Zeal to Save

In my morning reading, I came across the passage in Numbers 25 where Phinehas executed judgment upon Zimri of the tribe of Simeon and Cozbi a woman of Midian.  The Hebrews were condemned by the LORD for their idolatry, and because of a plague many among the people died.  The rulers of the tribes were executed and hung according to the command of the LORD.  Phinehas was obedient to the command of God and with one stroke slew two transgressors in a tent, and God took notice.

Numbers 25:10-13 says, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ¹¹ "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, 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. ¹² Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; ¹³ and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'"  Atonement by the shedding of blood was required for the wrath of God to be turned away from His erring people.  The Law of Moses provided means of atonement with the sacrifice of animals, but otherwise the blood of the transgressors was required.  In his zeal for God, Phinehas did right to execute righteous judgment and from God received a covenant of an everlasting priesthood--which is awesome.

Today is Good Friday, a day set aside by Christians to remember the death of Jesus on the cross when He provided atonement with His own blood for sinners.  Romans 5:8-11 states, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."  Because of God's love for us sinners, all who trust in Jesus the Son of God have been justified by His blood and shall be saved from wrath through Him.  The death of Jesus made possible our reconciliation to God and eternal salvation.

Phinehas was commended by God for his zeal in executing sinners, and the zeal of Jesus to obey His Father and save sinners was seen in offering Himself as a atoning sacrifice.  Paul said in Acts 20:28, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."  As sinners saved by God's grace and purchased with His own blood, we ought to praise God continually for the new covenant in His own blood that redeems us for eternity.  Glory to God for His love for a dying world and His goodness to us!  That our great High Priest would lay down His life so we might live forever!

Leadership and Authority

I have been starting to read through J. Oswald Sander's book, Spiritual Leadership.  He observed, "The overriding need of the church, if it is to discharge its obligation to the rising generation, is for a leadership that is authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial."  (Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership. Moody Press, 1989. pg. 25) The only way this need for spiritual leadership is met is when a person submits to Jesus Christ as LORD and is filled with the Holy Spirit.  The way leadership looks and works in the world is completely different than the leadership Jesus Christ modelled.  The great need of the church is to seek, obey and depend on Jesus Christ, and individuals who embrace this call will be equipped to lead regardless of their role in the church.

One observation hearers made of Jesus was how He taught with authority--not like the scribes who quoted their rabbis.  When officers tasked with arresting Jesus refused to do so, John 7:46 gives their reason:  "The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Jesus was not a pompous orator whose authority was in proportion to the volume of His voice, for He did not speak on His own authority.  Jesus said in John 12:48-50:  "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. ⁴⁹ For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."  Jesus did not speak with authority as a Jew, a preacher, rabbi, as a man knowledgeable of the Law and prophets, but as the Son of God who obeyed His Father in heaven.  There would be no church without Jesus.

As followers of Jesus Christ, godly leaders ought to follow His example and not speak on our own authority but speak as He guides us by the Holy Spirit.  Rather than vain attempts to inspire confidence in ourselves, we ought to aim to lead people to greater confidence and reliance upon Christ.   Jesus told His disciples in John 16:12-14:  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."  The worldly concept of authority is one who is in charge, makes decisions and is the boss, but the biblical framework for leaders to follow is to always humble ourselves under God's authority inside and out, serving others like Jesus did.  There is no need to threaten, boast, tout or promote ourselves with any authority we have received, for godly leaders are those who continue to grow in humility and submission under God's authority.  We are to be proactive in seeking the LORD due to our constant need for Him, and passivity in this regard leads to spiritual pride that is all for show.

I confess that at an earlier stage when seeking Jesus in earnest, I desired the opportunity to prove to people I was the "real deal," to gain some credibility or even notoriety as a leader.  The LORD knows what a rough work in progress I was and continue to be!  I have learned that desire was terribly misguided, for I am called to lead people to know Jesus as the "real deal."  Like John the Baptist realised Jesus must increase, it is good for all believers to realise we have been born again to follow Jesus, to listen to and obey Jesus, and to lead others to place their faith in Jesus.  Matthew 28:18-20 says, "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, and His disciples who submit to His authority can speak with His authority.  By His grace we can speak the words of everlasting life and be led by Him to experience abundant life through the Gospel.

God Is More Than Man

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

Numbers 23:19

As Good Friday and Easter draws near, I remain in awe of the incarnation.  It is an amazing, miraculous demonstration of love Jesus would die on the cross to redeem sinners from death, yet it is remarkable God humbled Himself to put on human flesh at all.  Unless God was willing to become a man, He could not have died and provided atonement for us on the cross.  While God became the man Jesus Christ, God is not a man.  That's one reason the incarnation is so marvellous.

To humans with a natural mind, it is not humbling in itself to be a human being.  We can discern the difference between an honourable, respectable person and one who is treated with contempt, but we cannot know what it is like to be something other than human.  The God who created the world and all that is in it, every living plant, creature and all human beings in His own image, is completely separate and distinct from us.  He is not the "man in the sky:"  He is the almighty and eternal God, a spirit Being of infinite wisdom, knowledge and power who dwells outside the universe and apart from time.  God is not a man, and thus He does not have our limitations, weaknesses, short-sightedness, and folly--like saying something we have no intention or ability to do.  We can make the error of reducing God to our image and strip Him of His glory by our idolatry.

God chastised His people who assumed He was like them in Psalm 50:21-23:  "These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. ²² "Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: ²³ whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God."  While the Bible attributes human characteristics to God as a frame of reference--like God figuratively having an outstretched arm.  In theology, this is called an anthropomorphism.  There is also zoomorphism, attributing characteristics of animals to God, like where God is described as sheltering people under His wings.  God does not have wings, nor does He have arms.  When God came in the person of Jesus Christ, however, God had physical hands and feet.  Jesus used these hands and feet to do good as He lived, and these were all pierced when He died on Calvary for lost sinners.

We may assume God is altogether like us, but He is actually nothing like us:  He is righteous, glorious and good.  While we may not keep our word and forget what we said, when God spoke He brought the heavens, earth and all creatures into being.  The apostle John said concerning Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh in John 1:1-3:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made."  As people observed and interacted with Jesus, they realised no one spoke like Him; Jesus did miraculous things no one else had ever or could ever do continually.  No one had humbled themselves like Jesus did as it says in Philippians 2:8:  "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."  Jesus took on the appearance of a man but He was and remains more than a man, raised from death to eternal glory.

Worship the LORD, you His saints!  Bow before Him in reverence, and sing songs to exalt His holy name!  For our LORD is good and glorious, not a man that He should lie, one who speaks and does not fulfill His word.  At times God was silent before people who imagined He was like them, but now He speaks through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ--the Man ordained by God to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).  Having been redeemed by His blood and forgiven of sins, how blessed we are to know and be known by our LORD Jesus.  Psalm 34:8-9 reads, "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ⁹ Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him."  Because Jesus Christ is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Drink God's Grace

We can presumptuously imagine the work of God depends upon our best efforts.  While we ought to take responsibility before God to do His will and walk in the way that fully pleases Him, God is required for any of our service and ministry to be fruitful.  If God can redeem our lives from destruction, He can also accomplish His work through our failures.  We should guard ourselves against the error that says since God is all powerful and sovereign, He can do whatever He wants without us and seek to justify our indolence.

When the Hebrews murmured in the wilderness for lack of water, God commanded Moses and Aaron to take the rod of God and speak to the rock, and God would cause water to flow from it.  Instead, Moses and Aaron spoke harshly to the people and struck the rock.  God made water spring from the rock, and the people and all their flocks were well-watered.  Yet there was a severe consequence for the sin of Moses and Aaron:  they would not be permitted to accompany the children of Israel into Canaan.  Numbers 20:12-13 tells us, "Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." ¹³ This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them."

The terrible judgment against Moses and Aaron can be a source of great encouragement for all Christians today.  God identified the sin of Moses and Aaron as unbelief that led to them not hallowing or sanctifying God in the eyes of the children of Israel.  It is possible Moses and Aaron hearkened back to the previous time water flowed from the rock in Horeb and the rock was struck (Ex. 17:6).  They also could have attributed some faith to the fact they carried Aaron's rod that budded which had been laid up in the tabernacle as a memorial of their authority from God.  Rather than crediting God as the life-giving source of their water, they spoke of this miracle as if it was their own doing:  "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"  If the availability of pure water was dependant upon the righteousness of Moses and Aaron, the people would have died of thirst!  God gave the water freely so everyone could drink and be satisfied--Moses and Aaron included.

But a most wondrous truth is contained at the end of verse 13:  Moses and Aaron were judged for not hallowing God in the eyes of the people, yet the verse concludes plainly:  "...He was hallowed among them."  How awesome is that?  All the people drank water by God's grace even though they had flawed leadership.  Though Moses and Aaron failed to sanctify God among the people, He was sanctified among the people anyway.  This is the miracle hidden in the miracle:  water flowed from the rock despite unbelief, and God was hallowed among people who failed to hallow Him.  Let us do our part to walk uprightly as God's faithful servants, living lives above reproach, but let us never think any success has come by our uprightness:  it is all of God's grace.  Drink deep of the grace of God, for in Him all our needs will be met--even through His imperfect vessels.