Scapegoats…

 

The book of Numbers is quite fascinating, especially considering how often the children of Israel held Moses and Aaron responsible for their own setbacks.

In Numbers 12 after Aaron and Miriam had murmured against their younger brother Moses, the LORD was provoked to anger, Miriam was stricken with leprosy and had to be excluded from the camp for 7 days. This was known by everybody in the camp and one would have thought it would have taught them a lesson; but not to the children of Israel.

In Numbers 14, after the alarming report given by ten out of twelve spies about their exploration of the Promised Land, the people started murmuring against their leaders again: “Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt."” (vs. 1-4) Once again, they aroused the Lord’s anger and the ten faithless spies died as well as thousands of others who have had the effrontery to stand up against the Amalekites, despite Moses’ strong objections (vs. 37 & 45). And to top it all up, the Lord told them that with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, none of those who came out of Egypt would see the Promised Land; that they would die in the wilderness and wander in it for 40 years (vs. 21-23, 30, 34)! One would have thought it would have taught them a lesson; but once again, not to the children of Israel.

In Numbers 16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram rebelled against Moses and Aaron, dragging 250 men along with them. This was so bad that God wanted to exterminate everybody on site instead of doing it in 40 years as previously told. Thanks to the intercession of Moses and Aaron, He decided against it; but the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up alive with their families and all their possessions. As for their 250 followers, they were "roasted" after daring to bring a strange fire before the Lord. The people fled in terror for fear of being either “barbecued” or buried alive. One would have thought they would have definitely understood the lesson this time; but once again, not the very stubborn children of Israel.

Indeed, “on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the LORD."” (vs. 41) Isn’t it terrible? How daring! The Lord's answer was not long in coming: 14,700 men died and the losses were only limited by the swift intervention of this same Moses against whom the entire people was angry! You reckon the lesson was forever understood at last? Then, you haven’t read Numbers 20...

This time around, they got to Kadesh –i.e. sanctuary-, in the wilderness of Zin; “there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink."” (vs. 2-5)

If they really wanted to die with their brothers, why did they flee when they were buried alive? Now they were complaining about an “evil place with no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and no water to drink” and they seemed to have forgotten that they ended up there precisely because they themselves had refused to go where milk and honey flew. They seemed to have forgotten that it was their disobedience, their attitude and their refusal to believe that God only wished them well by asking them to go to Canaan that harvested them 40 years of wilderness. Instead of remembering the real reason why they were there, they found the perfect scapegoats: Moses and Aaron. Unfortunately, on this occasion, Moses lost his temper and his ticket into the Promised Land along with it.

Shortly after, they were back at it and they even dared attacking GOD as well: “From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."” (Nu 21.4-5) The worthless food was the manna of course: the symbol of GOD’s supernatural provision. Once again, the reaction of the Lord was quick to come. Since they would not stop complaining that they were perishing in the desert, God helped them to really perish by sending fiery serpents against them and many were bitten and died.

Such a series of murmurs, rebellion and disobedience is absolutely unthinkable. What was the problem of these people? What can we learn from this all?

We will talk about this next week; but in the meantime, spend some time pondering over their attitude… and yours.

God bless you.

In Christ…

 

A favourite verse of many Christians is Colossians 1:27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” However, there are others that I prefer, like: “You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” or even: “As many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ.” (Col 3:3, Gal 3:27)

Before giving you the reason why, let me tell you a story.

Jesus had gone to pay visit to a relatively wealthy Christian. Extremely happy and deeply touched by this divine visit, the guy specially prepared the guest room for Him and made sure He had everything He could need. Deep down in his mind, he knew he had scored really high! However, thieves visited the house that night and left with various items. The next day, the host could not believe his eyes. Stunned, he asked the Lord how it was possible that thieves were able to enter the house with Him around. Furthermore, he wanted to know why Jesus had let them to get away with this act. Jesus replied: "I'm not at home."

The guy said: "Ok, I understand. This night, sleep in my room and I will sleep in the guest room." Jesus accepted the offer without any argument. Remember, He is a perfect gentleman.

That night, the same scenario was repeated and followed with same questions and answer: "I'm not at home."

The guy was now really angry. "What more is it that you want? I have given you my own room. I never thought I could be a victim of burglary with YOU around. Did You not say in YOUR WORD that..."

Jesus let him throw everything he had on his chest and gently said again, "I'm not at home."

The guy began to reflect and suddenly something seemed to click. He got up, took his house and car keys and came back to the Lord saying: “Here are the keys; the car, the house, everything is Yours. Only I have nowhere to sleep tonight, Will you kindly accommodate me?”

"Gladly," replied the Lord; "Take the master bedroom, I will sleep in the lounge."

That night, the bandits who seemed to have found the right address came back to rob the house. When they showed up, Jesus went to open the door and said: "I am the Master of the house, what do you want?" The thugs fell backwards with fright, then got up and scampered off, never to return.

The next day Jesus asked his former host how he had slept. "Oh, very well; like an angel. The night was calm: the thieves did not come."

Jesus said, "On the contrary, they did come; but they ran away as soon as I opened the door. You will never have trouble with them again." You can easily imagine the guy’s joy and relief.

I heard this illustration 6 or 7 years ago. I cannot remember who said it; it could have been during a sermon on consecration, but I am not even certain of that. Anyway, I have never forgotten the image and it has been of great help to me and to others since then.

I love this story for several reasons; however, today it will help me to better explain why I’d rather put on Christ and have my life hidden in Him than simply know that if He is in me, I can hope for glory.

"Christ in you, the hope of glory."Christ in you... This reminds me of the first situation of the host of Jesus. He had Christ in his house and thus, was hoping to enjoy peace, joy, prosperity etc. In short, I'm sure that when he received Jesus, he thought that as long as the Lord stayed in his home, he could rest in peace: his happiness was assured. But as we have seen, his expectations were somehow disappointed.

“…Your life is hidden with Christ in God” and “As many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ” on the contrary, make me to think of the final condition of that man. Christ was no longer at his home i.e. ‘‘in’’ him, but he was now the one who was in Christ. It was he who was now living hidden in Christ and not Christ who lived hidden in him.

If an object is plunged and submersed in water, it would have only water all around it and the object will be thus, ‘’hidden or contained’’ in water. Similarly, if we have truly been baptized in Christ i.e. plunged, immersed and submerged in Him, then we should be drowned in Him and His ‘‘substance’’ must be all around us, just like water surrounds and covers whatever is plunged in it. That’s why the apostle can say, "You have put on Christ"; because Christ has become like a garment that entirely covers us, and into which we are hidden.

If Christ is in us, it is already good; but it is not enough because we can still allow ourselves a lot of individualities. From time-to-time (if not often), we may even forget that He is there and may therefore act as if we had never opened the door of our hearts to Him. However, if our life is hidden in His, if we have put Him on, if we are really IN CHRIST, then it will be impossible for us to live a life independent of Him. We will inhale the Christ all the time, think what He thinks, say what He says and do what He does as He Himself only does what He sees the Father do. We, ‘IN Christ’ and Christ in God, so we in God; and there are only benefits to be in Christ. Indeed, “…For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him” to which I prefer the French version that says: “…You have everything in full in Him.” (Col 2:9-10)

Hidden IN Him, living IN Him, we live in the fullness of deity and that’s why we can have EVERYTHING in that position and condition. We have EVERYTHING not only because we bathe in the fullness; but also because it is now impossible for us to desire anything else than what He desires. Indeed, living and hidden in Him, our emotions, sensations, actions and desires are necessarily His: we move together. Has He not said: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also” ? (Jn 12:26) In those days, servants and slaves lived with their masters. They didn’t have to worry about their food, their protection, their wedding and so on. They simply stayed where their lord was, always ready to serve him. Those who were not there are either been sent on a mission by their master or were on the run. The servant of Christ lives in Christ, follows Christ because He is One with Him anyway, can do nothing apart from Him and cannot just start craving for the Rolls Royce to which Christ, His Master is not even thinking about.

''Christ in us'' or ''We in Christ''? There is so much that can be said on this; but if you have understood the picture behind the story, you have understood what I –lengthily- tried to share with you today.

As far as I am concerned, ''Christ in us'' or ''We in Christ'' are two levels of spiritual maturity. But it is IN CHRIST that all our veils are lifted and taken away (2Cor 3:14); it is IN CHRIST that heavenly and earthly things are united (Eph 1:10) and it is only IN CHRIST that we are finally a new creation and that everything really becomes new.

 

Have a wonderblessed week IN HIM !

Knowing who we are

 

Lately, I have been led to ponder about the relationship between the awareness of our identity in Christ and the level of patience we show while waiting for the fulfillment of God's promises.

I was recently speaking to someone who has received clear promises from the Lord. Some are likely to materialize in the upcoming days, others maybe a little later, but paradoxically, for the most recurrent of his promises that would seem to represent the climax of his earthly journey, he has no idea at all as to when these things would come to pass. Unlike Hannah and Sarah, God has not said to him: "At the same time next year..."

These promises might be fulfilled by the end of the year, or in two or ten years, he has no clue at all. If he has had 30 prophetic dreams since January 2011, twenty at least carried the same message. Just a few days ago, the Lord woke him up in the middle of the night and audibly asked him:

1) “What have I told you?”

2) “Who do you think you are?”

Then, He opened his eyes and the same night, re-confirmed certain things in two other dreams. Unaware of this nocturnal conversation with the Lord, his pastor also explained to him that God was simply using these recurring dreams of greatness to help him know who he (the guy) is. While he was sharing these things with me, my thoughts went back to Joseph.

Joseph had two defining dreams. In the first one, he was binding sheaves in the field with his brothers when his sheaf arose and stood upright and theirs gathered around it and bowed down to it. In the second one, he saw the sun, the moon and eleven stars bowing down before him. These were two thinly veiled promises of leadership and rule over his family and, neither his brothers nor his father missed the point. His brothers immediately asked him whether he was going to reign and rule over them and his father, whether all of them would have to bow to the ground before him (Gen 37:7-10).

Thinking about all this, I realized a few things…

When Joseph had those dreams, he was still a young teenager living in Canaan with little or no idea of what Egypt was and no idea about what it meant to be in charge of such a kingdom. In other words, when God spoke to him, he could not even have been able to imagine the kind of favour that the Lord was referring to. And besides, I don’t think anyone in his family could. They may have simply thought that the paternal history would repeat itself, that little Joseph would have more servants and cattle than them and would probably succeed into depriving them of their birthright. I'm not sure they were able to envision something as unimaginable as him becoming the Prime Minister of the most powerful kingdom in the world. So, at the time of the dreams, even the most far-reaching imagination of Joseph could not have possibly conceived what God’s calling for him was.

When God spoke to Joseph, He didn’t mention the prison or Potiphar. He didn’t tell him that before ruling over his own, he would first put his leadership and administrative talents into application at Potiphar’s and in an Egyptian prison. He simply made him understand that He was calling him to rule (where? How?) and that his folks would bow down before him. This is where the importance of knowing one's identity in Christ comes in. Joseph's dreams were to help him know who he was: a prince, a leader, a ruler and the most prominent member of his family –which was not a small claim, considering that his father was Israel...

In the well, Joseph was to remember: "I am a prince. I am called to rule and I have not yet done so: this is not my end, I'll get out."

Despite his privileged position at Potiphar’s (Gen 39:2-4), he was not to forget who he was. He was to constantly think: "It's true I now have a leadership role, but I don’t think I've already made it because my family has not yet come to bow before me."

Same thing in prison; even though he was in charge of all the prisoners, he was not to forget what God had told him and was to keep on thinking: "Despite this new leadership role, I still have to wait because my family has not yet prostrated themselves before me."

When he was finally set over all the land of Egypt some twelve years later, he knew the circle was not yet complete. Seven more years passed -the fat cows years- without the second part of his promise being fulfilled. Indeed, it is only during the seven years of famine that followed (the Bible doesn’t say exactly when) that his brothers came to Egypt and his family finally came to bow down before him, just as the LORD had shown him some twenty years ago.

Twenty years of a long and frustrating wait, full of all sorts of humiliations. However, Joseph stood firm because he had understood who he was even before going through all these trials. Indeed, whether at Eton or St Andrews, Prince William of England never forgot who he was. Whether eating in the refectory with the others or playing football he remained the No. 2 in line of succession to the Great British crown.

Likewise, while in the boat during the heart of the storm, or at twelve years of age in the temple with the doctors of the Law, or in Gethsemane, or before Pontius Pilate, or at Golgotha, and even when he cried: “Father why hast thou forsaken me?” and "Father into your hands I commend my spirit," Jesus never lost sight of who He was: the Son of God.

What has God told you? If you know deep down that you fear God and serve Him as faithfully as possible and you’ve had dreams that defy your understanding, dreams that you are even afraid to tell people because they seem so crazy, then, know that it is possible that the Lord may have told you something about your destiny that will be your anchor and compass like Joseph and his dreams. Knowing who you are, never doubting it and staying who you are, even if you find yourself in the most stinking pigsty, will help you wait for the LORD’s deliverance with patience and certainty.

God bless you and speak to you !

The perfect gentleman

 

Livingstone wrote that on one occasion he was surrounded at nightfall by an army of infuriated savages, and was tempted to vanish away in the dark when he suddenly remembered the promise: "I will be with you all the days," and went to sleep appeased because he knew it was the word of a perfect gentleman.

There is so much fraud nowadays that the vast majority of people do not know anymore what a gentleman is. Politicians have mastered the art of storytelling: it appears as if they now study it at the University. Tabloids are so hungry for scoops that they do not hesitate to set-up fables from scratch to sell as many copies as possible. Reality shows are almost always rigged. Sellers receive a special coaching in order to convince poor gullible clients to buy trinkets they don’t need at all. Let’s not even mention bankers or lawyers! And what about cyber crime? Any email requesting for any kind of assistance is suspect; even when it seems to come from a known contact. Indeed, one can be framed up in no time. I don’t want to make an inventory of all the existing scams and lies but I just want to emphasize that there is so much fraud and falsehood around us that extreme caution and spontaneous lack of trust have become second nature to many. There are no more gentlemen.

However, a few “ages” ago, a gentleman was a person of noble birth or who, without being of noble birth, had noble inclinations and manners. He was a man with chivalrous qualities; someone whose conduct conformed to a high standard of propriety or correct behaviour. A gentleman was a man of his word. If he had promised you something or had committed himself in any way vis-à-vis you, you could be quite certain that unless death gets involved, he was going to honour his commitments. To call into doubt the word of a supposed gentleman was one of the worst humiliations.

This said, we can now take the full measure of Livingstone’s words. Remembering that the Lord was a perfect gentleman meant he immediately realized that he could have absolute confidence in the fact that he was not alone and would not be left to face the ‘‘savages’’ alone. He could sleep in peace: those with him were far more numerous than those against him.

Let’s learn to take the LORD at His word. He is not an empty talker; He is a man of honour and the most perfect gentleman. Let’s not forget it and let’s make a conscious effort to believe and peacefully rely on everything He tells us. It's one thing to believe the facts related about Christ as true and quite another to believe that what He tells us personally is also true. God in Christ is Faithful!

Have a wonderblessed week, have Peace!

Lifting the veil on the death of Lazarus...

 

The LORD has recently opened my eyes on one aspect of Lazarus’ death that I didn’t know. I was carrying-out some research on the web when the name of Lazarus popped up and in a flash, I understood things that could neither be humanly said, taught nor even comprehended in such a short time.

We probably all know the story of Lazarus which can be found in John 11. Lazarus and his sisters –Martha and Mary– were friends of Jesus who always stayed in their home whenever He was in Bethany. Lazarus became seriously ill and his sisters sent for Jesus. Yet, the LORD went on with His business as if He had heard nothing. Lazarus eventually died and Jesus only showed up four days after the burial: what a friendship! Many of us would run to their friends half naked after receive such alarming news about them. So, I can easily imagine the perplexity of the two sisters when the messengers came back alone. 

"Where is the Master?"

"He did not come."

"Really? What did he say?"

"That He had taken note of it."

Yet, despite their distress, they may have thought that Jesus must have had very good reasons not to be there. He was certainly at the bedside of a grieving widow or was busy resurrecting the dead somewhere...

Jesus finally showed up four days after the burial and didn’t even bother justifying His delay or absence. I wrote a piece about this “absence” a while ago entitled: “God’s absence.”

We know the end of the story: Jesus raised His friend from the dead, thus performing one of the greatest miracles of all times. We have often thought and heard that He left Lazarus to die and spend four days in the tomb in order that God’s Glory should be demonstrated. Indeed, a resurrection miracle is surely more “glorious” than a healing one, isn’t it?

But this is the thinking of men and it was not that of Jesus. Jesus never wanted to impress the gallery. He didn’t need to prove to anyone that He was capable of… In fact, if the devil could stop lying for a moment, he would tell you how Jesus refused to change the stones into bread to prove that He was truly the Son of God (Mat 4.3-4). Moreover, the Lord knew very well –and this even before Lazarus’ death– that His miracles were often quickly forgotten; had He not said to the crowd, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves" (John 6:26)? Therefore, His motivation couldn’t have been the miracle; but something deeper.

Indeed, the death and resurrection of Lazarus are an image of the dying to self and the new birth. Jesus took His time so that Lazarus would come to the end of himself. He took His time so that Lazarus would die and rot to his old nature in order to be born again in newness of life.

It has always been said that He cried because of His love for that family and that it was a sign of His humanity. However, He had no reason to shed tears of grief knowing what He was about to do. Is He not the one who reminded the sisters not to give in to despair because He was the resurrection and the life? Jesus did not cry out of friendly love.

He wept because He knew exactly how difficult and painful it was to kill the old man. Had He not said: “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; if your arm causes you to sin, cut it?” He was not insensitive; He knew how such actions, although necessary, were painful.

He wept because Lazarus’ death gave Him a glimpse of His own agony in Gethsemane and His own death on the Cross.

He wept because He thought about the time that He was about to spend into the bowels of the Earth.

He wept because in the sorrow of Martha and Mary, He saw and felt the grief, the pain, the confusion, the stupor, the despair and the loss that His friends and all those who had loved Him would soon go through.

The death of Lazarus reminds us that whenever we go through difficult times and we cry to God and have the impression that He is not diligent enough, He is not absent: He is simply giving us the time to die to ourselves first. And when whatsoever which was supposed to die in us is finally dead and buried, the Lord of Glory always comes to call us out of the tombs of our testing and trials alive, new and more after His likeness.

As for how God enlightened my spirit and made me understand all that I have just written about (and even more) in a split of a second, I will only say that it is a wonderful illustration of how a God who is out of space and time interacts with creatures that are confined within space and time. But this is not today’s topic; is it? I just wanted to tickle your brain ;-)

 

Have a wonderful week and GOD bless you!