“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.
Sing unto God, sing praises to His name: extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him.
A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families: He bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” Psalm 68:1-6 (KJB)
Families
Day Two Hundred Seventy and Eight
What do I want for Christmas?
I want the people who call themselves “People of God” to return to God’s Word, trusting His Word, His Spirit and His way in our own hearts, our lives, families, Churches, and our Nation.
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!” Isaiah 31:1 (KJV)
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
Keeping the Way
“But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death. All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.” Numbers 3:38-39 (KJV)
In previous chapters the order was given for the twelve tribes encampment around the Tabernacle; with the place of God’s presence in the midst of them.
Then between the twelve tribes, and the Tabernacle was the Levites placed as GOD ordered around the Tabernacle. Notice in the above verses the ones near the gate or entrance of the Tabernacle was Moses and Aaron, and his sons; that would include their families, and the purpose of their being there was “Keeping the charge of the sanctuary…”. The word “charge” has to do with “Guard”. They were the one’s to keep out the “stranger”, so that he/she might not die.
I can see in this that the purpose of the minister of God the Biblical preacher is to tell others that there is only one way to God, and that Jesus is the “Door” (John 10:1-9). To try and enter another way is to perish.
Every Christian is to be a guardian of the way to God. We are to show men, women, boys, and girls the way to God. The way to God is through the “Door”, and Jesus says “I am the Door” (John 10:7, 9)
It is a great harm to lead others to believe that there are alternative ways to God, other than through the cross of Jesus Christ.
They Pitched by Their Standards
“And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.” Numbers 1:54 (KJV)
“And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers.” Numbers 2:34
The book of Numbers is rightly titled. It is the numbering or counting of the people, and organizing them in their encampment in the wilderness as they journey. That is clearly noted as we read the first few chapters of this book of the Law.
When we read in the noted verses above we need to realize that when it says to us “the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses” that it is dealing with the matter at hand; that is the counting of the people, and in chapter two their placement in their camp in proportion to the Tabernacle in the wilderness.
The number of men 20 years of age and above; and not counting the Levites; was 603,550 men. We see a great mass of humanity in the wilderness. With women and children this number could easily reach 2 to 3 million people total. And these “did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.”
In reading these two chapters and the setting up of their encampment you should also note the position of the Tabernacle with the position of the tribes. The Levites; the caretakers, spiritual leaders; were in the midst of the camp with the Tabernacle in the midst of them. That is just where GOD wants to be; in midst of the lives of His people.
GOD has made it possible to be right in the hearts of His people through the death, burial and bodily resurrection of His Son Jesus. All of these journeys, the Tabernacle, the Ark of the covenant, etc. are pictures of the Christ, the Son of God. He desires to be the center, very being of your life.
God’s Word Today 081512
And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, ‘Thus saith the LORD; ‘If ye can break My covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.’ Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying, ‘Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the LORD hath chosen, He hath even cast them off? Thus they have despised My people, that they should be no more a nation before them.’ Thus saith the LORD; ‘If My covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.” Jeremiah 33:19-26 (KJV)
-T.A.
Day 65 – Who Is Like the LORD?
We hear many people speak of “Justice”, “Right” or “Rights”, and the world is filled with injustice, and unrighteousness; and none of us are completely innocent of either. We love seeing the hungry fed, the poor and/or homeless given shelter and even finding prosperity in their paths of life. Is it injustice that makes people poor; or unrighteousness that causes a family to go hungry or without shelter? My answer to that is NO! Circumstances in life can have an affect on an individual’s misfortune; or that of a families homelessness and poverty.
One thing we can be certain of and that is that there is no injustice, or unrighteousness in or with our GOD, the Lord of creation. My reading began in the Minor Prophet of Micah, and concluded with Habakkuk with Nahum in between. My reading only consisted of 13 chapters today. That is where those five extra days at the end will help make up the difference.
Micah is a prophet who calls for his listeners to “Hear”. In verses 1:2; 2:1, 9; 6:1 the prophet Micah calls for the people to “Hear”. He calls on the religious leaders to hear, the political leaders, and the people to “Hear”. We need to hear what Micah has to say. Micah’s name means, “Who is like the LORD?”
“The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of His place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.” Micah 1:1-4 (KJV)
By the first verse we can tell that Micah was a contemporary with Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. The LORD is a witness against all injustice and unrighteousness.
How many times have you heard someone say, “Life is not fair”, or “That’s just not fair” or some other “fair” statement. NO! Life is not fair. God is however Just and Righteous; and we can depend on and trust Him to do what is right, just and holy. He calls on His people to live that way too. The LORD is not pleased when He sees injustice and unrighteousness, especially in those who call themselves “children of God”.
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:1-2
Micah is a prophet with a prophecy of promise. A day is coming when nations will “flow” unto the “Mountain of the house of the LORD”. “Flow” seems like a thing that a river would do within its banks. It is a natural thing for a river to flow. It is a natural thing for the people of God to flow to the place where God is, yet it is by the power of God that we are able to flow there. Who is like the LORD?
We can see this question; though not stated as we read Nahum and Habakkuk.
In Nahum we have written,
“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake at Him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood He will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue His enemies.” Nahum 1:3-8 (KJV)
The prophecy of Nahum is written to Nineveh, that same city that God had sent the prophet Jonah to about 100 or so years previous to Nahum’s prophecy; and the city had repented, and God withheld judgment. However, now judgment was coming because of their sinful brutality and wickedness;
“Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not; the noise of a whip, and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the pransing horses, and of the jumping chariots. The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. ‘Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; ‘and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, ‘Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?'” Nahum 3:1-7
Though Habakkuk asked the timeless question, “How can a holy God allow evil to continue?” he still comes to the conclusion like the others. “Who is like the LORD?” This prophecy is a debate, of sorts, between the prophet and the LORD. Of course in a debate such as that there is only one winner of the debate; however the one who yields to the LORD’S wisdom is a winner too.
Habakkuk’s conclusion of the matter,
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 (KJV)
Habakkuk has reached the conclusion that all of God’s people will reach. God is God. There is no other. I will trust in Him when there are no crops; when the blessings are all dried up; when the flocks and the herds are no more. Who is like the LORD? There is none like Him.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Increased Trouble
“LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.” Psalm 3:1 (KJV)
I want to begin in this New Year of 2012 doing something a little more consistent with Fire and Hammer. To begin with I will endeavor to have a post from the Psalms or Proverbs daily; with commentary by Spurgeon, some other legend and least some; maybe most; by myself. The above verse is my first for 2012. May God bless you richly during this coming year, may He keep you in His powerful hands, and give you peace.
Of the verse above the Psalmist sees much trouble coming from what is probably the people around him. His trouble has increased. We do not need to wonder what trouble is do we? We are each and everyone of us surrounded by trouble of some sort.
The world is experiencing trouble. Individuals within the world is having troubles galore. There are troubles from created nature; earthquakes, fires, floods, famine, hurricanes, tornadoes, and troubles from peoples own evil and mistakes; murders, rapes, slavery, robberies, pollutions, bankrupt economies, etc. and there are troubles with families; divorce, unemployment, estranged mothers and fathers, sickness, disease, wayward children and parents.
Yes! There are troubles in our world. You have troubles. I have troubles. None are immune from it.
We do, however, have the LORD to whom we can go and He will listen to our troubles; and they will seem small compared to knowing Him and His greatness.
There is help and hope for those who trust in the LORD.
-Tim A. Blankenship
The Fire and Hammer 