would have had ample opportunity to impart critical Hebrew understandings to him before he was taken into Pharaoh’s court full-time.  That covert training manifest itself when Moses slew the Egyptian guard, thinking his fellow Hebrews would be supportive and cover his deed.  They didn't and Moses fled to the desert.

The training of Pharaoh’s court is universally recognized as critical to Moses’ intellectual development, but what of the desert and its potential for training? Too often this time is dismissed as “throw away” time, but what if God designed this time particularly for Moses' spiritual development? 

First, an operational base.  This God provided Moses by causing him to find favor with Jethro, who gave one of his daughters, Zipporah, to him who bore him a son called “Gershom”, meaning “I have been a so-journer in a foreign land”.  That’s it.  The only other “word” identifying this time in the desert was the fact Moses shepherded Jethro’s sheep.

But what of the remainder of Moses’ time in the desert?  Immediately it must be established most deserts are an unforgiving environment.  But Moses not only learned to survive in the desert, he obviously thrived by virtue of the fact he could shepherd sheep for a large part of forty years.  In the process he learned the secrets of the desert.  When, for example, it was safe to lead sheep through a “wadi”, Arabic for a dry canyon floor which could be subject to flash flooding; where and when meager pasturage could be found and where the watering holes were.  Also, his ears would have been sharply attuned for sounds signaling the presence of a predator—to meet any such head on. 

How much more instructive would have been the quiet of the nights, particularly the moon-less, star-lit nights.  After the sheep were settled for the night, most likely in some sort of an enclosure easily defended by him at the “gate”, Moses had time to peer into the depths of the darkness.  The more intently he peered into the heavens, the more deeply he saw the depths of his own soul and remembered his people in Egypt and those stories his mother told about God’s promises to Israel.

Then one day innocently leading the flock “. . .to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God” (Exodus 3:1), Moses had his “burning bush” encounter and his desert preparation was over.  This period had begun and concluded abruptly.  Lessons were learned. The time was right. God had his man.

Have you been in a dry place, away from the limelight, perhaps hidden, but not in sin or rebellion and wondering if you have missed the purposes of God?  Remember Moses.

Know God -- Be a Liberator

Knowing God

There are only two religions that speak of knowing God; one, Judaism, speaks historically of that process; the other, Christianity, speaks of knowing God now.  Initially, these two branches were one; but for reasons that pleased an Almighty, wise and sovereign God these branches diverged.  In a day yet future, these two branches will come together.  That will be the 2^nd most awesome event in world history.  The most awesome event will follow hard on the heels of the other, the Second Coming of Jesus of Nazareth, Yeshua Hamashiah.  What a glorious day that will be.

Twixt now and then it’s incumbent upon the followers of God that they get to know Him intimately.  Simply because out of such intimate knowledge will they shepherd many young sheep amidst a world if not gone mad, certainly topsy-turvy. 

The Process

Let’s assume the readers knows of the “Roman Road” (various Scriptures in the Book of Romans) that can lead a person to salvation.  If not that route then another akin to it, establishing a person “in salvation”.  That’s for starters. 

You must learn what the Lord requires of you.  Jesus Himself put a very “positive spin” on His requirements saying, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).  Again, Jesus said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10).

Right away you can see you’re simply going to have to spend some time with the word of God.  There you will be washed (Ephesians 5:26); empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8); continually cleansed (I John 1:7); sanctified [set apart] (II Timothy 2:21); separated from the world (II Corinthians 6:17) and ever so much more.  You will learn to walk with God, hear His voice, and be guided by His Holy Spirit. In this process the Apostle Paul spoke of being “well known to God” (II Corinthians 5:11b). The whole pace of this learning process will be speeded if you are part of a group that has similar objectives.

Becoming a “Liberator”

God wants you to so know Him that you can become one of His “liberators”.  Inasmuch as persons “outside of Christ” are bound [imprisoned] in Satan’s kingdom of darkness [more and more such persons give clear evidence of this], they need to be “liberated” or “set free”.  The Apostle Paul summed up our responsibility this way, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (II Corinthians 5:19, 20). 

In coming days when “darkness” begins to descend upon the earth, God’s ambassadors will be the only ones with answers that matter and “liberate”.  Now is the time to prepare.

"Does God Execute Judgment?"

Judgment Deferred

Speaking to the issue of deferred judgment Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem entitled:         “Retribution”

                                Though the mills of God grind slowly;

                                Yet they grind exceeding small;

                                Though with patience he stands waiting,

                                With exactness grinds he all.          –Taken from “Wikipedia”

Futility of Man’s Rebellion Against God

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?  The Kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed (“Messiah”), saying, ‘Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.’  He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the lord shall hold them in derision.  Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure:  ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion’” (Psalm 2:1-6).

This is one of the most fearsome passages in the Bible as it speaks of the futility of man’s attempt to cast off all restraint as touching the laws of God.  That fearsomeness is bound up in the fact God shall laugh, the laughter of scorn and His contemptuous derision of such which have as their goal the overturn of Jesus’ throne, already an accomplished fact in the annals of heaven.

When Shall God’s Judgments be Seen?

Here we speak of judgments all can see and about which there can be no question.  There is one standard for nations, another for individuals.  For nations, as God revealed the future of his descendants to Abram [later Abraham], there is such a thing as the [cup] of iniquity not being full (Genesis 15:16).  So the Children of Israel would return to execute judgment on the Amorites after four generations passes.  Yes, judgment would and did fall, but God gave the Amorites four generations in which to repent. 

For individuals, as with nations, God is merciful, but, “He, that being often reproved [corrected] hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1).

Scoffers Take Advantage of God’s Mercy

“. . .scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?  For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3,4).  Peter continues on to say such persons willfully forget that the order of things was changed by the great flood.  He then added, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)

The Purpose of God’s Judgments

To draw wayward individuals and nations to Himself—because He is a loving God.

 

"I've Got to be Me"

With an adaptive title, “I’ve Gotta be Me”, Sammy Davis, Jr., popularized this song from the Broadway musical, “Golden Rainbow”, in 1968.  This became one of his signature songs though the Broadway musical from which it was drawn ran only one year.

The title, “I’ve Got to be Me”, captures one of the most basic of all theological and philosophical truths--you can't be anyone else.  But how many human ills stem from the fact persons do not want to be themselves?  Theologically, this puts people in a predicament.  Because Christ died for who you are, not for who you aren’t.

This problem can be quickly fixed, basic as it is, if persons could see the virtue of being themselves.  A story highlights this need.  It tells of humankind being given opportunity to become someone else by simply casting their shoes upon a huge pile and selecting another pair that would represent a different life style.  One by one they came back, chastened but wiser, seeking their original pair of shoes.

While this mythical story points out the need to be who we are, at the same time it points out the desire to be different inwardly.  That’s what Jesus Christ died to make available—essentially a fresh start.  Through acceptance of His death for our “sin”, all those things that make it so hard to accept ourselves, a great exchange takes place.  He takes upon Himself our sin, we receive His righteousness—“right standing” before God, self, and our fellows (See Romans 5:8 & 18).

Now “I’ve Got to be Me” makes sense.  Through Christ, one becomes a person loved of God, accepted by herself or himself, with potential for others to love.  This doesn’t mean all things about you are perfect, but you are now on a track where God can perfect you.  Psalm 138:8 speaks directly to this issue, “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me” in personality and destiny.

This perfecting process will take the rest of your life and though sometimes painful and frequently difficult, it is good and bearable because “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted (tested) beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (test) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13b).

Let me tell you where this “testing” process will lead.  It is “to be conformed to the image of His Son (Jesus), that He (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29b).  Not bad company.