Jonah

I love the book of Jonah,  because all the way through the circumstances that come up;  there is always the conversation between the Lord and Jonah going on.

It begins with:

Jonah 1:1 “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “

God had a job for Jonah, his prophet, to do.    He had spoken to him before, a word that was sent to help Israel;    but now God was going to send him to Nineveh.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria,  Israel’s hated enemy.   So when Jonah heard:

Jonah 1:2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it;  for their wickedness is come up before Me.”

He did not want to go and ask them to repent, which is what “cry against it” means.      Instead he wanted them to be destroyed by God. 

And he thought if he would not go,  they would not repent, and God would slay them for their sins (which were terrible:  they were a vicious people).

And why did he think that they might repent?

Jonah 4:2 “And he prayed unto the Lord,  and said,  I pray thee,  O Lord,  was not this my saying,  when I was yet in my country?  Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish:  for I knew that Thou art a gracious God,  and merciful,  slow to anger,  and of great kindness,  and repentest Thee of the evil.”

Because he knew that God was merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.

So he ran away from God. 

Jonah 1:3 “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,  and went down to Joppa;  and he found a ship going to Tarshish:  so he paid the fare thereof,  and went down into it,  to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.”

So into a ship to Tarshish—to the other part of the known world! (It was in Spain)

That would settle that, he thought.   No message of repentance, and there would be no repentance.   No repentance, and God would destroy Nineveh.

But God was not done with Jonah (all through this book, this back and forth is wonderful to see.  So much hope that God does not give up on His wayward servants!)

Jonah 1:4 “But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea,  and there was a mighty tempest in the sea,  so that the ship was likely to be broken.”

God sends a storm, and scares even hearty sailors.   So much so, they seek for the reason of the storm—and find Jonah.

Jonah 1:7 “And they said everyone to his fellow,   Come, and let us cast lots,  that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.   So they cast lots,  and the lot fell upon Jonah.”

He tells them he is running away from the Lord, the God of heaven, who made land and sea.

So they ask him,   What can be done, to quite the storm?

“Throw me overboard.”  Was Jonah’s answer.

But they try and bring the ship to land first,  but when that failed,  they threw Jonah into the sea.

God’s next move was to awaken His servant to the need of mercy.  (That very mercy he wanted to deny the people of Nineveh.)

But how?  

Jonah 1:17 “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.   And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

Three days and three nights Jonah was in the great fish.  The darkness, and suffering of smell, touch, and decay around him;   was as he said,  “…the belly of hell…”.

But God preserved him, and led him to seek mercy.   Spiritual mercy is that kindness of God for sinners, which brings comfort of soul,  and the need met.

Jonah 2:7-9 “When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:  and my prayer came in unto Thee, into thine holy temple.

                         They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

                          But I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanksgiving;  I will pay that  that I have vowed.  Salvation is of the Lord.”

Jonah had wanted to forsake God, and His call.    But now he asks God not to forsake him.

But instead to hear his confession:  “they that follow the lies of our imaginations and wishes,  forsake their own mercy.”

Jonah had “imagined” and “wished” that he could run away from God, because he did not want to do this particular thing.

But at the same time,  he knew the Lord was the God of heaven who made land and sea,  which could not be run away from.

(How silly we are to listen to our wishful imaginations, when we are trying to “get around” God.)

God hears Jonah’s prayer, and:

Jonah 2:10 “And the Lord spake unto the fish,  and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry ground.”

God again sends Jonah to Nineveh:

Jonah 3:2 “Arise,  go unto Nineveh,  that great city,  and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.”

And this time Jonah goes,  and they do repent!   

Jonah 3:5 “So the people of Nineveh believed God,  and proclaimed a fast,  and put on sackcloth,  from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”

This is so much a miracle:   for the people of Nineveh would not have cared anything for a prophet from Israel,  nor his message.

But God used the very means,  they would have normally despised,   to start an awakening.

Jonah 3:8, 10 “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth,  and cry mightily unto God:  yea,  let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hearts.

                          And God saw their works,  that they turned from their evil way,  and God repented of the evil,  that He had said He would do unto them;  and He did it not.”

And what about Jonah?

The conversation between Jonah and God continues:   

Jonah had not wanted them to repent,  even after seeing that he too, was a sinner in need of mercy.

But God still speaks to his (this time angry) prophet:

Jonah 4:11 “And should not I spare Nineveh,  that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that can not discern between their right hand and their left hand;  and also much cattle?”

To me this is really special.  God does not give up on us.  He speaks, and speaks again.   And shows us many mercies and many corrections;  so that we may enter into more fellowship with Him.  And into His joy, when one sinner repents.

“Salvation is of the Lord.”     Praise the Lord for that.

Behind our Wall

The book of the Song of Solomon is a picture of the love relationship between the King (Christ Jesus) and the individual believer.

Song of Solomon 2:8-9 “The voice of my beloved!  Behold,  he cometh leaping upon the mountains,  and skipping upon the hills.

                                            My beloved is like a roe or a young hart:  behold,  he standeth behind our wall,  he looketh forth at the windows,  showing himself through the lattice.”

The Lord comes,  nothing hinders Him coming to us—not mountains or hills.

Pictured as a roe or a young hart (deer),  because He can bound away at any moment.  

The Lord comes, and we hear His Word,  His Voice.  He comes leaping over difficulties, and skipping over daily problems.  

He is showing how He is ready and able to do in my life.

I am thrilled to hear His voice.    How wonderful that He is interested in me, and my problems.

He comes and stands before the lattice at the window.   I can see Him, yet I am suddenly aware that there is a wall between us.  I had not noticed it before.

This wall is our Spiritual experience up to date.  

(I know when I was born again, the Lord showed me I was to pray.     I must tell you, most of my prayers were more like telling God what to do,  then prayers;  but as I went along, He showed me promises to claim,  and how to approach His throne in prayer, for myself and others.)

They were good things when I was a babe in Christ;  but now Christ Jesus is calling me on,  to grow in grace.  

To come out with Him, and leap the difficulties which come to me, with Him. ( And by doing so, we can show others His grace.)

To come out with Him and skip the everyday problems, so we can have the victorious faith which He has for us.

Song of Solomon 2:10 “My beloved spake, and said unto me,   Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.”

To have what is next,  we always have to leave what is now.

To leave the better you have attained,  for the best that He has for you.

He has already shown that He is able to surmount any of the obstacles that stand before us.   

Will we go out and go on with Him?

It is a love relationship,  that says,  “Come with Me”.     

Are you ready for the next step with Jesus?  

It is always to answer His call to “Come.”    Come and get the more grace I have for you,  for this day,  and onward.

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you;  that ye,  always having all sufficiency in all things,  may abound to every good work.”

But we must:  “Come away,  with Him.”

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord;  He turns it whithersoever He wills.

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,  as the rivers of water:  He turneth it whithersoever He will.”

The example I’m going to use is found in:

2 Chronicles 28:5-6, 8 “Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into the hand fo the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great many of them captives, and brought them to Damascus.     And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel,  who smote him with a great slaughter.

                                           For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day,  which were all valiant men;  because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers.

                                           And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand women,  sons,  and daughters,  and took away much spoil from them,  and brought the spoil to Samaria.”

Here is God’s judgement on Judah.  They had forsaken Him, and turned to idolatry under king Ahaz.  

God let Syria kill and take captives.  But there was no repentance on king Ahaz part;  or even turning to God for help.    So….

God let Israel,  the kingdom of ten tribes, win a great battle against Judah; and let them take away many captives, and great spoil.

But Israel and Judah were brothers.   They should not have been fighting, nor should they enslave each other.

Leviticus 25:39,42-43 “And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee;  thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bond servant:

                                         For they are My servants,  which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt:  they shall not be sold as bondmen.

                                         Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor,  but shalt fear thy God.”

So God sends a prophet to warn Israel.  Those that had taken captives from Judah, were putting all Israel under the “fierce wrath” of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 28:9-11 “But a prophet of the Lord was there,  whose name was Oded:  and he went out before the hosts that came to Samaria,  and said unto them,     Behold,  because the Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah,  He hath delivered them into your hands,  and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up into heaven.

                                     Now ye purpose to keep under  the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you:  but are there not with you,  even with you,  sins against the Lord your God?

                                      Now hear me therefore,  and deliver the captives again,  which ye have taken of your brethren:  for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”

Yes, Judah had sinned, and so God allowed Israel to kill many, and cripple the plans of the wicked king Ahaz.

But, they too, were sinners;  and to keep slaves of their brethren from Judah would have brought  judgement upon Israel….God’s fierce wrath.

This was the same term he used when describing God’s actions toward Judah.  This was serious.

But would they hear?

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever He wills.

Sometimes God lets men go on in their sins.   Especially after His Word has been given to them, many times. 

But when God chooses to,  He can override the natural hatred and pride of any heart.  

And so He did here.

2 Chronicles 25:12-15 “Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim….stood up against them that came from the war.

                                          And said unto them,   Ye shall not bring the captives hither:  for whereas we have offended against the Lord already,  ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass:  for our trespass is great,  and there is fierce wrath against Israel.

                                          So the armed men left the captives….

                                          And the men…rose up and took the captives,  and with the spoil clothed all…., and arrayed them,…and gave them to eat and to drink,….and carried all the feeble of them upon asses,  and brought them to Jericho,….to their brethren:    then they returned to Samaria.”

The captives were returned,  and by it the Lord showed how He would help His people if they would just hear His Word and obey.

God’s mercies are great every day.   Who knows how God will prepare a people’s heart for more mercies.

Even though, under Ahaz,  Judah sinned greatly;  yet God was merciful, and caused their enemies to act as brethren for the people.

Ahaz ruled sixteen years.   He did a lot of damage to the people by his rebellion against the Lord.  

But when he died,  his son Hezekiah lead a great revival,  which was carried into the ten tribes of Israel.   To the very people who had their hearts “turned” by God before.

God is Great, and Greatly to be praised.   

His Answer 

Luke 17:20-21 “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees,  when the kingdom of God should come,  He answered them and said,   The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

                           Neither shall they say,  Lo here!  Or , Lo there!  For behold,  the kingdom of God is within you.”

He was demanded of the Pharisees!          Show us some manifestation of the kingdom.   Something we can observe.

Now did they want this, so they would believe Him?

Or did they want this so they could prepare for the coming of the kingdom?

No.   They simply demanded of Jesus.  

“Demanded” here means that they tried to show their authority by interrogating Him.

His answer?

“If you are really looking for the kingdom of God,  it will not come with trumpets, or solar flares.   People will not be able to tell you when or how.   Because….

The kingdom of God is within you.”

Jesus Christ the King, was standing within their midst.

But also He was telling them;  that God’s kingdom would come within their hearts first;  before it would come to them in any outward manner.

The answer is the same to us:  The kingdom of God will come first within our hearts:   He must reign within us.

The place and power of His Presence is manifested within me.

It is always;  first in me.  

He is to reign within my heart, and life.  Guiding, Comforting, Correcting, and Commanding:  that is what the Lord Jesus does, by His Holy Spirit within me. (How can we make it through this life,  with all the pitfalls all around us,   without His commanding Presence?)

Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,  according to the power that worketh in us.”

That power that works within me, bringing me into subjection to God’s Word and Will;  will then be an influence through my life, on the lives of others.

We are filled with the Holy Spirit, to the amount that we are emptied of our self-will.   God will never empower me to see my will done (thank goodness!), but He will empower me to see His will done in me, by me and through me.

Matthew 7:28-29 “And it came to pass,  when Jesus had ended these sayings,  the people were astonished at His doctrine:

                                 For He taught them as one having authority,  and not as the scribes.”

He taught as one having authority;    not like their scribes,  which told them how to act,  but did not do it for themselves.

This is the difference between one who is in subjection to God for himself; and one who just talks well.  (Of course, Jesus, the Son of God, was obedient in all things—“He did always those things that pleased Him.” John 8:29)

But He is saying here,  that we too, can be empowered to do God’s Will, as we let His kingdom come within us.   As we let Him rule within our hearts and lives;  then we are subjects of His authority, and show it.

Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

When we are obedient to our King;  it influences others, for good.

Bless the Lord

Psalm 103:20, 22 “Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength,  that do his commandments,  hearkening unto the voice of his word.

                                 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion:  bless the Lord, O my soul.”

And how can we bless the Lord?

Certainly with praise for all the things He has done for us.

But also by doing His commandments,  as we hear the voice of His Word to us.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a King now, ruling in the circumstances of everyone’s life,  whether they know it or not.

As Christians, we have the privilege of submitting to the kingdom of Christ as our king, now, and being a conductor of His power.

Obedience is required of every child of God.  Believing, joyful Obedience comes easily, when He is the object of our love. (It is only when we let another take His place in our lives, that our joy is put out)

We will never have sinless perfection.  But we can will with the Lord, as we walk along with Him; and be a blessing to Him.

And He can use us to be a blessing to others.

Pray for one another.

Encourage each other.

Speak of Christ,  the great Shepherd of our soul. (How much we need His care for us)

As we do these things,  we bless the Lord,  for He loves His children and wants to see them peaceful and joyful.  (And we can’t be, when we are far from Him)

We are to seek to know and do His Will for ourselves.  

John 14:15 “If ye love Me, keep my commandments.”

Titus 2:13-14 “Looking for the blessed hope,  and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;

                          Who gave himself for us,  that he might redeem us from all iniquity,  and purify unto himself a peculiar people,  zealous of good works.”

Then we can,  “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”

The Widow of Zarephath:

God had caused a famine, in Israel and the surrounding area.  Elijah, God’s Prophet,  had been fed with bread by ravens, next to a stream of water; during part of the famine.  But now the water had dried up, for there had been no rain.  

Yet God would not forsake His Prophet.  And  Elijah was told what to do next.

1 Kings 17:9 “Arise, get to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there:  behold,  I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”

Let us take a look at this command.  

First, God said it;  and is He not able to deliver?   Of course!  

So Elijah goes to the next country over, Sidon; and to the city of Zarephath.   

At the command of God (What else made this woman gather sticks at just this time) a widow was at the gate,  preparing for her,  and her family’s last meal.

Seeing her, Elijah asks for her to get him a small drink of water.  Even in her extremity, she was courteous, and was going to go to get it.

Then Elijah, understanding that this was the woman to whom he had been sent, asks her another favor.

1 Kings 17:11 “And as she was going to fetch it,  he called to her, and said,  Bring me,  I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.”

This stranger would have seemed very presumptuous,  in my way of thinking.   After all,  wasn’t I being nice enough to get him a drink?

But remember:   “I have commanded”.   This was a test to see if indeed this was the woman.

1 Kings 17:12 “And she said,   As the Lord, thy God liveth,  I have not a cake,  but a handful of meal in a barrel,  and a little oil in a cruse:  and,  behold,  I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

She was not rude.

She just told this man the truth.   But notice;  she recognized  him as an Israelite;  and a Godly one;  since she said,  “As the Lord, thy God liveth”.

Convinced that this was the woman to whom he was sent,  Elijah gave a command, and a promise to her.

1 Kings 17:13-14 “And Elijah said unto her,  Fear not;  go and do as thou hast said:  but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

For thus saith the Lord God of Israel,  the barrel of meal shall not waste,  neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.”

She was to feed him first.  This, again, may seem presumptuous,  but how else would he have known if she believed the Lord’s Word?    If she had made three cakes, one for her son,  one for him, and one for her….that would have been generous,  but  unbelieving.    It would have been the wait and see attitude.   Maybe you’re right, maybe not;   here is what we have, we all eat, and see.

But she was to believe God,  and make him a cake, and see him eat it; and return and make cakes for herself and her son.   

Amazing God we have, who can move a heart,  any heart,  to truly believe enough to obey.

1 Kings 17:15-16 “And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah:  and she, and he,  and her house, did eat many days.

And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail,  according to the word of the Lord,  which  he  spake by Elijah.”

God’s Word is always true.  Our believing enough to obey,  is often the problem.

It was the same, when the Lord Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth.  They refused to believe His clear message, that He was the Messiah.  In His rebuke of their unbelief….the wait and see attitude;  Jesus then speaks of this widow.

Luke 4:24-26 “And he said,  Verily I say unto you,  No prophet is accepted in his own country.  

But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months,  when great famine was throughout all the land;  

but unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Zarephath a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.”

Our belief is always recognized, and honored by God.

God’s power works within us, as well as through us;  if we trust and obey.

Forgive

Forgive in Scripture, in the Greek, means:  to send away whole.

Plainly,  sin and offenses leave “holes” in our lives;  so to forgive, is to make each place healed, and as it never happened.

Matthew 18:21 “Then came Peter to him, and said,  Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  till seven times?”

Jesus had been talking about people offending children, and other people.   As He said, “it must needs be that offenses come;  but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!” (Mat. 18:7)

In that light,  Peter asks the Lord, how many times should he forgive an offending brother?

Jesus then sets down a clear statement about how we are to forgive.

Matthew 18:22 “Jesus saith unto him,  I say not unto thee,  Until seven times:  but,  until seventy times seven.”

I don’t know what Peter thought of this number,  but I would have thought, “How am I to keep count?  I’ll never remember what number I am at.”

But that was the point:  we are to forgive, and to forgive, and to forgive,  without trying to count to a certain point,  because God forgives us, and our offenses to Him,  without measure.

The Whole Duty of Man.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  fear God, and keep his commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man.”

God is Sovereign. 

Man is Responsible.

Man the creature, before God the Creator.

We are responsible to use the prescribed means to bring about the Creator’s foreordained ends.

Sadly, all around us, people have lost the true view of God.

And the reason, I believe, is that we don’t see ourselves as creatures before the Creator.

As Christians, whose relationship is one of light and love to our God, we are still required to obey Him, as His creatures.

At the first, man’s only requirement to maintain Paradise, was to obey.  This was Creator to creature.

Christ, our Redeemer, has redeemed us from the penalty of the Law….but not the essential duty of obedience to God’s commands.

God’s promises do not set aside His precepts;  on the contrary,  Jesus said plainly that we should “continue in His word”(John 8:31);  and He came to do the Will of God.

John 6:38″For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”

We just need to get obedient to the light we have.  That light is shown by the Scriptures.

By One man’s Obedience, we are restored to God.

Romans 5:19″For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

That One, Who shall make many righteous, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul also says:  Grace reigns through righteousness,  not without it.

Romans 5:21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Grace is the unmerited favor of power.  Power from the Holy Spirit within any Christian, to be obedient.

We often think that doing good for man, is what God wants us to do.

Sometimes that is true…

John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Sometimes those ideas simply get in the way of what God really wants you to do.

Acts 16:6-7 “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,  

After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia:  but the Spirit suffered them not.”

Paul wanted to go into Asia, but could not.  Then thought to go into what is now the upper part of Turkey, but was told not to by the Holy Spirit.

The Reality of the matter for each person, (and should be especially acknowledged by each Christian) is:

Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

His “pleasure” here, is  His determination.  And His determination for all creation, is that His Son be glorified, and honored;  and especially by those Christ has redeemed.

Ephesians 1:11-12 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That we should be to the praise of his glory,…”

The whole duty of man is to love and obey God; 

This should be a joyful duty, because it is to the One Who gave so much to save me.

The Brazen Laver

It is the maintaining of fellowship with Christ, that we wish to speak of.

And one of the examples of this, is:

Exodus 30:18-20 “Thou shalt also make a laver of brass,  and his foot also of brass,  to wash withal:  and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar,  and thou shalt put water therein.

                                 For Aaron and his sons shall wash there hands and there feet thereat:

                                 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation,  they shall wash with water,  that they die not;  or when they come near to the altar to minister,  to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord:”                         

The brazen Laver was made for cleansing.   It was set just outside the door of the Holy Place, in the court of the tabernacle.  This was in the natural sunlight.  The priests, and people offering, could be in this court;  but the people could not minister at the altar or the laver.

When Aaron and his sons were given for the service of the priesthood,  they were brought to the laver and given a bath by Moses;  once.

Exodus 29:4, 9 “And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,  and shall wash them with water.

                           And thou shalt gird them with girdles,  Aaron and his sons,  and put the bonnets on them:  and the priest office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute:  and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.”

This pictures our regeneration;  when we are born again.  It was never repeated.

They were priests from then on.

So with us.  When we are born again, we are forever His children.

1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are chosen generation,  a royal priesthood,  a holy nation,  a peculiar people;  that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”

But as priests, they would minister, by sacrifice, at the brazen altar.  There, the sacrifices for sin and peace would be given.

Their hands would be bloody, and their feet would be dirty from walking on the bare ground.

So, they were commanded to come to the Laver to wash both their hands and feet, before they went into the Holy Place to burn incense at the golden altar,  or light the lamp (M’nourah).    

This they were to do every time they went into the Holy Place.

The Holy Place signified fellowship with God:  

the golden altar and the burning incense showed the prayer which ascends to God (the fire to burn came from the brazen altar everyday, tying Christ sacrifice and our prayers together)

the table of shewbread showed forth the sufficiency of God for our needs;  

and the lampstand  showed forth God as the only light for our work.

All showed forth fellowship with God.

But before they could go in and have this fellowship,  they must wash at the brazen laver.

As Christians, we need daily cleansing from the defilements of the way, if we are to maintain fellowship with God.

In our walk, we constantly have dealings with those who are dead in trespasses and sins; and their influence defiles us. (You can not go very many places without hearing cursing, filthy references, or anger.  How much anger is about.)

In honesty, we are also aware of the blemishes of our service (which speak of our hands), and the failures of our walk (our feet).

We obey;   but we often hesitate. (as though we were ashamed of Christ)

Or we don’t do what God wants us to do, as He wants. (We have good reasons, we think.)

These do not interfere with our standing as Christians.  We are still born again.

But it does interfere with our communion with God.  (For every time we step back from God, we are further away from His help)

Ephesians 5:26 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,  and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The Laver, like everything else in the Tabernacle speaks of Christ’s sufficiency to meet our every need;    for the priests could not enter the Holy Place, without washing there.

The Laver was there, but they had to wash in the water that it provided.

Christ Jesus has made a way for us to come and wash in His word.  

Do we want that fellowship and communion which enlivens us?    Will we go to the Word of God and judge our ways before Him?

1 Corinthians 11:31 “For if we would judge ourselves,  we should not be judged.”

Water is also to invigorate.  And the Word of God gives us comfort and refreshing. It revives our spirits.  It makes us feel whole, and clean again.  Ready for the next moment, the next day.

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say,  Come.  And let him that heareth say,  Come.   And let him that is athirst come.   And whosoever will,  let him take the water of life freely.”

Don’t come short, when it comes to God’s Promises

Hebrews 4:1 “Let us therefore fear,  lest,  a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

Have you ever tried to reach up or out to something and it is just out of reach?

This is the way many of us think about the promises of God.   They are great and we want them;  but they seem just out of reach.

But God never intends His Word to be seen, and not used.   He intends us to have what He promises us.

The means we need to use to make them ours, really, is faith.  It easily reaches out and gets what God has for us.

Every promise in the Word, and every promise given to you personally,  is nothing until entered into by faith.

And there can never be completed faith without obedience.

Promises are only promises,  until we have them.

First we apprehend them (get them for ourselves) by faith.   

That is,  you see that God has this for you, personally,  and you reach out in belief to His Word and receive it.

When you do, you should have the hope (remember hope is the confident expectation that God will do what He says) of these promises by the assurance of the Holy Spirit within.

Second, you apprehend these promises, by obedience.    You live them.

Sometimes there are conditions to the promises the Lord gives,  like the seed on the ground:

one, a hard walking path—no receiving there.  

Others on rocks and thorns,  which received by faith,  but never put it to use.

The last, the good ground, which was tilled and received it by faith,  and also put it to use.   Some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold,  some one hundred-fold.

(Mark 14:14-20)

Without the element of faith, there is nothing.  

For faith is that which makes the things of God,  real to us.  

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,  the evidence of things not seen.”

It is a true substance.  It exists within you by the Holy Spirit.

It gives us the proof we need to use the word God gives us.  In other words,  you know it. 

Faith is what is within us that reaches out to God in times of trouble, in praise, for help, for comfort, and for fellowship.

Hebrews 11:3,6 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,  so that things which are seen were not made by things which do appear.

                              But without faith it is impossible to please Him:  for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,  and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

By faith we understand, or perceive truths which were mysteries before.

And again,  we are to use our faith, and reach out to God in obedience, and get what He promises.

Hebrews 4:2 “For unto us was the gospel preached,  as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them,  not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

Let us not lose what He promises, by not believing Him.

But let us gain all that He has for us to have, through the Holy Spirit, and His promises, which He wants to give.

Let us apprehend His promises to us, and gain one hundred-fold for Christ Jesus, in believing obedience to His Word.