6.3.25 ~ Why The Wilderness?
Good morning!
A quick note. If you haven't responded yet to the request to stay on the morning study and prayer list, please let me know if you'd like to stay on it. I'll update my prayer texts this Friday.
In last night's zoom call, we took a cursory look at life in the wilderness/midbar (Deut. 29:5,6; 8:3; Matt. 4:1-11) as we continued our journey in the book of Numbers/bamidbar/in the wilderness. It's within the wilderness, away from the hustle bustle, the distractions that God's Word/d'bar is able to reach us.
It's hear that God leads those who are sons of God (Ex. 4:22; Rom. 8:14; Matt. 4:1-11; etc.) in order to humble us, test us and see if we will obey His commandments or not...the very commandments that we confessed, 'whatever you say, we will do' on our wedding day at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:8; 24:3,7); the day when we made it clear, 'we will follow you anywhere you lead, even the wilderness/midbar (Jer. 2:2) because we are your firstfruits (Jer. 2:3).
But that Pentecostal commitment at Mt. Sinai didn't last long (Jer. 2:4-12). They committed two evils: They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters, and they have hewn out for themselves cisterns to hold their own water source; but they are broken and hold no water (Jer. 2:13, 17-19).
Wow, this wilderness doesn't sound like the place 'most' want to spend their time, but, ironically, it's here, in the midst of a hostile environment of scorpions, devils, snakes, dragons, drought and much more (Deut. 8:15), that those who survive will find grace (Jer. 31:2).
"Thus says the LORD, “The people who survived the sword found grace/chen in the wilderness” (Jer. 31:2)
We're all in the wilderness/bamidbar. Those above the age of 20 are all numbered/nasa with expected responsibilities/paqad. As we see in the book of Numbers 14, not everyone finds grace in the wilderness. God says that His people, the ones who have survived the sword, the ones He calls Israel, find something unexpected in the wilderness. They find grace/chen. Huh? Grace in the place God led us? Grace with Him humbling us and testing us to see what's in our heart? Grace when He takes away our physical bread and wine and replaces it with the spiritual?
Imagine the joy of finding what your soul longs for in a place where no man can survive! The wilderness/midbar, where we know we will die on our own...this is God’s playground of grace. Why? Because grace is for those who know they cannot survive without it. Grace does not arrive in the midst of affluence. It is not found in the air-conditioned, video-enhanced, amplified and opulent monuments to what we can do without the Spirit. Grace comes to us, powerfully, personally, in the desolation of our lives. Grace is a lover of desperation.
The amazing fact of life is that we, speaking of me, myself and I, are desperate. We are all desolate. We all are in need of the sustaining Spirit. But we will not all find grace in our wilderness. Grace is for those who survive the sword. Huh?
Who are these people? They are the ones to whom God says, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” They are the people who have been cut and bled. Surviving the sword means putting your life in the hands of your God as the world slices away at you. It means cutting loose from the patterns that block your way into the wilderness. It means standing unafraid in the face of hardship, pain and death. It means that God is the Lord of my life no matter what circumstances I may encounter. It means worshipping Him even if He doesn’t save us from the fiery furnace or restore us from disaster; because He is worthy of my allegiance.
Some of God's children long to flee the wilderness testing (Deut. 29:5,6; 8:1-3). They seek remedies for self-protection. They will turn from the call to cut away the patterns of a world in rebellion. They will say, “I wish I could live by faith, but I have to be practical.” They do not know that grace resides in inhospitable circumstances. Mercy comes unexpectedly, not by religious incantations or magical name formulae, mercy, not grace, is the unmerited surprise. But you can’t be surprised by something that you plan and control. You have to bleed in order to live mercifully (2 Cor. 1:2-7).
Which part of the wilderness are you in? Are you in the wilderness, feeling the pain of the sword (Eze. 6:3; 11:8; Matt. 10:34)? Or are you comfortable in a city made by men? Where will grace encounter you on your journey? The answer: Through humility, obedience and perseverance.
As we move towards the first fruit of the wine and oil (Lev. 23:16,17; Deut. 11:14; 12:17; 14:23; 18:4; Neh. 13:5, 12; Hos. 2:8, 22; etc.), we will prepare for the great wedding feast of Sukkot. But first, we've got a wilderness to deal with. Stick together. Learn from Moses (Ex. 19:9; Mal. 4:1-4; Num.12:8). He's pointing you to the Messiah (Jn. 5:41-47) and as the Word/dabar (Jn. 1:1, 14) He's pointing you to Moses.
Happy 3rd day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine.
More on that topic later :-)
Shalom,
Alan
In last night's zoom call, we took a cursory look at life in the wilderness/midbar (Deut. 29:5,6; 8:3; Matt. 4:1-11) as we continued our journey in the book of Numbers/bamidbar/in the wilderness. It's within the wilderness, away from the hustle bustle, the distractions that God's Word/d'bar is able to reach us.
It's hear that God leads those who are sons of God (Ex. 4:22; Rom. 8:14; Matt. 4:1-11; etc.) in order to humble us, test us and see if we will obey His commandments or not...the very commandments that we confessed, 'whatever you say, we will do' on our wedding day at Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:8; 24:3,7); the day when we made it clear, 'we will follow you anywhere you lead, even the wilderness/midbar (Jer. 2:2) because we are your firstfruits (Jer. 2:3).
But that Pentecostal commitment at Mt. Sinai didn't last long (Jer. 2:4-12). They committed two evils: They have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters, and they have hewn out for themselves cisterns to hold their own water source; but they are broken and hold no water (Jer. 2:13, 17-19).
Wow, this wilderness doesn't sound like the place 'most' want to spend their time, but, ironically, it's here, in the midst of a hostile environment of scorpions, devils, snakes, dragons, drought and much more (Deut. 8:15), that those who survive will find grace (Jer. 31:2).
"Thus says the LORD, “The people who survived the sword found grace/chen in the wilderness” (Jer. 31:2)
We're all in the wilderness/bamidbar. Those above the age of 20 are all numbered/nasa with expected responsibilities/paqad. As we see in the book of Numbers 14, not everyone finds grace in the wilderness. God says that His people, the ones who have survived the sword, the ones He calls Israel, find something unexpected in the wilderness. They find grace/chen. Huh? Grace in the place God led us? Grace with Him humbling us and testing us to see what's in our heart? Grace when He takes away our physical bread and wine and replaces it with the spiritual?
Imagine the joy of finding what your soul longs for in a place where no man can survive! The wilderness/midbar, where we know we will die on our own...this is God’s playground of grace. Why? Because grace is for those who know they cannot survive without it. Grace does not arrive in the midst of affluence. It is not found in the air-conditioned, video-enhanced, amplified and opulent monuments to what we can do without the Spirit. Grace comes to us, powerfully, personally, in the desolation of our lives. Grace is a lover of desperation.
The amazing fact of life is that we, speaking of me, myself and I, are desperate. We are all desolate. We all are in need of the sustaining Spirit. But we will not all find grace in our wilderness. Grace is for those who survive the sword. Huh?
Who are these people? They are the ones to whom God says, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” They are the people who have been cut and bled. Surviving the sword means putting your life in the hands of your God as the world slices away at you. It means cutting loose from the patterns that block your way into the wilderness. It means standing unafraid in the face of hardship, pain and death. It means that God is the Lord of my life no matter what circumstances I may encounter. It means worshipping Him even if He doesn’t save us from the fiery furnace or restore us from disaster; because He is worthy of my allegiance.
Some of God's children long to flee the wilderness testing (Deut. 29:5,6; 8:1-3). They seek remedies for self-protection. They will turn from the call to cut away the patterns of a world in rebellion. They will say, “I wish I could live by faith, but I have to be practical.” They do not know that grace resides in inhospitable circumstances. Mercy comes unexpectedly, not by religious incantations or magical name formulae, mercy, not grace, is the unmerited surprise. But you can’t be surprised by something that you plan and control. You have to bleed in order to live mercifully (2 Cor. 1:2-7).
Which part of the wilderness are you in? Are you in the wilderness, feeling the pain of the sword (Eze. 6:3; 11:8; Matt. 10:34)? Or are you comfortable in a city made by men? Where will grace encounter you on your journey? The answer: Through humility, obedience and perseverance.
As we move towards the first fruit of the wine and oil (Lev. 23:16,17; Deut. 11:14; 12:17; 14:23; 18:4; Neh. 13:5, 12; Hos. 2:8, 22; etc.), we will prepare for the great wedding feast of Sukkot. But first, we've got a wilderness to deal with. Stick together. Learn from Moses (Ex. 19:9; Mal. 4:1-4; Num.12:8). He's pointing you to the Messiah (Jn. 5:41-47) and as the Word/dabar (Jn. 1:1, 14) He's pointing you to Moses.
Happy 3rd day of counting towards the first fruit of the wine.
More on that topic later :-)
Shalom,
Alan
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