2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Lord propels me to continue sharing citations where He is referred to as the “Angel of the Lord.” This allows Him the opportunity to reveal more about Himself to us. I was attending the class I’m taking yesterday when the issue of ways God communicates with us came up. Of course, we are all familiar with the most common ways He speaks to us through prayer and study of the Bible. However, it occurred to me that God speaks to us in numerous other ways. Dreams, visions, that “small voice” we sometimes hear within ourselves, through circumstances in our lives, and leading by a pillar of cloud during the day and of fire at night, name a few. I mention this, because EX 14, the story of the crossing of the Red Sea, contains an example.
As usual, the Hebrews were busy grumbling and complaining as they approached the Red Sea chased by the Egyptians. EX 14: 13-20, “Moses answered, ‘Do not be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again. The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out for help? Tell the people to move forward. Lift up your walking stick and hold it out over the sea. The water will divide, and the Israelites will be able to walk through the sea on dry ground. I will make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will go in after them, and I will gain honor by My victory over the pharaoh, his army, his chariots, and his drivers. When I defeat them, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.’ The Angel of the Lord, Who had been in front of the army of Israel, moved and went to the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved until it was between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians, but gave light to the people of Israel, and so the armies could not come near each other all night.”
We all know that the waters divided long enough to allow Israel safe passage to the other side, but not long enough to protect the Egyptians who followed them (21-22,28). EX 14: 31, “When the Israelites saw the great power with which the Lord had defeated the Egyptians, they stood in awe of the Lord; and they had faith in the Lord and in His servant Moses.” If we look at this from God’s point of view, here were a group of people demonstrating no faith by grumbling and complaining. Yet, because our Lord has such great compassion, He chose to ignore this and grant them protection from their Egyptian enemies anyway. Are we as compassionate when our children and grandchildren give us a hard time? Moses honored God when he obeyed God’s command to hold his walking stick out over the water. He understood and acknowledged God’s omnipotence, but he had no idea exactly what God would do until the waters actually parted. Does our faith extend to willingness to obey a command coming from God we don’t fully understand? Later, we not only see God protecting the Jews by moving the pillar of cloud between them and the Egyptians, but we see that cloud making it impossible for the Egyptians to see the Jews ahead of them all night. The Lord threw the Egyptians into a panic, causing the wheels of their chariots to get stuck in the mud (25).
If you wonder where and when the Israelites knew to move, it must be remembered that they followed that pillar of cloud during the day and the pillar of fire at night [EX 13: 21-22]. When one stops to think about this, it was necessary for them to watch for God’s direction all of the time. Isn’t that what God wants us to do now-to keep our eyes focused on Him? Just in this one story, God reveals Himself as our Guide, our Protector, compassionate, and omnipotent. He is all of these things and so much more.
Another citation, this time from JG 6, the story of Gideon, further illustrates the point. I have written about this story before, but will reiterate the highlights here. The Jews had been under heavy-handed Midianite rule for seven years by the time Gideon comes on the scene. The Lord allowed this to go on this long, because His people had sinned against Him. But, we must remember the principle of DN 4: 17. “This is the decision of the alert and watchful angels. So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that He can give them to anyone He chooses-even to the least important of men.” JG 6: 11-12, “Then the Angel of the Lord came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His [Joash’s] son, Gideon, was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him there and said, ‘The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!’ “ Imagine Gideon’s shock when after telling the Angel his people’s problems, the Angel said, “Go with all your great strength and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I Myself am sending you (14)!” Gideon questioned his qualifications (just as Moses [EX 3: 11] and Jeremiah [JER 1: 6] and others did down through the ages) to accept this assignment. JG 6: 15, “But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least important member of my family.”
The Angel of the Lord commanded Gideon to put meat and bread on a rock and pour broth over them, and Gideon obeyed. JG 6: 21-23, “Then, the Angel of the Lord reached out and touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick He was holding. Fire came out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the Angel disappeared. Gideon then realized that it was the Angel of the Lord he had seen, and he said in terror, ‘Sovereign Lord! I have seen Your Angel face-to-face!’ But the Lord told him, ‘Peace. Do not be afraid. You will not die.’ “ God’s omniscience is revealed here in His choice of a man to carry out this assignment that most humans would have thought wholly unable, even Gideon himself. We know that faithful men like Moses understood that they were not allowed to look directly upon God [EX 33: 18-23]. And yet, the Lord’s compassion extends to Gideon when He tells him not to be afraid in (23). Throughout today’s message, I have cited from a number of places in the Scriptures like DN, JER, and EX to demonstrate that no matter what historical period or person is discussed, God’s consistency can be seen. Since He asks us to put our trust in Him, even when we don’t see exactly how things will play out, aren’t we blessed that we can rely on a Lord Who is both consistent and righteous all of the time?
PRAYER: O Lord, there are times when our lives seem like a walk on the wild side. You have asked us to put our trust in You, especially when You give us an assignment to do something for which we feel unqualified or that we don’t understand. Moses must have been pretty comfortable in his life as a shepherd in Midian, happily married to Zipporah, and the father of two sons. Yet, You called this man, who had a speech impediment, to leave his comfortable life to lead his (and Your) people out of Egyptian bondage. Moses obeyed You and was richly blessed for it. The same could be said of Gideon who succeed in freeing his people (and Yours) out from under the heavy-handed treatment they were receiving from the Midianites. These stories reveal Your omnipotence, omniscience, compassion, patience, guidance, protection, and consistency. We accept the challenge You put in them to trust You and to keep Your wonderful attributes in mind. We humbly dedicate ourselves to listening for Your assignments, accepting them even if they don’t come at a convenient time and/or we don’t understand them. We place our trust in Your superior knowledge and perspective. We acknowledge You as the Lord of our lives and humbly offer You adoration, worship, honor, glory, trust, obedience, loyalty, praise, and utmost gratitude. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, the Lord’s path will take us to the story of Samson’s father, Manoah, and if there is space, to the way Israel got her name. In both of these stories, we will see how the Angel of the Lord interacts with people to reveal His marvelous attributes. We are so incredibly blessed that our Lord wants us to know Him more and in this loving way. Peter and I send our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn