Wisdom From the Word

May 6, 2014

Have you ever prayed a prayer like, “Jesus give me passion for you.” Most of us have prayed something like this if we are serious about knowing Him and walking with Him. However, what about praying something like, “Jesus, let me find passion with and in You.” A subtle shift but more relational in nature – is this not what we really desire and need? Do we not really need to find our purpose and passion in Him?

If we answer in the affirmative these questions lead to another one. Do we have any hope of achieving this? If so what do we need to do to see it realized? We first need to believe it is possible and we then need to understand hope from a scriptural perspective. Jesus Culture does a version of the Song ‘Holy Spirit You are Welcome Here’ that begins, “There’s nothing worth more that will ever come close, nothing can compare You’re our living hope.” Finding passion with and in Jesus is possible because He is our living hope. The writer of Hebrews addresses this when exhorting us to press in and know Jesus. He says we require faith and patience and we need to anchor our hope somewhere.

¹²  that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:12 (NKJV) ¹⁹

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, Hebrews 6:19 (NKJV)

If we want to find passion and purpose in Jesus then we not only need to anchor our hope in His presence, we need to mix faith and patience with it. I think the latter is the most difficult for those of us living in an ‘instant everything’ society. Not only are most of us not taught the value of delaying gratification, we are encouraged to continually indulge ourselves. Yet when we patiently wait for something there is a change that takes place within us. The scriptures not only connect faith and patience, they connect faith and hope.

²⁴  For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵  But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Romans 8:24-25 (NKJV)

¹  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ²  For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. Hebrews 11:1-2 (NKJV)

Paul tells us that if we are applying hope to what we have not yet received ‘we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.’ The Greek word here for ‘perseverance also has the meaning of patience or endurance, while the Greek word used in Hebrews 6:12 that is translated as patience also means to endure or persevere, they are in essence synonyms, words with very similar meanings to convey similar ideas, just given by two different human authors. If we want to have a more passionate relationship with Jesus we need to very intentionally and expectantly pursue it. In his recent book The Path, Rick Joyner identified some things that should characterize our walk with Jesus. I pulled points out while reading so cannot refer you to a page or chapter and I also captured them in a way that made sense to me so there may be some minor differences from what he actually wrote but the essence is there. He said that,

The overriding purpose for every day – Walk in love

Three main purposes for each day

• Knowing the voice of the Holy Spirit/Jesus
• Obeying Him
• Mindfully dwelling in His presence

Walking out these ideas in an intentional way requires faith and patience but if we believe He is worthy and eagerly pursue His presence each day we will find that it is worth it. Why not try, what possible loss could there be in spending time trying to mindfully dwell in Jesus presence?

I have provided some tools that point to intimacy with Jesus. At the same time there is an old Spanish proverb, ‘Talking about bullfighting and being in the ring with the bull are not the same thing.’ If we apply this proverb to intimacy with Jesus we could say that ‘Talking (or my writing) about intimacy with Jesus is not the same thing as being intimate with Jesus.’ In fact Jesus addressed this very thing in the scriptures.  A couple of examples are,

²¹  ”Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ²⁴  “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them….Matthew 7:21-24a (NKJV)

³  Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (NKJV)

⁵  Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5 (NKJV)

In the Matthew passage Jesus distinguishes between those who do good works from knowing Him and those who act based on knowing about Him (which should really cause us to question the idea WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? When this first became popular many years ago I said it was the wrong question, WWJD presumes He is no longer ‘doing.’ The real question is WIJD, What is Jesus Doing? Followed by, how can I enter into that with Him?).

In the scriptural quote above I deliberately left off the last half of verse 24 to highlight Jesus point, not mine. In the same way, in John 3 Jesus is not simply saying the same thing in different ways when He distinguishes between seeing and entering the kingdom. The Greek word translated as ‘see’ means to see, know, or be aware of. Essentially Jesus is saying that we need to be born again, that is ‘born from above’ to see or know the kingdom of God. What is important here is that when Jesus then talks to Nicodemus about entering the kingdom of God He is not repeating Himself. Jesus says we need to be born again to see or know the kingdom of God but we then also have the option of entering in once we have experienced both a natural birth, being born of water, and spiritual birth, being born from above and receiving Jesus nature in our spirits as they are reborn in His image.

I don’t know how far or deeply most of us enter into His kingdom once we experience the new birth but the invitation is there. We would be wise to reflect on how far we have entered in and anything keeping us from going further. After all, the kingdom, really the king’s domain, exists where the king rules and has authority. Just as we have the possibility of moving deeply into the kingdom we have the possibility of a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus because we can’t have one without the other, both are something we can intentionally pursue and develop.

While sin is something that seems to be rarely talked about anymore, in the church as while as the broader culture, sin is a barrier that affects our level of intimacy with Jesus. Another barrier is a lack of understanding His passion for us, which when rightly understood can help us not to sin. The song ‘When He was on the Cross” (well worth listening to) has a line, “He knew me yet He loved me.” The context is the awareness of Him loving us while we still rejected Him. In the scriptures Paul expressed it this way,

¹⁰  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10 (NKJV) ¹⁷  For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:17 (NKJV)

He deeply loved us enough to die for us while as sinners we were His enemies! His desire once we come to know Him is that we would ‘reign in life.’ What does that mean if we are to walk it out? It means we need a shift in perspective. About 20 years ago I asked a dear friend what she thought the Fear of the Lord was, she replied, “Loving Him so much I would never do anything to offend Him.” That is a shift in perspective!

So what is the effect of sin on our relationship with Him? It gets in the way. When we fail and sin after our conversion we need to deal with it through repentance, a change of mind and heart that produces a change in behaviour. Our sin does not affect our standing as His child; it does however affect our fellowship. If you have ever been in a relationship with someone where one or both of you were offended at something the other did you know how it affects that fellowship, walls go up, there is a withdrawal of intimacy. Intimacy can be restored if we stumble, the greater danger is walking in rebellion, as the verses below illustrate.

²⁶  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Hebrews 10:26-27 (NKJV)

²⁶  For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. ²⁷  [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. Hebrews 10:26-27 (AMP)

We cannot walk in deliberate and obstinate rebellion to His word and expect to walk with Him. However, if we think of our relationship with Jesus like walking with Him on a well lit path at night we can capture the effects of sin on fellowship. If we walk or stumble off the path into the darkness we are no longer near Him, however He has not moved, He is still on the path. To get close to Him again we need to leave the darkness and get back on the path with Jesus. John described it this way,

⁵  This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7 (NKJV)

If we get off the path we can return, sit with Him, acknowledge, out loud is best, our sin and failing, ask for His forgiveness and then by faith receive it. His presence will wash over us and we can continue walking with Him. Ask Him to impart the fear of the Lord to your heart so that you will so deeply love Him you never want to offend Him. Recognize what Paul talked about, His deep love for us and His desire to see us live in victory in life. Pray for discernment between conviction and condemnation. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and of His love for us. When the Holy Spirit convicts us He redirects us to Jesus and His heart. When the enemy condemns us he makes us feel like we have failed and can never walk closely with Jesus, he points us to ourselves. Where is the best place to find restoration? When we fall He wants us to fall forward into His arms!!!

I closed my last post with the scripture passage below.

²⁴  “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵  O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-26 (NKJV)

The context of the passage above is Jesus final teaching before He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane then arrest and the cross. He expresses His desire that we would be with Him where He is. Now, while we can relegate this to a future time, meaning when we die or when Jesus returns, we get to be with Him; what about the present? Can we be with Him where He is now? I have sometimes thought that if I were in a car accident where someone hit me and I was asked what had happened I would explain that the other driver failed to grasp a basic law of physics, two physical objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time! While that is true in the physical realm, it is not true when the spiritual and physical intersect. Jesus can be in two places at once.

¹³  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13 (NKJV)

While physically present and talking with Nicodemus Jesus was simultaneously seated with His Father in the Spirit realm, the real realm. What is true of Jesus is also true of us after our conversion. We are both here and in Him. As Paul wrote,

⁴  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)

¹  If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ²  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJV)

Jesus also affirmed this truth before He went to the cross. In part of His last discourse before Gethsemane He said the Holy Spirit would dwell in believers and after His resurrection we would know that we are in Him in the Father (in the spirit realm) and He in us.

¹⁷  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17 (NKJV)

²⁰  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20 (NKJV)

As we develop the habit of sitting with Jesus and experiencing His presence where else can we find Him? As we become conscious of His presence before, with, and in us, a logical extension of knowing Him in that quiet time is becoming aware of His presence with us in other places. This could mean, being conscious of His presence with us in a coffee shop, at a meeting, or driving to work. The way we experience this is by learning to tune and keep our hearts and minds tuned to His presence. In short, we create an effective spiritual habit! In my next post I will talk about some of the things that can get in the way of developing this habit.

April 7, 2014

In developing an internal place of rest in Jesus there is a simple test we can apply to see what is currently most dominant in our lives. Where do our minds go when we are not intentionally thinking about anything? Do they regularly turn to Jesus? If not then is He at or near the top of our list of important things? In my own life I recently applied this test and while it may sound a bit odd I spent some time thinking about what I was thinking about. I found Jesus was one of three things my mind regularly went to when I wasn’t intentionally thinking about something. My goal is that He be the dominant thing my mind goes to and I have found that in being more intentional about thinking about Him and reflecting on His presence in and with me my non intentional thinking is more about Him and I experience more of Him.

So how do we train our hearts and minds to have Jesus as their default? One way to do it is by learning to behold Him. Practically I believe we need to spend concentrated time intentionally engaging our spirit with His Spirit. The when and how may vary to some degree depending on the individual. Some may do it early in the morning (my practice), others may do it in the evening, some do it morning and evening, some select a time during the day. Whenever we choose, I believe the common element we need is a concentrated focus on Jesus, often with the scriptures or a scripture as the backdrop.

So here are some practical approaches.

1. Pick  a time and spot and quiet your mind and heart before Him then sit and focus on Jesus or the Father for 5 minutes. Pay attention to what happens internally? Is it difficult to be still in our busy and driven culture? Do you sense His presence?
2. There are two key things in the lives of Christians that are from another realm, the real realm. Our spirits and the scriptures. Get quiet before Him then devotionally read aloud and interact with passages like Psalm 23, Matthew 6:9-13 Ephesians 1:17, Colossians 1:9-11. The focus here is on devotional rather than intercessory prayer. It is about tuning into and living out of our spirits. A passage I keep being drawn back to is in Psalm 25 ⁴  Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. ⁵  Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5 (NKJV)
3. Quiet your mind and heart before Him and focus on the divine interchange; giving and receiving His life and living by it. Loving Him and being loved by Him. Sensing His nearness, entering into the fellowship and interchange within the Godhead.

All of this work best when it is rooted in knowing intellectually, and more importantly, at a heart level, that He desires to be with you and actually enjoys you. That truth is borne out in the passage below. Use it to enjoy Him and His heart for you!

²⁴  “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵  O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶  And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-26 (NKJV)

I ended my last post saying I would look at how to practically behold Jesus and explore whether there was a difference between coming to Him and coming to the scriptures and a difference between reading the scriptures devotionally or for study purposes. The answer is that the scriptures are a means of encountering Jesus, though not the only one. Worship is for me, and many others, a key means of encountering Him. We also need to remember that while we can never live rightly outside of the bounds of scripture, the book of the Lord must never become more important than the Lord of the book. The scriptures are a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves. They point us to Jesus but we can read them and never encounter or draw close to Him.

When we come to the scriptures it makes a difference whether we are reading them to find information, which has its place as the various areas of our lives need to be in-formation, or to encounter Jesus. When we read them to encounter Jesus we come with a different heart attitude, asking what He is speaking to our heart in the moment. Below is a simple example of the difference.

¹³  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

I can read this verse and look at the historical context and conclude that Paul wrote from prison, Roman prisons were not pleasant places, yet somehow Jesus sustained Paul. Jesus will sustain me. A logical process with logical inferences and a process that has a right place in our spiritual journey. I could come to this same verse devotionally and think, “Jesus, today I can draw on your Spirit, I can look to You for wisdom in the choices I need to make.” As I continue I begin to actually feel His presence and strength and a confidence in His love and care grows inside of me.

To behold Him I could take this same verse and by faith sit before Him meditating on the reality of His presence and become aware of Him just being with me. I could then open my spirit to release love to Him and receive love from Him. As I become attuned to my own spirit and sit with Him I become more attuned to His Spirit in me leading and drawing me. In my own experience this is a major aspect of living a transformed life. The times I fail to do this are the times I fail to live in and out of spiritual rest.

In our busy and at times frenetic culture, we need places of retreat. As Gene Edwards wrote so wisely, “Nowhere will you find a more untroubled place of retreat than in your spirit.” I encourage you to regularly go to this place. In my next post I will further develop the practical mechanics of sitting with Jesus.

Journeying into Jesus Part 1

March 25, 2014

What is the Father after in us once we are converted? This may seem like a strange question but He is both looking for, and actively seeking, to bring something about. His post conversion work in our lives is laid out by Paul.

²⁸  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 (NKJV)

Prior to digging into this passage let me share two other key things Paul taught.

¹⁹  My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, Galatians 4:19 (NKJV)

²⁷  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27 (NKJV)

Paul shared with the Galatians that his apostolic heart cry was to see Christ formed in His people; in fact that was what Paul expected to happen after people were converted. Paul later wrote to the Colossian church that the great mystery of the Father was Him planting Christ in His people to unveil His glory. Is that what we realize He is about in our lives?

As Rick Joyner wrote in his recent book The Path,

Life is all about Jesus. If we stay close to Him, we will be changed by Him. Then we will begin to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. The way to fulfilling our purpose is to follow Him. He is The Way.

Jesus is the way not in the sense of a path moving from point A to point B but a way into the depths of intimacy with the Godhead, the Father, Son and Spirit. John 3:16 is instructive here because of the meaning of a little Greek preposition. Most of us likely know the verse,

¹⁶  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)

The phrase ‘whoever believes in Him’ would best be literally translated as ‘whoever believes into Him.’ It doesn’t come across as proper English grammar but the correct meaning is presented. The word translated as ‘in’ is the Greek preposition  eis.

eis – a primary preposition; to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figurative) purpose (result, etc.); Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.

The idea of believing in Jesus isn’t about believing that He is or was but about believing to the point where we enter into a relationship with Him! That is why Paul wrote what he did to the Corinthian believers. This was his desire for their experience.

¹⁴  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV)

We are called into a communion of intimacy with the Godhead. The fruit of this is what Paul put forth in Romans 8:28-30,

• being called according to His purpose,
• predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus, and
• being justified and glorified in Jesus.

Our Father seeks to use everything in our lives to point us toward one reality, the conforming of everything we are to carry the image of Jesus. We like Jesus are to be about the our Father’s business, representing Him, or more accurately, Re Presenting Him to those we encounter. We cannot speed up this process, just like we can’t plant the garden on Monday and harvest it on Tuesday. However, gardens grow better with watering and weeding and careful preparation of the soil. So while we cannot speed up His process we can hinder it by not properly preparing the soil or not weeding or watering.

The best way to cooperate with His process and deepen His image in us, our watering and weeding, is taking the time and effort to spend time beholding Him, as Paul noted.

¹⁸  But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

Given that the scriptures tell us transformation comes about through beholding Him, how do we do that in practice? Is there a difference between coming to Him and coming to the scriptures? Do we come to the scripture differently when reading devotionally rather than studying? I will address these practical issues in my next post.

In my last post on Abraham I want to look at how Abraham lived after Yahweh cut a covenant with Him. He had two more recorded failures; in one he was again deceptive about his relationship with Sarah (Gen. 20:1-7). The other was his relationship with Hagar that produced Ishmael. Scripture records that Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (Gen. 16:16) and we have no record of Yahweh interacting with him again until he was 99 and Isaac was promised as a child to Sarah. It is in this encounter (Gen. 17) that Abraham had his named changed from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham, (father of a multitude) and Sarah has her named changed from Sarai to Sarah (princess).

¹⁵  Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. ¹⁶  And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.” ¹⁷  Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸  And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” ¹⁹  Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰  And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹  But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” ²²  Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. Genesis 17:15-22 (NKJV)

Abraham interceded for Ishmael but while Yahweh promised blessing to Ishmael and his descendants He said He would only establish His covenant with Isaac.

The other great change that following Yahweh cutting a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15) was that he became a great prophetic intercessor. He interceded with Yahweh to have Sodom spared and in his intercession said one of the things that often touches and comforts my heart, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” It was a rhetorical question; assuredly He did, would and does.

We think we are doing well when we reach 100 years. After Isaac’s birth, Abraham was 100 at the time; he lived 75 more years, with no recorded failures and carrying a heart to bless others.

During this time period he did two very significant things. The land had been promised to him by Yahweh and sworn through a covenant, yet He still had to do something with the promise. Likewise, though we have many potential spiritual blessing we often have to do something to position our heart to receive them. We cannot earn blessings, wages are earned, and blessings are gifts that are given. Yet often we need to be in the right position, whether it is geographically, walking in the right relationship that will help us receive, or having the right heart posture. Positioning ourselves is like picking up a cell signal. The signal is there in the room but unless my phone is turned on I won’t receive anything.

What significant things did Abraham do? First, he purchased Sarah’s burial plot. Though he lived in a land promised to him by Yahweh he had to purchase a portion. What is the further spiritual significance? Jacob/Israel told us just before his death.

²⁹  Then he charged them and said to them: “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰  in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place. ³¹  There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. ³²  The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth.” ³³  And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. Genesis 49:29-33 (NKJV)

Years ago a dear friend and I were discussing where she wanted to be buried, my question was, “Who do you want to be resurrected with?” It hearkens back to what Israel said to his sons when he died in Egypt.

We can also reflect on what happened at Jesus crucifixion. At His physical death when He had paid the price for sins Jesus atonement released a foretaste of what awaits all who believe in and receive Him.

⁵¹  Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵²  and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³  and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:51-53 (NKJV)

The burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah was south of Jerusalem but perhaps they were some of the ones who were resurrected in this unique event and appeared to many in Jerusalem.

The other significant thing Abraham did was walk in obedience prepared to sacrifice Isaac. The story is told in Genesis 22:1-19, some key verses are below.

²  Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Genesis 22:2 (NKJV)

⁵  And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Genesis 22:5 (NKJV)

¹⁸  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18 (NKJV)

The above verses highlight some key points. Isaac is referred to as Abraham’s only son. Biologically he was not, but in terms of affection he was. They walked three days to Moriah (the modern day temple mount, near where Jesus was crucified). Abraham told the men with him that he and Isaac were going to worship and return. His confidence in Yahweh’s character and covenant had so grown that he believed if he was being called to sacrifice Isaac then Yahweh would raise him up as the promise was to and through Isaac. The last key point was the promise that through Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promised seed is Jesus and His sacrifice of Himself released salvation to the earth.

May we be like Abraham and lay down the things He calls us to lay down that we may walk in His promise and provision.

In this post on Journeys with Abraham I want to look at the covenant Yahweh cut with Abraham and the events leading up to it.

I noted that when Abraham entered the land he encountered Yahweh and built an altar and began to worship Him (Gen. 12:6-8). He was at this time at Shechem, about 60 kilometres north of Jerusalem (Jebus at this point, it was named Jerusalem by king David). He then moved and pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, about 10 kilometres north of Jerusalem, built another altar and worshipped Yahweh. Following this he went down to Egypt due to the famine and when he returned he again dwelt near Bethel (Gen. 13:3-4).  In Genesis 13:18 we find that after Lot and Abraham separated Abraham moved his tent south of Jerusalem and lived in Hebron,  about 45 kilometres south of Jerusalem, and built an altar and worshiped Yahweh. This is the third altar he built and a pattern had been established. Worship had become an ongoing part of Abraham’s life. The significance of this pattern of worship is revealed following the battle Abraham engaged in to rescue Lot. On his return he was blessed by Melchizedek, who many believe was the pre-incarnate Jesus appearing in bodily form.

¹⁸  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. ¹⁹  And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; ²⁰  And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all. ²¹  Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” ²²  But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³  that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’ – Genesis 14:18-23 (NKJV)

Upon being blessed by Melchizedek Abraham gave tithes to him and the king of Sodom who was present offered Abraham a reward. He refused because he said he had made on oath to Yahweh whom he described as “the Possessor of heaven and earth” the exact language Melchizedek used and language Abraham seemed familiar with. Clearly through his worship Abraham had received a greater revelation of this one he followed out of his former home and whom he now served.

It is following this response by Abraham that Yahweh now cut a covenant with Abraham.

⁷  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” ⁸  And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” ⁹  So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰  Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. ¹¹  And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. ¹²  Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. ¹³  Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. ¹⁵  Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” ¹⁷  And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. ¹⁸  On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates– ¹⁹  the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰  the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹  the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” Genesis 15:7-21 (NKJV)

In the covenant ceremony the two parties took animals and cut them in two and walked through the blood between. The covenant was a ceremony to honour and ratify a commitment enforceable by death. In fact a common expression of covenant language is seen in the books of Samuel and the era of the early kings in the following expression, or variation of it, ‘May God do to me and more’ (see 1 Sam. 3:17, 25:22, 2 Sam. 3:9, 3:35, 19:13, 1 Kings 2:23, 2 Kings 6:31) that in essence says, ‘May I be cut up and my blood spilled like these animals if I do not honour this covenant.’ In cutting the covenant with Abraham Yahweh passed between the animals as a smoking oven and burning torch. At the cutting of the covenant Yahweh again guaranteed this land to Abraham and his descendants and  a great darkness fell over Abraham and Yahweh told him his descendants would be in bondage for 400 years but would leave the land of their oppressors with great possessions. In this horrifying darkness and shedding of blood to create a covenant I also see a prophetic picture of the horror and darkness Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His body being torn and His blood poured out to establish a new covenant – the one that saved us from eternal torment.

May we like Abraham have a pattern of being worshippers and walking with Jesus, knowing the great spiritual blessing we have in Him, and recognizing the great bondage He delivered us from through the horror of His atoning death upon the cross!

In my last post I looked at how Abraham’s obedience led to testing. We will now look at how his disobedience led to apparent blessing but subsequently created a problem that still plagues his descendants to this day.

¹⁰  Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹  And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. ¹²  Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³  Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.” Genesis 12:10-13 (NKJV)

Abraham had for some time now been going where Yahweh called and directed. He arrived at the land of promise, however, in response to the famine he left. Where did following Yahweh fit in and how does it connect to our lives? We have seen in following Abraham’s journey that he had some struggles with obedience but was always heading in the right direction. Here he changed direction and everything, very literally, went south, given that Egypt is south of Israel (Canaan at this point). Abraham journeyed south and went to live in Egypt to wait out the famine. He was now moving in fear instead of faith and got Sarai his wife (later Sarah) to lie to preserve his life.

As Abraham chose deception, because he believed it would preserve his life, the outcome was that Pharaoh gave him gifts for Sarai, Yahweh kept Pharaoh from taking Sarai to his bed and Pharaoh sent Abraham away and they returned to Canaan with the gifts. So there seemed to be no negative consequences to Abraham’s journey to Egypt and in fact he returned with further wealth. Yet one of Abraham’s descendants left us with this wisdom,

¹¹  Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Ecclesiastes 8:11 (NKJV)

So while Abraham did not know Yahweh’s character he grew up with the rhythms and motions of agrarian life. He should have understood that often we do not immediately reap what we sow. The consequences of Abraham’s choices were revealed later.

Though he had come out of a pagan culture that really didn’t know Yahweh, Abraham had begun to follow Yahweh while not yet knowing His character. When we look at Abraham’s relatives that his grandson Jacob encountered we see that shrewd deceit and half truths was certainly part of the family culture and that was what Abraham engaged in rather than trusting Yahweh. So while Abraham had come out of the culture it was certainly not yet out of him. That is the process I referenced in an earlier post. Just as at creation Yahweh began separating light from darkness, so too in our lives He continually seeks to draw the darkness out of us to establish and reveal light.

So what was the final outcome of Abraham’s deception? While we are often taught in evangelical circles that God leads through circumstances we don’t need to look very far in scripture to realize that not only is that not true it is frequently the exact opposite of the truth. Yahweh frequently leads us in spite of circumstances! Abraham’s situation is a very good example of that. Based on his circumstances Abraham left Canaan and went to Egypt. Based on his circumstances Abraham sought to deceive Pharaoh. Later, based on his circumstances he conceived Ishmael with Hagar and created problems for Isaac’s descendants that persist to this day. The repercussions from that one decision, based on circumstances, have lasted thousands of years. When we look at it verse one there is a critical point.

¹  Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. ²  So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. ¹⁶  Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Genesis 16:1-2, 16 (NKJV)

Sarai, had an Egyptian maidservant. The scriptures do not tell us where she came from but given that her identity is highlighted the inference is clear that Hagar was one of the ‘gifts’ that Abraham received from Pharaoh. So eleven years after Abraham went to Canaan he now had a son in the land but from the wrong mother, his choice not God’s choice. Our decisions led by our circumstances rather than His spirit may have long lasting consequences!