Remnant

Often our eyes become focused on the horrible events happening across the world. Right has become wrong, and wrong has become right, and often it seems that the Church is silent. However, this week's Sabbath reading, titled Pinchas, which is the Hebrew version of the name Phinehas, focuses our eyes on something else - the faithful "remnant" of God. No matter how far astray God's people had gone from Him, He assured us in His Word that He always had a remnant, or preserved remainder, who continued to worship Him, remain obedient to Him, and accomplish great things in His name. We will see the qualities that make up the faithful remnant from this Sabbath's reading. From Number 25, we read that the congregation of the children of Israel had begun to join with idolatrous Moabite women. As they joined themselves to these idolators, the Israelites began to worship the Moabite god, Ba'al, instead of the God of Israel. In last week's entry, we read that Balak, the king of Moab, and also the Midianite people, sought out a soothsayer named Balaam, to get him to curse the Israelites for a reward. God did not allow Balaam to curse His people, but Balaam, we find out later in scripture, told the king of Moab how he could destroy God's people from within the congregation by sending the idolatrous Moabite women into their midst (see Num. 31:16). The Israelites would then leave the worship of their God and turn to the false god, Ba'al, Balaam promised the king. Jesus warned the Church that this kind of strategy is still being used to try to destroy the Body of Christ from within, turning the Church away from the Word of God to embrace the lies of men and devils (see Rev. 2:14-15). Once we fall for a lie, we fall period. This is what the Israelites experienced. As they joined themselves to the Moabite women, they also joined themselves to Ba'al: "...the women of Moab...invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to (samad - to fasten to, attach oneself to, to combine with) Ba'al of Pe'or, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel. Scripture later tells us that the god Ba'al also required the sacrifice of living children in fire (see Jer. 19:4-6, Jer. 32:35, 2 Chron. 28:1-3). As a result of their idolatry, a plague broke out among the congregation of the children of Israel. One man dared to bring his Midianite woman in front of Moses and the weeping congregation standing before the tabernacle. "When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel and the Midianite woman, into the tent, and thrust both of them through...So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand." (Num. 25:6-9). The LORD said: "Phinehas...has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My Zeal. Therefore...behold, I give to him My covenant of peace;... to him and his descendants... a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel." (v. 11-13). Phinehas, out of the whole congregation, acted in zeal (qana -jealousy) for God. God allowed the zeal of Phinehas to satisfy His own, and the plague was stopped. A remnant is zealous for God. However, we are not zealous with natural javelins hurled into flesh and blood. The remnant of the new covenant in Christ is a remnant of the Spirit of God. This remnant does not use natural weapons, but spiritual weapons against spiritual powers, and that warfare begins within ourselves, through our obedience. By this spiritual warfare, we "make atonement" for many. This warfare is so powerful that it pulls down evil spiritual powers and strongholds over whole nations (2 Cor. 10:3-6, Eph. 6:11-18). Although this is spiritual warfare, it comes from the same place of zeal within the remnant as the zeal of Phinehas. The remnant is not here to gaze in horror at the trainwreck of wickedness in the world, but to spiritually act in the zeal of God. In another portion of this Sabbath's reading in Numbers 27, five daughters of Zelophehad (meaning "first born"), were denied their father's inheritance because they were not numbered among the men of Israel. As a result of that omission, they came before Moses and stood for their deceased father's inheritance saying: "Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the LORD...Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son?..." (v. 1-4). Moses brought the issue before God and the LORD agreed with Zelophehad's daughters, and commanded that they should receive the inheritance in their father's name. Not only did they inherit, but it became the commandment of God that if a man died with no son, his inheritance should go to his daughter(s) (v. 7-8). A faithful remnant brings an injustice before God, and not only causes the injustice to be changed for themselves, but, as a result of the power of God's righteousness, for many others at the same time. In the same manner, the faithful remnant of the new covenant also stands in the inheritance of the Father's Firstborn Son, Jesus, not only on their own behalf, but on the behalf of many, even all creation (see Rom. 8:16-21, Eph. 1:11-14, Gal. 3:26-29). In another portion from this Sabbath's reading, the great prophet of Israel, Elijah, became overcome with fear and with bitterness against the people of Israel, believing that only he was left to defend the LORD before a wicked, and idolatrous queen and her false prophets (1 Kings 19:10, 14). In bitterness he prayed that he might die, that he had had enough! (1 Kings 19:1-4). It was wrong for Elijah to despise the people, because he was unintentionally despising the remnant in the midst of the people. Although he was a prophet, Elijah was unaware that God had kept a remnant for Himself among the people. God answered Elijah: "Yet I have reserved ( sa'ar- remain, remnant, survive, spare, keep over, to leave as a gift, reserve) seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Ba'al, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (v. 18). The LORD then commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place (v. 16). Elijah was to be removed from his position, and, in a miraculous way, he would be called home to God. In the first chapter of Isaiah, the LORD reveals His Word to the prophet regarding the nation of Israel's evil ways and rebellion against God (v. 2-4). As a result, the nation had been stricken with terrible spiritual wounds (v. 5-6). The nation was desolate in the sight of God, with this exception: "Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah..." (v. 7-9). In our despair over rampaging sin and violence, we tend to forget about the remnant of God, and its purpose. However, God does not forget. Their presence in a nation can act as a restraint against total destruction, as the LORD revealed to Isaiah, above. In this case, the LORD directed the remnant into repentance. Would they obey and heed the LORD for the sake of the land? Phinehas made atonement for the people by the zeal of the LORD. In this example From Isaiah 1, atonement could be made by the remnant only through repentance. Do we understand the responsibility and the grace of God given to His remnant? Paul had to remind the smug and prideful Gentile Church that God had a remnant in Israel which He had not forgotten, beloved for the sake of the fathers, called to receive salvation, and that He would keep His promise that "All Israel shall be saved." (Rom. 11:5, 26, 28-29). The hidden remnant in Israel that Paul recognized would act as a seed of salvation for all Israel. Micah 5:7 describes His remnant as being "...like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass..." in the midst of many peoples. God always has a remnant in the earth, although we may not always see or know them. The remnant stands with and for the LORD, and brings changes to the earth. If you would like to know more about being part of the remnant of God, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father, You have called a remnant in Your Son, Jesus, led by Your Holy Spirit, to stand in the earth among the people and the nations. Show me how to walk as part of Your remnant, zealous in the Spirit, but not warring against flesh and blood, standing for the name and inheritance of our Father, not to consume it upon myself, but for the benefit of many. In these challenging times, help me to pray for the remnant so that we will walk in obedience, wisdom, truth, and revelation. I ask these things in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Famine

The Sabbath reading for this week deals with a famine. In one portion of the reading, the prophet Amos told Israel about a coming famine directed towards God's people who were consumed with the corrupt love of money. They cheated and oppressed others in order to gain wealth for themselves (Amos 8:1-6). God said that their pride brought them to this condition. This prophesied famine would send Israel into a period of repentance and mourning: "...I will make it like mourning for an only son...". (v. 10, see also Zech. 12:10). The prophetic Word of the LORD to Amos describes the famine to come: "Behold the days are coming says the LORD God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing (sama - to hear, obey, understand, yield to, diligently, discern, perceive, publish, declare) the words of the LORD...They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it." (v. 11-12). This is describing a spiritual famine, rather than a physical famine. The famine of "hearing" is on our end, not receiving, obeying, nor communicating to others the Word of the Lord. As the famine hits, God's people would try desperately to receive direction from the LORD, but they would not be able to hear it. Another portion from the Sabbath reading deals with famine from another perspective that pertains to God's remnant. No matter how dark and dire a situation looks, God does not forget His remnant. Isaiah said of the remnant: "Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah." (Isa. 1:9). The LORD had established a whole situation in Egypt over the course of several years so that His remnant would have provision in the middle of a very long famine. Joseph acknowledged to his brothers, who had betrayed him, when he was reunited with them, "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life...And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity (se'erit - remnant, residue, remainder, escaped, surviving portion) for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt." (Gen. 45:5, 7-8). This provision made by God for the remnant was so unusual that it might have been unrecognizable to Jacob and his family back in Canaan. The family had already been in the famine for two years before the brothers traveled to Egypt in desperation to seek food (v. 6). The family might also have felt great reluctance to seek help in Egypt, because in another Sabbath portion, Egypt is described as "the land of Hsm" (Ps. 105:23). (Previously in scripture, Ham's sin against his father Noah, became a toledot (generational precedent) established in regard to Ham's son, Canaan - Gen. 9:18-27). Another reason that Jacob might have been reluctant to live in Egypt is because he was aware that God's covenant promise to him and his fathers was in the land of Canaan, not Egypt. Also, Jacob had the example of his father Isaac, who sowed seed in the middle of a famine, and reaped one hundred fold in this promised land by the favor of God (Gen. 26:12-14). Jacob was convinced, however, to go into Egypt to live, rather than to just visit his son Joseph, by God's reassurance to him: "Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am." So He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes." (Gen. 46:1-4). In the midst of famine, Jacob, father of a remnant of God, did not suffer a spiritual famine in the hearing of the Word of God as we read in Amos above. God did indeed make a great nation of Jacob while his family lived in Egypt. Acts 7:14 tells us that Jacob went down to Egypt with 75 people, but we know that by the time the children of Israel left Egypt centuries later under the deliverance of Moses, they numbered over six hundred thousand adult males, plus the Levites, and the women and children (Num. 1:45-47). Joseph set aside the best land in Egypt, Goshen, meaning "drawing near", for his father and brethren, with Pharaoh's favor and consent (Gen. 47:5-6). The title of this Sabbath's reading portion is also "and he drew near", or Va-yiggash. The remnant draws near to Joseph and to God, while others draw near to, and are ruled by, the world and the things of the world. While the remnant of Jacob was favored and made welcome in the worldliest power, Egypt because of Pharaoh's regard and dependence upon Joseph, the difference between Egypt and God's people was marked. Pharaoh asked what the occupation of the brothers was, and they answered "herdsmen", because their true occupation as shepherds was an abomination, or loathsome, in Egypt (Gen. 46:31-34). Yet the kingdom of God values the role of the shepherd, and both the Father, and His Son, the Messiah, identify themselves as being shepherds. Also, the Egyptians would not eat at the same table as Joseph or the Hebrews. God created favor and provision for His remnant in the middle of Egypt, but there was still prejudice towards, and an offense created by, that remnant. The lesson of Joseph, the famine, and the remnant is important to us today. We are seeing, as was prophesied, a famine of the hearing, in all of the meaning of that word, the Words of the LORD. The apostle Paul wrote of the time when people would know God and His Word, but would willfully choose to ignore it, and even suppress it (Rom. 1:18-21). He also wrote: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Tim. 4:3-4). Peter also wrote of God's people seeking false teachers, false prophets, and false doctrines in the last days (2 Pet. 2:1-2). The days of famine for the hearing of the words of the LORD are coming, and they are even here now. There is a remnant, however, for whom God will provide. Paul said, "Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace." (Rom. 11:5). This word was given in the context of remembering those of Israel who refused to worship the demonic god of the world, Ba'al (1 Kings 19:18). From these things, we can recognize the famine present now, and the remnant in these current days as well. What about the Josephs? Joseph knew as a youngster that he was set apart by God by the prophetic dreams he was given. His dreams portrayed him as having an exalted position, before which others, including his own family, would have to bow. These dreams were true, but that prophetic vision from the LORD tested Joseph: "Moreover He (the LORD) called for a famine in the land; He destroyed all the provision of bread. He sent a man before them - Joseph - who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, he was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the LORD tested him. The king sent and released him, the ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, to bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom." (Ps. 105:16-22). In this description of his affliction and the oppression used against him, Joseph is a type of Christ. The LORD does not place the survival of His remnant into the hands of just anyone. Many thousands may follow the easy, smiling preacher, but the remnant recognizes the Josephs whom God has provided to preserve them. The Josephs have been tested, changed, and proven by the testing of the very prophetic Word that has called them. The man Joseph was not the same as the lad who couldn't wait to tell his family how they would all be bowing to him. The purpose of the prophetic calling upon Joseph was much larger than who bows to whom. Joseph, having been tested by the prophetic Word, understood that he had been exalted, not for his gifts alone, but in order to "preserve a posterity (remnant)..in the earth", and to save lives. These are the Josephs that the remnant needs in order to survive the famine. If you would like to learn more about God's remnant in the earth, and become one of them, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You have sent Your Son, Jesus, to preserve a remnant in the earth, called by Your name to salvation, even in the middle of a famine for the hearing of Your Word. You sent Jesus to keep us alive forever, through all circumstances. I want to be part of Your remnant. I want to always "hear" the Word of the LORD, and obey your voice. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit to keep me, and seal me, in Your remnant of salvation, and to keep me from seeking after any Word but Yours. You have made provision for Your remnant in the famine, and I thank You for it. I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen."