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Awesome Hands – Part 11

Satan Stood Up

Lev 11:27 –  And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

Gen 3:14 –  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

In the study this week, we are continuing to study the awesome hands of the Lord as they deal with Abraham and how the Lord puts and removes hedges around Abraham.

These hedges are the things we do or don’t do in our lives which cause us to rely on the Lord or rely on what the world has to offer us.

Our walls, our hedge that He has placed around us is there simply because He is the one who is the watchman over them. He doesn’t change, but we continually do whatever is in our best interests to better ourselves in whatever trial we are placed in.

We can see this happening in the stories as they play out in Genesis and it ultimately shows is that we are indeed just beasts.

Lev 11:27 –  And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

Abraham, us in type and shadow, is never going to do things according to how the Lord commands him unless the Lord puts things in motion to make it happen that way.

With all of the different characters playing their roles throughout this study today we have seen that the Lord knows what He is doing.

In that, he calls us beasts and sometimes dogs.

Pro 26:11 –  As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

2Pe 2:20 –  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 –  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 –  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Though we are dogs who continually want to return to that which is only vomit, we also have been created to be arguably the loyalist animal to mankind. In other words, our master also knows of the great love, kindness and loyalty that He has created within that same dog.

Though that point isn’t brought out in these verses, we know that it is a dog who sits at his masters feet waiting on crumbs.

It is the same beast both going back to its own vomit who also waits patient on a crumb, but the Lord deals with us as His children.

One day, that beast will no longer walk on all fours … on the palms of the work of our own Hands, but instead we will stand upright and go on towards being able to “keep the faith” just as we are going to see Abraham do with Isaac in next week’s study, Lord willing.

“Sacrificing Isaac”

In the story of Abraham and Isaac, we are about to find Abraham in a very peculiar position, not only in the situation of sacrificing his son but also where Abraham is told to go do it.

Last study we ended with hands being mentioned in Gen 21:30.

Gen 21:30 –  And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

Here, we see Abraham making a covenant with his own hands and he is making in while he is dwelling with his enemies but not knowing it.

Soon, we will see God making a covenant with Abraham that will parallel with the old and new man way in which the Lord deals with us.

Gen 22:1 –  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

At some point for us all, this is exactly what happens. The Lord comes to us in our distress, sometimes when we don’t even know we are in distress, and lets us know He is there, “behold here, I am.”

When the Lord comes to us in this state, He is going to completely remake us into the new man. It is a process, but here is the start of it.

Gen 22:2 –  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

There are a few times in scripture when mountains are mentioned, but when they are you can be sure that there is a mountainous reason why.

Here, we are told of the Lord to take the son of promise and sacrifice him on a mountain in the land of Moriah but why here? The land of Moriah is very interesting indeed and is a place of focus several times in scripture.

These times of focus are very important for us now as we come to want to know our Lord, to know why the trials we have in life are the way they are, and what the Lord promises to do for us and about the trials He has placed us in.

So, where is this land of Moriah?

Gen 22:2 –  And he said, H559 TakeH3947 nowH4994 (H853) thy son, H1121 (H853) thine onlyH3173 son(H853) Isaac, H3327 whomH834 thou lovest, H157 and getH1980 thee intoH413 the landH776 of Moriah; H4179 and offerH5927 him thereH8033 for a burnt offeringH5930 uponH5921 oneH259 of the mountainsH2022 whichH834 I will tellH559 thee of. H413

Gen 22:2 –  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

There is one other place that H4179 is mentioned. It is in 2h 3:1.

2Ch 3:1 –  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2Ch 3:2 –  And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

The place in which the Lord tells Abraham to go is where later the temple of the Lord is to be built. We know of course that we are the temple of God, but doesn’t that mean we will take the good with the bad, whether we like it or not?

Luk 13:18 –  Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
Luk 13:19 –  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

 

Isn’t faith something that is tried because we are in the hot seat? Abraham is sure about to be tried when he takes his son up to the altar to be sacrificed. However, the Lord has worked it into Abraham to be faithful and that is exactly what the kingdom of God is all about.

Luk 13:20 –  And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?
Luk 13:21 –  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The leaven in the kingdom of God is there with the rest of the meal. There is a time that the leaven will completely leaven the whole lump but lest we kill the entire process and the wheat with it, we must let the wheat grow with the chaff.

Mat 13:24 –  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 –  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 –  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 –  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 –  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 –  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 –  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Mat 13:31 –  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Mat 13:32 –  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Bringing this back full circle, we should be able to see a spiritual pattern building.

In the temple of God, we have the old man which only cares and holds onto the things of the flesh and carnal minded natural man.

Also, we have the new man which must be allowed to be sharpened into benefit “wheat” by allowing the good and the bad to grow up together.

Isn’t this exactly what we have been seeing with Abraham and the blessings and trials he is continuously given and placed in? Time and time again throughout the first parts of this series, we have seen the Lord blessings Abraham even though Abraham does many things the Lord tells him not to do.

The second time that the land of Moriah is mentioned, we see the Solomon builds the temple of the Lord, in type and shadow the temple of God now, but why does Solomon choose this place to build the temple?

2Ch 3:1 –  Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
2Ch 3:2 –  And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.

“Satan stood up”

Why the threshingfloor of Ornan?

1Ch 21:18 –  Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19 –  And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
1Ch 21:20 –  And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21 –  And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 –  Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.

Does anyone remember why there is a plague? The beginning of the chapter tells us this:

1Ch 21:1 –  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
1Ch 21:2 –  And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.
1Ch 21:3 –  And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?

Satan stood up and provoked David, but why was Satan allowed to do this? In truth, the Lord is the one who sent Satan to temp David just as Satan was sent to tempt Christ.

Right about now, it should be of interest to anyone with eyes that see and ears that hear that the Lord has chosen to build His temple in the exact location of which the Lord tells David to build and altar to stop the plague form harming the people any longer.

In the kingdom of God, inside the temple of God, God has setup His throne and His Son’s throne so that we can have hope in this life that this miserable and wretched fleshy life are going to be disintegrated and all that will be left are things which can never again be hurtful to us.

We have been blessed to know that the trials set before us are there because the Lord is orchestrating the entire thing.

Recently, there have been several emails about why physical death is better than birth. Let me tell you all, I cannot wait until the Lord does away with the body of death that I now possess!

I second Paul when he proclaims that he wants to be present with the Lord but knows that His time of dealing with the “thorn in his flesh” has to be endured a little while longer.

Just as we can clearly see in this example of Abraham, Isaac, David and Solomon… the Lord has setup the entire process of creation and time that we live in to make sure that the destruction of the flesh happens and the next step can happen in our spiritual progression, perfection.

So, the Lord highly values the destruction of this flesh which so easily has been used to set us up to fail.

After all, the Lord sends Satan to tempt David and David didn’t have a prayer in heaven of not succumbing to that temptation. David was indeed setup by the Lord to do exactly what David did.

As a result, David is told to build an altar and this altar is later used to direct Abraham to the next step in his walk with the Lord.

“Abraham stretched forth his hand”

Gen 22:2 –  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Gen 22:3 –  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Gen 22:4 –  Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
Gen 22:5 –  And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
Gen 22:6 –  And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
Gen 22:7 –  And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
Gen 22:8 –  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Gen 22:9 –  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Gen 22:10 –  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

You know, there is a reason the Lord chose Abraham for this task. I don’t know if I would have had this kind of faith. We have finally arrived at the mention of the next time hands are mentioned in scripture, and we see it is as Abraham is stretching forth his hand to slay his son.

Mat 10:36 –  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 –  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 –  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

It takes some material to get and keep a fire going.

Gen 22:9 –  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

1Co 3:12 –  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 –  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

“Counting the Cost”

It also takes a sacrifice. However, even Abraham told Isaac that it is the Lord who prepares a sacrifice and it has been this way since the beginning of time. A lamb has been prepared and slain from the foundation of the world.

Where were you at the foundation of the world? You were summed up in Christ already…is where you were!

There are some now who are told that the foes you will face are those of your own household…. and the number one foe you have is YOURSELF.

God is going to see an end of you, and the clock is ticking and I would start counting the cost now if I were you because as the ticks and tocks move around the clock so to do the number of your breaths vanish away as vapor.

Count the cost friend!

Luk 14:26 –  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 –  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 –  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Mat 16:24 –  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Mat 16:25 –  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

David himself showed us that this would be the example to follow. Abraham has shown it to us in his willingness to sacrifice Isaac and later David is told to create another altar to the Lord in respect to stopping this plague which has been sent to the people of the Lord.

Ultimately, the Lord has made a covenant with all of mankind so all will be included. However, it is a process and the Lord has chosen some now to remain faithful to this until the end.

Notice how David goes about setting up the process of buying the land that will possess the altar that David will build to the Lord and also where the temple of God will later be built by Solomon.

No foundation can be laid than that which has already been laid and slain from the foundation of the world. Christ is the altar, Christ is the head and He had a body!

1Ch 21:16 –  And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
1Ch 21:17 –  And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.

David is indeed correct. It was David who was tempted of Satan which causes David to number the people, but wasn’t it the Lord that sent Satan to do his work just as the Lord sent the serpent in the garden to tempt Eve?

Alas, the Lord knows this is the truth so He provides the way out of the scenario. After all, it is there for us to learn by!

1Ch 21:18 –  Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19 –  And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the LORD.
1Ch 21:20 –  And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21 –  And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 –  Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the LORD: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people.
1Ch 21:23 –  And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all.
1Ch 21:24 –  And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.
1Ch 21:25 –  So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.

The time of harvest has come, and I stand now between heaven and earth, a pillar in the church of the Living God threshing of the wheat that is in you in the Kingdom of God.

The Lord has told us to count the cost, and just as Ornan did we MUST be willing to give it all. Christ has paid the full price and as His body He tells us that the price has already been paid.

We, as our own individual selves no longer matter. We are a part of a body in which has one mind of guidance and directionàthe Word of God.

Conclusion – the land of Moriah

 

Most of the study today has been about faith. We know faith comes from the Lord as a gift, so I want to ask you “where is your faith?” It might seem a strange question to ask, but since we are studying the story of the father of the faithful and the reasoning for the name, we can glean a lot in knowing where our faith is once we receive it.

In other words, where does it dwell? We need to be able to draw upon this source because it is the trials that come along as sent by the Lord that will ultimately send us to this place.

The land of Moriah has been very important our study today, so I thought I would share with you all where this place is and why it is so important to the Lord. He must think it is because there is so much spiritual activity taking place here and is one of the reasons why.

Moriah –

 

H4179

mo r ya h  mo r ya h

mo- ree- yaw’, mo- ree- yaw’

From H7200 and H3050; seen of Jah; Morijah, a hill in Palestine: – Moriah.

H7200

ra’a h

raw- aw’

A primitive root; to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitively, intransitively and causatively): – advise self, appear, approve, behold, X certainly, consider, discern, (make to) enjoy, have experience, gaze, take heed, X indeed, X joyfully, lo, look (on, one another, one on another, one upon another, out, up, upon), mark, meet, X be near, perceive, present, provide, regard, (have) respect, (fore-, cause to, let) see (- r, – m, one another), shew (self), X sight of others, (e-) spy, stare, X surely, X think, view, visions.

H3050

ya hh

yaw

Contracted for H3068, and meaning the same; Jah, the sacred name: – Jah, the Lord, most vehement. Cp. names in “- iah,”“- jah.”

H3068

y e ho va h

yeh- ho- vaw’

From H1961; (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God: – Jehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050, H3069.

H1961

ha ya h

haw- yaw’

A primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary): – beacon, X altogether, be (- come, accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), continue, do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, X use.

H1933

ha va’  ha va h

haw- vaw’, haw- vaw’

A primitive root (compare H183, H1961) supposed to mean properly to breathe; to be (in the sense of existence): – be, X have.

H183

‘a va h

aw- vaw’

A primitive root; to wish for: – covet, (greatly) desire, be desirous, long, lust (after).

Everything the Lord is doing in each and every one of our lives and the lives of all of humanity is deeply rooted in the Truth that though we don’t know why the Lord does what He does, we do know that He has the good of us all in His will and mind.

I long for the day that I will awaken to see my Lord as He is and to do away with this flesh that for so long holds us all in pain, suffering, hunger, thirst, nakedness and poverty of knowing the Lord as He is.

As much as we all desire this happening, the Lord Himself desires it more and is willing to put us through our trials now so that we can come out so perfectly that all we can do is reflect Him perfectly in our image! How great will that day be!