Trusting God in the Storm

I’m studying Exodus now. In Exodus 14 we see that through Moses, God led Israel out of Egypt into what appeared to be an inescapable trap, cornered at the edge of the sea across from a village of Ba’al worshippers known as Ba’al Tsephon.

God led them there with a purpose, to be honored through Pharaoh’s defeat at the hands of God himself. But this was not at all how Israel saw the situation. It appeared to Israel that they would either die at the hands of Pharaoh's army or be forcibly taken back to Egypt and re-enslaved.

The name Ba’al Tsephon is significant. It means Lord of the Storm. The word typhoon is closely related, a violent fearful wind storm. God was going to use this violent wind to bring deliverance to Israel and destruction to the enemy.

There are a couple of lessons to be learned from this episode in the Bible.

First, our deliverance from slavery may begin with trouble. Israel experienced many troubles escaping slavery even before this event. Their work became unbearable, there were plagues all around them, and ultimately they had to assemble in the night to run into a future of great uncertainty. The decision to leave a lost and sinful past can bring this kind of hardship. God intentionally brought Israel to the edge of the sea to destroy the slave masters, and to build their faith.

Second, there is no turning back. When Israel's deliverance was completed there was a stormy sea left behind them, separating the people from their lives of bondage in Egypt. We must cross boundaries to leave our sinful past and these boundaries become barriers to protect us from returning there. Sin can never be sweet again, though it beckons and threatens to take us back. Passing through a storm of deliverance is a cleansing experience, symbolized by baptism when we begin to walk by faith.

Though we pass through many storms in life, we should always remember that God brings us there with a purpose. We must learn to trust him, as better things lie just on the other side.

Aaron's God

Shortly after Moses led the nation of Israel out of Egypt, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 elders went up on Mt. Sinai and to see God. He was standing on pavement that had an appearance like clear blue sapphire (Ex. 24:9). These men had a close encounter with the eternal God, yet God withheld His consuming fire and allowed these men to eat and drink and return to their camp in the wilderness.

A few days later while Moses was still on the mountain, the people of Israel came and told Aaron to make a new god to go before them. Aaron did not hesitate or council them to turn back to the one true God, but immediately used his God-given gift to fashion a molten idol from their gold jewelry.

It's hard to believe somebody with great authority like Aaron could have a direct, personal encounter with God and then turn away to false gods so quickly. What happened to the "Angel of God" who was sent to lead them through the wilderness into the promised land? He did not leave them; they simply weren't following. You see, the people of Israel weren't really following Christ, they were following Moses. When Moses was gone, it became apparent that they didn't really have true faith.

I've had extended times in my life where I was only living to please Christians, instead of living to please Christ. It's pretty hard to tell the difference from the outside, but during this time I knew on the inside that I had become weak in faith. Like the children of Israel I spent years wandering around the wilderness following whoever I was with on that day of the week. I even encountered God directly at times, but my mind quickly wandered back to my wilderness, and my heart and spirit gradually grew cold.

Aaron didn't have a strong personal faith in God, and he allowed Israel to stray into idolatry, even making the very idol that brought God's wrath. Yet by God's mercy, Aaron remained the high priest and patriarch of the Levitical priesthood. Aaron and the rest of Israel were under the covenant of the law. Moses and his protege Joshua were under the covenant of grace. In a manner of speaking Aaron's god was Moses, who kept him under the bondage of the Torah law until the age of grace came to all men through Jesus Christ. With the exception of a few great men and women of faith, the entire nation of Israel was under this law of sin and death.

I think God sometimes allows godly men like Moses to be drawn away from their followers to separate those who are following God from those who are following men. It is times like these that test our faith and reveal whether it is built on an everlasting foundation. When I finally realized that I was following men and not God, I became desperate to find a deeper personal faith that could not be shaken. Praise God, I think I found it!

Refining Fire

Today I visited a church in Ingram, Texas with a good friend and brother-in-Christ. I was blessed because of what the pastor spoke about - seeking and seeing God's face.

He started with Exodus 33:20:

"But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

The pastor asked if that were true, why did Exodus 33:11 say "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one would speak to a friend?"

I had been studying Exodus 24 just this past week where it says that the elders of Israel "saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank."

As the pastor pointed out, why is the Bible full of admonitions to "seek God's face" if seeing God would bring death? His point was that the verse in Ex 33:11 only applied to that one time. But I saw a larger point.

I also studied the meaning of the word "fire" last week (at a friend's request). I found some interesting things about fire. Fire consumes the sacrifices laid on the altar before God. The Bible says God himself is a "consuming fire". In that same chapter of Exodus 24, "to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a consuming fire on the mountain top."

Moses and the elders of Israel passed through this consuming fire and returned alive. If this can be the case, why does the Bible say that no man can see God and live? Put another way, what dies in the presence of God?

The Greek word for fire is "PYR" or "PUR". This Greek root is found in English as "pyre" and "pyromania" for example. I believe it is also at the root of the word "purify", as when a refiner purifies metal in a fire.

If it's not obvious by now, being in the presence of God will destroy our flesh and energize our spirits. This is why we are admonished to seek God's face, to allow his intense glory to burn away the dross in our lives and expose the precious mettle of Jesus! Glory to the God of heaven whose burning majesty will consume his enemies! Jesus said "he who loses his life for my sake will find it." Paul said to "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice" to be consumed by the blaze of his glory on the altar of this earthly life. It is a terrible wonderful thing to come into God's presence: terrible if we come in the flesh, but wonderful to know that what separates us from God is dying there in His presence just the same. If we dwell in His presence, one day we will "shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven" when there is no more flesh to burn away.

Holiness and the Sabbath

One of the things that I find difficult to reconcile between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the Sabbath.  This was one of the fundamental tenets of the Law; the Sabbath is to be a holy day unto the Lord.  The Sabbath rest is introduced in the very beginning of the Bible and it is one of the Ten Commandments.  I ran into this quandary again today when I was reading Isaiah 56.

Thus says the LORD,
            “Preserve justice and do righteousness,
            For My salvation is about to come
            And My righteousness to be revealed.
      “How blessed is the man who does this,
            And the son of man who takes hold of it;
            Who keeps from profaning the Sabbath,
            And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

This theme of not profaning the Sabbath is repeated three times in Isaiah 56, even  applying it to gentiles who come to the Lord.

“Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
            To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD,
            To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath
            And holds fast My covenant;
      Even those I will bring to My holy mountain
            And make them joyful in My house of prayer.
            Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar;
            For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

When I was a child in Houston, I remember the world around me seemed to stop on Sundays.  At that time (the 1960s) America was just getting started on its way to abandoning the Sabbath or "blue laws."  Today in America you couldn't tell much difference between Sunday and any other day of the week.  Most people still get weekends off from work (praise the Lord), but treat Sunday just like Saturday or any other day off from work.

So I had to stop and ask myself, how does this fundamental Old Testament law apply to Christians, or does it apply at all?  First, the Sabbath as counted by the original keepers of the Sabbath occurs on Saturday.  That immediately causes me concern about Sabbath legalism being applied to Sundays.

The apostles seemed to dismiss or even discourage observance of holy days, and even Christ seemed to intentionally violate Jewish traditions based on the Sabbath day, in order to challenge the religious establishment.

So, what can we learn from the principal of the Sabbath that applies to Christians?  Well, first the principal of rest on the seventh day is built into our genetics by our Creator.  This is a physical principal which we would do best to observe.

More importantly, just like our bodies need rest periodically, our spirits need refreshing periodically.  The Sabbath, like the tithe, is a principal which pre-dates and exists outside the Law of Moses.  Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So we should use the Sabbath rest for its purpose, to re-unite our spirits with the Spirit of God, and re-unite our souls with our brethren in the Lord.

Most critical though, the Sabbath is a demonstration of the holiness of God.  Profaning the Sabbath is really just making the Sabbath like any other day.  There is another similar commandment right before the Sabbath law.

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain."
Exodus 20:7 NASB

The first four commandments deal with the holiness of God.  There have been teachings in America that bring God down to our level, as a friend or a brother.  While it is true that God may present himself through Jesus as a fellow servant of God, we cannot presume to approach Him in that way.  The first words in the Lord's prayer lift up the holiness of God.

I came across this in my study of the prophets.

He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die, by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.
Ezekiel 43:7-8 NASB

It appears to me that the Jewish priests set up a room next to the holy place in the temple where they kept the remains of their kings.  This reminds me of some churches I saw in Europe where they had the bones of dead saints right there in the sanctuary mixed in with images of Jesus.  Certainly elevating saints to a level of worship is an abomination to God.

God may come down to our level, but we are not allowed to go up to His level or bring Him down to ours. If we make His throne in our lives just one of many, we profane His name.  God's throne must be supreme; He will not share His glory with any other.

"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images."
Isaiah 42:8 NASB

The early disciples called Sunday the "Lord's Day" and it was indeed a special day.  We need not re-introduce the Law of Moses to make Sunday our Sabbath.  Rather, I pray that I will remember to keep the Lord's day separate in some ways, to spend a little more time in prayer, to read a little more from His word, and maybe even write something honoring the Name of my Creator!

The Two Witnesses at the End of Days

(I have had a powerful writer's block for many months, so please forgive my silence.  I cannot write except under inspiration and have tried many times fruitlessly since my last post.  I have much more to say when that inspiration permits it.)

I've been studying Revelation with a group of men led by pastor and teacher Gene Smith.  Last week he taught from chapter 11 wherein the two witnesses prophesy from Jerusalem for 1260 days during the first half of the final seven years of judgement.

Gene indicated that most scholars regard these two witnesses to be the re-embodied Moses and Elijah from the Old Testament, or at least people who have the same power and ministry.

I did some of my own research (which I always do regardless of who is teaching) and reached the same conclusion!  Here's how I challenged the assertion and the possibilities I studied.

Enoch and Elijah

First, I noted that the two witnesses died.  The Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die, and then comes judgement.  There are only two people mentioned in the Bible who never died - Enoch (Genesis 5:24) and Elijah (II Kings 2:11).  Many scholars believe these are the two witnesses at the end of days.  There is some logic here, because these two could return to life in the last days and actually be killed for the first time. Furthermore, although little is known about Enoch, Jude mentions Enoch as an end-time prophet:

It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 1:14-15

There is little doubt that one of the two is Elijah, as Malachi prophesied and the Jews affirm (even to this day).  Even Jesus referenced John as Elijah's prototype to prepare the way for His first coming.

Moses and Elijah

As Pastor Gene pointed out to us:

Who had the power to shut off the sky so that rain will not fall?  Elijah. (James 5:17, Luke 4:25, I Kings 17:1)  How long did the two witnesses prophesy? (1260 days or three and a half years.)  That is exactly the same amount of time the rain did not fall during Elijah's prophesying.  Amazing!

Who had the power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague?  Moses. (Exodus chapters 7-10)

Who appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2)?  Moses and Elijah.

The two witnesses stand before the Lord continually.

What better two authorities could reach the Jewish people and turn their hearts to the living Messiah than Moses and Elijah?  These two represent the embodiment of the Old Testament, the Law and the Prophet.

Malachi mentions both Moses and Elijah in his end-time prophecy:

“Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:4-6

There is just one minor problem with Moses as the second witness.  Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab (Deuteronomy 34:5).  So Moses doesn't exactly parallel Elijah as a person alive and standing before the Lord in heaven.  Today I resolved that conflict (in my own understanding at least.)  The little book of Jude sheds unique light on what happened to Moses after God buried his body.

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude 1:9

Deuteronomy 34 says the Lord buried him in the land of Moab, but his eye was not dim nor his vigor abated.  I think God might have just resurrected old Moses and took him to heaven alive.  Why?  If God didn't hide Moses' body the Jews might have worshiped his shrine.  If God took him to heaven in a chariot before their eyes they might surely have worshipped him as some sort of deity.  It makes sense that if God wanted to take him, He might have to do it rather discreetly.  So He sent Michael to go get his body and bring him up to heaven (I suspect).

Getting to the point

On balance I am convinced the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah, in the flesh. Can you imagine the power of these two mighty men of God after spending thousands of years in heaven before the throne of God, returning to earth by God's authorization to convert their Jewish brethren?  If that didn't impress you, how about a little fire from their mouths to slay those who try to kill them?  By the way, who called fire out of heaven to destroy his enemies, not once but twice (II Kings 1:10,12)?  Elijah.

At the end of days, these two mighty witnesses and the 144,000 chosen from every tribe of Israel will lead the nation of Israel back to the Lord.  That will be a day I would like to see, but as Pastor Gene pointed out, that will probably be from heaven.  At that time the age of the gentile church has been fulfilled and God will once again extend His infinite mercy to his chosen people.  Oh Halellujah, praise God, that'll be the day!