by David Scott Robertson
How often has the title of this thought been the cry of the world in your ears?
Is all inactivity bad? Is it a sign of weakness, laziness, or passivity? Can doing nothing actually accomplish something?
I suppose that "doing nothing" can be unproductive but I propose that "doing nothing with purpose" can be extremely productive.
There are times, more often than you might think, when the appropriate action might be: "Don't just do something, stand there!"
Haven't you noticed in the history of the world and in the history of your life that just "doing something" was very often the catalyst to your downfall? If your experience is anything like mine then you've discovered that very often taking matters into your own hands has gotten you into massive amounts of trouble. Or saying something stupid instead of holding your tongue has gotten you into incredibly complex situations. Later, in remorse, I have made statements like: "I wish I hadn't every said/done that!" In so doing, you and I have joined an elite club of wrongdoers - the human race! This is evident for the Bible declares:
"…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" (Romans 3:23).
Wouldn't it have been better if Adam had paused before eating the forbidden fruit after Eve offered it to him and instead consulted with God later in the cool of the day?
Wouldn't it have been better if Abraham had paused to inquire of the Lord before sleeping with Hagar, the Egyptian slave, which resulted in the birth of "an Ishmael?"
The list of "what ifs?" is endless…
Science tells us that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Can this similarly apply to our personal lives as well?
Could it be just as true that:
- For every impulsively bad decision there is an equal and opposite well thought out good decision?
- For every negative word curse there is an equal and opposite positive word blessing?
- For every idle moment accelerating into fruitless activity there is an equal and opposite active moment decelerating into fruitful inactivity?
What if we were to take it on faith that our plan of action should be to stand still until we first find out what God's plan of action is for the situation? After all, isn't God the One that recommended that we…
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10).
Isn't God the One who instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel trapped in between the Red Sea and the murderous Egyptian army to:
"Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will show to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace" (Exodus 14:13-14 KJV).
Isn't God the One who instructed Samuel to tell a stubborn Israeli nation caught in the web of yet another self-inflicted dilemma when foolishly demanding a king:
"Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes!" (1 Sam 12:16)
Isn't God the One that inspired Joshua to command that the sun to stand still so that a great victory could be won?
"On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: "O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon."
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!" (Joshua 10:12-14).
Perhaps in your own life there can dawn a day that has never been like it before when the Lord can intervene with miracles and signs and wonders but all He is waiting for is for you to quit striving, cease from your labors, enter His rest, and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!
DSR
3/29/04
Monday, March 29, 2004
Monday, March 22, 2004
Passionate Zeal
by David Scott Robertson
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by displaying passionate zeal among them on my behalf. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my anger. So tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, he and his descendants will be priests for all time, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'" - Numbers 25:10-13
God is a zealous God. One of His attributes most certainly is zeal. Zeal is a funny little word that basically describes an attitude of deep devotion or passionate commitment to something or someone.
If you take a few moments and track God's zeal through the scriptures, you'll find it surfacing again and again (Deuteronomy. 29:20; 2 Kings 19:31; Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 37:32; Isaiah 42:13; Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 63:15; Ezekiel 5:13; Ezekiel 36:5; Ezekiel 38:19).
It was the zeal of the Lord that accomplished the salvation of the world through the advent of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ:
"Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:7 NIV).
Jesus, the Son of God, carried on the family tradition by displaying His zeal as He was inaugurating the New Covenant between God and man:
"To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me'" (John 2:16-17).
When Jesus was selecting His twelve, the inner circle of disciples that He would personally mentor and commission to carry on after His earthly departure, He selected a man named Simon, a zealot (Luke 6:15). Simon was a militant radical. According to Holman's Bible Dictionary, a zealot was "one who acted with great zeal. The term came to designate a particular segment of the Jewish population who continually tried to overthrow foreign oppression, especially the Roman rule in Palestine."
God exalted a man in the Old Testament named Jehu because this man had a passionate commitment to expunge Baal worship from the land (1 Kings 10:28), a practice that God detested:
"Jehu said, "Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD." Then he had him ride along in his chariot (2 Kings 10:16) en route to assemble and assassinate the priests of Baal.
You see it over and over again in the Bible text, men and women being zealous for the Lord and God exalting and promoting them because of it.
Zeal is good but it must be harnessed for the right cause or person. Proverbs 19:2 warns:
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way."
The religious leaders of Jesus' day were indeed zealous, but not for the things that God intended:
"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Romans 10:1-3).
In his zeal Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) persecuted the Christian church(Philippians 3:6).
The conclusion of the matter is that we can be sincere about something, but be sincerely wrong. Our sincerity, our passion, our commitment, our zeal must be channeled correctly under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be credited to us as righteousness.
God is still looking for men and women today who possess the unusual quality of passionate zeal so that He can exalt them in due season.
How about it? Are you willing to ask the Lord for the "zeal of God" to consume you? Are you ready to move on to a place of passionate commitment to the cause of Christ? Are you willing to separate yourself from billions of unbelievers and millions of believers by allowing God's passionate zeal to course through your spirit uninhibited by your fleshly desires?
I can't answer for you, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! We will love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and lean on God to help us love our neighbors as ourselves! I served the devil much when I was lost, now that I'm a Christian, I will serve God even more!
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11).
DSR
3/22/04
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by displaying passionate zeal among them on my behalf. So I have stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my anger. So tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, he and his descendants will be priests for all time, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.'" - Numbers 25:10-13
God is a zealous God. One of His attributes most certainly is zeal. Zeal is a funny little word that basically describes an attitude of deep devotion or passionate commitment to something or someone.
If you take a few moments and track God's zeal through the scriptures, you'll find it surfacing again and again (Deuteronomy. 29:20; 2 Kings 19:31; Isaiah 26:11; Isaiah 37:32; Isaiah 42:13; Isaiah 59:17; Isaiah 63:15; Ezekiel 5:13; Ezekiel 36:5; Ezekiel 38:19).
It was the zeal of the Lord that accomplished the salvation of the world through the advent of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ:
"Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:7 NIV).
Jesus, the Son of God, carried on the family tradition by displaying His zeal as He was inaugurating the New Covenant between God and man:
"To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: 'Zeal for your house will consume me'" (John 2:16-17).
When Jesus was selecting His twelve, the inner circle of disciples that He would personally mentor and commission to carry on after His earthly departure, He selected a man named Simon, a zealot (Luke 6:15). Simon was a militant radical. According to Holman's Bible Dictionary, a zealot was "one who acted with great zeal. The term came to designate a particular segment of the Jewish population who continually tried to overthrow foreign oppression, especially the Roman rule in Palestine."
God exalted a man in the Old Testament named Jehu because this man had a passionate commitment to expunge Baal worship from the land (1 Kings 10:28), a practice that God detested:
"Jehu said, "Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD." Then he had him ride along in his chariot (2 Kings 10:16) en route to assemble and assassinate the priests of Baal.
You see it over and over again in the Bible text, men and women being zealous for the Lord and God exalting and promoting them because of it.
Zeal is good but it must be harnessed for the right cause or person. Proverbs 19:2 warns:
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way."
The religious leaders of Jesus' day were indeed zealous, but not for the things that God intended:
"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Romans 10:1-3).
In his zeal Saul (who later became the apostle Paul) persecuted the Christian church(Philippians 3:6).
The conclusion of the matter is that we can be sincere about something, but be sincerely wrong. Our sincerity, our passion, our commitment, our zeal must be channeled correctly under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be credited to us as righteousness.
God is still looking for men and women today who possess the unusual quality of passionate zeal so that He can exalt them in due season.
How about it? Are you willing to ask the Lord for the "zeal of God" to consume you? Are you ready to move on to a place of passionate commitment to the cause of Christ? Are you willing to separate yourself from billions of unbelievers and millions of believers by allowing God's passionate zeal to course through your spirit uninhibited by your fleshly desires?
I can't answer for you, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! We will love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and lean on God to help us love our neighbors as ourselves! I served the devil much when I was lost, now that I'm a Christian, I will serve God even more!
"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11).
DSR
3/22/04
Monday, March 15, 2004
The Mixed Multitude
by David Scott Robertson
"And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle" (Exodus 12:37-38 KJV).
When Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt en route to the Promised Land, the Bible tells us that more than the children of Israel left Egypt that momentous day. A "mixed multitude" went with them. The New Living Translation says, "Many people who were not Israelites went with them, along with the many flocks and herds" (Exodus 12:38).
I don't know what it is about the "mixed multitude" that fascinates me, but it does.
The book of Exodus focuses on the mighty miracles that God performed to free His people from centuries of slavery in the idolatrous nation of Egypt but little is said about the mixed multitude that accompanied their hasty exit.
I hate to speculate, but I can't help but wonder about this non-Jewish people group who evacuated Egypt that apparently was so great in number that the Bible describes them as a "multitude."
Do you suppose some of them were slaves from other nations conscripted into hard labor along side of the Israelites? Were some, in fact, former Egyptian officials who defected because of their profound respect for Moses and a newfound faith in the great God Jehovah? This is not inconceivable since Exodus 11:3 tells us:
"The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people."
The influence of Moses transformed some of these pagans into God-fearing men as we discover in Exodus 9:20:
"Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside [when Moses prophesied a plague of killer hail was coming]."
Perhaps they and their households and slaves comprised part of the mixed multitude. Maybe the mixed multitude were foreigners from other nations who had settled in Egypt for economic reasons. There they may have prospered and flourished. But ten devastating plagues later, they were broke with no livelihood, no source of income, no hope and future. Perhaps they were once "free" but now were "enslaved" by debt.
Maybe the mixed multitude contained many "curiosity-seekers," those who wanted to go see for themselves the much talked about sacrifice that the Israelites were commanded to perform to their God and expecting to see some glorious manifestation of Israel's God.
Many, if not most of the mixed multitude, may have been an unthinking mob who just "went along with the crowd" not really knowing why but joining in the mass exodus anyway.
I could go on but the established fact remains that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people blended into the departing Israelite community as they left Egypt in a mass exodus.
Having been sufficiently motivated by the awesome plagues God sent on Pharaoh and his nation, they were convinced in the reality of the God of Moses and Aaron.
Furthermore, they experienced deliverance from death from the pursuing army of Pharaoh with orders to kill all those that fled through the Red Sea (Pharaoh probably gave orders to indiscriminately kill any of the mixed multitude who fled through the Red Sea with Moses.)
Shoulder to shoulder with their Israelite traveling companions, the mixed multitude would experience God's miracle provision in a barren wilderness. They watched, with their own eyes, as God performed miracle after miracle - the Red Sea swallowing the entire army of Pharaoh in one fatal blow - they saw the awesome Tabernacle and sacrificial system - they saw the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night leading Israel - they heard God speak to Moses and through Moses - they tasted bitter waters made sweet and drinkable and on and on. The mixed multitude even had their very lives sustained through the miraculous food supply from heaven that came to be known as "manna."
So, here is what I think would naturally happen to the mixed multitude in the subsequent weeks and months that follow.
They would all, without exception, convert to the faith of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would become obedient to the Old Covenant requirements of the Law to please the great God Jehovah who richly provided them with a hope and future, even though they were foreigners of mixed ancestry (Nehemiah 13:3). They would do all they could to encourage the Israelites to faithfully serve their powerful God because associating with them had saved their lives.
But tragically, that's not what happened.
"Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt, and the people of Israel also began to complain. "Oh, for some meat!" they exclaimed. We remember all the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic that we wanted. But now our appetites are gone, and day after day we have nothing to eat but this manna!" (Numbers 11:4-6)
Their negative report apparently spread to every family in the twelve tribes of Israel for the scriptures say, "Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled" (Numbers 11:10).
Where am I going with all this?
I suppose we who have been delivered from the slavery of sin can identify much with the children of Israel in the time of the Exodus. Before we are saved, Satan is our evil taskmaster. While in sin, we are doomed to a harsh existence with the devil desiring to keep us in bondage and destroy our children and fruitfulness.
But just like God sent Moses to deliver His people back then, so God sends a deliverer to us in our day bearing the authority of God and the good news of the gospel. Like Israel leaving Egypt, we leave sin and through the waters of baptism we experience our version of the Red Sea passage.
Then we begin to walk in a wilderness led by the Spirit en route to a land flowing with milk and honey, that is, heaven.
While we are walking through our modern world, we have as our traveling companions a mixed multitude. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who seek to influence us to depart from the faith and go back to "Egypt", back to a life of sin.
To me, the message of the "mixed multitude" is that it is fine to associate with people of other cultures and even religious persuasions. We can work with them, walk with them, eat with them, play sports with them, and even live next door to them permitting our children to play with theirs. However, a line must be drawn when it comes to allowing them to negatively influence us or our children to compromise God's righteous requirements of our lives and lifestyles. Our belief system which is based on the living and proven Word of God cannot be undermined by those who have never read it, understand it, let alone obey it.
There can be no tolerance of a murmuring spirit that causes division among the brethren, something that made the list of seven things that God hates (Proverbs 6:19).
So how do we handle the mixed multitude in our present day and age?
I think first we should understand that Jesus died for the mixed multitude. Those of us who are Gentiles and not of Jewish descent are actually part of the natural mixed multitude. When we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, we are grafted into the family of God and become joint-heirs with Jesus, and this by the grace of God. We need to understand that God is not willing that any of the mixed multitude should perish but that all should come to repentance and experience eternal life.
Next, I think we should ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) in establishing good boundaries in which to conduct our lives as the mixed multitude live among us. We need to let the light of the gospel shine through our lives (Matthew 5:16) that all may know that God lives not only among us, but in us.
Finally, we must adopt Joshua and Caleb attitudes that are resistant to grumbling, complaining, and murmuring and energized with faith. We must understand that we are well able to possess the lands that God has set before us, lands filled with more of the mixed multitude.
DSR
3/15/04
"And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle" (Exodus 12:37-38 KJV).
When Moses led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt en route to the Promised Land, the Bible tells us that more than the children of Israel left Egypt that momentous day. A "mixed multitude" went with them. The New Living Translation says, "Many people who were not Israelites went with them, along with the many flocks and herds" (Exodus 12:38).
I don't know what it is about the "mixed multitude" that fascinates me, but it does.
The book of Exodus focuses on the mighty miracles that God performed to free His people from centuries of slavery in the idolatrous nation of Egypt but little is said about the mixed multitude that accompanied their hasty exit.
I hate to speculate, but I can't help but wonder about this non-Jewish people group who evacuated Egypt that apparently was so great in number that the Bible describes them as a "multitude."
Do you suppose some of them were slaves from other nations conscripted into hard labor along side of the Israelites? Were some, in fact, former Egyptian officials who defected because of their profound respect for Moses and a newfound faith in the great God Jehovah? This is not inconceivable since Exodus 11:3 tells us:
"The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people."
The influence of Moses transformed some of these pagans into God-fearing men as we discover in Exodus 9:20:
"Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside [when Moses prophesied a plague of killer hail was coming]."
Perhaps they and their households and slaves comprised part of the mixed multitude. Maybe the mixed multitude were foreigners from other nations who had settled in Egypt for economic reasons. There they may have prospered and flourished. But ten devastating plagues later, they were broke with no livelihood, no source of income, no hope and future. Perhaps they were once "free" but now were "enslaved" by debt.
Maybe the mixed multitude contained many "curiosity-seekers," those who wanted to go see for themselves the much talked about sacrifice that the Israelites were commanded to perform to their God and expecting to see some glorious manifestation of Israel's God.
Many, if not most of the mixed multitude, may have been an unthinking mob who just "went along with the crowd" not really knowing why but joining in the mass exodus anyway.
I could go on but the established fact remains that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people blended into the departing Israelite community as they left Egypt in a mass exodus.
Having been sufficiently motivated by the awesome plagues God sent on Pharaoh and his nation, they were convinced in the reality of the God of Moses and Aaron.
Furthermore, they experienced deliverance from death from the pursuing army of Pharaoh with orders to kill all those that fled through the Red Sea (Pharaoh probably gave orders to indiscriminately kill any of the mixed multitude who fled through the Red Sea with Moses.)
Shoulder to shoulder with their Israelite traveling companions, the mixed multitude would experience God's miracle provision in a barren wilderness. They watched, with their own eyes, as God performed miracle after miracle - the Red Sea swallowing the entire army of Pharaoh in one fatal blow - they saw the awesome Tabernacle and sacrificial system - they saw the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night leading Israel - they heard God speak to Moses and through Moses - they tasted bitter waters made sweet and drinkable and on and on. The mixed multitude even had their very lives sustained through the miraculous food supply from heaven that came to be known as "manna."
So, here is what I think would naturally happen to the mixed multitude in the subsequent weeks and months that follow.
They would all, without exception, convert to the faith of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would become obedient to the Old Covenant requirements of the Law to please the great God Jehovah who richly provided them with a hope and future, even though they were foreigners of mixed ancestry (Nehemiah 13:3). They would do all they could to encourage the Israelites to faithfully serve their powerful God because associating with them had saved their lives.
But tragically, that's not what happened.
"Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt, and the people of Israel also began to complain. "Oh, for some meat!" they exclaimed. We remember all the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic that we wanted. But now our appetites are gone, and day after day we have nothing to eat but this manna!" (Numbers 11:4-6)
Their negative report apparently spread to every family in the twelve tribes of Israel for the scriptures say, "Moses heard the people of every family wailing, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled" (Numbers 11:10).
Where am I going with all this?
I suppose we who have been delivered from the slavery of sin can identify much with the children of Israel in the time of the Exodus. Before we are saved, Satan is our evil taskmaster. While in sin, we are doomed to a harsh existence with the devil desiring to keep us in bondage and destroy our children and fruitfulness.
But just like God sent Moses to deliver His people back then, so God sends a deliverer to us in our day bearing the authority of God and the good news of the gospel. Like Israel leaving Egypt, we leave sin and through the waters of baptism we experience our version of the Red Sea passage.
Then we begin to walk in a wilderness led by the Spirit en route to a land flowing with milk and honey, that is, heaven.
While we are walking through our modern world, we have as our traveling companions a mixed multitude. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who seek to influence us to depart from the faith and go back to "Egypt", back to a life of sin.
To me, the message of the "mixed multitude" is that it is fine to associate with people of other cultures and even religious persuasions. We can work with them, walk with them, eat with them, play sports with them, and even live next door to them permitting our children to play with theirs. However, a line must be drawn when it comes to allowing them to negatively influence us or our children to compromise God's righteous requirements of our lives and lifestyles. Our belief system which is based on the living and proven Word of God cannot be undermined by those who have never read it, understand it, let alone obey it.
There can be no tolerance of a murmuring spirit that causes division among the brethren, something that made the list of seven things that God hates (Proverbs 6:19).
So how do we handle the mixed multitude in our present day and age?
I think first we should understand that Jesus died for the mixed multitude. Those of us who are Gentiles and not of Jewish descent are actually part of the natural mixed multitude. When we receive Christ as Savior and Lord, we are grafted into the family of God and become joint-heirs with Jesus, and this by the grace of God. We need to understand that God is not willing that any of the mixed multitude should perish but that all should come to repentance and experience eternal life.
Next, I think we should ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) in establishing good boundaries in which to conduct our lives as the mixed multitude live among us. We need to let the light of the gospel shine through our lives (Matthew 5:16) that all may know that God lives not only among us, but in us.
Finally, we must adopt Joshua and Caleb attitudes that are resistant to grumbling, complaining, and murmuring and energized with faith. We must understand that we are well able to possess the lands that God has set before us, lands filled with more of the mixed multitude.
DSR
3/15/04
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)