"Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified, or be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes....'"(Dt. 1:29, 30)
But terror and fear ruled.
All but the most super spiritual among us have wondered at times why God does not answer all prayers. The not so subtle thinking is, "After all, doesn't He owe us?!?" Any who cut their spiritual teeth on the Charismatic movement came to expect every prayer to be answered just the way they prayed it. It was called, "faith." But it was too often a "me first" faith, not an "obedience first" faith.
There are two incidents in the early chapters of Deuteronomy which reveal the reality of life in the Kingdom of Heaven which was later to be confirmed and fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy 1 relates the story of the Jews about to enter "The Land." They heard how great it was, but they also heard of the impossibilities from some of their own number. Moses told them, "Do not be...afraid," of the unknown. But the people responded with a desire for some greater guarantee than the Word of God, "Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us...." They thought they were a committee designated to vote on the report of the men---- missed that one. They saw, indeed, the goodness of The Land, but the dangers and "impossibilities" loomed larger. They refused to go in. God said, "Okay, if that is the way you want it, you cannot go in." Then after the rebels heard the judgment pronounced by the Lord God, they relented. "O please, please forgive us. We'll go now." The Lord God said in affect, "Too late." The second incident recalls the disobedience of Moses at the Rock, and Moses begging God to change His Mind about refusing to let him go into the Land. Again, disobedience sealed the response.
Some believe they can disobey Jesus and just "claim it" or "declare" their way out of consequences. God does not work that way. He told Saul, "Obedience is better than sacrifice"---------- or claiming, declaring, binding, loosing. All the worship, declarations, prophetic intercessions a person or group can offer do not cancel the disobedience of men or nations, not in the Old Testament, not in the New. It is a very sobering lesson. Jesus, Immanuel, God incarnate, is Mercy, Grace, and Forgiveness incarnate. He shed His Blood, died, rose again, and is in the position of authority in the Throne Room of Heaven, where, "he always lives to make intercession for [us]." He has, "done all things well." But Jesus did not become, "flesh and dwell among us," to reveal a new "God." He is the same God in the Old Testament as in the New Testament, not a harsh God in the Old and a let-anything-come-what-may God in the New. In the midst of one of the greatest "promise" Psalms, 103, verse 7, God says, "He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel." Our texts reveal this reality. I must admit, I have thought about the following statement for quite a while today, and would be willing to discuss it with those who might object and have some theological question--------------- The Cross cancels sin. It does not cancel disobedience.
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You so much for the lesson of Your Word. I pray that You keep writing Your Words in my heart and in my mind. Amen.
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When an 18 year old Norwegian "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
