In the Bible, a land flowing with milk and honey was the phrase used to describe the promised land - the land promised to Israel. In our culture, it's easy to miss the true meaning of the statement. "Flowing" is the term that represents wealth, and we get that. It was a rich land. But in the Hebraic sense, the meaning of the phrase is slightly complex.
A land of milk is simply a land that is NOT good farm land. If the land was good for farming - especially in the Middle East - they farmed it! But if not, it became a land for flocks and herds, hence the milk. A land of honey was, as you've guessed, the farm land - where bees could produce and be productive. There are many places in the Middle East that are one, or the other, but few that are 'both'. Israel was to inherit a land flowing with milk AND honey - truly a blessed plot of ground.
With this broader knowledge as a foundation, lets examine a couple of very simple points. It is impossible to survive in the land of milk without the blessing of God. If God does not provide at least some shade, and at least a little water, we die. We go to the land of milk to learn faith. It is here that Jesus went to be tempted. It is here that Paul went to learn to walk with God. It is here that Israel went to prepare to be a kingdom of priests to the world.
Here is the kicker: you will not influence the world in the land of milk. You will only influence the world in the land of honey, because THAT is where the road is. The big question is this: can you continue to hold on to the hand of God even when times are good? Blessings can quickly turn to curses when they shift our awareness to our own strength rather than God's strength. If this happens, we fail to impact the world around us.
The second question might be this: have we made peace with a spirit of poverty? Have we decided that it's God's will that we have no monetary influence in our society? Remember, there is no road in the desert. If we have no means, we have no influence.
Showing posts with label desert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label desert. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Thursday, December 02, 2010
To Know What Is In Your Heart
(Deu 8:2 MKJV) And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.
It's easy to read through this verse and - like so many others - fail to consider what it is saying. God wants to humble me, and prove me, and to know what is in my heart? Does God not already know?
The word 'know' here is the same Hebrew term used when Adam 'knew' Eve. It's not an intellectual knowing, it's an experiential knowing. God wants to experience our faith. He wants to experience our growth. This brings Him glory in a way that simply knowing intellectually cannot.
This is worth considering the next time you drop a football pass that would have won the ballgame.
It's easy to read through this verse and - like so many others - fail to consider what it is saying. God wants to humble me, and prove me, and to know what is in my heart? Does God not already know?
The word 'know' here is the same Hebrew term used when Adam 'knew' Eve. It's not an intellectual knowing, it's an experiential knowing. God wants to experience our faith. He wants to experience our growth. This brings Him glory in a way that simply knowing intellectually cannot.
This is worth considering the next time you drop a football pass that would have won the ballgame.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
You Hoarding Sand?
Exo 38:24-26 MKJV
(24) All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
(25) And the silver from those numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and seventeen hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary;
(26) a bekah for every man, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred fifty men.
SJ (8:21:04 AM): one... the people were loaded. Dude, that is a LOT of gold.
Mills (8:21:18 AM): yeah i thought so
SJ (8:21:36 AM): they got the gold from the Egyptians... right?
Mills (8:22:12 AM): ummm... for some reason I always though they got some from Egyptians, but the rest was given to them in the wilderness
SJ (8:22:41 AM): as far as I know... they got it all - Exo 12:36 And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they plundered the Egyptians.
Mills (8:22:52 AM): okay
Mills (8:22:59 AM): tracking
SJ (8:23:02 AM): may I ask...
SJ (8:23:10 AM): why??? so they could buy sand from the hyenas?
Mills (8:23:44 AM): hehe... for the Ark
Mills (8:23:47 AM): ?
SJ (8:24:00 AM): you got it.... for serving God. That's the only reason.
Mills (8:24:02 AM): the tabernacle
SJ (8:24:23 AM): same reason He gave you and I a $5 raise last year bud
Mills (8:24:34 AM): got it
SJ (8:24:46 AM): we're in the desert... kinda... anything we buy here is going to be sand
(24) All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
(25) And the silver from those numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and seventeen hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary;
(26) a bekah for every man, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand, five hundred fifty men.
SJ (8:21:04 AM): one... the people were loaded. Dude, that is a LOT of gold.
Mills (8:21:18 AM): yeah i thought so
SJ (8:21:36 AM): they got the gold from the Egyptians... right?
Mills (8:22:12 AM): ummm... for some reason I always though they got some from Egyptians, but the rest was given to them in the wilderness
SJ (8:22:41 AM): as far as I know... they got it all - Exo 12:36 And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they granted their request, and they plundered the Egyptians.
Mills (8:22:52 AM): okay
Mills (8:22:59 AM): tracking
SJ (8:23:02 AM): may I ask...
SJ (8:23:10 AM): why??? so they could buy sand from the hyenas?
Mills (8:23:44 AM): hehe... for the Ark
Mills (8:23:47 AM): ?
SJ (8:24:00 AM): you got it.... for serving God. That's the only reason.
Mills (8:24:02 AM): the tabernacle
SJ (8:24:23 AM): same reason He gave you and I a $5 raise last year bud
Mills (8:24:34 AM): got it
SJ (8:24:46 AM): we're in the desert... kinda... anything we buy here is going to be sand
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Sticks and Stones
Exo 17:5-6 MKJV
(5) And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on in front of the people, and take with you the elders of Israel. And take your rod with which you struck the river, in your hand, and go.
(6) Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb. And you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Looking at our Salvation story through events in the Old Testament can be so exciting. Israel represented fallen man, hopelessly enslaved in Egypt. God used Moses to bring them out, through the Red Sea. They were free from Egypt, but only physically free. Mentally they were still enslaved to bitter, selfish souls. They were in the desert.
Notice what God says: take your rod with which you struck the river. The river? The river... which river was that, Lord... because... since we've seen the Nile we've WALKED THROUGH THE RED SEA. Why has God referenced a seemingly small event of the past instead of referencing the HUGE event of walking to freedom through a sea? Here is the verse:
Exo 14:16 MKJV
(16) But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
But no. God is reminding Moses to take the rod he used when he struck the Nile River, which probably seemed eons ago. Moses had struck the Nile in Exodus 7:20 and it turned to blood.
God usually allows mankind to obtain what he pursues, doesn't he? Pharaoh was out for blood. He had decreed the destruction of all the male Hebrew babies by what means? Throwing them in the Nile... But it was the Nile that floated their salvation: Moses. Now God was giving Pharaoh what he wanted - blood.
Back to God's reference. He said, even as you took the rod and struck the river, take the rod and strike the rock.
From here, we can take what we know and apply it. The rod is the cross that struck our Rock, Jesus Christ. From Him came water to nourish us and save us in the desert we were in. Understand, too, that rods have NO CHANCE against rocks. You'd no more set out to break a rock with a stick than you would digging a tunnel with a plastic spoon. Forget it. But the Rock split and water issued forth...
The cross... the Romans... the Jews... had NO CHANCE of killing Jesus unless He laid His life down for us. That He did.
1Jn 3:16 MKJV
(16) By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
But the river... what about it? This same cross that was used to bring us water in the desert was also used to destroy the enemy - ultimately bringing him exactly what he wanted. Blood. The cross brings life, but the cross brings death to those who reject it.
(5) And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on in front of the people, and take with you the elders of Israel. And take your rod with which you struck the river, in your hand, and go.
(6) Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb. And you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Looking at our Salvation story through events in the Old Testament can be so exciting. Israel represented fallen man, hopelessly enslaved in Egypt. God used Moses to bring them out, through the Red Sea. They were free from Egypt, but only physically free. Mentally they were still enslaved to bitter, selfish souls. They were in the desert.
Notice what God says: take your rod with which you struck the river. The river? The river... which river was that, Lord... because... since we've seen the Nile we've WALKED THROUGH THE RED SEA. Why has God referenced a seemingly small event of the past instead of referencing the HUGE event of walking to freedom through a sea? Here is the verse:
Exo 14:16 MKJV
(16) But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the sons of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
But no. God is reminding Moses to take the rod he used when he struck the Nile River, which probably seemed eons ago. Moses had struck the Nile in Exodus 7:20 and it turned to blood.
God usually allows mankind to obtain what he pursues, doesn't he? Pharaoh was out for blood. He had decreed the destruction of all the male Hebrew babies by what means? Throwing them in the Nile... But it was the Nile that floated their salvation: Moses. Now God was giving Pharaoh what he wanted - blood.
Back to God's reference. He said, even as you took the rod and struck the river, take the rod and strike the rock.
From here, we can take what we know and apply it. The rod is the cross that struck our Rock, Jesus Christ. From Him came water to nourish us and save us in the desert we were in. Understand, too, that rods have NO CHANCE against rocks. You'd no more set out to break a rock with a stick than you would digging a tunnel with a plastic spoon. Forget it. But the Rock split and water issued forth...
The cross... the Romans... the Jews... had NO CHANCE of killing Jesus unless He laid His life down for us. That He did.
1Jn 3:16 MKJV
(16) By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
But the river... what about it? This same cross that was used to bring us water in the desert was also used to destroy the enemy - ultimately bringing him exactly what he wanted. Blood. The cross brings life, but the cross brings death to those who reject it.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Don't Represent a New Creature
Be a New Creature!
The night before the Israelites left Egypt, they were commanded to prepare bread for the journey. It was to be without leaven, for leavened bread took time to rise. Their instructions were to wait for the time to leave, and then leave 'in a hurry'. For that reason, they left their leaven - in Egypt.
Once in the desert, Israel became a symbol of redeemed mankind - free of bondage and the old self. They were a new creature! But, sadly they were only a symbol of a new creature. They still carried their Egyptian desires, ways, habits... They never separated from their flesh to walk in the spirit, and their flesh died in the desert.
We all have the same choice to make. Are we simply going to be Christian by name? By denomination? Is being a Christian simply a call to keep our hands clean? Or are we a New Creature, fully transformed by the Spirit of the Living God, enabled, victorious, positive, proactive, and zealous? Many of us Christians have never seen the gates of hell, and we pat ourselves on the back for our ability to steer clear.
Missed it... didn't we.
The night before the Israelites left Egypt, they were commanded to prepare bread for the journey. It was to be without leaven, for leavened bread took time to rise. Their instructions were to wait for the time to leave, and then leave 'in a hurry'. For that reason, they left their leaven - in Egypt.
Once in the desert, Israel became a symbol of redeemed mankind - free of bondage and the old self. They were a new creature! But, sadly they were only a symbol of a new creature. They still carried their Egyptian desires, ways, habits... They never separated from their flesh to walk in the spirit, and their flesh died in the desert.
We all have the same choice to make. Are we simply going to be Christian by name? By denomination? Is being a Christian simply a call to keep our hands clean? Or are we a New Creature, fully transformed by the Spirit of the Living God, enabled, victorious, positive, proactive, and zealous? Many of us Christians have never seen the gates of hell, and we pat ourselves on the back for our ability to steer clear.
Missed it... didn't we.
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