2006-04-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
At last, the Holy Spirit has brought me to the last name of God I'm to share with you, my favorite one, "Jehovah Shalom," which means "God is Peace". You'll remember we've been looking at these names of God to better understand why Christ begins and ends the Lord's Prayer [MT 6: 9-13] with worship. The first index sentence is "Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name..." This study of names is by no means diversionary; instead, it keeps us right on target as far as understanding why the Son felt worship was mandatory and well-deserved by the Father.
The book of Judges was probably written by Samuel and covers a lawless period in Israel's history from 1210-1030 BC. One of the famous stories in it is of its conflict with the Midianites. JG 6: 1-6 gives a description of the conditions at the time. "Once again the people of Israel sinned against the Lord, so He let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills. Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites would come with the Amalekites and the desert tribes and attack them. They would camp on the land and destroy the crops as far south as the area around Gaza. They would take all the sheep, cattle, and donkeys, and leave nothing for the Israelites to live on. They would come with their cattle and tents, as thick as locusts. They and their camels were too many to count. They came and devastated the land, and Israel was helpless against them." In this or any time of darkness, fear grips those who are suffering, and yet that fear is nothing compared to that when one comes face to face with God for judgment. 2 COR 5: 10, "For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by Him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he had done, good or bad, in his bodily life." The Scriptures tell us there are two judgments, the judgment of the righteous and the judgment of the condemned [DN 7: 13-14; MT 6: 2-4; MT 7: 21-27; MT 25: 32; RO 14: 11-12; 1COR 13: 12; PHIL 3: 12-14; REV 20: 11-15].
God often chooses people to make God-pleasing changes in a situation who we would least expect could do the job. Such a man was Gideon, who describes himself in JG 6: 15 as coming from "the weakest tribe of Manesseh and being "the least important member of my family." Repeatedly, in places like this and in the books of Job [JOB 1: 12], Jeremiah [JER 25: 11], and Revelation [REV 12: 12] for example, God demonstrates that He is in charge of exactly how and for long His people will be punished for their misdeeds. Gideon's simple reverence for God is seen in His initial fear of God's Angel and in his reverence in building an altar to God once he realized he was not facing condemnation in JG 6: 22-24. He aptly named this altar, Jehovah Shalom, God is Peace. God's awesome presence and power is seen in what happened when a small number of Israelites under Gideon's leadership were able to beat their enemies, rescuing Israel in JG 7.
This entire situation of Midianite power over Israel had happened because of the sin that God hates the most, idolatry. At that time, it was the practice of Baal worship. God's initial command to Gideon was to tear down his father's altar to that god. After Gideon complied, the Israelite king, Joash, said, "Let Baal defend himself." After that Gideon was known as "Jerubaal," a Hebrew word meaning "Let Baal defend himself" [JG 6: 32]. Throughout the history of his people, both ancient and modern, God has never given peace to anyone, king or commoner, who tried to either replace Judaism with idolatry or combine any kind of idolatry with the belief that He is the only One and True God [LV 26: 2-6]. Whenever we attend services in our congregation, our pastor ends with the Aaronic blessing from NU 6: 22-24. "The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and grant you peace." If we ever worry about the future we have as believers in Jesus Christ, we are forgetting the wonderful words of the prophet Jeremiah in JER 29: 11-13, which I often repeat because of their utter importance to us. "I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you not to bring disaster, plans to bring about the future for which you hope. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart." How can we miss our Jehovah Shalom in this? He is telling us outright what we must do in order to stay on course with Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne today to first acknowledge and recognize the awesome power You have and to seek You out for the peace we crave in our lives. IS 26: 3 gives us the secret to having that peace. "You, Jehovah Shalom, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You." The hymn we learned to sing, "Peace Like A River," comes from IS 48: 18, "If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea." Our sandals are off before You; we recognize that we stand on sacred ground when we pray to You. Long ago, the Psalmist, in PS 119: 165, wrote, "Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble." That truth applied then, does now, and will forevermore. Paul, in his epistle to the Philippians [PHIL 4: 4-9], also gives us a repetition of how to find peace. "May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again: rejoice! Show a gentle attitude toward everyone. The Lord is coming soon. Do not worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking Him with a thankful heart. And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus. In conclusion, my brothers, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God Who gives us peace will be with you." The Hebrew words, "Kehilat Sar Shalom," which mean, "Prince of Peace" are found in the descriptions of Your Son, our Lord Jesus [Yeshua], in IS 9: 6. As the Prince of Peace, He is the One Who reconciles us to You, Who enables us to stand before You face to face without being terrified. RO 5: 1, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Dearest Abba, You have left us with a promise never to abandon us [IS 49: 14-16; HE 13: 5-6] and assurance that we need not be afraid. When we endure in obedient faithfulness to You, You replace terror with power, love, and a sound mind [2 TIM 1: 7]. We are advised in EPH 5: 18 to abide in the Son, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Though the Son, You leave us with this message in JN 14: 27, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." We offer You our worship, love, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit leads me to go on to the second index sentence of the Lord's Prayer, "Thy Kingdom come..." This is our opportunity to declare our allegiance. He deserves nothing less from us than our total allegiance, when one remembers that the Father gave us His only begotten Son on the cross, so that we can be saved. The love that our Lord has for us can't be measured or changed. He will indeed condemn those who make a lifestyle of rejecting Him. And they will suffer eternal torment in the lake of fire and sulfur. However, this doesn't please God; instead, it is heart-wrenching to Him. He hates to lose a single person. The rest of us who learn to love, obey, and serve God have much to anticipate that is positive and wonderful. Truthfully, there is no middle ground. This is one of the few issues in our lives that is either one way or it is another. In my own experience, I have suffered the belief that God was absent in my life. It was a lie that brought me sorrow, feelings of hopelessness, and loss. Once I spiritually awakened to God's presence in my life and decided that I should have faith in the Lord Jesus, everything changed. If each of us looks into our own personal history, we will see the truth of PS 107: 43 shining brightly. "Those who are wise will take this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord." For me, it was the realization that I could be a "completed Jew"-one who knows Who her Messiah is. For each of us, there are so many blessings ahead, if we will hold on to our faithful obedience to Him throughout whatever trials we must face. We must never forget RO 5: 3-5, "We also boast of our troubles, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance brings God's approval, and His approval creates hope." Praise be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
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