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Awesome Hands – part 86

“The judgments” Part Q

September 2, 2015

The Lord is ever present in our lives causing good and evil to come about so that He can lead us to our ultimate goal of being with Him.

Obedience is very hard to hold on to when things are not going so well. Whether we are high on the mountain or low in the valley, obedience seems to be our mortal enemy. We tend to strain to keep His commandments at every turn of our lives, but I believe the Lord knows this is exactly how He has made us all to be.

In the study today, we are going to continue in Exodus 23 while focusing on the repeated admonitions of the Lord to “keep His commandments”.

An Angel before thee

In several of the last studies, we have focused on the Truth that we are God’s people but also that all of humanity is being brought in Him according to His timing.
All must go through the water of separation before they can be brought to the fire of God’s word to be purged with it.

Num 31:23  Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

More often than not, we see ourselves as the recipients of God’s mercy, love, grace, chastisement or insert whatever verb you would like to use.
However, what we should be focused on is how the Lord is using us for His purposes and not what He is doing to us.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
Exo 23:22  But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

We all know that the Angel being spoken about here is Jesus Christ. There is also a connection to these verses that we should directly link in our minds.

When we read these verses we tend to apply them to us individually and “obeying His voice, provoking Him not”. They certainly DO apply to us and the Angel is Jesus Christ, but the Angel is also anyone the Lord uses to bring another lost sheep into the fold.

I am going to list some verses that are probably familiar but that are also confirmations of what I just stated.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

As I read the next verses, I ask you to consider if God’s people meet the qualifications of being sent as an Angel to those God is working with now and all of which He will eventually be working with.

Listen to and read these very important verses telling YOU who YOU are in Jesus Christ!

Clouds:

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mat 26:63  But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be THE CHRIST, the Son of God.
Mat 26:64  Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Mar 14:62  And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Act 1:10  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Act 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Are you hearing the voice of your Lord in these verses today?

We are compassed by a great cloud of witnesses. We run with patience the race of looking toward Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith.

Notice that the high priest adjures and forces Jesus to answer if He is the Son of God. Jesus’ answer is YOU have said it and then He goes on to say, “you shall see the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds”.

This is significant if you want to know the meaning of your Christian life! Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of man. If you are given to see it, and hear the words being spoken to you via the Holy Spirit, it is YOU who are walking to and fro INTO HEAVEN via Jacob’s ladder.

Gen 28:10  And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11  And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Are these same angels the angels mentioned in John?

Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Why is it Jesus mentioned “greater things than these” and then immediately mention heaven being opened and the angels of God ascending and descending?

If you read the entire story where Jacob has the dream of the ladder there are some key points that are often over looked.

Jacob was fleeing his brother who wanted to KILL him. The SUN was set and it was night. Jacob rests his head on STONE. He awakens out of his sleep and says something that still applies to us today.

Gen 28:16  And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the HOUSE OF GOD, and this is the GATE OF HEAVEN.
Gen 28:18  And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19  And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

If you want to know who you are in the Lord, then listen to what the Lord has prepared for you and has orchestrated over THOUSANDS of years. If you desire to know the purpose of your life, then know that you’ve been BASPTISED into His death and resurrection.

The night is representative of sleep and death and the day of being awakened and life.

Luz, are you listening? Bethel, do you hear? Son of man do you hear, Son of God do you know?

H3870
lûz
BDB Definition:
Luz = “almond tree”
1) the early name of Bethel and probably the name of the town in close proximity to the actual location of the altar and pillar of Jacob
2) the name of a town in the land of the Hittites; site unknown
Part of Speech: noun proper locative
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: probably from H3869 (as growing there)

Here is who you are thou prophet and prophetess:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond(H3870) tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

The Lord knows us before we were ever born and we were sanctified before we ever took our first breath. Our sanctification is to start off as Luz and be renamed Bethel, the house of God.

Being the house of God is being the angel the Lord says He will send to “keep the way” to the place He has prepared.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Being the light is not just speaking the “good” things and good news. It’s living it as the “pillar of fire” and having the “fire of the Word of God” upon your mouths.

Being the light of the world is much more than just applying the Word of God to ourselves. We must BE the example of Jesus Christ Himself as we interact with those around us and as the Lord gives us the victory to do so.

It is not easy nor are we alone. The Lord is with us and does the battle for us, both in us and around us in others. Our victories do NOT come overnight and we are given victory day by day so that we are not overthrown.

Fire burns until the work is complete.

Fire:

Exo 23:23  For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
Exo 23:24  Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
Exo 23:26  There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
Exo 23:27  I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

Those the Lord sends us to, whom He has purposed to be worked with now for the purposes of His Kingdom of heaven, will be destroyed with the words that proceed out of mouth.

For those clouds who are without rain, they too will have their reward and we must be DILIGENT to pray that the Lord causes us to remain “faithful clouds”.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12  These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The Lord will send hornets before us to both slay the enemy of the Lord WITHIN us and also without us in OTHERS.

Exo 23:28  And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exo 23:31  And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
Exo 23:32  Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
Exo 23:33  They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

The hornets represent an act which is not of sword or bow but one of a direct act of the Lord Himself, just like the freeing of God’s people from Egypt.

The root word of hornet is leprosy. The warning to us is that we are to obey the commandments of the Lord and we are NOT to serve nor worship the gods of the people who God clears out of the land on our behalf. If we do worship other gods, then the Lord can just as easily send the plagues of Egypt upon us again.

Deu 7:18  Thou shalt not be afraid of them: but shalt well remember what the LORD thy God did unto Pharaoh, and unto all Egypt;
Deu 7:19  The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid.
Deu 7:20  Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.

Jos 24:12  And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
Jos 24:13  And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

It should be abundantly clear that before we are brought to the water of separation, representing baptism, we served others gods.

The gods we serve are always gods which come forth from our own hearts. Sure, there may be names given to them, they may represent the sun, moon or stars or they may represent fertility, death, life, the ground, the rain, etc.

What is abundantly clear is that those “gods” are formed from the worship that is not of Spirit and Truth, but is of self-worship in some way. We all want health, food in our bellies, a roof on our head and peace around us therefore we worship the means of gaining these things.

I am not saying that these “gods” do not have names, but they are names given to worship the “idol” instead of the one name above all names.

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

A good example of this is when Jesus cast out the unclean spirit, and asked for its name first.

Mar 5:7  And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8  For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9  And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

Many are contrasted to One. The Father and Christ are One, we are One with Christ, therefore we are One with the Father. Unclean spirits can give themselves all sorts of names to worship, but that is for mankind to be able to “name” their god or idol and to NOT worship the One True Holy God.

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

Eze 39:6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 39:7  So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

The flood and the parting of the Red Sea both represent the baptism God’s people must go through. After that, we BECOME the clouds made of WATER by day leading to the Way, Truth and Life.

At night, we become FIRE to bring to naught anything that needs to be purified. It should be spiritually clear that we are the pillars of cloud and fire because we are also pillars in the temple of God.

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Exo 23:20  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Exo 23:21  Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The patience of the race set before us is that we are in a marathon and not a sprint and the things the Lord is working in us and in others through us are happening each and every day of our lives.