The issue of the universe is who is in charge. The devout Christian would clearly declare that God is the Sovereign Being in complete charge of the universe. Why? Because He is the Creator of the universe. I would assume that most of humanity would acknowledge in their own way that there is a higher being or force that controls the world in which they live. They have a belief system that says something greater than themselves must be in charge. Many such people worship other people, idols, or pursue philosophical ideologies that set boundaries around their belief system that make them comfortable in the world in which they live. In most all of these instances, these people do not realize that they have, in essence, set themselves as the center of their own universe and are exercising their own ‘governmental’ control. And then, there are people who ignore God as the Creator of the universe. They believe that their universe is a product of the material world around themselves; and there are others who believe that the universe in which they exist is a product of evolutionary science and development. In each of these broad categories, there are individual pockets of people who have their own agenda that modify their scope of belief. Unfortunately, this has also happened within the Christian community that believes in God as the Sovereign Creator of the universe. The Christian community differs doctrinally regarding how the universe was created, yet holding to the belief that God is the Creator. Christians have their denominations.
The issue for me in this BLOG is to point us in the direction of dealing with ‘governmental’ control of the world in which we live. Who is in charge? Obviously, your personal view of God has a bearing on that answer.
I am concerned with the Church, the Body of Christ, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).
The nation of Israel is God’s chosen people. This fact is established in Genesis 12:1-3. It begins with a promise made to a man named Abram. The story of Abram, the changing of his name to Abraham, and the growth of his descendants is told in the rest of the Book of Genesis. The promise made to Abraham becomes a promise that is carried on through his son, Isaac; and Isaac’s son, Jacob. Jacob’s family is comprised foundationally of 12 sons. Jacob’s family grows to 70 and through the providence of God this family becomes inhabitants in the nation of Egypt. In the nation of Egypt, the family of Jacob grows into the nation of Israel. Israel was the name that God had given to Jacob. God had changed his name. But God did not change the covenant that was spoken to Abraham. Israel was said to be the nation of God, whose fathers’ were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was their lineage and their history. They also had a promised destiny.
Israel was in Egypt for many years. Over the course of time, the reason for Israel’s existence in Egypt was forgotten, and the new Pharaoh did not have a clue who these people were that inhabited the land. In fact, he was fearful of them. He saw them as a threat. His response to their presence was to make things more difficult for them. He made their lives more ‘rigorous’, ‘bitter’ and discouraging. He went so far as to order that the Hebrew baby boys were to killed immediately after they were born. He did not want the nation of Israel to populate any more.
The oppression toward the Hebrew people was so intense that they began to cry out to God. I wonder how many years it had been since God had heard anything directed to Him from His people? The fact is that He had not forgotten them; and He was ready to intervene on their behalf. In short, the time had come when Israel found itself in a position of despair because of the ‘governmental’ control of Egypt and cried out to God about it. As I said, God heard their cry. God had prepared a deliverer, named Moses. Through Moses, and his brother Aaron, God miraculously delivered His people from the bondage of Egypt. The nation of Israel left Egypt and became of nation of people watched over and governed by God in a wilderness. It was in this wilderness that the nation of Israel was to learn to function under the ‘governmental’ control of God, through His servant Moses. The tragedy is that they failed in their response to His ‘governmental’ control. A whole generation of people died in the wilderness and did not get to enter into the promises of God that were made to Abraham. It was in the wilderness, that God gave to His people, what is called the Law of Moses. This was the Mosaic Covenant. God did not do away with the Abrahamic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was given to God’s people to reveal to them what was required to be the Covenant people of God, under His ‘governmental’ control. In the wilderness, Israel’s response to God’s ‘governmental’ oversight was one of disdain. They approved God’s Law with the lips of their mouth but they did not have the heart to carry it out. They wanted to return to Egypt. The issue was their heart. God had taken them physically out of Egypt but Egypt was still in their heart. The love of Egypt (the world) constantly caused them to rebel against God, His Word, and Moses. The generation that had been delivered from Egypt died in the wilderness. Mercifully, God took the next generation into the Land of Promise.
In the Land of Promise, under the leadership of Joshua, the nation flourished and floundered. Moses had died prior to Israel’s entry into the Promise Land. He was forbidden by God to enter the Land because he had disobeyed what God had told him to do. He got to see the Land, but he did not get to enter it. God buried him on a mountain overlooking the Land of Promise.
God’s Covenant with Israel was based upon them being obedient. If the people were obedient, then they would experience the blessings of God outlined in the Covenant. If the people were disobedient, then they would experience the curses outlined in the Covenant. As I said previously, the nation of Israel had many moments of victory; but they also had many moments of heartache.
Israel’s history is not a straight line of obedience. Who among us has such a response to the Lord? There are high points and low points, ups and downs, reasons to rejoice and reasons to repent in all of our lives.
Leapfrogging the history of Israel found in the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, and the Book of Ruth, we come to the life of Samuel. Samuel was a ‘miraculous’ child born to a woman who despaired that she was childless for so many years. She cried out to God in prayer; God heard her, and gave her a son. She had promised God that if she could give birth to a son, she would give him up ‘all the days of his life ‘ for service to the Lord. God heard, God caused her to conceive, she gave birth to a son, she called his name Samuel, and gave him up to serve the Lord after she had weaned the child.
Samuel became a prophet of the Lord. It was during his tenure as God’s prophet, that the people of Israel, said to Samuel that they wanted a king to rule over them like the other nations. This greatly grieved Samuel. The scripture says in I Samuel 8:6 (NKJV) , “But this thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us”. [All through the history of Israel found in Joshua, Judges and Ruth, God was still the ‘governmental’ control watching over His people through leaders that He raised up. But, Israel said, no more.] So Samuel prayed to the Lord.” I think Samuel knew that this would be their downfall.
What was Israel seeking? a different ‘governmental’ control.
Let’s revisit Israel’s trek in the wilderness and recount some of their experiences involving ‘governmental’ control.
TBC
Living Words of Encouragement 