Daily Archives: February 8, 2012

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Uncategorized

>Admitting Is Not Enough

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Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron,
and said to them,
‘I have sinned this time;
the LORD is the righteous one,
and I and my people are the wicked ones.’ 
Exodus 9:27
In the midst of the seventh plague, Pharaoh admits he has sinned against the Lord. He calls out to Moses and Aaron and asks them to go before God on his behalf and ask for the thunder and hail to cease. He proclaims that the Lord is righteous and he and his servants are wicked. Could it possibly be that Pharaoh is beginning to get it?  
Sadly, no, Pharaoh still is not getting it. Moses goes before the Lord to ask Him to stop the thunder and hail, but it will be so that Pharaoh will know that the earth belongs to the God of the Hebrew slaves. Before Moses asks for this seventh plague to cease he looks at Pharaoh and assures him that he knows that this profession of his sin and wickedness is empty words. Moses is well aware that Pharaoh and his servants do not yet fear the LORD God.
Oh precious one, it is so much more than just admitting that we have sinned and that God is righteous.
Some will look at themselves and admit that they are sinners and then use this admittance to justify their sin. They will then point their finger in the face of God and claim that He has no right to judge them because it’s His fault that they are a sinner to begin with. They claim He made them this way. The arrogance of man unrestrained by the Spirit of God has no bounds.
When we look at the many religions in the world, very few profess man as originally good. Most openly declare man as wicked and their god as the one who is the judge of his goodness. In most of the religions of the earth man must work to gain his goodness in order to please his god or, at the very least, to please the men around them who also serve his god. So for Pharaoh to proclaim himself wicked, to admit that he has sinned, does not mean that he is choosing to bow the knee to this righteous God.
Some can see the obvious power of our Creator and submit immediately, others eventually, yet there are and will be many who refuse to the end. They are unwilling to deny themselves and surrender to God’s authority.
At the end of the age God will once again display His power through plagues and judgments upon the earth. Just as He did in Egypt, the plagues will begin small and will increase in intensity. God’s desire is not for mankind to be destroyed but for mankind to repent and turn to Him and be saved. However, just as in Egypt, many will refuse until the very end and their opportunity will be gone.
In Revelation 6:15-16 we read how the kings of the earth, the great men, the commanders, the rich, the strong, the slave, the free, all hide themselves from God after they have seen His display of power through the breaking of the first six seals.
They could have came to Him in repentance and cried out for His mercy and grace, but instead they hid and cried out to the mountains and the rocks of the earth. We hide from God when we know we have sinned and we do not want to stand before His righteousness. Just acknowledging our wickedness is not repentance.
In Revelation 9:20-21 we read once again how mankind refuses to “repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorcereries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” This refusal comes after the plagues within the six seals, and after the plagues within six of the seven trumpets that are within the seventh seal.
Twelve plagues later God is still giving mankind an opportunity to repent and be saved. The gospel of God is still being preached. The one-hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from the tribes of Israel are still preaching salvation. Yet, mankind will not submit to the authority of their Creator God. They still will not fear the word of the LORD.   
Pharaoh and his servants still would not fear God. Seven plagues behind them and still they shake their fist in the face of God. Why will they not humble themselves? Why do they refuse to honor this God?
They refuse because it would mean that they would have to exalt Him above themselves.
My friend, the root of sin is not evil acts.
The root of sin is self.      
Oh Father,
How very stubborn we can be. In Proverbs 18:14 your Word declares, “The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but as for a broken spirit who can bear it?” We can endure our sin when we have pride to stand on. Our strong wills can hold our fist up high and tightly balled for the fight when we refuse humility. Oh, but Father, when you finally choose to break our spirit, to bring our pride crumbling down around us, this we cannot endure. Here is the point we often must reach before we finally willingly submit to Your authority. How thankful I am that You chose to break me.
My Jesus, I love You and it’s in Your name I pray,
Amen

Names of God Series, Uncategorized

Names of God Study: Jehovah-sabaoth

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It’s time for another post in the Names of God series. We have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, El Olam, Adonia, Jehovah, Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha, Jehovah-nissi, Jehovah-mekoddishkem and Jehovah-shalom. Now we will look at Jehovah-sabaoth.

We are introduced to this name of God through the lips of a woman named Hannah. In 1 Samuel 1 we read of woman who was unable to give her husband a child. Her husband had taken another wife and she had given him children. This other wife, because of her children, and I am sure also her jealousy toward the husband’s love for his barren wife, was tormenting Hannah.

Hannah lived with another woman who was giving her husband what she could not… I cannot even begin to imagine her pain. Here, in 1 Samuel, we are given a glimpse into the grief and anguish of Hannah’s heart while she is in the temple. We find her crying out to God, praying that He would give her a child.

Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh.
Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat
by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 
She, greatly distressed, prayed to the LORD and wept bitterly. 
She made a vow and said,
“O LORD of hosts,
if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant
and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant,
but will give Your maidservant a son,
then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life,
and a razor shall never come on his head.” 
1 Samuel 1:9-11

 

Here Hannah cries out for Jehovah-sabaoth, the LORD of hosts. She cries out for Him to deliver her from this pain. From her lips and out of this pain is where God chose to reveal this beautiful name.

Sabaoth means mass, and refers to a mass of angels, the heavenly host, an army.

We need to remember that at this time there were temples and altars throughout the land to a myriad of gods. Many of those were fertility gods. If you were to go to China today you would still find a Buddha temple that is set aside to pray to in order to have a child. There is even one to specify whether you want a boy or a girl.

But Hannah did not cry out to a fertility god. She did not seek out an idol to pour her heart out to or to put her hope in. She cried out to Jehovah-sabaoth, the God of gods.

We see this name of God come again from a young man named David.

In 1 Samuel 17 we read of how Israel is at war with the Philistines. The Philistine army has Israel at a standstill as the giant Goliath stands over them mocking them and their God. David has been sent by his father to check on his older brothers who are at the battlefield. David is shocked by what he sees. There is not a man in all of the Israeli army that is willing to go head to head with Goliath. Therefore David says, “I’ll do it”

Goliath stands before David and laughs in his face. He mocks David and he curses him by his Philistine gods and he insults David’s God. David is not frightened by this giant and he is not impressed by his big mouthed threats. David knows that this giant comes at him in the power of his strength and the non-existent power of his false gods, while David comes at him with Jehovah-sabaoth.

Then David said to the Philistine,
“You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin,
but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 
This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands,
and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.
And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines
this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth,
that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 
and that all this assembly may know that
the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear;
for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

1Samuel 17:45-47

We know that David received the victory. Goliath, as big and mighty as he appeared, was no match for God.

God will always be victorious.

Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts,
The Mighty One of Israel, declares,
“Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries
And avenge Myself on My foes.

Isaiah 1:24

We can be certain that we will all face our own “goliaths” in this life. There will be people and problems and trials and tribulations that we all will face. There will be those who mock us for trusting in our God. There will be those who hate us and seek to destroy us and our witness. Rest assured that Satan is looking for every opportunity he can to devour you, but not even Satan is a match for Jehovah-sabaoth.

Precious one, also remember that David was able to defeat Goliath because he was willing and able to face to him. He was ready to take him head on. He was ready because he had prepared for this battle by his daily walk with God. He knew God by name, by character, and by personal experience with Him.

David never doubted God. He believed God was who God said He was. All the others standing on the sidelines, shaking in fear… they doubted God. They doubted that God would deliver them, therefore they were not willing to face this fear.

My friend, get to know your God.

His name, Jehovah-sabaoth is only a small part of Him. Get to know every part of Him that He will reveal to you. If you are just stepping into this study I implore you to scroll back up to the top and get to know these other characteristics of our God that He so graciously reveals to us in His Word through His name.