“Pharaoh
and his army drew near...the sons of Israel
Do you
sometimes feel that the kingdom of “sin and death”, which ruled over you as a
slave, is breathing down your neck again?
You may feel that the ruler of this world and his armies are drawing
ever nearer to you. At times like these we may wonder: “Why did YHVH bother to
take us out of Egypt
in the first place? Were there no graves in Egypt?” (Ex. 14:11).
Are your personal situations and circumstances so
trying that you wish YHVH would just remove you from this life? “Oh God, just take me back to Egypt, spare me
of this wilderness trial, or please just whisk me off to the promised land!”
Times like these enable us to better identify with our forefathers. They too
faced real-life situations, which were loaded with real needs and fears. YHVH’s
Word records these examples for us, to learn from. They are a living blueprint
and may serve as roadmaps for us as we learn to walk in faith. Even in life’s
darkest valleys the still small voice of the Spirit is always with us. However,
we too must be still, read the Word and pray - if we are to hear the word of
YHVH: “DO NOT FEAR! Stand by
and see the salvation of YHVH which He will accomplish” (Ex. 14:13); and, “YHVH
will fight for you while you keep silent” (v.14).
Oh yes, there are times for loud praises, crying
out in prayer or for doing many exploits but there is also a time for the Holy
One of Israel to speak these words from the mouth of the prophet: “In
repentance and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust is your
strength” (Is.30:15). We simply have no choice; we cannot turn back, but
can we hear the voice of YHVH saying to us: “Why are you crying out to Me?
Tell the sons of Israel
The words,
“fear not”, or “have no fear” occur over one hundred and seventy
times in the scriptures. The only “fear” we are instructed to develop is the
fear, or awe, of YHVH. With this perfect fear comes wisdom: “The fear of
YHVH is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding” (Pro. 9:10). To know Him is to know perfect love: “there
is no fear in love, perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Ten of the twelve spies came back with an evil
report, and all of Israel
was infected. This resultant fear made it necessary for all of Israel to wander
around in the desert for forty years. We must not let the spirit of fear deny
us of our inheritance, nor to keep us out of YHVH’s will. Interestingly, the
two leaders with the good report were Caleb of the Tribe of Judah and Joshua
the Ephramite. Let us, who are inheritors of the covenant promises, be like
Joshua and Caleb. Caleb, who served the Holy One for forty-five years, at the
youthful age of eighty-five said the following: “I am still as strong today
as I was in the day Moses sent me, as my strength was then so my strength is
now for war and for going out and coming in. Now then give me this hill country
about which YHVH spoke...” (Josh. 14:11-12)!
Let us also remember the words that were spoken
to Joshua the Ephraimite: “Be strong and courageous! Do not fear, tremble or
be dismayed, for YHVH your Elohim is with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).
Come let us be those watchmen on the hills of Ephraim who call out “Arise,
and let us go up to Zion
Today we are obviously faced with new challenges,
as the Spirit of Elohim is calling many from among the nations and restoring
their identity as the ‘lost tribes’ of Israel . Yes, the second stick/tree, or house, of
Joseph in the hand of Ephraim is now being gathered into a great assembly, or
nation, within the nations. This is a sovereign move of YHVH to fulfill His
promises to all Israel . But hand in hand with this restoration are
also great shakings, in our lives personally and in the world in general. Therefore we need to know that “YHVH
has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind” (2 Tim 1:7).
We need to
understand that the restoration of the lost tribes’ (generic name of
“Ephraimites”) identity, and their ultimate return to the land is totally in
the hand of the Spirit of YHVH. We need
the fear of YHVH like never before, so that we may have the wisdom from above.
“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality and without hypocrisy” (James
3:17). We also need discernment as to what YHVH is
doing at this point in time. There are modern day self-proclaimed Moses or
Joshua’s who want to bring the Two Houses of Israel back together under some
religious or political organization. I
believe that we are only at the beginning of the restoration, and not at its
conclusion. The Spirit is turning the
hearts of the children to their fathers, (the fathers in scripture being
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). The
Ephraimites had been orphaned and rejected, but now the Spirit is restoring to
them their identity and acceptance. If
this is what YHVH is doing, then we should be in a position to confirm this to
those whom the Spirit has already revealed it.
We should be writing, speaking and shouting from the roof tops the good
news of this wonderful work that the Holy One is carrying out.
“These are the days of
Elijah”, has become a very popular song.
A couple of months back two Elijah’s met in Jerusalem and argued as to which one of them
was the real one. The name “Elijah”
means, “my Elohim is Yah”. Perhaps this
is why so many are beginning to use the name “Yah” instead of “God”. However, who is the “my” of this title (which
must be the other part of the equation, as “Yah” is also identifying Himself
through the one who is claiming Him as his Elohim)? The sum of the equation is presented in Yah’s
own statement to Moses: “I am the Elohim of your fathers; I am
the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob…
Elohim is not the Elohim of the dead, but of the living" (Ex.3:6;
Matt. 22:30), even in this generation.
Ephraim
Ephraim
1 comment:
A good word for our times, Ephraim. Thanks and blessings.
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