prayer

The Mediator

“Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’”

Exodus 20:19

Israel had been complaining against the Lord’s leading ever since Moses began the process of confronting Pharaoh to let Israel go (Exodus 5:21). In chapters 16 and 17 their complaining was over food and water yet the Lord provided their need. The people knew they had sinned so they “stood afar off” (v 18) fearing His wrath and in awe of the physical manifestations expressing His special presence. They could not approach God in their sinful state. They needed a mediator, one who could converse with God on their behalf.

They had witnessed occasions where God had already spoken to them through Moses and Moses had spoken to God and been answered. God had already made Moses their mediator. We sinners all need a mediator to speak on our behalf to a holy God. In grace God promised just such a Person: “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him’” (Deuteronomy 18:18).

Paul recognised this Mediator as being Jesus. He wrote, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:3-6). Being both God and Man Jesus alone is able to mediate between sinful man and holy God. He is qualified to do so because He is without sin and “gave Himself a ransom for all” (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

The writer of Hebrews also recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise for the Prophet who would mediate between God and man forever: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). The covenant God made with Israel through Moses was meant to show Israel’s and our sinfulness but it could not save from that sin. The New Covenant is better in that it is based on the unconditional covenant God made with Abraham and it can save from sin because in it God changes the heart.

Symbol of God’s Authority

“And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed”

Exodus 17:11

Over the years the application that I have predominantly heard concerning this passage is that this is a lesson in prayer. That if we are to defeat the enemy we need constant prayer and that it is a team effort. I doubt any true believer would argue against the necessity of prayer, both personal and corporate, but I have often wondered if that is the main theme of the passage. It has been assumed from Moses’ posture that prayer is the theme but raised hands can also be an expression of praise and worship.

This is the first mention of Joshua by name in the Bible (v 9) and he has been appointed to lead slaves, militarily untrained, against a people prepared for war. Perhaps there is something important that the Lord wants Joshua to learn. Moses told Joshua that he would stand on the top of a hill and hold up the rod of God. Ever since the burning bush Moses’ rod has been the symbol of God’s authority, power and presence. Moses, with help from Aaron and Hur would hold up this rod. This is to be a lesson to Joshua. Follow-up lessons are recorded from Joshua 5:13. He would lead the military arm of Israel for the next forty years and, later, the whole nation.

The Lord commanded Moses to make a written record of this event and “recount it in the hearing of Joshua” (v 14). In the heat of the battle Joshua may not have noticed what was happening on the hill so the Lord makes sure he found out. Joshua would have a written record that he may read over and again.

Rather than a lesson only on prayer, this was an early lesson preparing Joshua to trust the Lord in the battles he would face. We are inclined to take matters into our own hands rather than trust the Lord. The evidence that we are doing this is that we become anxious, frustrated or panic. Joshua would need further lessons on this and we will also but the Lord has laid the foundation for Joshua and us here. Prayer is an important part of trusting the Lord and an expression of trust and faith. I believe that the main lesson to Joshua and us is that we rest in the Lord, especially in the battle, and trust Him for ultimate victory.

Raising the symbol of God’s authority, power and presence denoted trust in the Lord. Amalek was resisting the will of God, not just the fledgling nation of Israel.

God’s Unusual Ways

“When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him”

Exodus 2:6

Some Christians speak as though God has lost control and was in need of our help to accomplish his will but He doesn’t do things or use the people we think He should. When Jesus called His disciples He said, “Follow Me” not “Lead Me.” We should stop telling God what He should do and listen to Him.

A young mother had a son born under a death sentence. Pharaoh had commanded that all male babies born to the Hebrews be put to death. We are not told why Jochebed did as she did, but Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby in an ark among the reeds. She called his name Moses. She gave him back to his own mother to raise until he was weened at possibly five years old. Pharaoh wanted the baby dead but his own daughter paid the baby’s own mother to raise him until weened. Then she brought the young child into Pharaoh’s palace and gave him protection and the best education possible in Egypt at Pharaoh’s expense.

Saul persecuted, imprisoned and even killed the followers of Jesus Christ until he discovered who Jesus really is. His name was changed to Paul but those who had sent him out to afflict Christians now put a death sentence on him. But God had told Paul that he would preach the Gospel to kings and rulers. When Paul was rescued by the Romans from the religious Jews and imprisoned, it looked like his ministry might be over. However, it was the Lord’s way of protecting Paul from the religious zealots and getting him into the houses of rulers and king’s palaces to share the Gospel. In addition, he was given free passage to Rome, paid for and protected along the way by Rome, in order to preach the Gospel in Caesar’s palace and to his guard.

I have a friend who was imprisoned for crimes but in that prison he called out to the Lord and was saved. While still in prison he studied the Bible by correspondence. Upon his release he went back into the prisons preaching the Gospel to people who were in the same place where he had been.

It may appeal to pride to think that God needs us – but He does not. Mordecai told Esther that God would find someone else if she didn’t cooperate. God does not need us but He chooses to allow us the privilege of serving with Him – provided we are available, teachable, willing and content to follow His lead.

First and Last

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus”

Revelation 22:20

This is the last recorded prayer in the Bible. In difficult and stressful times we are inclined to desire His coming just to be away from our current circumstances but that is just one side of the coin. The other side is a desire to be with Jesus and His righteousness. He is coming to bring an end to sin and death and to take His own to be with Him forever. Just as He did in His first coming Jesus will do so at just the right time, not early and not late (Galatians 4:4-5). Our desire is for Jesus to reign in righteousness and peace but that will only happen when Jesus returns and establishes His earthly kingdom. Then the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). From the beginning it has been God’s desire to dwell with and in His creation. Our desire is to dwell with God just as it is His desire to dwell with us.

The above prayer, the last recorded, contrasts greatly with the first recorded prayer in the Bible: “So he [Adam] said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself’” (Genesis 3:10). Instead of desiring God’s presence Adam and Eve fled God’s presence. Disobedience will always do that. More than once I avoided my parents as long as I could because I had been disobedient to them. It is the nature of fallen man to not want to face his disobedience and guilt but to try to escape the presence of God. This is the exact opposite of what he should do. Jonah, one of the more notoriously rebellious men in the Bible also wanted to escape the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3, 10) but God kept after him.

Between the first recorded prayer (the desire to escape the presence of the Lord) and the last prayer recorded in the Bible (the desire for God’s presence to return) something of tremendous significance happened. That something was Jesus Christ’s first coming to save mankind from sin and death and to restore his proper relationship with God. At Easter we give time to remember and reflect on just how He accomplished that. Instead of fleeing His presence we should draw near to Him because His forgiveness is the only way of taking away our sin and restoring our relationship with God. The book of Revelation reveals that many would rather die than seek forgiveness. However, there will be many who seek and receive forgiveness through Christ.

The Bread of Life

“Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled”

John 6:26

It wasn’t long after Jesus had miraculously provided meals for five thousand men plus women and children from a boy’s lunch that many of the same crowd caught up with Him again. Jesus perceived that their desire was for another free lunch and not to hear His teaching. Sadly, their desire was only for what would fill their tummies and not their hearts.

We need to be on guard of our own hearts to ensure that we don’t default into only wanting what Jesus gives without wanting Him. This is one of the reasons many human relationships break up. People often enter a relationship with expectations of what they will receive. When those expectations are not realised or are no longer met, the relationship collapses. If we come to Jesus with incorrect expectations, when they are not met, we will cease to follow Him. We must be careful how we present the Gospel so as not to give incorrect expectations.

There are many temporal benefits Jesus Christ brings but they are all inseparable from Him. John wrote, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). The “life” is Christ’s life in us, that is, eternal life. Many people want heaven and eternal life who do not want Jesus but that is absolutely impossible.

To evaluate whether we really want Jesus or just the benefits He brings it would be profitable to evaluate our prayers. They may reveal that our main concern is for temporal matters such as food, clothing, comfort and health but not for the benefit of Christ’s kingdom or for Christ’s glory.

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). When we are with Jesus in heaven we will realise the foolishness of many of our earthly pursuits and anxieties. Our highest priority is to know Jesus Christ. In contrast to pursuing Jesus for these earthly needs Jesus encourages us to pursue that which will never be taken from us. Following His lament that the crowd only followed Him for food He said, “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him” (John 6:27).

Captive of Love

“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as we are.”

John 17:11

We are very grateful that John has recorded the words of this prayer of Jesus. So much is packed into just one prayer such as the glory of God to be restored to Jesus and revealed in His disciples. The relationship between Father and Son is also revealed as is equality of person of the Father and Son with differing roles within that equality. Our focus for now is the keeping of Christ’s disciples.

Whenever we have a doubt about our possession of eternal life it is because we believe that our salvation and favour with God is in our hands. It is not! As Peter also wrote, we “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).

The words “keep” and “kept” in John 17:11-15 have the meaning of being protected from an outside force and of being held captive for one’s protection. On the one hand Jesus is praying that the Father will protect His disciples from Satan’s power and influence (v 15) and on the other hand Jesus is saying that He will keep His disciples as a captive of His love in Himself (v 12).

Both aspects of this reveal that we who have trusted in Jesus Christ are absolutely secure. Any thought that causes us to doubt that security comes when we start thinking that our salvation is obtained by our own effort or faithfulness and not as the free gift of God in Jesus Christ and His faithfulness.

As we read through the Gospel accounts we frequently note the disciples’ lack of belief and understanding and yet Jesus kept them all (v 12). We will have areas of doubt and unbelief from time to time – but Jesus affirms that He will lose none who are His. As Peter affirmed, we are kept by the power of God – and not by our own ability or strength of faith. If our salvation, and being kept saved, was by our own effort then there would be reason for grave concerns.

Jesus has prayed that the Father would set watch over His disciples and protect them from all enemies, including Satan (vv 11, 15). When we fear what Satan or people may do to us we are forgetting this prayer of Jesus. We are protected from all enemies and kept as captives of Christ’s love by Him.

The Whispering Voice

“It happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying …”

2 Samuel 7:4

Generally we would have a high regard for the prophet Nathan especially for his courage in pointing out King David’s sin as recorded in chapter twelve. But at this point he got it wrong. In the previous verses we read that David had expressed to Nathan his desire to build a house for the Lord. David had a house of cedar and it seemed reasonable that the Lord should also have such a place to dwell with men instead of the “tent.” Nathan responded to David’s desire without seeking counsel from the Lord and got it wrong.

However, he had ears toward the Lord and that night, in the quietness of his home and heart, the Lord corrected him and gave him the words he should speak to King David.

Since the advent of radio, television and telephone our evenings have not been so quiet that we might hear the quiet gentle voice of the Lord. These electronic creations have their place and can be helpful but they can also blot out the voice of the Lord. We live in an age of noise. Mobile phones are always at hand and, for many, play music or games whenever it is not being used for phone calls or texting. We live in an environment of noise.

It should be of no surprise then that few hear the voice of the Lord. If we want to have conversation with our spouse, a family member or a friend we will shut out noise as much as possible. We should do the same for conversing with the Lord, that we might hear Him.

In 1 Kings 19:11-12 we read of one of Elijah’s encounters with the Lord. Elijah stood on the mountain and felt the wind, an earthquake and a fire, but the lord was not in any of them. “After the fire a still small voice” or a delicate whispering voice came to Elijah. God has trouble getting our attention if we have constant noise so He may have to try more intensive, less comfortable, ways to get our attention.

Fortunately for Nathan, he was not engrossed with his phone, he was not watching his favourite TV show or movie, and his Hi Fi was not blasting his ears. Had he not heard the whispering voice of the Lord, his incorrect confirmation to David would have proceeded against the will of God. The Lord has a word for you but will you hear it above the noise in your world?

Seek His Counsel

“They did not ask counsel of the Lord”

Joshua 9:14

Like Joshua and the other leaders of Israel we may act without seeking the Lord’s counsel and, if we do, we don’t wait for a response. Following the Lord destroying the walls at Jericho Israel’s leaders urged Joshua to send what they rationally calculated to be enough men against the city of Ai. They were severely routed with the loss of thirty six lives. It might not sound like much of a loss but it meant thirty six families without a husband or a father because they did not ask counsel of the Lord. Israel was humiliated, Joshua’s leadership questioned and the Lord’s name blasphemed among the peoples of the region.

Satan is a liar and a deceiver and he has had plenty of time to hone his skills manipulating people. Once again Joshua and his leading men relied on their own rational assessment of the situation regarding the Gibeonites and did not ask counsel of the Lord. They were deceived and their leadership was again called into question by their own people (v 18). The deception meant that they could not fulfil the commandment of the Lord and they would have a constant reminder of their failure in their midst.

The presumption that the Lord is with us and will give us the victory, as we perceive victory, is all too common among professing and genuine Christians. In the current attack on Jesus Christ and His church many, but not all, Christians are trying to win a spiritual battle using the secular world’s practices. Perhaps the first point of error is the one that Joshua made; he did not ask counsel of the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-12 expresses the way we should follow.

  1. We will ask the Lord’s counsel, trusting his counsel and not our own judgment (vv 5-6)
  2. We will trust His counsel even when it seems to us to be wrong (v 7)
  3. We will trust His counsel even when we don’t appear to have sufficient resources (vv 9-10)
  4. We will trust Him when He chastises us for not previously asking His counsel (vv 11-12)

The above implies that a response is waited for and received. We cannot win the battle by secular means. Joshua and Israel discovered this and we must learn from their error. Ask the Lord’s counsel, wait for His response and, even if we don’t like His answer, trust Him.

The Secret Place

“The heavens declare the glory of God” Psalm 19:1

Returning to Perth by air this week I was again struck by the beauty of the upper surface of the clouds. From beneath, clouds are shades of grey and reasonably level. From above, where the sun is upon them, they are pure white and shaped like bundles of cotton balls. Off on to the horizon and beyond this beauty exists but for the most part it was unseen by any person and possibly even less recognised as God’s handiwork. Largely hidden from the eyes of people, day after day and for millennia, God has been expressing Himself in such beauty. It is only in the past hundred years that people have been able to see the clouds from above yet it has been unrelentingly showing off the glory of God.

For even less time we have been able to see the beauty and variety of creatures that live below the seas at depth. Some had been caught in nets or found dead on the shore but multitudes of new creatures of extraordinary appearance are now being discovered in the depths of the oceans. For millennia these creatures have been expressing the beauty and wisdom of God without any person observing them. Perhaps more than at any time since God brought “every beast of the field and every bird of the air … to Adam to see what he would call them” (Genesis 2:19) we are closer to discovering all the living creatures that God has created. All that time since the creation these creatures have expressed God’s glory even though many have not been seen by people until recently.

As we look up into the night sky we marvel at the majesty, beauty, wisdom and power that has created all that exists in the heavens. Mankind has discovered more distant heavenly bodies with each new telescope and marvelled at their beauty but they have all been present since the creation expressing the glory of God, whether seen by people or not.

We may be inclined to think that God is only glorified by things seen by people. However even the things unseen by people glorify God. Jesus told His disciples, “When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

People who follow Jesus do reveal and express the glory of God publicly but perhaps the time we glorify God most is in the secret place for there we have no need to play the hypocrite. There we can be honest with God since nothing is hidden from Him. Like all the things of creation that are rarely if ever seen by people it is perhaps our time alone with Him that glorifies Him most. It is when we are alone with God that we worship Him from a pure heart. “Do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Writing Scripts

“You were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord” Jeremiah 42:20

The small, unprotected and disorganised remnant of Judah that remained in Judea must have felt vulnerable and unsafe. Those who had obeyed the Lord and surrendered to the king of Babylon were safe but removed from the land. Of those who had not obeyed the Lord most were now dead and only these few remained.

The armies of Babylon had gone home but they still felt that the Lord’s hand was heavy upon them and they were at risk. Since everything Jeremiah had prophesied had come to pass they went to him and asked him to seek the Lord’s counsel.

They promised that they would obey the Lord regardless of “whether it is pleasing or displeasing” (v 6) but the Lord knew their hearts and was determined to reveal their hypocrisy. What is revealed is that they had already chosen what they would do and were just seeking the Lord’s confirmation. This is often the way people relate to God when they do not have a genuine personal relationship with Him.

We need to be careful that we do not follow the example of these people. When we pray we should make up our minds to do as He reveals regardless of the response. Let us be sure that we have not already settled our direction before we hear the Lord’s response to our prayer. If we have, we will make up scenarios or accounts of events that will seemingly justify our actions even when contrary to God’s revelation and word to us. True prayer allows the Lord to respond as He chooses with the full intention of obeying whether it seems pleasing to us or not.

The people who came to Jeremiah with this request received a wonderful response – stay where they are and God would be their provider and protector until all Israel was brought back. If they chose to disregard and disobey the word of the Lord, contrary to their promise, they would suffer the very thing they sought to escape.

They had already made up their minds and instead of believing God’s revelation concerning past events and their current situation, they invented their own version that would make their decision look reasonable (44:16-19). In so doing they called God a liar (43:2). The Lord’s response to these people was, “Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves” (44:7). It is so illogical for people to choose against the revealed will of God. One can only wonder at how often we have rewritten our own history so as to put ourselves in a good light when in fact we are disobeying the word of the Lord.

The issue was not so much about where they should be physically but where their heart is toward the Lord. The same is true for us. The Lord will also test our heart motives in prayer. He doesn’t do this to harm us but to reveal where our heart really is so that our relationship with Him may become more intimate. God’s warnings were for Judah’s good, as they are for us, so let us take Him at His word and not try and write our own scripts.