Living Blessed

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Living Blessed

Perhaps the greatest abuse of faith is the failure to use the resources available to us through our relationship with God.  God’s Word is filled with His promises to those faithful to Him.  Being faithful means living in loving obedience to His commands.  Yet, the vast majority of those professing to believe in God do not read His Word or study His Word to know His will.  The saddest of all testimonies are the testimonies of those that profess faith in Christ, but never seem to get around to making His will for their lives the highest of their priorities.  There always seems to be something on their agendas that come before what Christ wants them to do.  The ultimate testimony of a faith relationship with Christ is that His agenda for your life should be your agenda for your life.  If His agenda for your life is not your agenda for your life, He is not your Lord in any practical sense of the meaning of the word. 

“9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high” (Habakkuk 3:9-10).

Habakkuk 3:9-10 address the surety of the promises of God to the children of Israel in the Mosaic Covenant.  The Mosaic Covenant was also known as “the blessing and a curse” Covenant as defined by Deuteronomy 11:26. The sad testimony of the thousands of years of the majority of Israel’s history was that they seldom experienced the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant because they were unfaithful to God’s commandments.  This is certainly true of most Christians as well.  How readily and easily are most believers “drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (James 1:14).

“26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

In Habakkuk 3:9, God states “ Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.”  The point here is that God has unsheathed His bow and is prepared to protect and defend Israel against her adversaries if she will repent and be faithful to the Mosaic Covenant as she agreed.  God wants His children to know Him.  He wants them to know Him personally, intimately and accurately.  God wants His children to obey and be blessed. 

God wants His children to live in the midst of His blessings.  This is His central purpose of the inspiration and giving of the Scriptures.  God wants believers to know His will and live according to His will in loving obedience.  Living in loving obedience is the supreme expression of faith and trust in God.  The child of God who truly loves the Lord wants to know God’s will because he wants to worship and praise His Redeemer with every action of his life.  It is a sad testimony when a person wants to be blessed more than wanting to be a blessing.  Have you ever considered that your purpose for existence is to be a blessing to God and to others? 

God is consistent in everything He does because He is consistent in both character and nature.  The very nature and character of our loving God is to be a blessing to those who believe and trust Him.  God is not evolving as the Emergent Church leaders are trying to tell us.  God loves righteousness and hates unrighteousness.  God is not becoming more tolerant of the practices He calls sin.  Those practices that were an abomination to Him from the beginning are still an abomination to Him today.  What ought to amaze us is that God tolerates any of us!

“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6).

Although the believer is to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4), faith is not intended to be totally blind.  Faith is intended to be intelligent and knowledgeable about the way God works in His dealings with mankind, especially in His dealings with His redeemed.  Much of the Old Testament is intent on revealing God’s pattern of dealing with both His redeemed and the lost in various circumstances of life.  Peter says essentially the same thing as Habakkuk 3:9-10.  In the midst of the warning there is also the blessing of God’s protection of His redeemed. 

“3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government” (II Peter 2:3-10).

The life of faith lived in loving obedience to the commands of our loving, longsuffering God is intended to be a place of secure rest.  Although we live in the midst of the curse and all of the discomforts and threats that come from the adversary of righteousness, we can rest in the assurance of God’s protective custody of our eternal soul.  Although we have this eternal “rest” available to us, we tend to regularly drift out into the open tumultuous waters of worldliness never even considering the fact they we have left God’s protective custody.  This is the substance of the warning of Hebrews 4:1-13. 

Doctrinal definitiveness and doctrinal purity keep us anchored within the harbor of God’s blessings.  Theological compromise and doctrinal inconsistencies will cause us to drift with the tides that draw us back into worldliness.  The point of Hebrews 4:1-13 is that we can always repent and return to the enabling grace of God’s protective custody (“rest”) within the center of His will. 

“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. 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. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus {Iesous; ee-ay-sooce’: of Hebrew origin referring to Joshua of the Old Testament} had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest {God’s protective custody in the center of His will trough loving obedience to God’s commands}, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do {there are no secrets or hidden sins from God, your life will be measured according to obedience to God’s Word without any prejudices}” (Hebrews 4:1-13).

According to Habakkuk 3:9, true biblical faith should know and understand that God is oath bound in His dealings with His redeemed.  God never breaks a promise and will always do what He says He will do.  The “blessing and a curse” Covenant as defined by Deuteronomy 11:26 is a twofold promise.  The children of Israel did not stand without warning.  In every case, when God made covenant with them, He also gave a warning should they choose to disobey. 

The phrase “Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word,” is a statement of faith.  It means God had faithfully warned the tribes what would happen if they began to break His commandments.  Israel had promised they would follow the leadership of Joshua as he commanded them according to the commandments of God.  In Habakkuk 3:9, God is telling Israel that they are now experiencing the curse aspect of “the blessing and a curse” Covenant.  Even in this God is seeking to turn their hearts through repentance and return them to obedience to Him.  Chastisement has not accomplished its purpose if those chastised to not repent of their sins and return to loving service in loving obedience to the Lord.

“16 And they {all the children of Israel} answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. 17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses. 18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:16-18).

The children of Israel living under Joshua’s leadership faithfully did according to their promise recorded in Joshua 1:16-18 all the days that Joshua was their leader.  Every generation must be equally committed to know the Word of God, love the Word of God, and live the Word of God with all their heart, soul, and might.  Without a continual reminder of the necessary commitment to full surrender to God’s will, every generation will begin to drift away from God’s will through both theological ignorance and theological compromise. 

“And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel” (Joshua 24:31).

It is important for Christians to know that God’s warnings extend to all generations and are consistently administrated by God.  Theological drift will always result in compromises that will take believers into various degrees of worldliness and varying degrees of God’s chastisement. 

         

Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two is known as the Song of Moses.  In this chapter, Moses records the history of humanity and its unrelenting, consistent failures to produce continuing generations of faithful believers.  Deuteronomy 32:4-5 state the two great contradictions that have existed since the fall of Satan and the fall of humanity into sin and the curse.  God is perfectly righteous and humanity continually corrupts themselves through increasing levels of unrighteousness. 

“4 He {Jehovah our God} is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. 5 They have corrupted themselves {the point is that if they are truly God’s progeny, they will seek to live uncorrupted by the world}, their spot {their existence is like a stain upon righteousness} is not the spot of his children {not God’s redeemed}: they are a perverse and crooked generation” (Deuteronomy 32:4-5).

In Deuteronomy 32:34, God says His chastisement and judgments are part of His “treasures.”  In other words, the righteousness of God demands that He purify the world of all unrighteousness.  This fact ought to be viewed as a treasure to believers whose hearts are in alignment with God Word.  Believers should view God’s chastisement as purifying their lives to His glory.  Every wrong will be righted.  Every righteous act sown to the glory of God and His purposes will reproduce itself with the righteousness of another generation.  However, the opposite is also true. 

“34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? 35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. 37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted, 38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. 39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. 40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. 41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. 42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. 43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people” (Deuteronomy 32:34-43)

After Joshua’s death, the book of Judges records the progressively incomplete obedience and compromising disobedience of Israel as they began to compromise the commands of God.  This fact is a historical constant repeated in all generations.  The constant creates an ever decreasing remnant of faithful believers from generation to generation. 

“8 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres {tim-nath kheh’-res}, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed” (Judges 2:8-15).

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 Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 

Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 

He has served the Lord for over 40 years.

Maintaining Our God Perspective

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Maintaining Our God Perspective

As Habakkuk rehearses the past workings of God in history, he confronts his fear with faith.  His faith rises victorious over his fear.  Faith must rest in God’s power and abilities, not ours or it is not faith.  In these few verses of Habakkuk 3:6-8, we see that faith can also find rest in knowing God’s purpose and knowing what God does within His creation.

“6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. 7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. 8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation” (Habakkuk 3:6-8)?

Faith sees beyond the circumstances of life to see the broad involvement of God in an overall plan of redemption and the confrontation of evil in the world.  Although the redemption of humanity and the protection of humanity from satanic corruption and destruction is only a small part of what God does within His creation, it singularly carries the highest emphasis of Scripture.  If God would remove His protective custody over humanity for but a single moment, Satan would utterly corrupt and destroy humanity in that single moment.  This is to what Habakkuk speaks in Habakkuk 3:6-8 regarding God’s involvement to chastise Israel and correct the satanic corruptions of His children. 

Paul speaks of this as well in Colossians chapter one.  The verb tenses in Colossians 1:12-17 are critically important to understand what God has already done in our salvation and redemption.  Understanding the emphasis of the eternal aspects of our redemption should help maintain an eternal perspective of our short time “under the sun” of our temporal existence prior to our glorification.  The emphasis of both Habakkuk 3:6-8 and Colossians 1:12-17 is to bring our attention upon our eternal God and our eternal existence “in Christ.”  There is no greater test of our faith than the trials of the faithful within our temporal existence within the cursed creation.

“12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:12-17).

Paul writes with some very vivid Jewish imagery (Colossians 1:12).  There are certain words in the text that are key words to that imagery such as “inheritance” and “saints in light.”  The word “inheritance” refers to something assigned or allotted.  These words would immediately draw the attention of the twelve tribes of Israel to the Land of Promise.  These words meant a kingdom for them.

However, the kingdom to which Paul refers in this imagery is the kingdom “in light” - the realm of absolute truth (“saints in light,” vs. 12).  This kingdom is the realm of God’s sovereignty, glory, and grace.  It is the realm where truth reigns supreme and where the living Word of God is Lord.  The “born again” believer is already positionally in this kingdom of light.  We are commanded to “walk” in this kingdom of light (I John 1:7) as “children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

This kingdom “of light” is the heavenly presence of God that fills the universe.  It extends to the uttermost parts of the universe in both the macro and micro sense of existence.  The kingdom “of light” is another dimension of existence that transcends time and space, yet our time and space are a part of this existence.  Although this other existence is beyond our human senses (I Corinthians 2:9), all believers are intended to live within this spiritual reality by grace through faith.  We practically live in this invisible existence as we yield to the Holy Spirit and are empowered to live in obedience to God’s revealed will (truth) in the Word of God.  This invisible existence is the kingdom where Jesus is Lord.

All believers have been qualified to live in this realm by the finished work of Christ.  They are enabled to succeed in this realm by the enabling grace of God through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in their life.  We must be careful to emphasize that this realm of “light” that Christ has qualified the believer to live in is a spiritual realm.  We can participate in it only when we are fully surrendered to the Spirit of God in us (Romans 6:11-13).  Only the Holy Spirit can live God’s truth through us.  We cannot succeed in this spiritual existence apart from the enabling of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.  This is to what the words “made meet” in Colossians 1:12 refer.

When the Word of God uses the word “saints,” it refers to individuals “born again” of the Spirit of God.  The “saints” are those who have been set apart from this world and have become part of this heavenly existence.  “Saints” refers to beings fit to live in the presence of God.  Every Christian should understand that we live in this existence now.  It is not a pie in the sky thing.  This is our present reality.  This fact ought to change the way we think and live in this world.

These truths were a direct contradiction to the Gnosticism that was perverting early Christianity.  Gnostics taught that salvation came through a process of enlightenment in varying levels of spiritual knowledge (the stairway to heaven heresy).  In Gnostics’ corrupted view of salvation, God did not give a person salvation.  The Gnostics believed a person achieved salvation.  This stairway to heaven idea of salvation continues to be a major part of the corruption of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is still a major part of the terminology of many people.

According to Colossians 1:14 (“In whom we have redemption”), the Father’s work is already positionally complete.  The Father has once for all qualified, rescued, and transferred the believer into His “kingdom . . . of light.”  Delivery from the tyranny of darkness is a finished work of God and part of the believer’s present reality.  Nothing can be added, or needs to be added, to what the Father has done.  “In Christ,” we presently possess redemption “through His blood.”

In Colossians 1:15-19, we now move away from Christ’s accomplishment in His work of redemption to who He is.  In verse nineteen, “fullness” refers to all that God is or possesses now residing in Jesus Christ through His incarnation.  This refers especially to His sovereign authority in His Lordship.  These verses portray the sovereign position of Jesus over all other realities in all other existences.  The focal statement is in verse eighteen - “That in everything He might have pre-eminence.”

All worship of God must focus upon Jesus and His work.  It is not enough to intellectually recognize that Jesus excels and is sovereignly above all other humans.  We must personally give Him preeminence in our lives.  The purpose of this statement is to expand upon the person who is Jesus.  Jesus is not merely the Father’s angelic agent in the work of redemption as the Gnostics believed.  Jesus is God’s agent in the whole of God’s workings from creation to the consummation of history.

Because humanity is blinded to the eternal and spiritual dimension of our existence, we tend towards preoccupation with the empirical problems of our present temporal existence.  The corruptions and problems of life within the corruption of the fallen creation occupy most of our thought life and most of our prayer life.  The central purpose of Colossians 1:12-17 and Habakkuk’s statement in Habakkuk 3:6-8 is to bring our focus back to our eternal hope in our eternal God and the surety of our arriving at that eternal destination regardless of the difficult of our present temporal threats.

The universal struggle of evil against righteousness is to confirm the sovereignty of God over His creation.  Satan challenged that sovereignty and Adam bought into it, bringing the curse of God upon all of His creation.  God gave dominion of creation to Adam.

“26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28).

Adam gave the dominion God gave him away to Satan in the fall by willfully denying God’s sovereignty and disobeying God’s command.  Satan then became “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).  God has cursed and eternally condemned everything under Satan’s dominion.

“14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:14-19).

Faith trusts God with doing whatever is necessary to fulfill His purpose in the restoration of the dominion over the earth back into man’s hands.  We must understand that this demands God’s judgment.  This judgment will take place when Jesus Christ returns to the earth at Armageddon to establish His Kingdom on earth as the God/Man.  However, there are other incidental judgments interim leading to the great and final Judgment called the Great White Throne Judgment.  (STOP)

         

In Habakkuk 3:6-10, faith is presented as a person who begins to see God’s purpose transcending man’s difficulties and trials.  If we are ever going to be able to trust in God through various trials and difficulties, regardless of how world circumstances might affect us personally, we must understand and accept what God must do to re-establish His sovereignty over His creation.

         

In Habakkuk 3:6, faith sees God’s sovereign power active in the affairs of this world and His people.  When God led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, He divided the land between the twelve tribes like someone dividing a pie.   The strength and numbers of the pagan people already residing there were of absolutely no consequence as a factor to resist God’s sovereign choice of Israel as His people or His choice of the Promised Land for His people.  “He beheld, and drove asunder the nations.”

God moved before the nation of Israel and defeated their enemies in heart and mind before Israel ever got to them physically.

“1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel” (Joshua 5:1).

The “mountains and hills” of which Habakkuk speaks in Habakkuk 3:6 are symbols of grandeur, permanence, and security representing the strength and power of the nations that occupied the Promised land.  Yet, before God, they are as nothing.  They are scattered like a fox scatters chickens before God presence.  They bow in helpless surrender before the overwhelming power of God.  Although the forces of evil in this world present themselves as indestructible and impregnable, they are nothing before God and their destiny is already determined and sealed.  Only God and “His ways are everlasting” (Habakkuk 3:6).  These forces of evil do not deserve one moment of fear from us.

         

We cannot understand much of what is going on in the world, but we can know and trust in the One Who does know.  God has everything under control.  Every evil and wrong doing done “under the Sun” will be judged along with every lost soul that does that evil.  Maintaining our faith perspective of God’s righteousness understands that end of our lives is not the end of the story.  At the end of everyone’s life is just their beginning of eternity.  Eternity is another existence either in the presence of God or in eternal separation from God in the place of eternal torments.  This is the revelation of Satan’s judgment in Isaiah 14:12-27.  “Lucifer” in the text is embodied in the person of Belshazzar, typical of the antichrist.  Bel was the pagan god of Babylon.  We can understand Belshazzar to mean Bel’s king.

“12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou {Belshazzar} shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. 21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. 23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. 24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back” (Isaiah 14:12-27)?

Faith in God’s Word sees God’s removal of the enemy (Habakkuk 3:7).

Cushan (Habakkuk 3:7) is Arabia.  The Cushans and Midianites were nomadic tent dwellers.  They occupied the area of the wilderness surrounding Mt. Sinai.  They represent all nations, or nationalities, that worship pagan gods, and reject and oppose the one true God.  When the Lord appeared on Mt. Sinai, these nomadic people abandoned the area out of fear.

From Habakkuk 3:7 through verse 16, we are exposed more to the purpose of God in doing what He did, rather than just what God did.  People who do not know God flee in fear from Him.  People who know God, flee in fear to Him.  If a man truly knows God, that man understands there is no place to go to escape God’s wrath or hide from Him?  The only place to escape God’s wrath is to flee to Him in His grace and mercy.

“There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves” (Job 34:22).

“16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand” (Revelation 6:16-17)?

Was the purpose of God in parting the Red Sea, or dividing the flood waters of the Jordan for Israel to enter their Promised Land, solely to show God’s power to the heathen nations (Habakkuk 3:8)?

God’s purpose went far beyond this.  His purpose was to fulfill His covenant promise to Abraham, to fulfill His promise of deliverance of the nation of Israel, and to preserve His people.  The point is that you can count on God’s eternal promises.

Although the waters of the Red Sea falling in judgment and wrath upon the armies of Pharaoh (Exodus 14:6-15:19) are a testimony to both God’s anger and wrath against evil, they exist more as a testimony to God preservation and protection of His people.  The God Who saves you is the God Who keeps you.  The love of God that brought you out of bondage is the love of God that will bring you into His glory.  These judgment waters actually testify to the believer’s security and preservation in the omnipotent hands of God.

“17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God” (Joshua 24:17-18).

“27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. 30 I and my Father are one” (John 10:27-29).

Faith can rest in God when the believer understands God’s purpose.  God saves people with the intent of keeping/preserving them.  It is His power that preserves the believer in Christ.

“Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (Jude 1:1).

What power did the greatest military force in the world (Pharaoh’s Calvary and chariots) have compared to the omnipotence of a God Whose sovereignty commands the world’s seas?  God used something as insignificant as water to defeat the greatest military force in the world and to preserve and protect His people.  When believers are confronted with overwhelming odds, their faith must rest in knowing God’s purpose.  In and through faith, they must resign themselves to that purpose regardless of how the circumstance of life might affect their temporal existence “under the Sun.”

“17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:17-19).

It would be of little value to merely be Lord/Sovereign of a dead creation.  Jesus will judge that cursed and dead creation.  Of that you can be absolutely sure.  However, Jesus died so we could become part of His New Creation.  “All things” refers to both the spiritual and material universe including the “church.”  The words “might have pre-eminence” means Jesus is made firstborn, sovereign, and LORD.  This happens in this present worldly existence when individual believers chose Jesus as their Sovereign Lord.  This is what the word “might” means in Colossians 1:18.

Today, Jesus does not force his Lordship on a world that does not want Him or who refuse to yield to His will.  However, when all lost souls stand under the judgment of God, “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).  

If Jesus is practically the Lord of your universe today, then you have yielded to Him.  He is Lord!  However, if you want Jesus to qualify you to participate in His realm of light, you will have to practically bring your life under His Lordship.  Have you yielded to Him as the one and only Lord of your existence?

FULL SURRENDER!


Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.

Re-establishing the Sanctity of Israel

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AUDIO LINK ONE

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Re-establishing the Sanctity of Israel

In Psalm 12:1, David desperately cries out to God “Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”  Our world is filled with treachery, deceit, unholy alliances, and seemingly unlimited compromises.  Evil and its lies oppose righteousness oozing out from behind every dark corner disguising itself in noble, but deceptive terms.  Evil defiles everything it touches in a thousand different degrees of corruption. 

Godliness and faithfulness to the Word of God are humanity’s only hope of surviving the never ending onslaught of spiritual corruption that arrives at the doorsteps of our homes like the waves and tides of the sea.  The armies of evil are ever increasing by thousands each day as souls are corrupted through the false philosophies of this world.  Godly homes are being threatened at every side by the spreading fires of evil that threatened to consume Biblical civilization.  Every godly person has already been wounded with the innate desire for worldliness.  Our only hope for holiness is to cry out to God for help lest we utterly fail in our purpose for existence – BRINGING GLORY TO GOD!

         

Dispensationalism can be summarized as the history of the ever diminishing faithful remnant.  Every new dispensation is a new beginning with a small faithful remnant from the previous dispensation.  The constant and consistent factor remaining throughout all dispensations is the priesthood of the home with the husband/father spiritually leading his family to know the Creator God and His will for living life accountable to God’s will.  The Bible is a history of the successes and failures of fathers, who were kings, prophets, priests, and just everyday men in this common endeavor to know the Creator God and His will for living life accountable to God’s will.  Sadly, most of the historical record details the failures of men and the digression of their failures to raise their children in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).  

In many cases, the Bible records the exact moment when a man makes the one turning point decision that leads his generations into the oblivion of their own condemnation.  It might be said, these recorded turning points mark the very place in a man’s history where he sacrificed his own historical heritage of a godly seed to the idol of his heart.  The only historical success that is important to God is a father’s success in producing one more generation that will “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart” (Deuteronomy 6:5b-6).  This is no small task because one moment of weakness can destroy a lifetime of a father’s faithful work.  This moment of weakness takes place when a man allows the infected wound of his desire for worldliness to touch his family and infect his children also.  We see this historical fact repeatedly throughout Scripture. 

Our greatest weakness as humans is that we continually try to justify our double heartedness.  David said, “They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak” (Psalm 12:2).  David is describing the corruption of king Saul’s court that sought to capture him and turn him over to Saul simply because God had chosen David to be the king of Israel.  David posed no threat to Saul, but Saul saw David through his own corruptions.  Saul saw David from the perspective of what Saul would do if he were in David’s shoes.  The point is that David WOULD NOT do what Saul would do if Saul was in David’s situation, but Saul’s corruption could not see David’s innocence. 

We see the historical struggle to create genuine faith, resulting in faithfulness in the lives of people, from the very beginning of time.  Genuine faith is trusting God by obeying what He tells us to do and not do.  Somehow, somewhere, the meaning of the word faith has been corrupted to mean merely believing.   However, the Biblical use of the word faith is always connected to believing to the point of obeying and doing what God commands.  Although we are saved by faith alone and not by our works, real faith works (Ephesians 2:8-10).  James defines faith in this way. 

“14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him {in this context, James is using faith to refer to a mere intellectual assent to the fact of God’s existence}? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled {merely helpless words not accompanied by real help to those in need}; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 {now the comparison} Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works {genuine faith always coexists with good works, used here to define obedience to God’s Word}. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead {literally a corpse}” (James 2:14-20)?

James is addressing the very problem that was constantly repeated throughout the history of Israel.  This is the repetition of the four phase cycle of sin that is found throughout the history of the Bible.  In Judges 2:11-18, we see the four phase sin cycle of every succeeding generation of Israel after God’s miraculous delivery of the Promised Land into their custody under the leadership of Joshua.  We see Joshua rehearsing before Israel all of God’s longsuffering with them to bring them to this victorious place in history at the end of Joshua’s life in the first fifteen verses of the last chapter of the book of Joshua (chapter twenty-four).  However, Joshua’s history lesson is intent upon reminding the children of Israel of God’s faithfulness to His promises in the midst of the constantly repeated unfaithfulness to God of each of their generations. 

“1 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7 And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10 But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13 And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:1-15).

This wonderful rehearsal by Joshua of God’s faithfulness took place in B.C. 1427.  Yet, just one generation later, we read in Judges 2:10, “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”

         

How could this transpire in just one generation (about twenty years)?  The hoary heads of Israel did not do what was necessary to create another generation of faithful children.  Or, the children of the faithful refused to learn of God and obey His commands.  Without resistance to the pagan corruptions that surrounded them, they were soon engulfed and captured by their own worldly, carnal desires.  This happens constantly in generation after generation according to what Hosea says about six-hundred and twenty years later.

“6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame” (Hosea 4:6-7).

Judges 2:11-18 records this constantly repeated four phase sin cycle within the generations of God’s people.  Within this text, we see the longsuffering patience of God with people that cannot even reproduce one generation of faithful people even from their own loins and homes. 

“11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 12 And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 13 And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 15 Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 17 And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 18 And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them” (Judges 2:11-18).

Phase One of the Sin Cycle: Judges 2:11-13

This phase begins with apathy and complacency toward the things of God and His expectations of holiness and purity ending with the intermixing of pagan worship and worldly practices with the things of God.  Eventually this progression would end with “forsaking” or abandoning the Lord (verse 12).  Then they accept total paganism and worldliness by degrees as each generation allowed a little more of God’s absolutes to slip through their fingers.

Phase Two of the Sin Cycle: Judges 2:14

Once they began to move away from purity and holiness (separation), God’s chastisement would come upon them to the degree necessary to turn them back to Him and His truths (repentance).  The chastisement often took the form of famine, which was a lesser degree of chastisement than a conquering and oppressive nation that would attack, steal, and destroy their possessions, ravage their wives and daughters, and enslave those left alive.  In this second phase, God’s hand of protection and blessing is withdrawn.  It was God’s intention to prove to His people that they could not survive without His help.  We cannot survive without God’s help!

Phase Three of the Sin Cycle: Judges 2:18

Once the people were under chastisement, oppressed, and put into slavery, they would begin to remember the God they professed to know and worship.  They would begin to cry out to Him in prayerful repentance.  God would hear their cries and groaning and have mercy on them.

Phase Four of the Sin Cycle: Judges 2:16

 In this phase, God would raise up Judges to deliver them out of bondage and lead them back to righteousness, holiness, and purity.  According to Judges 2:19, we find the repetition of this cycle throughout the book of Judges and throughout the Old Testament.  (The cycle has also proven true of New Testament believers and within New Testament local churches as well.)  Without the strong leadership of fathers and pastors, every generation is doomed to repeat the failures of the past. 

“And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way” (Judges 2:19).

However, notice the progressive increase in wickedness with each repeat of the sin cycle.  This tendency continues today.  This is why each succeeding generation needs to be taught the same historic truths of God’s Word and commit themselves to obey and keep those truths.  These affirmations are often needed daily and weekly through the constant charges to be faithful. 

The tendency is to invite the world and its corruptions into the home and into the church.  When that happens, the Christian (individually) and the Church (corporately) begin to lose their distinctiveness and their power with God (separation from the world is critical to power with God).  That is why there is a constant battle for each new generation in the Church.  When fathers and mothers begin to become soft on the things of God, they are sealing the fate of the destiny of their children to live under God’s chastisement.

“In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

Needless to say, this is where the digression into apostasy and paganism began in the nation of Israel.  Although David united the tribes of Israel during his reign, that unity was spiritually superficial.  His son Solomon would lead almost all of the twelve tribes into idolatry and paganism.  In B.C. 1004, Solomon dedicated the Temple built for God (I Kings chapter eight) after which God magnified Solomon before all the great world empires to the degree that the great kings would travel to Israel to see if what they had heard was true about Solomon and the God of Israel.  God was being glorified throughout the world because of what Solomon was doing to exalt Jehovah. 

Then, there is a turning point in Solomon’s worship.  It is recorded in I Kings 10:14-29.  Solomon began to worship Solomon and exalt himself before the people stealing the glory that belonged to Jehovah.  Solomon began to use the wealth he was gaining for his own purposes and exalts himself before the world by building an elaborate and exalting throne of pure ivory over laid with gold (I Kings 10:18-20).  There seem to be no restraint upon Solomon’s selfish us of wealth in opulence and extravagancy.  How easily is a man’s heart turned from God!

“18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. 20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. 21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon” (I Kings 10:18-21).

Of course, the birth of Solomon’s vanity would not be satisfied with avarice and opulence.  This is because trying to fulfill yourself with yourself is satanic by nature.  It would seem that every man from every generation has to learn this lesson by his own apparent foolishness.

Sometimes the most dangerous gift God can give a man is fame.  “23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. 24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (I Kings 10:23-24).

As Solomon grows older, he begins to think of his legacy and heritage.  He wants to produce a large number of little Solomons.  He did this exactly according to the principle of reproduction found in Genesis 1:11 in the words “after his kind.”  Selfish, self-worshipping Solomon would produce thousands of children JUST LIKE HIM.  We are told in I Kings 11:3 that Solomon took “. . . seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.”  “Concubine” is another word for a sex slave intended for the sole purpose of making babies.  Israel is then lead into apostasy, paganism, and idolatry in every form of human wickedness imaginable during the next five-hundred years under the leadership of Solomon’s descendants.  Even though Solomon finally repents (the book of Ecclesiastes), his generations would not repent even after God sent the two great prophets Elijah and Elisha to warn them. 

Isaiah records God’s speaking to Israel for 62 years from B.C. 760 to B.C. 698.  The first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah have the pending captivity in view.  Jeremiah covers the period from B.C. 629 and into the captivity by B.C. 588.  Ezekiel is in the captivity in his introduction in B.C. 595 going on until B.C. 574.  Daniel is in the captivity as well beginning with the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in B.C. 607 extending until B.C. 534.  Daniel is significant mainly because it was through his faithfulness to God, along with others of the faithful remnant of Israel, that God would touch the hearts of the kings of Babylon to restore Israel for the coming of the Messiah.  After seeing the mouths of lions shut by God and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego protected within the fiery furnace (Daniel chapter three), Nebuchadnezzar makes a life changing proclamation of His belief in the God of Israel. 

“29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon” (Daniel 3:29-30).

The Lord had informed Israel, through Jeremiah (25:11-12 and 29:10), that their captivity would end in seventy years.  These seventy years began at the first deportation of Jews to Babylon in B.C. 606.  Ezra begins exactly at B.C. 536 with the degree of king Cyrus to not only allow the Jews to return, but to outfit them with livestock, food, silver, and gold in abundance for both their survival and for rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra chapter one). 

Ezra chapter two might seems like a boring list of names and numbers, but it is much more significant than that.  The names and numbers are the faithful remnant whose numbers were insignificant compared to the millions that went into captivity.  God listed the names of these families for all posterity to read and admire.  The rest of the Jews had prospered in Babylon and did not want to leave the comforts of their prosperity to go back to Israel.  Of all of Israel, there were ONLY 49,697 people wanting to return to Israel to rebuild the Temple of God - EVEN THOUGH EVERY SINGLE PROVISION IMAGINABLE WAS GIVEN THEM!

Very little attention is given to the remarkable leader God raised up to lead the faithful children of Israel back to Israel and restore the Temple.  Ezra was a remarkable man of God who was a “ready {proficient or skillful} scribe in the Law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6).  This meant his knowledge of the Law went to the extent of knowing exactly where every word was to be placed on a page and the exact number of letters and lines on every page.  Needless to say, Ezra knew the Law by heart. 

Ezra also had quite a heritage with his ancestry traced back to Aaron.  He was also a descendant of Hilkiah, the high priest under Josiah, who “found the book of the law in the house of the Lord” (II Chronicles 34:14-15).  He was also a descendant of Zadok, the faithful high priest under king David from whom a line of faithful priests descended.  However, one remarkable comment about Ezra is recorded in Ezra 7:10.  Although Ezra was one of the most trustworthy and knowledgeable men in Israel, God records of him three remarkable commitments:

“9b. . . the good hand of his God upon him. 10 For {or because} Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD {understand what God wanted by studying what God said}, and to do it {to do what God commanded}, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments {to teach another generation what he knew and to do that}” (Ezra7:9b-10).

Making these three commitments are essential for every believing father and mother of every generation.  Ezra and Nehemiah would be used of God to establish a remnant of faithful believers again in Israel that would continue up through the time of the coming of Christ.  The majority of these people would be those saved on the Day of Pentecost and thereafter.  Their descendants would become the Church Age believers and our fathers in the faith. 

Every generation must have these kinds of people willing to risk everything in order to produce another generation of faithful believers committed to understanding the will of God, doing the will of God, and reaching another generation that will do the same. 

Your sole purpose for existence in this life is to produce another generation of faithful believers that will live their lives to make God known in all His glory!

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.

Confronting Crippling Fear with Excelling Faith

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Confronting Crippling Fear with Excelling Faith

“3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet” (Habakkuk 3:3-5).

“When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops” (Habakkuk 3:16)

“18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.  To the chief singer on my stringed instruments” (Habakkuk 3:18-19).

Fear is always the enemy of faith.  Habakkuk chapter three is a revelation of the inherent weakness of fear that lies within even the greatest man of faith.  Yet chapter three is the answer to that fear as the man of faith confronts it by turning to the greatness and faithfulness of God.

         

There are three basic crippling responses of fear.  Courage can be defined as doing what needs to be done in the midst of danger disregarding the danger to yourself.  Faith-courage is different.  Faith-courage faces the issue knowing your life and soul in in the sovereign control of God’s eternal promises.  Faith-courage sees all physical dangers in the context of our own eternally sealed redemption in Jesus Christ.  Faith-courage is love motivated and is exemplified by a mother fighting off the restraints of three burly firemen trying to keep her from running into her burning home to rescue her children - “perfect love casteth out fear” (I John 4:18).

1. There is resignation.  Resignation says, “I suppose there is nothing I can do about it.  Everyone suffers.  Everyone dies.  I might as well resign myself to it.” This may be better than crying, screaming, and pulling your hair out, but it is not a response of faith.

2. The second response of fear is detachment. Detachment says, “I don’t want to think about such things, it will depress me.  Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away.”  This type of person will fill their life with amusements, hobbies, work, or anything to keep his mind occupied and off of the problem.

3. The third response of fear is bravado.  This is the chin up, let’s face this with courage scenario.  This is quite difficult to do in a hopeless situation like the one Habakkuk faced.  

When your knees are shaking because the axe is about to take your head off, the last thing you need is a pep talk.  You need faith in a God Who is able to take your life beyond the circumstances, even death itself.  It is to this God that Habakkuk flees in chapter three.  We should learn some lessons of faith from Habakkuk.

Fear develops and evolves from unknown outcomes.  Most people are control freaks in that they want to involve themselves only in known outcomes.  The only way known outcomes can be controlled is by controlling every aspect of every situation.  Consider for a moment how ludicrous this kind of thinking really is.  In every situation of life, there are a thousand variables with each of those variables having thousands of other variables. 

The more people that are involved, the more complex and difficult any situation is to control within the myriad of variables.  Consistency can only be achieved when everyone involved has common beliefs, understand the objective purpose of the group, and share a common methodology to accomplish the objective task.  None of these things existed within the children of Israel.  In the corruption of their pluralistic views of God, their diversity was so extreme that the only thing they had it common with God’s will was false doctrine. 

Habakkuk abandons the unknown for faith in the known.  Faith escapes the unknown by immersing one’s self within God’s eternal constancy.  Habakkuk’s faith escapes fear by turning to what he knows of God.  Deliverance is the central theme of Habakkuk’s turning in faith to God.  He turns in faith to the memory of the miraculous way God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage.  Now, because of corruption, Israel was in spiritual bondage.  God was going to use physical bondage to reveal to them their spiritual bondage. 

When Habakkuk speaks of “Teman” and “Peran” (Habakkuk 3:3), he is speaking of two mountain ranges bordering Sinai in southern Israel.  He is remembering that it was God Who initiated contact with Moses to raise up a deliverer to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt.  This point of remembrance is significant because Israel’s deliverance was not based upon men’s prayer or their faithfulness, but upon God’s desire and faithfulness to His covenant promise.  It is to this constant of God’s faithfulness that Habakkuk flees in faith.

Remembering what God has done reminds us of what God can do.  When Habakkuk speaks of God’s glory covering the heavens, this fact can refer to either what Israel saw covering Mount Sinai or the pillar of cloud that led them by day or the pillar of fire that led them by night.  Both truths would be significant things to think about and remember when confronting fear with faith. 

“21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: 22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (Exodus 13:21-22).

“15 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud covered the mount. 16 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:15-18).

The news of God’s presence with the nation of Israel filled the world, and the “earth was full of His praise.”  In other words, the news of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage had traveling like a grass fire on a windy day through the nations.  Egypt possessed the greatest army in the world at this time and God had drowned most of them in the Red Sea as they pursued the children of Israel.  For the next forty years, the children of Israel wandered in the Wilderness and every nation in the Promised Land lived in fear of the God of Israel fortifying their cities against Israel’s pending invasion of their lands and city-states.  The very fact that a nation of about three and a half million people could survive in the dessert for forty years was a testimony to the power of their God to the nations of the Promised Land.  The point is there no food or water in the dessert, and most people would die there in a few days.  Yet, three and a half million people survived and thrived because of their God. 

“8 And before they were laid down, she {Rahab} came up unto them upon the roof; 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (Joshua 2:8-11).

Habakkuk 3:4 could be paraphrased, “His brightness was like the rising sun, and lightning flashed from His hand, where His power was hidden.” 

When faith begins to fade behind the looming clouds of fear, the believer needs a vision of God in power and glory.  The picture Habakkuk paints on the canvas of his faith is the looming radiance of the Person of God as He fills the horizon like the rising of the Sun.  As God’s hand is raised in action, the lightning bolts of judgment flash in a steady stream.  Yet, not all of God’s power is revealed, but only a small portion.  Habakkuk’s faith reaches out and grabs onto the God of his dependence, just as you and I can do by faith.  When faith sees God as real, it acts upon that reality.  God has given us a word picture for strengthening our own faith in Revelation 19:11-16.  The next time you think the world might be winning read this text.

“11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16).

Habakkuk 3:5 is dualistic in its vision.  It looks backward to remember the national deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  It looks forward to the spiritual restoration of Israel and God’s deliverance of the nation of Israel from the Satanocracy of the Antichrist during the tribulation.  “Plagues” or pestilences were God’s method of purifying the nation of Israel after the Egyptian deliverance to bring them to repentance.

“31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey {probably about a radius of ten miles or about 800,000 acres} on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high {the quail were thrown to the ground in heaps about 3 feet deep} upon the face of the earth. 32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers {homer is about 8 bushels, so 80 bushels}: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah {kib-roth' hat-tah-av-aw' = a sepulcher for the greedy}: because there they buried the people that lusted” (Numbers 11:31-34).

How often has the greed of man led him to the sepulcher of the greedy!  In fact, many people spend their lifetimes living in the sepulcher of the greedy.  We must remember that it was the “mixt multitude” living inside the nation of Israel that were the complainers.  “4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes” (Numbers 11:4-6). 

The “mixt multitude” were those that believed in the God of Israel, but infected Israel with worldliness.  This infection with worldliness is what defines the corruption of the “mixt multitude.”

The “burning coals” (Habakkuk 3:5) from God’s feet literally refer to lightning flashes from His feet and refers to the consuming fire of the presence of the glory of God.  The “burning coals” describes God moving in judgment.  In other words, God’s judgment is to be viewed as already in progress.  When we read the prophesies of God’s future judgment, we need to be cognizant of the fact that those judgments are already in motion.  They are already released into the plan of God.  They will ultimately and finally reach the destination to which they are directed. 

The person who believes in a real God can have a real faith and that real faith becomes the substance of a real hope.  Confronting real fear requires real faith in a real God.  The reality of God’s existence is a matter of recorded history.  The real God is a reliable constant in an ever changing universe.

Trust Him!

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.

Repentance is the Seed for Change

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Repentance is the Seed for Change

All the Old Testament prophets were used of God to call the children of Israel to repentance.  However, few of the Jews repented and fewer still were those that actually separated themselves from the licentious practices of worldly paganism and idolatry.  In our present time, we are seeing an almost exact repetition of this in modern Christianity and the worldly practices of the Emergent Church and most of Evangelical Christianity.  There is really little that is held sacred in the Post-Modern Christianity. 

There is very little that resembles the holy separation demanded in the epistles of the New Testament.  We are seeing the rapid replacement of the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation replaced with New Paganism.  The world is rapidly turning Secular Humanism and new cultural absolutes that are completely contrary to the Word of God.  In most cases, these new cultural absolutes are anti-Christ in every way. 

Repentance is a forgotten word and a forgotten doctrine in Post-Modern Christianity.  Anyone preaching against sin these days is labeled as a judgmental legalist!  What nonsense!  There will be few who take the attitude of Habakkuk in Habakkuk 3:2.  Most will follow the way of Cain until they taste the wrath of God’s judgment.  Very few will do what is necessary to bring about the much needed revival within the Church.  Revival is for local churches, not nations.  Nations and communities will never become serious about holiness until local churches become serious about holiness. 

“O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). 

As Christians, we watch almost helplessly as our nation moves farther and farther away from the foundations upon which it was built.  We think, if only we could somehow stop abortion, or make homosexuality illegal, God would return His blessing on our nation.

         

Revival always begins in the heart of one individual wanting to be a blessing to God more than he wants God’s blessings.  Such a person understands that the primary attribute of God is holiness.  The revived person will want holiness in his life more than any other passion.  Revival is returning believers to love the Lord with a zealousness for serving Him and living to His glory. 

Jesus sent an epistle to the church at Ephesus through the Apostle John.  This epistle is recorded in Revelation 2:1-7.  In that epistle, Jesus said, “4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” 

         

It is critically important to see the difference between leaving our “first love” and losing our “first love.”  The Church at Ephesus had a very serious problem.  They were wrongly motivated.  They had “left” their “first love.”  Serving in love had been reduced to a service of duty.  As a result, Christ viewed this Church as “fallen.”  They were not fallen in doctrine or in works, but in their love for Him.  This scenario creates a subtle form of hypocrisy.  Jesus spoke of this as recorded by Matthew:

“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).

It is obvious that the first criterion for acceptable Christian service is a heart right with God and one that is filled with love for Him.  To remedy this failure at Ephesus, Christ gave them two steps.  They are told to (1) “remember, therefore from whence thou art fallen” and (2) “repent and do the first works.”  They were to stop and remember where they should be, change the way they were presently doing things, and go back to the original.  This was all done internally (in the heart) in order to get the external (walk or actions) doing things the way they should be done.

         

When we speak of revival, we are speaking of a rekindling of a fire inside of us that has waned and no longer burns the way it once burned.  Psalm fifty-one is the Psalm of David’s repentance after his adultery, lies, and manslaughter.  The historical context of the Psalm is given to us by David, the author of the Psalm.  In other words, David is not hiding his sin.  He publicly proclaims the historical context in his Psalm of repentance.  “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba” (Psalms 51:1).

“7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee” (Psalms 51:7-13).

The first step to the restoration of a nation is when God’s faithful remnant humble themselves before the Lord and begin to fulfill their responsibilities to Him. Even though a nation may never turn to God, the faithful remnant’s responsibility is to be right with God under any and all circumstances of life, even under the administration of immoral and amoral governments.  Revival always begins with the passion of the faithful for the will of God to be done no matter what.  This is the substance of Habakkuk’s prayer, “O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known” (Habakkuk 3:2).

         

As was often the case with prophecies of pending judgment spoken by the prophet to the people in rebellion, the prophets were ridiculed by the unbelieving of the children of Israel.  If these people had believed in God and His commandments, they would not have been involved in the worldly practices that brought God’s chastisement upon the nation.  The phrase “in the midst of years” refers to the days of the fulfillment of the prophecies given to Habakkuk to communicate to the nation of Israel coming near and the evidence of the captivity becoming an apparent reality.  Habakkuk’s prayer is that these people that once professed to believe in God would repent and return to a living, obedient faith once they felt the fire of God’s chastisement. 

         

People of real faith hear God’s warnings and they immediately act upon those warnings by faith.  In other words, believers expect that what God says will happen will happen and they begin to pray.  Believers begin to prepare for what God says will happen. 

Unbelievers are empirical.  Unbelievers must see some evidence before they act.  Unbelievers must feel the fire of God’s wrath before they are moved.  However, by the time they feel the fire, it is too late to do much about it but be burned.  By the time unbelievers feel the fire they have no defense against it.  A prayer for revival can be difficult when we know that the touch of the hand of God upon the unrepentant will often leave those people physically crippled and with scars that they will bear for their lifetimes.  When the fire of God’s chastisement is released upon the unrepentant, that chastisement can be brutal. 

         

Ezekiel chapter eight reveals the heart of the hypocrisy of contradiction between belief in God and the occupation with the forbidden wickedness offered by the satanic forces of worldliness.  The vision God gives to Ezekiel is what God sees in the secrets that men harbor in their hearts.  Externally we worship God and speak of righteousness, but internally, in our hearts, we lust for the things and practices of this pagan idolatrous world.  Though we may not have actual idols erected in our homes, we have a secret room in our hearts and minds where we fantasize about the pornographic and licentious practices of the pagans.  The contradiction of duplicity is that the vision given to Ezekiel reveals that Israel’s priesthood was hypocritical because they did have some form of belief in God or they would have been doing publicly what God revealed was going on in their hearts. 

“7 And he {God} brought me to the door of the court {the inner court of the priests and Levites, which were the private chambers of the ministering priests}; and when I looked, behold a hole {the crevice of a serpent} in the wall. 8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall {secret places}: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door {the discovery that men create a secret access providing admission and permission to what God has forbidden}. 9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here” (Ezekiel 8:7-9).

If men would only recognize the wickedness of our own hearts and all the images we have looked upon that are stored away there.  At the weakest moments of our flesh, Satan projects those stored images of the idols of the lusts of our hearts and minds that become so vivid it is as if we are reliving the moment.  Just because, for a brief moment, we caught the glimpse of some wicked thing that we allowed before our eyes, Satan will haunt us with that image a thousand times a thousand.  We think it but a small thing before God.  It is not!  This is what the whole text of Ezekiel chapter eight is about.  Ezekiel chapter eight gives us a glimpse into what God sees when He looks upon our hearts.  As Ezekiel 8:10 says, those corrupting images are carved into our minds and hearts like the Egyptians carved their pagan hieroglyphic images into stone.  A life of faith and repentance refuses to allow any more corrupting images to be carved into our psyche.  A life of faith and repentance hates those images already carved there.  The unrepentant person spends a great deal of time engraving forbidden images upon his psyche. 

“10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about {similar to the Egyptian hieroglyphics engraved in the temples and tombs of Egypt}” (Ezekiel 8:10).

The “idols of the heart” will be spoken of again in Ezekiel chapter fourteen.  In this text, the “idols of the heart” are willfully “set up.”  The issue of idolatry has very little to do with the idol itself.  The issue of idolatry is about the vile practices involved in the worship of an idol.  Some of these practices are too vile and morally filthy to even discuss among civilized and cultured people.  Some involved human sacrifices and the sacrifice of little children and babies.  We would think ourselves too cultured to sacrifice babies to some idol these days.  However, this is exactly what modern Feminism does in the abortion industry so that women can have sexual freedom to live sexually promiscuous lifestyles, pursue their careers in the worship of Mammonism, and be free from the shackles of social bondage to men.  This is an idol of the heart that is as real and corrupting as any Old Testament idol (Ezekiel 14:1-8).

“1 Then came certain of the elders {patriarchal leaders} of Israel unto me, and sat before me {the prophet Ezekiel}. 2 And the word of the LORD came unto me {right at that very moment}, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? 4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 14:1-8).

“11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery {in their fantasy thought life}? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. 13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them” (Ezekiel 8:11-18).

Much of the corrupted priesthood of Israel had taught the children that as long as they offered the appropriate sacrifices, they could practice the pornographic and licentious wickedness of idolatry as well.  In other words, they taught that God understood that we are all just sinners and that the various sacrifices were just the means for us to communicate our recognition of our failures to Him.  This is the corrupted message of the corruption of the doctrine of grace that abounds in Evangelicalism and New Evangelicalism.  This falsity of grace enabling is nothing more than ancient Antinomianism reborn. 

The first essential element for revival is humility before the Lord.  C.S Lewis wisely said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”  Pride is the opposite of humility and demands preeminence in every situation of life.  Preeminence wants the first consideration in every decision of life.  Only God deserves such consideration.  Humility understands this and therefore does not expect, nor does it want, first consideration in the decisions of life. 

Humility is an attitude.  The first evidence of humility is the desire to obey from the heart everything that God commands.  Humility is always manifested by a submissive spirit.  Humility knows and lives in a reality where we understand we can always do better than what we are doing or we can do what we are doing better.  The humble person knows that he can always learn something from everyone and any one.  The humble person understands that regardless of how menial our position in life, we have more than what we deserve.  Humility is not about being self-deprecating.  Humility is an honest and healthy perspective of ourselves. 

In II Chronicles 7:14, God states a prerequisite to His forgiveness and removal of chastisement upon the disobedient children of Israel.  The statement is made during a highlight in the history of the nation of Israel right after the completion and dedication of Solomon’s Temple built for the dwelling place of God.  There is a sobering reality revealed in the statement in that God knows the future and God knows that the children of Israel will be led into the pornographic practices of idolatry and paganism by the very king Solomon who had just provided the grandiose ceremony of dedication of the Temple in II Chronicles chapter six. 

Humility is always preceded by the honest evaluation of ourselves and our character compared to God and His expectations of us as His children.  The reason humility is preceded by such a comparison is because only such a comparison will create the right opinion of ourselves from God’s perspective. 

“12 And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place” (II Chronicles 7:12-15).

Solomon spent seven years building the Temple of God.  Then, Solomon spent the next thirteen years building an even more extravagant palace for himself and the many wives he began to acquire.  This extravagance led Solomon into a life of decadence and perversion of everything that is holy.  In fact, we should see the book of Ecclesiastes as a thorough confessional of Solomon’s decadent lifestyle that led the nation of Israel to forget God. 

“3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. 5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet” (Habakkuk 3:3-5).

Fear of the future and the pending judgment of God can be a crippling thing to live with.  Yet they are effective tools of God to prompt believers to pray and turn to Him in faith.  For many people, prayer means bargaining with God. They are in some dilemma of life out of which they cannot escape (if they could, they wouldn’t need God).  They come into God’s presence saying, “God, I am not perfect, but I try harder than so and so.  You should listen to me.  I work hard for you.  I have attended church faithfully for most of my life.  I have given much.”  This type of person is bargaining with God.  Even worse than that, he is praying in his own name.

         

Habakkuk had learned what every effective prayer warrior needs to learn.  He learned what it means to pray in Jesus’ Name.  To pray in Jesus’ Name is an attitude.

“Lord. I am a sinner.  I do not deserve anything from you.  I don’t even know how to pray or for what to pray.  I wouldn’t even pray if your Spirit had not prompted me to do so.  I come because you have invited me to come.  I come solely on the merit of what I am in Christ and with no merit of my own.  Father, on the basis of what Christ has done for me and the position that is mine before you because of salvation, I bring my petition to you requesting that you answer according to your will and not mine.”

This type of prayer exemplifies praying in Jesus’ Name.  Excellent prayer comes from excelling faith.  Excelling faith looks to an omnipotent and victorious God.  That is what we see Habakkuk doing in Habakkuk 3:3-19.  In these few verses, we see excelling faith confronting crippling fear (Habakkuk 3:16 and 3:18-19).

“When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops” (Habakkuk 3:16)

“18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.  To the chief singer on my stringed instruments” (Habakkuk 3:18-19).

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
 Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.