Friday, September 18, 2015
What (And How) We See
Today’s title was a bit clunky at best. The Father woke me up early a few times to pray. Finally, wide awake at 5AM, I am writing. As I was praying I was talking with Yahuah (Lord) about recent developments in our lives, as well as the implications from scripture. It caused me to think about the various dilemmas seen in scripture from time to time by those waiting for deliverance. What we see depends in part on how we choose to view the data we are faced with at the time. Take for example the children of Israel in the desert when Pharaoh decided to chase them down.
Exodus 14:1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi–hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal–zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi–hahiroth, before Baal–zephon.
10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.
11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
This is one of many examples, but this is a good one. The children of Israel saw the enemy upon them, and allowed themselves to be afraid. From a position of fear, the situation looked hopeless. However, according to the scripture here, Yahuah (Lord) had instructed Moses and he already told the children of Israel that Pharaoh was coming and that Yahuah would deliver them from the troops of Egypt. Yet, they chose fear. Granted, in that situation the choice of fear is definitely a present moment decision that could be easily made. But maybe that is the point. Maybe in that moment Yahuah wants us to remember who He is and cry out to Him from faith and not from fear. Is that not what David did?
1 Samuel 17:22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.
26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.
32 And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
David went on in to battle with no armor and armed with five smooth stones and a slingshot – all he knew to use. He trusted in Yahuah to make up the difference. David did not deny that there was a large enemy in front of him. What he did do was correctly frame what the situation was. The men in the army thought that Goliath had come to defy Israel. That is not how David looked at the situation. The enemy was not challenging the Israel, he was challenging the armies of the living God, Yahuah.
When we face challenges that seem overwhelming, we need to remember to properly frame what is happening. The enemy comes against us not for us primarily, but to challenge Yahuah. We also need to remember all of the times that Yahuah has delivered us in the past. We need to take what we know and are good at and face the enemy, fully expecting Yahuah to make up the difference. This is also the view that Moses had. It is why the psalmist wrote the following of Moses.
Psalms 103:6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
All the children of Israel could see is what was immediately in front of them. What Moses saw was from the perspective of who Yahuah is – Moses knew that God’s way is a way of testing and deliverance. Because of that he could stretch out his hand with the rod and expect God to make up the difference.
Today, when we face what seems like overwhelming odds, we need to understand that this is not what God has promised. It is therefore an attack, and we need to see it as an attack on God Himself. From that perspective we need to call out to Him and ask Him to stand up for us against the attack and the attacker. He is Yahuah (Lord) our God and He will smite the enemies of His people.
Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You are our King. We long for Your kingdom here. Praise the name Yahuah! Bless the name Yahuah! Send us today Your overwhelming abundant provision such that we cannot contain it. Forgive us our sins. Heal up our hearts and minds that we might stop looking at ourselves and look at You. Deliver us from our enemies that would steal from us what you alone have provided. We need Your strong presence as we stand against the enemies that would defy You, the One True Living God, Yahuah our King! Come and do this work quickly. We ask this in the name of our Messiah Yeshuah (Jesus). Amen.