And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.
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March 20, 2008:Traditions | Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. |
| December 29, 2007:New Year's 2008 | ||
| November 3, 2007:How To Be Successful in Christian Ministry | ||
| October 23, 2007:Salmon |
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| What Do We Do With God's Promises? William H. Haller |
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The study subject for this week's lesson is the covenant that God made with Abraham that affected Sarah, and the generations of Israelites that would be his descendants.
The quarterly writer takes the text of the Abrahamic covenant from Genesis 17. It is important to back up from the actual covenant and see the other things God had said to Abraham to put the covenant in context. Going back to the chapter after the genealogies leading up to Abram, let's start reading in Gen. 12:1-7; 13:14-18; 15:1-6,12-18.
The covenants and prophecies that God made to Abram were very far reaching. They spoke of very great things that God had planned for him and Sarah. Just as importantly, Abram did what God asked of him. He left his kinfolk and traveled through Canaan. He went on to Egypt and dwelled there. When he came back and the substance of Lot and he was too much for the land to support, he allowed Lot to chose which land to inhabit and took the hill country when Lot chose the plain. Still, by chapter 15, he had no direct heir and the steward of his house was due to inherit his posessions instead of his child. He again pleaded with god and was again told that his offspring would be numberless.
In chapter 16, Sarai decided to help God out. She gave her handmaid to Abram to father a child with. Hagar conceived and was due to bear Ishmael. Sarai was upset when she conceived and ended up driving Hagar from her home. An angel spoke to Hagar and promised that Ishmael would be wild and against every man, and that he would live with the Midianites, but he also assured her that there would be many children born of Ishmael.
Then in Chapter 17, we have the covenant God made with Abram that is the subject of the text here. Let's read Gen. 17:1-8 and 15-22 as the text for today.
Unlike the unconditional covenant between Noah and all living creatures and God discussed last week, this covenant has conditions. The blessings that God promises to Abram are based upon he and his succeeding generations setting themselves apart from the rest of the people of the land by circumcision. Like the rainbow that was set as the token of the Noahic covenant, this would be the token signifying being a part of this covenant among Abraham's offspring.
Here we see that Abram is 99 years old. This is 24 years after the start of his journey away from his kindred, so he had been waiting for the fulfillment of God's promise for a long time. He had given in to the impatience of Sarah and had Ishmael by Hagar. God repeats his promise to Abram and changes Abram and Sarai's names to Abraham and Sarah (from exalted father to father of a multitude and to mother of princes). When Abraham hears God's promise again, he laughs at God's plan. In his heart, he says "Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" He suggests that God use Ishmael instead due to Sarah's barren condition and both their ages. God promises that Ishmael will be blessed and will be the father of 12 princes, but reiterates that His plan is for Sarah to father Isaac with Abraham and that is the way it is going to be.
Sarah's reaction is similar in chapter 18. She laughed within herself, saying "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the Lord? ... Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
How many hard things does God ask of us? How many times do we laugh within our hearts (or out loud) at the wild ideas He has for us, for His church, for His world? How many times do we get impatient with Him and take it upon ourselves to carry out His overall plans according to our designs instead of His, because we believe our designs are better than His or that His designs could never possibly work? How many ministries are out there today - modestly or greatly successful by the world's standards of measurement, but not really carrying out the work in the way that God wants it to be done? How much more could the church be if we carried out His plan according to both His timing and will?
Does God bless the things that we do on our own? Well, frequently there is a blessing that He bestows. Just as He blessed Ishmael, so He blesses our work, even if it isn't being done just as He would want it to be done. But never forget that He has a perfect plan for you, for the church you are attending, for your city, your state, your country... It may involve an unexpected and radically unlikely Isaac to be put into action, but if it is His plan, He'll provide the Isaac. He always does His part or does what He says He will do. Always.
As the student quarterly writer points out, all too often we really don't believe what God has promised. We lower the limits He is required to meet far below what He has said He would do, just to be able to give Him credit for doing something. We know you won't take care of the cancer, but help their last days to be comfortable. We don't expect you to lower yourself to heal us from needing this surgery, but if you'll help us get better quickly after it, that will be enough. How many times have we prayed like that (or thought those thoughts in our hearts as we asked for something greater)?
We need to get back to the faith of our forefathers. As Christ chastised His disciples in Matthew 18:19-21, when they could not cast out the demon - "Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, "Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." Later in Matthew He continues, "Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
In Mark 11, Christ says, "And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
And again in John 14, Christ says, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."
This is the purpose in God pouring out good things to us. That the father may be glorified in the Son. Many people have tremendous difficulty accepting these promises. My question is this. If you don't believe these words of Christ, then how do you believe that he has saved you? The method of salvation came from the same printed word after all. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and following God's plan. We need to be seeing the things that the Father is doing, and doing likewise that we will not ask amiss. I do believe that God gives us things that we ask for even if we probably shouldn't have them. Have the faith of the our fathers and start looking for the best from your heavenly Father. There are many scriptures saying that He is looking to bless His people. That he won't give His children a stone for bread.
Just be sure to remember the parable of the unfaithful steward when contemplating asking for great things: From Luke 12:41-48 "Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him rule over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him will they ask the more.
Some would say that God always gets His way, but I would argue that that is not true. By giving us a free will, He gave us the ability to frustrate or derail His plans. It was perfectly within Abraham's options to not circumcise himself or his house. He could have not tried to have an heir with Sarah - he could have been happy and content with what he already had. He was rich, he had an heir in Ishmael... But he didn't. He did what God asked Him to do.
Sometimes God can get His plans back on track if we say no. This may involve passing the blessing on through another individual (witness the King Saul to King David transition in the Bible for an example where man's sin caused God to change His plan (1 Sam. 15 and 16)). In other cases, he may make our lives miserable enough that we finally give in (witness the Jonah and Ninevah example from the Bible (Jonah 1-4). The thing is, the results of the plan are never as good as if we had done what He asked immediately and without hesitation. In the case of Saul, King Saul lost out completely on the kingdom of Israel. It was stripped from him and given to David. In the case of Jonah, he had to endure almost dying in the ocean and who knows how many people in the great city of Ninevah died in their sins during the intervening time between when God said "Arise, go to Ninevah, that great city, and cry against it", and the time Jonah finally arrived and did what God asked.
Frequently, doing what God asks of us is hard to do. One of the reasons that Paul suggests that it is better that you not marry is that it is easier if you are alone in the world to trust in God and do what He asks you to do. You don't have to think about supporting your wife and family, paying your mortgage, saving for college, just getting your kids through all the activities and sports in the world around them today, et cetera. Those problems don't concern God - just as He told Abraham - "Is any thing too hard for the Lord? - but they do concern His current and potential worker bees on Earth.
Evaluate what you are doing in your church. If you are in charge of your churches programs or are on one of its interminable committees, seek God's will about what you are responsible for. Don't just make your own plans and try to execute them. Find out God's plan and execute that. The old line churches have had trouble trying to reach the young people. I have my opinions as to why that is true. Many steps taken here to help the children have been a blessing to us. They are good steps and I appreciate all that is being done by those working in those areas. But I do hope that they are not just the plans of man without the hand of God leading them. We need to seek Him in everything we do and not be afraid of what He asks of us. Was Abraham terrified of being a father at 100 or Sarah terrified of being a mother at 90+. Of course. That was a drastic change in their lives. But it was according to God's will and it went well for them. Frequently, God's will for us will involve drastic changes that push us out of our comfort zone. I pray that when He asks us to do those things we will say, "Yes, Lord".
