2002-01-01
Good Morning Dearest Readers,
Yesterday, I spoke about the real power had by Jehovah Shalom, God is peace. Because of mankind’s sinful nature and skepticism at times, it has been necessary for God to come right out with that fact. IS 43: 22-25 is an example. “Turn to Me now and be saved, people all over the world! I am the only God there is. My promise is true, and it will not be changed. I solemnly promise by all that I am: Everyone will come and kneel before Me and vow to be loyal to Me. They will say that only through Me are victory and strength to be found; but all who hate Me will suffer disgrace. I, the Lord, will rescue all the descendants of Jacob, and they will give Me praise.”
The principle Jehovah Shalom wants to get across is repeated later by Paul in a section of his letter to the Romans in which he is dealing with conflict between Jewish Christians who come to the church with one set of customs and Gentile Christians who come to it with a different view of things. RO 14: 10-12, “You then, who only eat vegetables-why do you pass judgment on your brother? And you who eat anything-why do you despise your brother? All of us will stand before God to be judged by Him. For the Scripture [IS 43: 23] says, ‘As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord, everyone will kneel before Me, and everyone will confess that I am God.’ Every one of us, then, will have to give an account of himself to God.” Just before that God, through Paul, makes this statement; Jehovah Shalom states His view of things. RO 14: 7-8, “None of us lives for himself only, none of us dies for himself only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Stop and think about this: If we have to be claimed by a higher power, aren’t we blessed that our Deity is always righteous, wants only what is best for us in the eternal construct, and desires to use His power to grant us peace? His view of things is so much more righteous than the human view with its agendas that divide us into separate groups at conflict with each other.
In the course of my writing these messages to you, the Lord often takes me back to early books like Leviticus, because He wants us to see that His will has been made to us for such a long, long time. LV 26: 2-6 reveals this to us. “Keep the religious festivals and honor the place where I am worshipped. I am the Lord. If you live according to My laws and obey My commands, I will send you rain at the right time, so that the land will produce crops and the trees will bear fruit. Your crops will be so plentiful that you will still be harvesting grain when it is time to pick grapes, and you will still be picking grapes when it is time to plant grain. You will have all that you want to eat, and you can live in safety in your land. I will give you peace in your land, and you can sleep without being afraid of anyone. I will get rid of the dangerous animals in the land and there will be no more war there.” This promise was given through Moses sometime between 2000 BC and 1250 BC. Ancient Israel’s economy and entire spiritual life was centered around her annual agricultural cycle. The very things that are contained in this covenant are realities, even today, except peace. Put in Godly perspective, we don’t have to question that God will keep only part of this promise. That is because, with faith, we can know that once His eternal Kingdom is established, the entire promise will be fulfilled, including peace. Mankind hasn’t kept his end of this covenant yet. It’s a good thing that Jehovah Shalom is granting us the time we need to do that. That time is limited though, we know that from 1 THESS 5: 2 which tells us that He will come “like a thief in the night” and from MT 24: 36 “no one knows that day and hour-only God knows.” God’s part of the covenant will be kept. We know this from IS 11: 1-9’s description of the peaceful Kingdom, which I hope you will read.
Each time that we go to a worship service at our church, the pastor ends the service pronouncing what has become known as the Aaronic Blessing from NU 6: 22-27. Read these familiar words while putting them in the context of the will of Jehovah Shalom that we discuss today. “The Lord [Jehovah Shalom] commanded Moses to tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of Israel: ‘May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you: The Lord lift us His countenance upon you, and give you peace.’ And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.” I also remember this same blessing being pronounced at the end of the synagogue services I attended as I was being raised. Throughout our lives, Jehovah Shalom tries to remind us that He alone is the Source for real and lasting peace. It will not be obtained from trading land for it. It will not be obtained by bargaining with God to forward human agendas. It will not be obtained from refusing to put our trust in God and obey Him in our personal, congregational, community, state, national, or global lives. God has made His will for us known. JER 29: 11-13, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. 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.”
PRAYER: O Lord, sin is what blinds us from the radiant dazzle of Your light. It is what keeps us doubting Your power to bring us peace. It is what keeps us putting our human agendas ahead of Yours. It is what shrouds our ability to understand Your righteous motives in dealing with us. Sin makes us ignore the hope You give us through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is what causes us to have so much noisy interference in our souls that we don’t hear the words of the Holy Spirit Whom You sent to guide us. In fact, there are times when we ignore the Holy Spirit altogether! Lord, we come to You today, knowing this about ourselves in humble contrition. Throughout mankind’s history, their sinfulness has brought them pain and anguish. You and You alone are the Source for catharsis from that pain. Today, we acknowledge this fact before You and ask Your forgiveness. We dedicate ourselves to seeking You out when we are suffering. But, we also dedicate ourselves to striving to be more trusting and obedient, so that some of that pain and angst can be avoided. We submit ourselves to You, humbly offering You our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, loyalty, praise, and thanks. To You belongs the honor and glory for all the peace You bring to our lives. In Christ’s name, amen.
Jehovah Shalom commands me to go on the path He lays out for us, a path that reveals Himself as God Who is peace. It is difficult to confess sin, and God knows this. However, he also knows that confession cleanses the soul and opens us to His loving and tender care. It is not His agenda to keep us suffering indefinitely. In fact, He often guides us to take advice that will prevent some of it. Those are the acts of an Abba Who loves us more than we often recognize. The quintessential manifestation of His love for us is the sacrifice He made for us of His only Son. That is why we should never go a day in our lives feeling abandoned or left without the love of One so compassionate. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn