When Risk Management Is Not Necessary

for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.
Deuteronomy 20:4

I find an interesting thing going on with this verse. It was meant to encourage Israel in the imminent task of taking control of the Promised Land. They were going up against cities and people who were stronger, settled, and more experienced in battle. But God was assuring them victory. He does so with a string of promises. One promise is directed toward their foes. Three promises are directed toward Israel.

The negative promise is toward the enemies of Israel. God had set Himself against them. This was not arbitrary. In this context it is clear that an enemy was any group of people who refused to make peace with Israel (Deuteronomy 20:10-12). Only when a city had set itself against terms of peace could Israel attack. At that point God was against that city as well.

The three positive promises directed toward Israel were meant to show the power of God to them. First, God fought WITH them. He was alongside them and aware of the battle dangers for He was right there with them in the battle, not watching from the distance. Second, God was fighting FOR them. Almighty God was battling their cause. That is sort of an ultimate weapon! The final promise is summed up with the promise "to give you the victory". God had a purpose in the battle that He would work: to give His people the victory. Clearly the battle and its success would belong to God, even though He also asked the people to fight. This is good risk management, if ever there has been!


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Great in power, choosing to love.

Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
Deuteronomy 10:14-15

Moses gave a charge to the next generation of Israel, reminding them of the greatness of God and the compelling nature of God's loving choice of them as His people. They were to enter Canaan and take over its territory because of God's might, power and love. God's ways were powerful, beyond anything that they could ever do. His love that was set upon Israel was great beyond all other love. He stayed with them even when they strayed.

God never is diminished by faithfully loving His creation. Love is not a weakness. It is part of His majestic power. Moses sets the scene of God's inexplicable, amazing, loving choice of sinful Israel by first talking about God's power and sovereign control of all things. His love is thus a sovereign choice rooted in His wisdom... down deep in His ways.

Love is an emotion, but that is often so corrupted in weak human nature. We frequently love imperfectly with sentiment and self driving a feeling we have. And if someone does not feed that sentiment or selfish impulse, we can quickly switch from love to anger or hurt or even hate.

But that is not what God does. God loves because it is His nature to love and He is sovereign and strong in His great love. His love does not just hurt, but it heals and brings glory to Himself by so doing. God is great in love. His is majestic and holy in love. He is wise and sovereign in love. I have a lot to learn from Him about how to love!


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

God...on our side.

And I commanded Joshua at that time, 'Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.'
Deuteronomy 3:21-22

Moses gives credit where credit is due. God had given Israel victory west of the Jordan in order to confirm for the next generation of leaders that the conquest of Canaan would be God's doing. Moses did live to see these initial victories. Joshua would be used by God to lead Israel to the final possession of the Promised Land.

The secret strategy behind Israel's success was not a big secret: God was on their side and their foes did not stand a chance under those conditions. God is with His people. That is an unchanging truth. The same reality marks my life today. The apostle Paul put it in a rhetorical question: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Indeed. Joshua and Israel lived this truth every time that they went up against another Canaanite stronghold. And God won.

Lord,
We acknowledge that You are on the side of believers, though at times it may not feel like it when tragic evil seems so strong in our experience. But not even death is our final foe, for Jesus, You have conquered even that! May we follow Your command to experience all that You want to give us!
Amen


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

The Good Desert Sands

For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.
Deuteronomy 2:7

Moses talked about the wilderness wanderings as a real spiritual experience of great positive impact... why? The reason he could do so has to do with the audience to whom he is recounting this history. This is the generation that will enter Canaan. The grumbling, faithless Egyptian slave generation have all died in the desert. This new generation, the children of slavery, has grown up in the wilderness. They understood God's provision and leadership in the desert sands. It defined their relationship with God.

In many ways God will use the difficult circumstances of our lives to shape us into a people of faith. That is what I know about God. I appreciate that God saw fit to save me, save my parents when I was very young, and provide me solid church and schooling experiences. My share of desert difficulty came in my teen years, and later in young adulthood. God is sovereign and His purposes prevailed! For through it all, I believe God shaped me for the unique ministry of working with hurting or confused people, some of them casualties of Christian snipers... my own experience at times.

In the desert, Israel lacked nothing. The nation had all she needed in a sovereign, loving, and caring God. The same is true for me. My deserts have been moments where God has become the dearest thing to me. In the desert I have lacked nothing, because the Lord my God has been with me.


- Posted with my iPad. The Apple Kool-Aide tastes fine.

Prophet for hire, part 3

And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, 'I will certainly honor you,' but the LORD has held you back from honor."

Numbers 24:10-11

 

This is the end of the matter between Balak and Balaam. God used the pagan seer to shut down and frustrate an enemy of Israel. And in the process Balaam learns some things. His prophecies in Numbers 24 sort of “seal the deal” for Israel’s success in the eyes of her enemies. And he is convinced that God will ultimately destroy Moab and all those who oppose Israel’s move into the Promised Land.

 

Balaam is an interesting study because of who he is. He is used by God, even inspired by God, to deliver these messages. Yet, we cannot be convinced he ultimately comes to know God. He seems more interested in divination than devotion. And his final verdict in scripture is that he was a deceiver (Revelation 2:14).

 

Still, it is more than amusing that God would use Balaam to get his truth out. And obviously what happened made it back to Israel because of these scriptures providing record of the events. Balaam would eventually die in the conquest of Canaan. But God’s truth and His plan for His people would continue… forever.

 

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Prophet for hire: part 2

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.

Numbers 23:19-20

 

Poor Balak! He has paid good money to hire Balaam to place a curse on Israel. He has tried three different times, really four if you count the initial encounter with Balaam, and each time Balaam comes back with a blessing for the people that Balak hates. And it comes at the cost of building 21 altars and sacrificing 21 oxen and 21 sheep. This was a serious investment on his part in the hopes he could secure Israel’s demise.

 

But this much was true about Balaam… whatever message he “channeled” he stayed faithful to the content. He may have sold out to the highest bidder in terms of religious services, but he had enough sense to realize that he was dealing with the “real deal” when the God of Israel spoke to him. He may have been easy, but he was not quite sleazy.

 

The humor in these episodes is obvious. A pagan king and a flim-flam celebrity psychic “to the stars” would be used by God to confirm Israel’s purposes in His plan. And no one was going to stand in the way of what God was doing. Even the gods and religious practices of the people of Canaan would fall before the power and will of Yahweh. Israel’s God would be shown as having sovereignty over all people. They might get frustrated at the collapse of their pagan worldview. But they clearly and repeatedly saw the truth.

 

God gave grace to Balak through Balaam’s oracles. It enraged the pagan king, but he could not deny the truth of it. God managed to irrefutably establish His sovereignty, literally at Balak’s expense! It is funny, powerful, and tragic all at the same time!

 

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Authority, politics, and a reminder of Who controls it.

Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of kingdoms.

Haggai 2:21-22

 

Just a short observation as I wrap up this look at Haggai’s prophecies: God has authority over all human politics. That is the assertion made here by God Himself. It is true. God was telling a government official through His prophet that He was in control of both of heaven and earth. And no throne or kingdom was beyond His grasp.

 

The warning was meant to encourage the returned exiles that foreign nations would bring them national prosperity again. But this would be God’s doing and not strictly the result of human endeavor. God even says that military outcomes will result in Israel’s enemies destroying themselves. This would clearly leave God in control and worthy of worship. So don’t get any more wrapped up in politics than God is. It exists to exalt God as He gets the glory! Human power is nothing to Him.

 

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Multiplication in opposition

So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

Exodus 1:13-14

The book of Exodus is about two very clear things: 1) God’s ability to deliver people and 2) God’s ability to raise up leadership among His people. In order for those two realities to be seen, there must be circumstances of dependence upon God. Chapter 1 sets the scene for the reader. And it is a scene of definitive need. Yet, God is in control.

Israel had gone to Egypt under God’s plan. The severe middle eastern famine had driven Jacob and his sons there. God had prepared them for this by sending Joseph ahead of them, putting him in charge of the land and food management, and taking care of His people. But then a generation changed. And eventually a pharaoh arose who did not remember Israel’s past with Egypt. And fear and ethnic prejudices began to control Egyptian policy. The result was oppression for God’s people. They became slaves. This eventually escalated to a governmental policy of control, eventually leading to a decree of infanticide for Hebrew male children. This was bad. The official policy toward Israel was slavery, persecution, and government mandated infanticide. Yet God sovereignly allowed His people to continue multiplying.

In the midst of these circumstances and despite these circumstances God began to work. He took forty years to begin to deliver Israel. Seems like a slow process, but it was God’s plan and wisdom and not human impatience. The situation lasted at least two generations. And it would begin in the worst circumstances. But deliverance would come through a plan God devised. He would show Himself strong to His people, through a leader He had prepared, to a people who would resist Him. But God always delivers on His promises.

Technorati Tags: Exodus,Persecution,Providence,Sovereignty

God’s Sovereignty in the book of Revelation

Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Revelation 13:7-8

It is clear from John’s visions in this book that God is in control. We know this from the fact that God would let John record in “the words of the prophecy of this book” the visionary details concerning the future. We also know this from the way in which the leaders of a worldwide resistance against God are described. In the case of the first beast mentioned in chapter 13, it’s blasphemies and persecutions are “allowed” by God. He takes ultimate responsibility for the sovereign control of even the outcome of this rebellion against Him. Nothing takes God by surprise.

The first beast leads the world in blasphemy and idolatry, receiving worship from all those who have not turned to Christ. But God will ultimately conquer those who have rejected Him. Even as they are described, it is in terms of their elect status. Some have been written in the Lamb’s book of life. Others have not. But all made a free choice to obey either God or the beast.

The doctrines of sovereignty and free will are never in conflict. I really am disappointed by those who want to treat them that way. It is clear that man’s free will is a reality for all of us. as is God’s absolute sovereignty. And in these future descriptions, we see one way of seeing them free of the tensions we tend to assign them. The beast rages against God, but not outside His controlling power. The people worship Him, but not those who have been written in the Lamb’s book. God is in control, even when the world is at the worst it will EVER be!

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Joy woven from sorrow.

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 45:7-8

I believe that the tears of joy that Joseph wept at his "unveiling" to his brothers came from two sources. The first was the joy in seeing the change that was occurring as circumstances and age began to humble his brothers. This was for him a moving moment, considering that he had endured slave status, had been falsely imprisoned and forgotten there, and had been exalted not only to Pharaoh's court, but to chief administrator of the surplus wealth of Egypt. His life was an emotional rollercoaster! This was just another part of the ride.

But the second source of the tears of joy is pure spiritual insight. Joseph has managed to slowly stitch together how the providence of God has cared for him and his family. This is overwhelming. God used the most horrendous things that happened to an innocent young man for His glory and the salvation of many souls. Think about all the bad actions God managed to weave around in order to sovereignly provide for His covenant with Israel. Joseph was favored unfairly by his dad, creating family strife. God gives the young man revelatory dreams to help him cope and serve notice to the family of a future for him. Joseph has no control over his brothers' disdain. He is sold into slavery, and God sends him to the captain of the Pharaoh of Egypt where he excels. He is falsely accused of sexual assault, God makes sure that because of Potiphar's status, Joseph ends up in a royal prison where he eventually interprets the dreams of two members of Pharaoh's court. Then God uses the dreams of Pharaoh to pull Joseph from the pit to the position of prime minister over all of ancient Egypt in one day. God uses the famine to bring Joseph's family back to him, where he serves in power, and the dreams of a boy are brought to fruition for the glory of the God of the covenant.

God's providence is beautiful. It brings joy. It moves us with emotion. It must, for when we see the wisdom of His ways, we see His love, His holiness, His justice, and His power. All of that is condensed down to this intense moment that Joseph has with His brothers. All that they had done that was bad, had somehow been turned by God for His purposes. He cannot change. He will not be undone by human will, no matter how bad we sin. And Joseph knew this. It was literally the story of His life.

Technorati Tags: Joseph,Sovereignty,Providence,Joy

Another Egyptian Expedition

So the men took this present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin. They arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Genesis 43:15

This is now the second time in the midst of the seven year famine in which Joseph's family has been forced to go to Egypt and purchase grain. They must stand before their brother again. This time they are in a different place. They have learned a measure of honesty by bringing with them double the price of the grain in order to return to Joseph his refund on their first purchase. And they must bring Joseph's brother Benjamin with them as well. All in all, it is again an unnerving business trip ahead of them.

They are treated with much honor on this second excursion into Egypt. Joseph receives them into his own home. He prepares a feast for them. Benjamin is honored with five times the portion of any of the others, even as they all eat and drink and party like never before. They must have felt very strange to have this Egyptian governor take such notice of them.

God's providence is slowly bringing to the forefront changes in character and commitment within Jacob's sons. They offer to repay for the first purchase of grain... something that Joseph refuses to accept, telling them that God somehow returned their money to them. There are so many clues coming to them that this is Joseph, yet they remain in ignorance of what is really going on. I believe it is to show us the change taking place in them as they now must deal with circumstances beyond their limited control. They will see the work of sovereign God in the story when it all comes out!

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From Prison to Prime Minister

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you."
Genesis 41:39-40

In one day Joseph moves from being a prisoner to a prime minister. This is a dramatic work of God and it was worth all the waiting, the suffering, and the faithful witness. When the cupbearer remembers what Joseph did for him, he is immediately summoned from prison to stand before Pharaoh. There, he interprets the prophetic message of Pharaoh's dreams and the king takes note of the wisdom that Joseph entails with the interpretation of them.

But all the wonder of the story is focused on the God of Joseph. His interpretation of the dream lets Pharaoh know that he is convinced that God is bringing about both the outstanding bumper crops and the future famine. Egypt would respond to the sovereign act of God by preparing and administrating well. And Pharaoh quickly sees in Joseph the man to head up just such a project. But in picking him, it is clear that the king acknowledges God. Joseph is wise because God has shown him these things. And that is what the king recognizes and rewards.

So it is that any event, whether boon or bane, blessing or trial, must be seen as coming from the purposeful hand of an Almighty, Sovereign God. I long to be prime minister, but God is equally concerned that I am faithful while in the pit of prison. And if any good comes of this life, it is because God brings it about in me or through me.

I need the lessons of Joseph's faithful life. Of course, at this point in Genesis, God is just beginning to make things move in blessing for the faithful young Hebrew man. It would still take many years for God to restore his relationship with his family and repair those broken relationships. The young man would become the wise man of Egypt in the interim. And he would excel in the great times as well as in the hardships. Those are the lessons I need to learn.

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