Encamped at Gilgal?

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Our church is reading through the Bible together, and as we were reading through the book of Joshua, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Joshua 4 and 5 relate the story of Israel crossing the Jordan and camping at Gilgal. Once they made camp three things happened. God instructed Joshua to circumcise all the males who had not been circumcised since they left Egypt (Joshua 5:2-9), they celebrated Passover for the first time since leaving Egypt (Joshua 5:10-12), and Joshua had the encounter with the man with the sword (Joshua 5:13-15).

I had read this passage many times before, but I noticed something this time. When the first generation of Israelites left Mt. Sinai and were about to enter Canaan, the Promised Land, God was leading them from the south from Kadesh Barnea (Num. 13:26) through the Desert of Zin (Num. 13:21) and entering on the west side of the Salt Sea. Now, after forty years and with a new generation, why was God leading them in from the east side where they had to cross the Jordan River?

The reason goes back to the experiences of the first generation. The first generation went through the Red Sea which was symbolic of their dying to their old life of bondage and resurrecting to a new life from God. It was their baptism. They had all been circumcised and entered a covenant relationship with God, and they had demonstrated their faith in God by coming under the blood of the Passover lamb when the death angel passed through the land (Ex. 12:1-13). This generation, however, failed to trust God to enter the Promised Land, and God, therefore, punished them by having them wander in the wilderness for forty years until this entire generation died (Num. 14:20-35).

The second generation, though, who were born during their forty years in the desert had not experienced any of these things mentioned above. Therefore, they could not receive the promise of God through their father’s experience, but they had to have their own encounter with God. They had to cross the Jordan River so they could have their own baptism of dying to the old life and being raised to a new life in God. They also had to be circumcised so they could enter their own personal covenant with God. And, celebrating the Passover reminded them of what God did to deliver them from their bondage in Egypt, but it also connected them by faith to the saving blood of the Passover lamb.

What was necessary for this generation of Israelites is true for us today. Each individual and each generation must have their own encounters with God. They cannot rely on the faith of their parents or grandparents to save them. Everyone must personally apply the blood of the Passover Lamb of God to their own heart to be saved (1 Peter 1:18-21), be baptized into a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:1-7), and put off the old nature by being circumcised in the heart (Col. 2:11). Only then can they experience the promised blessings of God’s salvation.

One other thing. Israel could not just camp at Gilgal and say, “We are in the promised land, so we’ll just stay here. This is enough”. No, Gilgal was only the beginning. God had much more for them, but they had to go further. They had to engage in many battles, drive out the inhabitants, and possess the land God had promised them with God’s help. The promise was theirs, but they had to work to receive it.

Likewise, today I have known many Christians who are content with just camping at Gilgal. They are saved (crossed the Jordan) and committed to the Lord (circumcised in the heart). But, for whatever reason, they have no desire to go any further in their walk with the Lord. We need to understand, though, that Gilgal (salvation) is not the end but only the beginning. God has much more for us than we can possibly imagine. There is a spiritual abundance that He has promised us (John 10:10), however, like Israel, we must fight for it.

Paul says in Phil. 2:12-13 to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”.  He is not saying to work for our salvation, but to work out our salvation—to discipline ourselves to grow deeper in our walk with God so we can experience all that He has for us. We must fight the battles against laziness, complacency, distractions, and even attacks from our spiritual enemy that hinder us and entice us to remain in Gilgal. We need a passionate heart that cries out for more of God’s Presence as Moses cried, “Lord, show me your glory” (Ex. 33:18). But we can’t do any of this in our own ability. Paul goes on to say in verse 13 that it is God who works in us to have the desire and the ability to do His will. He has more for us, and He wants to help us possess it. One final question for you to consider. Where are you? Are you passionately seeking God and disciplining yourself to possess all He has for you? Or are you content to remain in Gilgal? Or maybe you haven’t even crossed the Jordan River and entered a salvation experience with the Lord. Regardless of where you are, just keep in mind that God has more for you. It is yours if you want it. All you have to do is ask Him to give you the desire and the ability to receive it.

Presence or Presents?

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When reading in the book of Exodus about God’s deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and bringing them to Mt. Sinai, have you ever wondered why He took them to Sinai? If His goal was to take Israel to the Promised Land, the most direct way was along the northern route which is actually a trade route. It would have been the route the caravan would have taken when they brought Joseph to Egypt to sell him. And, it would have been the route Jacob’s sons would have used when they went to Egypt to buy grain during the famine. So, if it was the easier route, then why did God bring Israel on a several-day journey out of the way to this remote mountain?

The answer can be found in Exodus 19:4 when God said to Moses “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself” (emphasis mine). This was the same mountain where Moses had the encounter with God at the burning bush, and where God revealed Himself to Moses. I believe it was God’s intention to bring the entire nation of Israel to this mountain so that they could have a similar encounter with God. He wanted them all to go up the mountain into the Presence of God as Moses did (Deut. 5:5) so He could put His Spirit and His laws in their heart (Jer. 31:31-34).

However, what happened when God did appear on the mountain and give them the Ten Commandments? Instead of drawing near to God, they ran back in fear (Ex. 20:18-21). Instead of hearing from God directly, they told Moses to speak to God, tell them what He says, and they will do it. Therefore, God had to engrave His laws on stone tablets because they would not allow Him to engrave them in their heart.

Now, as we read the rest of Israel’s story in the wilderness, we can see a difference between Moses and the people. Moses often went into the Presence of God and spoke with God face-to-face (Ex. 33:8-11). Israel remained at a distance from God and received His word second-hand from Moses. Moses reflected the glory of God (Ex. 34:29-35), while the people did not experience His glory. Moses longed for more of the Presence of God (Ex. 33:15-18), while the people longed to go back to Egypt (Num. 11:5). Moses was obedient, while Israel struggled with sin and idolatry. Moses trusted God, while Israel doubted God (Num. 14:1-12). And Moses was a friend of God (Ex. 33:5,11), while Israel was a stiff-necked people always complaining.

Moses and Israel traveled the same path, experienced the same problems, faced the same enemies, and received the same blessings from God but their responses were different. Why? What was the difference? The difference was the Presence of God.

Unfortunately, we see the same scenario in our churches today. There are many who, like Moses, desire to enter God’s Presence and have a personal, life-changing encounter with God. They desire to hear His voice first-hand and long to experience more of His glory. However, I believe most Christians are more like Israel. They are content to remain at a distance and hear God’s Word second-hand from their pastor or other ministers resulting in churches filled with people who struggle with sin, doubt, disobedience, selfishness, spiritual weakness, and complaining. This is also why most of our churches lack the power and anointing of God to touch lives and impact their communities—they are missing the Presence of God.

I believe part of the problem is that we have been taught to hear God’s Word from the “anointed professionals”, and we have not been encouraged to spend time in God’s Presence and allow Him to speak to us directly. We have also developed the mindset that so long as we have God’s blessing, His protection, His provision–His “presents”, we are doing alright spiritually and have need of nothing else.

But remember that this is what God offered to Moses. In Exodus 33, God told Moses that he was to lead Israel from Mt. Sinai and take them to the Promised Land. God would send His angel before them to lead them, protect them, and drive out their enemies, but His Presence would not go with them (Ex. 33:1-3). Moses, however, said that he would rather stay in the desert with God’s Presence than go to the Promised Land of blessing without His Presence (Ex. 33:15). He wanted God’s Presence, not His presents.

I want to challenge you with this. Carefully and honestly look at your life. Are you more like Moses or Israel? Who do you want to be like? If you want to move beyond just receiving God’s presents and experiencing more of His Presence, it will require commitment and determination on your part. You will need to follow Moses’ example and dedicate time alone with God (Ex. 33:7-11), ask Him to show you His glory (Ex. 33:18), then be quiet and allow Him to speak to you and reveal Himself to you (Ps. 46:10). God desires for us to have an intimate relationship with Him so if we will take the initiative to seek Him, He will respond (James 4:8).

I have often said that you can have as much of the Presence of God in your life as you want. And you already do. The choice is yours.

Why Are You a Christian?

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Our church has been reading through the Bible together this year, and as we read through the Book of Numbers, I couldn’t help but think how blessed the nation of Israel was. Numbers 10:33-34 says, “So they set out from the mountain of the Lord and traveled for three days. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest. The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.” Imagine having a visible Presence of God in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night leading you as you travel (Num. 9:15-23).

The Lord also provided manna every morning during their forty-year journey (Ex. 16:13-21). He miraculously brought water out of a rock (Ex. 17:1-7) when they were thirsty. Their shoes and clothes never wore out (Deut. 29:5), and God gave them victory over all their enemies (Ex. 17:8-16; Deut. 20:1-4). When one considers all that God did for Israel, one would think that they would be grateful and respond to Him with love, appreciation, and obedience.

However, as we read through the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), we see that Israel was not grateful at all. Instead, they were constantly complaining. They complained about the manna God was miraculously providing every morning stating that they longed for the food they had in Egypt (Num. 11:4-6). They constantly complained about the lack of water (Num. 20:2-5). And, they complained about the leadership: Miriam and Aaron felt Moses was too prideful and that God could speak through them also (Num. 12:1-4). Korah desired Aaron’s position (Num. 16:1-3, 8-11). And Dathan and Abiram felt that Moses made promises that he wasn’t fulfilling. Their expectations were not being met (Num. 16:12-14).

What was the reason for all the complaining instead of being grateful for all God had done for them? I believe it was a lack of trust. Their relationship with God was second-hand with Moses as the mediator (Ex. 20:18-19; Deut. 5:5, 23-27). As a result, they did not know God intimately and they were not able to build a relationship of trust as Moses had. They only saw God as the One to rescue them from their problems, take care of them, meet their needs, and bring them into a better place. In other words, they followed God, not because they wanted to be with Him as Moses did (Ex. 33:1-3, 12-16), but only because they thought He could make their lives better. But, when those needs were not being met as they felt they should be, or their expectations were not being met, they questioned God and began to complain about the job He was doing. Many of them even gave up and wanted to return to their former life of slavery back in Egypt.

This brings up the question that I posted in the title of this article. Why are you a Christian? Are you, like Israel, following God only because you were told that He can save you from your problems, take care of you, and bring you to a better place? Or do you follow Him, as Moses did, because you want to be with Him whether you receive any blessings from Him or not? You see if we are only following God for what He can do for us, then it is easy to fall into the trap of grumbling and complaining when His performance does not match our expectations. We can even feel that following God is not worth it and decide to return to our old life. However, if our desire is to be in His Presence, then it doesn’t matter what happens to us so long as we are with Him.

In Exodus 33, God told Moses to take the people of Israel from the mountain and go to the land of promise. He would send an angel before them to drive out the inhabitants of the land, and they would experience God’s promised blessings. However, His Presence would not go with them (Ex. 33:1-3). Moses interceded for the people, though, and said, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Ex. 33:15). Right after this, Moses asked God to show him His glory (Ex. 33:18). You see, Moses’ desire was for God Himself and not just for what God could do for him. I would challenge you to sincerely ask yourself, why am I a Christian? Why am I following God? Do you follow Him because you want to be with Him, or only for what He can do for you? If you truly want to experience His Presence as Moses did, then do what Moses did—pray for God to reveal His glory/Presence to you. Ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and to give you a passion for more of Him. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you (James 4:8) because that is what He wants also.

Sharpen Your Blade

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The book of Hebrews was possibly written prior to the destruction of Jerusalem when Nero was persecuting the Christians. Because of the persecution, some Jewish converts were tempted to revert to Judaism, therefore, the book’s author (possibly Barnabas or Apollos) wrote to encourage the Jewish believers to remain strong in their faith in Christ.

Throughout the book, the author emphasizes the superiority of Christ to the ancient prophets, angels, Moses, as well as the priests and Old Testament sacrifices. He added that Christ was the full and final revelation of God and that all the Old Testament prophecies and promises were fulfilled in Him. Therefore, the author warns them that there is no returning to the previous Old Testament sacrificial system for the atonement of sins since it had been superseded by the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

During his discussion on the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the author makes an interesting statement at the end of chapter five. He states that there was much more he wanted to say about this, but he couldn’t because they would not understand it. He said that they were “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11 ESV). The word dull means lazy, sluggish, or listless. Other translations say, “because you no longer try to understand” (NIV), or “you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen” (NLT). In other words, they were not putting forth much effort to grow spiritually or learn to discern the voice of God.

 Consequently, when they should be mentoring others, they themselves were still children requiring spiritual milk (Heb. 5:12) and were unskilled, i.e., without experience, or ignorant in discerning the word of God (Heb. 5:13). The author adds that a mature believer can distinguish between good and evil because they have trained themselves by constant use of the Word of God (Heb. 5:14). They make it a habit of listening to the voice of God and putting His Word into practice in their lives.

The picture that comes to my mind as a way of illustrating the two is a child playing with a dull wooden sword compared to a skilled soldier welding a sharp saber. The child will wildly flail the sword around as if he knew what he was doing, but even if he should strike a blow, it would do little harm because the blade is dull. He is unskilled and ineffective. The soldier, on the other hand, has trained himself by constantly practicing the fine art of swordsmanship until he is able to wield the sword skillfully. Also, he has taken the time to sharpen his blade so he can easily wound his opponent. He is skilled and effective because of his constant training and use. The question we each need to ask ourselves then is “Which one am I?” You see, learning to discern good from evil, learning to hear God’s voice clearly, and growing spiritually in the things of God does not happen automatically. We cannot allow ourselves to be lazy, but we must discipline ourselves and develop spiritual habits that will train us to use our “swords” (the Word of God) effectively. I would suggest the following: 1) Develop a daily habit to read the Word of God. But don’t just read it. Get into the habit of asking God to speak to you through the passage you are reading. Listen for His voice and write down in a notebook what He is revealing to you. 2) Then, put what God said to you into practice right away. This is how we “sharpen our blade”. Learning how to pray, prophecy, and be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit requires practice so ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength to do what the Lord is directing you to do. And 3) Teach others. The author of Hebrews chastised the believers because they were not spiritually mature yet to mentor someone else. This is what we all should be doing (Matt. 28:19-20) however, few of us are obeying that commandment. I would encourage you to ask God to show you someone whom you can help as they learn to develop their own spiritual habits and become skilled soldiers with sharpened blades.

A New Look at the Sermon on the Mount

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In the past, my understanding of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 has been that it was a compilation of sayings or nuggets of wisdom much like the Proverbs. However, when I recently read through the sermon again, I noticed three themes that laid a foundation for Jesus’ message.

However, before we look at the sermon itself, let’s back up a couple of chapters to look at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. From Matthew 3:13 to 4:11, Jesus starts preparing for His ministry. He is baptized by John and is anointed by the Holy Spirit (3:13-17). After this, He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and fasts for forty days and nights. Following this time of fasting, Satan tempts Him three times, but Jesus overcomes the temptation by remaining faithful to God (4:1-11). Jesus then begins His ministry by preaching the Kingdom of God (4:17) and demonstrating the power of the Kingdom by healing the sick and casting out demons (4:23-25). Immediately large crowds from the entire region began to follow Him, and when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and began to teach them thus bringing us to the Sermon on the Mount.

As I mentioned above, I saw that Jesus’ sermon can be divided into three themes. The first one is found in chapter five. He begins His message by discussing attitudes that people of the Kingdom of God should have. He says that people should consider themselves blessed if they are poor in spirit, meek, merciful, and hungry for righteousness. He even says they should feel blessed if they are persecuted. He then talks about us being the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and having a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees. From here He discusses certain topics such as murder, divorce, and adultery. In each of the topics, He begins by saying “You have heard that it was said…,” and describes the common teaching on that topic. He then adds, “But I tell you…,” and presents a higher standard for each subject mentioned. I imagine the people hearing this sermon were confused because everything He was saying went contrary to human nature and the teachings of their culture.

The key verse which sums up this entire chapter is found at the end in verse forty-eight: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. The word translated perfect means complete, mature, and lacking nothing. When Jesus was baptized by John, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to reveal the character of God, proclaim the message of the Kingdom, and demonstrate the Kingdom’s power. Everything He said and did went contrary to the culture which amazed the people and upset the leadership. In the same way, we are to be so filled with the Spirit of God that we can also demonstrate the nature and character of God to the world. We are not to follow the world’s standard but instead, we are to live by the higher standard of the Kingdom. We are to be the influencers—the salt of the earth and the light of the world that attracts people to God just as Jesus had been doing.

Chapter six presents the second theme. Jesus teaches that we are not to seek attention or earthly praise when we help the poor or in our times of prayer and fasting. Our focus should not be on building up rewards or accolades here on earth. Instead, our emphasis should be on humbly building the Kingdom of God. Jesus adds that our concern should not be on how much wealth we can accumulate in this world, but on storing up “treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20). The key verse in this chapter is verse thirty-three: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV). The principle Jesus presents here also goes against the world’s thinking. He is submitting the idea that we should develop such a passion for the Kingdom of God that the wealth, fame, or treasures this world has to offer are not important to us. He is also advocating that when we put His Kingdom first, we can have the confidence that He will provide for all our needs.

Jesus demonstrated this principle when He faced Satan’s temptation. He was faithful to God and so dedicated to fulfilling the work of the Kingdom that the worldly enticements Satan presented to Him had no effect. The Kingdom of God was first and foremost in His heart, demonstrate and He knew His Father would provide for all He needed (see Matt. 4:1-4).

The third principle is found in Matt. 7:24-27. Here, Jesus is teaching how important it is to build our life upon the Word of God. Throughout this chapter, He talks about making sure our life is in line with God’s Word before we start pointing out the faults of others (7:1-5). He reminds us that we fulfill the Law when we treat others with love and respect (7:12). He also warns us that just saying that we are a follower of Jesus is not enough. We must show it by obeying His Word and demonstrating godly character (7:15-23). It is only when we are committed to the Word of God in our life that will we be able to share the Word with wisdom and power and be able to see the power of God work through us through signs and miracles as Jesus did (Matt. 4:17,23-25). In summary, when Jesus began His ministry, He was anointed by the Holy Spirit and empowered to reveal God and the life of the Kingdom to the world. He was committed to the Father and the work of the Kingdom so that Satan was not able to distract Him with the attractions of the world. And the Word of God was the foundation of all He did (Matt. 5:17-18). These principles are what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount, and are principles that we, as people of the Kingdom, should be incorporating into our lives. We should make the Word of God the foundation of our life, develop a passion for the Kingdom that overshadows any allurements of the world, and be so filled with the Spirit of God that we live by a standard that is higher than and contrary to the culture of the world. If we do this, we can become the salt of the earth and the light of the world that will draw people to Jesus.