Reading in 2 Kings chapter 3 brought back a lot of memories for me last weekend. I remember writing about it at length in a 2010 journal, and then I preached a message about it in my home church on the first Sunday of January 2011. Although it's an account of three kings going to war with the Moabites, there are so many principles in the story that have relevance for our own lives as believers.
verse 9 - a long journey, no more water, and no clue of what to do
After trekking for seven days into the desert, the three armies came to the point where they had no more water, either for the men or for the animals. They simply didn't know what to do. There are times in ministry, or just in life, that are like that. Times when we've put in a lot of effort, but we find ourselves in a hard place and we don't see any way forward. The current coronavirus crisis is a time when governments and health services have given all that they have, and many feel they've come to the end of their resources and see no solution ahead.
vs 15 - the solution often only comes in God's presence
The kings had come to the end of their own wisdom and an answer was only found when they called a musician to worship and lead them into God's presence. It's the same for us; we can think and worry all we like and still not come up with an answer; we need to recognise our own limitations and take time to wait in God's presence. It's been interesting to note over the past weekend the way various presidents around the world have called their nation to prayer, recognising publicly that we're not going to win this health battle without God's help.
vs 16 - 17 - a costly obedience
God spoke through the prophet Elisha to give them these instructions: "Make this valley full of ditches." Tired and thirsty, this was probably the last thing these kings and their armies felt like doing; it seemed totally unrelated to defeating the Moabites, or even to getting water for their soldiers and animals to drink. But they were thirsty, and the prophet warned them that water would not come in the usual way - with wind and rain. Instead, God was going to do a miracle and their part was to prepare the ground (literally) for that.
I don't know if they kept digging ditches all through the night, or if they finished digging in the evening and went to bed still thirsty - maybe even more thirsty after hard physical labour. Sometimes the fruits of our obedience are not seen right away. We need to keep trusting that God will be true to His character and to His promise. All that these kings had to hold on to were the words of the prophet: this valley will be filled with water.
vs 20 - sometimes the breakthrough only comes when we're willing to sacrifice
I find it interesting that the miracle happened right at the time they were getting ready to offer a sacrifice of worship to God. It would have been so easy for these kings to say, "Well, God didn't deliver the goods. We dug all those ditches and He didn't do what He promised, so why should we give Him an offering?"
But it was at the very moment of sacrifice that the promise was fulfilled, their work and obedience was rewarded, and refreshing water was miraculously provided.
God sees our hearts; He sees if we are willing to worship Him quite simply because He deserves it. He's watching to see if have the disposition of those three young men in Daniel chapter 3, who said, "No matter what happens, we will worship God anyway."
Perhaps it will be the same for us in this coronavirus situation. We're currently having to make a lot of sacrifices: sacrificing our freedom to go outdoors and our right to meet together for church services. Our Father is also calling us to give ourselves sacrificially to prayer. Are we, in the Body of Christ, willing to pay the price? This time of sacrifice could turn into a time of victory and revival if we are faithful to persevere in prayer and not simply be passive.
vs 18 - sometimes there's more at stake than you realise
Providing water in a dry land seemed an impossible task for these men, and it was. But Elijah told them that it was "just a simple thing" in God's eyes and that He had something even bigger in mind: the defeat of their enemy. It turned out that miraculously filling those ditches with water was the answer to both of these needs: the refreshing of the troops and the defeating of the enemy.
Sometimes, our trusting God to sustain us in the desert is only the first step... and trusting Him to defeat the enemy on our behalf is the second step. And sometimes these two victories are one and the same thing: it was the reflection of the sunrise on the water that won the battle for these guys (although they still needed to do some fighting after it happened.)
Let's face it, eradicating the coronavirus would be "just a simple thing" for the all-powerful God of the universe. But perhaps He has something even bigger and better in mind. Perhaps He's going to use this crisis to make millions around the world realise their own limitations and cry out for help to the God that they've previously been ignoring or taking for granted. Perhaps He plans to use it to bring a huge defeat of the enemy in this generation. Let's not set our sights too low; let's not pray only for the end of the virus, but also for the bigger and better outcomes that God can bring from this season.
vs 23 - it's often true that it's darkest before the dawn
It was precisely at the point when the enemy thought they had the victory (when the Moabites thought they saw pools of blood and went rushing in for the plunder) that the real victory began. Let's be people of discernment, who don't waver and doubt when things appear to be getting darker. Often that's a clear sign that victory is just around the corner.
All that these guys had to do was to put aside their own tiredness and thirst, be obedient to God and start digging ditches. It was God who provided the water; it was God who caused the sun to rise red and strong, so that the pools of water looked like pools of blood. And in a wordplay that only works in English, it's when the risen Son is reflected in our lives, even in the dry and desert place, that the enemy begins to be defeated.
Whenever God plans to do a miracle, His people always have a part to play. They need to cooperate and do their part to prepare the ground. When I preached on this passage on the first Sunday of 2011, I asked the congregation what ditches God was asking them to dig - in their personal lives or in their ministry situations.
So, what about this Covid-19 season of our lives? What is God asking us to do now that will prepare the way for what He wants to do in the future? It might be to pray, to reach out to those in need, to use our lockdown time to study the Word, to demonstrate the peace of God when everyone else is battling the fear of the virus.... Let's get digging!
After that account of Elijah and Elisha's final journey together, the last few verses of that chapter begin to tell us of some of the miracles in Elisha's lifetime. It's interesting to me that the very first miracle recorded for us after Elisha has walked through the parted waters of the Jordan involves purifying a spring of bitter water. (2 Kings 2: 19 - 22) Hundreds of years earlier, after Moses had walked through the waters of the Red Sea, the first miracle we're told about is when he purified the bitter water a Marah. (Exodus 15: 5)
In both cases, what happened was counter-intuitive and clearly of the Lord. Moses took something that was "dead" - a piece of dry wood - to make the spring of water life-giving again. And Elisha took something salty to make the water sweet again. To this day, Jericho is an oasis town watered by what is still known as "Elisha's Spring."
It's a reminder that God is a master in turning things around; He can take something that appears negative and use it to bring about something good - like using the violent shaking of the coronavirus to unleash a tsunami of His love and grace, a huge wave of people coming into the kingdom of God.
Elijah and Elisha had travelled a long way together. And even on their final journey that we read about in 2 Kings chapter 2, they've gone all the way from Gilgal to Bethel and down to Jericho. Elisha has hung in there, right to the end of the journey, even though it would probably have been easier to opt out when he had the opportunity. Now the two men head down towards the River Jordan, and when they get there (vs 8) the older prophet folds his cloak and strikes the water with it. The river divides and the two men walk across on dry ground.
It must have been a memorable moment, calling to mind the previous times that God had parted the water like this for His people: first of all at the crossing of the Red Sea, and then forty years later at this very same Jordan river where they now walked.
We read about it in Joshua chapter 3. After years of wandering in the wilderness, the people of Israel found the Jordan to be the place of new beginning and the place of new anointing. A new beginning for all the people because, as they courageously stepped into that flooding river, they were about to enter their Promised Land. God told them, "You have never been this way before," because that generation had never known a land of their own. It truly was a brand new beginning.
And for Joshua, the Jordan was also a place of new anointing and spiritual authority. We read (Josh 3: 7) that God told Joshua He would "begin" to make him a great leader from that point forward. It was to be a new beginning with new anointing and authority.
Now Elijah and Elisha have just walked across that very same river, also on dry land. The time has come to say goodbye, and this is the moment where Elisha speaks out his heart's desire to have the double portion anointing. He has persevered at each stage of the journey and now, as the story unfolds, he sees Elijah being taken from him into heaven.
Elisha is left alone, and now the moment of truth has come. He picks up Elijah's cloak and strikes the water with it, just as he had seen his mentor do. As the Jordan waters part, Elisha walks through to a new beginning, and a new and double anointing.
Note: although the double portion is not primarily about quantity of ministry or number of miracles, it's kind of interesting that in the following chapters of 2 Kings, we'll read about twice as many miracles in Elisha's life as we read of in the life of Elijah.
In my ongoing reflection on the second chapter of 2nd Kings, yesterday I wrote about the first two places that the older and younger prophet passed through on their final journey together. Today I was thinking about the third location where Elisha was given an opportunity stop his journey, instead of continuing right to the end. That place was Jericho - the place of humility, faith and obedience.
It was a downhill journey from Bethel to Jericho, because Bethel was up in the hills, while Jericho was down below sea level. That's why, in the New Testament, we always read of people going "down to Jericho" (like in the story of the good Samaritan) because although Jericho was north of Jerusalem, there was a difference of around a thousand metres in altitude. Jerusalem is around 750m above sea level, and Bethel even higher at around 860m, while Jericho is around 250m below sea level.
You'd think that walking downhill would make the journey easier for Elijah and Elisha, but this wasn't the case. The change in elevation was so dramatic and the environmental conditions were so radically different that the journey would have been exhausting. While the higher cities probably received around 50 cm of rainfall a year and had what we might describe as a "Mediterranean" climate, Jericho received only 20 cm of rainfall a year and was therefore more desert-like, what we sometimes think of as an "African" climate. The journey is through what today we would call a "rain shadow zone," formed by the steep and confined slope. In fact, Jericho was, and still is, an oasis in the middle of a desert.
The geographical conditions alone - with a tiring journey into a wilderness region - would be enough reason for a traveller like Elisha to feel worn out and tempted to end his journey in the oasis town of Jericho. But when Elijah gave him that option for the third time, we see in 2 Kings 2: 6 that Elisha chose not to give up, and instead committed himself to continuing the journey.
What is our response when life's journey is exhausting and everything seems to be going downhill? How do we react when our surroundings start to feel wilderness-like and the ministry isn't as successful or fruitful as we hoped for? If we didn't learn the Bethel lesson well (see yesterday's post), we might be inclined to renew our efforts and struggle to improve things in our own strength, pushing ourselves towards exhaustion and burn out. Or we might be tempted to throw in the towel and simply give up our journey at that point.
It might not mean that we abandon the ministry - although that does happen for some people in tiring and testing times. A more subtle danger, however, is that we "plateau" in ministry - that we stay where we are, safely within our comfort zone, safely within what we ourselves can accomplish; doing the same things in the same old ways, instead of stepping out in faith to do the new things that God may have on His heart for us.
The opposite can also be a danger, though: that when the "now" things don't seem to be bearing fruit yet, we abandon them and launch into new and different things... but things that aren't quite as faithful to our God-given values. One of our challenges as leaders will often be knowing how to embrace the new things without throwing out our old and eternal values. That's why our value of hearing and obeying God's voice is so important: He is the One who is able to show us the right "new" things, and how to do them in a way that still reflects the values He taught us in the early years of our journey.
No matter how tired and weary he felt, Elisha didn't give up or compromise when he got to Jericho. It became a place where he renewed his commitment for the rest of the journey ahead.
Read on below for more about the significance of "Jericho" on our journey of following God's calling.
In 2 Kings chapter 2, we see Elijah and Elisha journeying together from Gilgal, up to Bethel, and then down to Jericho. Despite having several opportunities to give up, Elisha keeps choosing to continue the journey, even when he arrives in Jericho, probably tired from the long downhill journey and the harsh and hot desert environment. Today, I've been considering what symbolic significance Jericho might have as we reflect on our own journey with the Lord.
Every Sunday School child is probably familiar with the story of the battle of Jericho (or more accurately, the non-battle of Jericho) but not everyone remembers a little episode that happened just before that and was what really made all the difference.
Shortly after the Gilgal consecration, the people's leader, Joshua, begins to contemplate the conquest of the city of Jericho. As he draws near to it, he sees another man standing there with a sword in his hand. Joshua's natural reaction is to ask the man, "Are you with us or against us? Whose side are you on?"
The man's reply is, "Neither. I am the Commander of the Lord's army." In other words, "I haven't come to take sides; I've come to take over."
Joshua had a choice to make at that point. He could cling to his own leadership role and his right to make decisions about what his "team" was going to do... or he could humble himself and acknowledge that God was completely in control of the battle strategy and what the outcome would be. He made the right choice and we see him falling with his face to the ground in reverence. "I am at your command," he says. "What do you want your servant to do?"
It's a real life outworking of the Gilgal consecration and humbling; it's a re-solidifying of the Bethel decision to do things God's way. The Jericho encounter is a re-affirming, from our place of leadership, that God is in charge and we're going to do things His way. If we don't, we may forfeit that double anointing that we might otherwise enter into.
So it's interesting that the first thing the Commander tells him is not so much something to do as something to remember; not so much about an action as about an attitude: "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." Never forget that God is holy and deserves our complete allegiance and respect.
Removing his sandals was a further step of humility on Joshua's part: standing there without any footwear was a very vulnerable position for a soldier to be in. If an enemy came along, it would be very difficult for Joshua to run away or to defend himself from an attack. By removing his sandals, he was entrusting himself completely into God's hands.
When we begin to move into leadership roles, it's all too easy to start giving too much importance to our own vision and strategies, instead of helping the whole team to discern what is on the Commander's heart for us. It's all too easy to allow a competitive spirit to creep in - either within our own team or with other leaders of ministries who do things differently. The lesson of Jericho is that God is in charge and it doesn't matter who gets the credit. Instead of comparing ourselves with others, we can joyfully collaborate and partner with them. God is holy and it's ultimately about His glory, not ours.
So, Jericho is the place of humility, but also the place of obedience and faith. We all know the story of Joshua chapter six: all that silent marching around Jericho, day after day. It made no sense to a trained soldier like Joshua; this was not the battle strategy he would have come up with. He simply had to obey God's instructions, even if he felt a bit foolish (that's where humility comes in) and he needed to have faith that the outcome was in God's hands. As we read further, we see that Jericho, the place of humility, faith and obedience, ultimately became the place of victory, the place of emerging anointing.
Centuries later, when Elisha reached Jericho, I wonder if he remembered those events, if he remembered that great humility, faith and obedience would be needed if he was to continue with God's call on his life and inherit the double anointing. Elisha, tired as he probably was from that long downhill hike, chose not to end his journey in the comfortable oasis of Jericho, but to meet the challenges and continue with the journey that still lay ahead.
Tomorrow I'll be reflecting on the last location in Elijah and Elisha's journey: the Jordan.
Reflecting on 2 Kings chapter 2, I mentioned in yesterday's posts that Elisha had several opportunities to turn back, but chose not to. I find kind of a symbolic significance in the places where that happened.
The first of those places (verse 1) was at Gilgal. The two men had been journeying together, and then Elijah gives Elisha an opportunity to opt out of the journey ahead.
"You can stay here," he says.
I always think of Gilgal as the place of sacrifice and consecration. Gilgal is mentioned several times in the Bible (and it may not always refer to exactly the same place) but the one that stands out for me is in Joshua chapter 5. (See Joshua 4: 19 - 20.) The people of Israel had been journeying in the wilderness for 40 years - because of their own unbelief and disobedience - and now they were on the verge of something new: they were about to claim the Promised Land, but it would require effort, courage and consecration.
They had to renew their covenant with God, committing to follow Him wherever He led them... and they did that by circumcision. (Joshua 5: 4 - 8)
Was it painful? Of course it was.
Did it make them feel vulnerable? No doubt about that.
But it was sort of a first step into the new calling of the new generation: a way of saying, "Here we are, Lord. We're going to do things your way, no matter what the cost."
One of the times when the next generation could be tempted to turn back and miss out on the double portion is at the place where sacrifice and consecration are required; where you feel vulnerable and on the verge of the unknown. It might be a call to give up paid employment and live completely "by faith," trusting God for provision. It might be a challenge to step out of your comfort zone and leave behind something that feels familiar and safe (either physically or spiritually.)
On that day when he slaughtered his oxen and burned his plough (1 Kings 19: 19 - 21), Elisha had already demonstrated that he was willing for that kind of sacrifice. Here again, at Gilgal, Elisha was not going to be someone who would fail the test and stay behind at the place of sacrifice.
What about you and me?
Read on below for the second location in Elisha's journey.
The second place where Elisha had the opportunity to hold back and opt out of the journey was at Bethel - the place of encounter and transformation.
Bethel is mentioned quite a number of times in the Old Testament, but one of the early mentions that stands out for me was that it was the setting for Jacob's dream in Genesis 28. Jacob had been a very ambitious young man, with a tendency to do things his own way, instead of doing them God's way. But that kind of ambition can only be fruitful for a limited time before it becomes a trap for us. Jacob had finally come to the end of himself and his own resources... and that's when he arrives at a place called Luz (the name means separation) and there he has a dream and a personal encounter with the presence of God. He sets up a memorial stone and changes the name of the place to Bethel (which means house of God.)
It's not wrong to be ambitious for ministry, to want success and fruitfulness in the things God has called us to. It's not wrong to long to see our ministry impact the lives of many young people and families. But one of the dangers that every young leader will face is the danger that the ministry will become more important than the One we should be ministering to; the danger that ministering to people, to children, becomes more important than ministering to the Lord; the danger that we get so busy with programmes and activities that we don't leave enough time and energy for our levitical calling; the danger that we mistake God's early anointing on our life as the fruit of our own efforts and achievements. That's when we'll begin to depend on our own talents and giftings instead of on the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It's when we'll catch a glimpse of what's on God's heart, but fall into the trap of trying to make God's will happen in our own way and strength.
That's where Jacob was at, at the time of his first Bethel encounter, and it was only the first step in a journey of transformation where Jacob was learning to do things God's way instead of insisting on doing things the way he wanted or thought best.
It wasn't a short journey for Jacob. Twenty years later, we see him still struggling with God. But whenever God takes Jacob a step further, He often refers to Himself as, "the God of Bethel." (For example, in Genesis 31: 13) The Bethel encounter had been the start for Jacob in the journey of transforming personal ambition into godly motivation. And once a place of breakthrough had been reached, what did God ask Jacob to do? To get rid of all idols, to go back to Bethel, and build an altar to the Lord, the God who revealed Himself at Bethel.
That was Jacob's story, not Elisha's. But when I read in 2 Kings 2: 2 - 4 that Elisha refused to stop his journey in Bethel, it reminds me that this is a milestone all leaders must pass, a hurdle that aspiring leaders must overcome: will my ministry be based on self and on what I think is best, or will it truly be built on bringing joy to God's heart?
Hopefully we have that encounter and make that crucial decision when we are young; it can be painful to be confronted with it when we are older. Elisha didn't turn back at Bethel, but chose to continue on for the next leg of the journey.
Check in again tomorrow for the third location in Elisha's journey.
Against the backdrop of a whole series of evil and idolatrous kings, two of the more godly characters in the books of Kings are the prophets Elijah and Elisha. I've been reflecting this week on 2 Kings chapter 2 and the way that these two men, from two different generations, partnered to see the word of the Lord spoken and demonstrated repeatedly to a people that was slipping further and further away from the God who should have been their true king.
I remember preaching on this passage twenty years ago. The missionary community that I was part of in Cape Town, South Africa, had asked me to speak at the worship gathering of around a hundred staff, and to bring a word for the new millennium. This was the Bible passage that I felt God gave me for that January morning in the year 2000. I spoke about the new millennium that lay ahead of us, and what it would take for the emerging generation of missionaries to enter into the double portion or double anointing of God's Spirit - which is what Elisha asks for as this story unfolds.
Lots of people desire spiritual anointing or ministry success, but sometimes they don't realise or remember that those things come at a price. When Elisha asked for a double portion of the older prophet's anointing, Elijah replied, vs 10, "You have asked a difficult thing." I wonder if he said this because he already knew from personal experience that God's supernatural anointing can rarely be separated from the challenging hardships, intense opposition and internal struggles that usually accompany it. Incredible endurance and perseverance are needed to follow God's call and enter into God's anointing. As Elijah responded to Elisha's request, perhaps he was sensing in his heart that having a double portion of the anointing might very possibly mean having a double portion of the hardships and opposition.
Elijah knew that if Elisha was seeking this for the fame and success, if he was seeking the gift more than the Giver, he probably wouldn't have the endurance to last the course. But if he truly had a desire to bring joy to God's heart, if he had understood and begun to live out that ministry to the Lord is our first priority, and that it's not primarily about doing miracles or impressing people, then very possibly God would grant his request. And so Elijah replied with a simple condition: "If you see me being taken away (to heaven), then you will get your request. But if you don't, you won't."
In fact, Elisha had already gone a long way in meeting the requirements and demonstrating the character for his request to be granted. When the older prophet had first found him, working in the fields, and called him to follow God's prophetic calling (see 1 Kings 19: 19 - 21), Elisha said goodbye to family and prepared to leave everything behind. In fact, he didn't simply leave his plough and his oxen behind, he actually slaughtered his oxen and used the wooden plough to make a fire to cook the meat. Going back to farming wasn't going to be an option for him, as he had burned his bridges (literally, burned his plough) behind him. And it was a cause for celebration; he shared the barbecue with all his townspeople. This was no secret calling; it was a very public demonstration of commitment to the mission. Now everyone knew that Elisha had decided to follow God.
There's an old song that was often sung by previous generations: "I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back." Elisha radically demonstrated that attitude when he made his fire and roasted those oxen. And it's not that he didn't have plenty of opportunity to reconsider and turn back after all. Three times in this chapter - at Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho - Elisha had the opportunity to give up and turn back, but he chose not to. Each time, regardless of the cost, he said to Elijah, "I will never leave you." If he hadn't already persevered at each step of the journey, he wouldn't have been there by the Jordan river; he wouldn't have been around to see Elijah being taken away to heaven; he wouldn't have fulfilled the conditions for inheriting the double portion that he so longed for.
I remember standing in that church building during the worship gathering on that sunny morning in January 2000. I remember looking into the eyes of the many young people present, including a whole group that were working with us as KKI staff and interns, and I asked them, "Will you still be around when I'm gone? Will you still be loving and serving God, and walking in a double anointing?"
Twenty years later, most of those young people are now the age that I was then. I'm not in touch with all of them any more.... but I hope that more than a few of them have persevered and pushed through to inherit that double portion.
Read on in the post below to see the part that each generation needs to play if the double anointing is to become a reality.
In the previous post we saw two leaders linking across the generations to serve God together, and the younger one asking the older one for a double portion of the Spirit's anointing. There are two keys to the double portion principle, and each generation has a part to play in that.
If we're in the older generation (I was forty when I was asked to preach that message mentioned in the post above), we have to be willing for the next generation to go further than we have ever gone; willing for them be more anointed than we were and to "achieve" more than was ever possible for ourselves. We have to trust that they have embraced and internalised the vision and values, that they are following God and not following us. If we hold onto the reins for too long, if we have to be the one with the anointing and the "word of the Lord," we're in danger of preventing that double anointing from ever happening - because we're not trusting them to go further and be "better" than we have ever been.
But the younger generation has responsibilities too. Like Elisha, they have to be willing to stay the course and not give up when the going gets tough. Like Elisha, they need a training season of of serving and working alongside an older leader, rather than arrogantly forging ahead to build "my ministry" or reputation. And, like Elisha, there has to be a clear sense that their allegiance is to God and not primarily to the older leader.
It's not that loyalty isn't important. As the generations link in a mentoring relationship, loyalty to each other is crucial to the fruitfulness of that relationship. Each time Elisha had the opportunity to turn back, he told his mentor "I will never leave you." But it was clear that his allegiance was first and foremost to God; that's why Elisha was preparing himself in his heart to continue with the prophetic ministry, even when Elijah was no longer around.
Elijah and Elisha's journey in 2 Kings chapter 2 passes through four locations: Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan. At each step along the way, Elisha was given the opportunity to opt out of the onward journey, but he chose to continue. That's why he was still around when the time came to receive the double portion of his mentor's anointing.
Over the next couple of days, I'd like to consider the symbolic significance of those four places where Elisha could have chosen to give up instead of persevering, and look at some of the key milestones we need to pass on our journey to inheriting the double anointing. Watch this space.
All the rainstorms of recent winters have completely uncovered the root system of two trees in my street. A powerful reminder that if your root system is deep, strong and extensive, you will weather every storm and needn't be afraid that you'll fall.
How strong are your roots? The current world crisis is a good time to start sending them even deeper by spending time with God and His Word.
Having finished 1st Kings yesterday, today I began reading in the Old Testament book of 2nd Kings. The first chapter recounts an episode from the life of King Ahaziah of Israel - not a particularly well known king, though Bible readers will be more familiar with the things that happened during the reign of his parents, Ahab and Jezebel.
After this Ahaziah had an accident that left him seriously injured, he sent messengers to the temple of a foreign god, to ask whether he would recover or not. But the messengers were intercepted by the prophet Elijah, who chided the king for not seeking the true God of Israel, and sent back word that Ahaziah would surely die. Despite several attempts to arrest the troublesome prophet, the king does indeed die by the end of the chapter.
I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Ahaziah had placed his trust in the God who is unfailingly trustworthy, instead of seeking help from other, less dependable sources. This chapter speaks to me of the folly of seeking reassurance or guidance from anyone or anything other than the Lord.
Some sources, like medical science, do have value and can often be trusted (even though history tells us that doctors and scientists do sometimes change their opinion when new research happens in the next generation.) Other sources, like horoscopes or spiritism, are overtly evil and indeed the Bible expressly forbids us from having anything to do with them. But none of these sources are a substitute for healing from God and obeying what He shows us. Let's not fall into the trap of completely placing our trust in the wrong places.
Amidst this coronavirus crisis, we're going to be hearing all kinds of information from the media, and so far that information seems to be changing from day to day. "Wearing a mask will protect you," has already given way to, "Wearing a mask is only useful if you already have symptoms. It won't really give you any protection."
It would be foolish for us to ignore the advice of doctors and medical professionals... but it would be even more foolish for us to fail to stop and listen, and hear the advice of the God who created us and loves us beyond measure.
You've probably heard of those study Bibles that have really wide margins to allow people (probably the more artistically inclined among us) to doodle and draw as they process and apply what they are reading in the scriptures. I love this example that I saw today from someone who was reading in the book of Joshus. The word COVID has been turned into an acronym for Christ over viruses and infectious diseases, while the 19 has been applied to Joshua 1:9 - Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. That is one example of someone who took time to listen for God's perspective. Let's all do the same.
It's been nearly twenty years since our KKI Go Camp in Midrand, South Africa, had these verses as our theme. The young people's outreach T-shirts had a design that proclaimed, "Unbreakable, Unshakeable," and our goal was to help them consider what it means to live godly lives in a constantly changing world that is often hostile to people of faith. What does it mean to be part of an unshakeable kingdom, even as we live in a world that is constantly being shaken?
Who could have foreseen back then that modern society's presuppositions and common beliefs would be shaken to the extent that a government form in 2020 is likely to ask you if you are male, female or other? Who could have foreseen that biological males (transgender females) would have a legally protected right to go into the same Ladies toilets as little girls?
In more recent years, over the past decade or so, our broader KKI family has spoken a lot about God's "unshakeable kingdom." (Hebrews 12: 28) As our 21st Century world continues to be shaken in many ways, we recognise the importance of building our lives upon the only things that are unshakeable: our God and His Word.
In just a few short weeks since the start of this year, the coronavirus has swept around the globe, bringing fear and panic in its wake. Travel is disrupted as flights are cancelled and airports close. Shops and restaurants, schools and universities are all being closed down. Citizens in several nations (like here in Spain) are being commanded by their government to stay confined to their homes for several weeks. Security guards stand in the supermarket aisles in case panic buying and stockpiling lead to violent interactions between customers... The world as we know it is being violently shaken, and there's a great deal of uncertainty about how long this current situation might last.
But something very interesting is emerging in the midst of all this shaking; I'm already seeing it here in my own context in Spain. As fear grips the nation, Christians are standing out because of the sense of peace they have amidst the storm. As selfishness and greed spread faster than the virus itself, people are noticing that their Christian neighbours are offering to share what they have instead of hoarding it. In some nations (like Italy), people "imprisoned" in their own homes are standing at their windows or on their balcony, joining in praise songs together across the neighbourhood. People who become sick are phoning their Christian friends to ask them to pray... This seemingly catastrophic situation is opening doors for people to observe with their own eyes that there are others around them who are, "unbreakable, unshakeable," and they're starting to want the sort of peace and security that those Christians have.
I have no idea how long this coronavirus pandemic will last. But one thing I do know: six months from now, or a year from now, or however long it takes for this medical emergency to abate, the one thing that will stand out in people's memories, in our kids' memories, in our friends' memories... is whether we who know the God of the universe were any different from anyone else amidst the crisis: whether our lives were a testimony of an unshakeable kingdom or whether we were just as full of fear and panic as the non-believers around us; whether our generosity impacted those near us or whether we were selfishly stocking up on toilet paper the same as everyone else; whether we kept our eyes fixed on Jesus, or mainly kept them fixed on the websites that tracked the spread of the virus...
I've been intrigued to compare this virus situation with those that were faced by Christians in earlier generations. A Swiss friend has written a musical about the life of George Müller, who refused to be intimidated by the cholera outbreak of 1832 and saw it instead as an opportunity to rise up and change the lives of a whole generation of children whose parents had died in the epidemic. The stories of Müller's trusting for God's provision to feed those orphans are legendary. His personal journal is filled with 50,000 accounts of answered prayer.
Other situations that were eerily similar were the atomic bomb fears of the 1940s or the communist fears of the 1950s. Well known author, C. S. Lewis, in a 1948 book about living in an atomic age, wrote things that went against the prevailing and often irrational fears of the time. "If we're all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb," he said, "Let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - like praying, working, teaching, reading, bathing the children... chatting to our friends... not huddled together like frightened sheep, thinking about bombs." Substitute the word "virus" for "bomb" in what he wrote, and it's uncannily relevant for the situations we face today. Are we living unshakeable lives in a violently shaking world, or are we just as full of fear and panic as the people around us who have never entered the Kingdom of God?
Read on below for an example of God's response to someone dealing with fear...
For the past couple of weeks, I've been reading in the Old Testament book of 1st Kings, and yesterday I reached chapter 19. You probably know the story well. After a rather dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel (where Elijah's God was spectacularly shown to be more powerful than Baal), Elijah hears that his life is under threat and that Queen Jezebel is seeking to have him killed.
Probably already emotionally exhausted from the Mount Carmel confrontation, the prophet becomes completely overwhelmed: he lets fear get the better of him, and he runs away. Fleeing for his life, he treks into the wilderness until he finally collapses under a tree. He is so discouraged and disillusioned that he even tells God he wants to die. He feels completely alone, as if no one understands him and no one else is truly faithful to God.
You probably remember how God first ministers to Elijah's immediate physical needs - for food, drink and sleep - but then He begins to address the prophet's deeper, underlying spiritual and emotional needs. A huge display of power (wind, earthquake, fire) demonstrates the strength and sovereignty of God, but it's with a gentle whisper that He begins to speak to Elijah's heart. He asks him a simple question: What are you doing here, Elijah? Why did you let fear get the better of you? Why are you crying under a tree, and hiding away in a cave?
God's response to fear is always the same. He wraps us in His arms and He tells us, "Fear not! Don't be afraid." But after God has Elijah's attention, after He's asked him what he's doing here, God's voice tells him where he actually should be: "Go back, the same way that you came." Whenever we allow our fears to make us run away, God's response will often be what we see here: He will need to send us back to where He wants us to be, and not the place we allowed our fear to take us to. Very often we'll find that our fears were unfounded and that we got things out of perspective. (Elijah thought he was the only faithful believer left, but God told him there were 7000 others who had never bowed the knee to Baal.)
All the media hype around the coronavirus is of course an attempt to make people be wise and careful; but it's also promoting fear and panic. As Christians, we want to embrace wisdom; having faith is not a substitute for following current guidelines about hygiene, hand washing or social distance. But we don't want to embrace fear; there is no place for fear in the kingdom of God. Our response to a situation like the coronavirus will be very telling; it will test whether our lives are built on an unshakeable foundation or whether we will easily be swept off course by fear and doubt.
In KKI, we speak about a "bear and lion" principle of discipling young people. It's from 1 Samuel 17: 36, where David feels ready to face the giant, Goliath, because he has previously seen God help him face the attacks of a lion and a bear. The bear and lion were his training ground and when it came time to face the giant, David embraced faith instead of fear.
I feel as if this coronavirus is a bit like the lion and bear for the people of God. It's our training ground, a place of testing to see if we can walk the talk when it comes to being part of God's unshakeable kingdom. If we can't refuse fear and demonstrate trust in the face of a virus, where will we be when times of persecution threaten us? Jesus warned us in the New Testament that wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences and persecution would all come against us in the last days of world history. The world is going to be even more shaken up than it has been so far, and we won't cope very well if our lives aren't firmly grounded in Him.
And so I have to ask myself again: six months, or twelve months, or eighteen months from now, when I look back on this season of coronavirus, will I see that my life was different from those around me, that there was an "unshakeable" quality that pointed other people to the God who can never be shaken? Or will I see that a sense of fear was paralysing me and blowing me off course?
I don't believe that this virus came from God. But I do believe that He can use it to test us and purify us, to make us the sort of people who can demonstrate His peace and His presence to a world where shaking fills people with fear and despair.
I'm back in Spain... before I even had time to write a blog post about our time in Lebanon. My original plan for this month was to be in the Middle East for ten days, but the rapidly evolving coronavirus situation around the world meant that emergency measures had to be taken and my trip was cut short after only six days.
Airlines were cancelling tickets, especially to and from Europe, and then I got word that the Spanish government had declared a state of emergency and would be closing everything down for a period of two weeks. This meant I needed to find a way of getting back to Spain, or perhaps getting to Scotland instead, before European nations started closing their borders and shutting down airports.
As my airline had cancelled my homeward ticket without offering me an alternative, I spent hours on the phone last weekend, trying to get hold of the airline so that I could be rescheduled to fly on Sunday. Despite hours on hold (being told for more than two hours that my call would be answered "very shortly") I never did manage to speak to anyone, and it seemed there was a distinct possibility that I could be stranded in Lebanon for several weeks.
I sent out a request for prayer and I decided to go to the airport on Sunday - to ask to be put on the afternoon flight to Paris and the onward flight to Malaga. As Spanish airports were due to close at 8 am on Monday, it was imperative that I arrive back in Malaga by Sunday night.
I arrived at Beirut airport before noon, only to discover that there were few airport staff around. They had already begun talking about closing down the airport within the next few days. Amazingly, a real answer to prayer, we somehow found a hidden Air France office in a back corridor. They told us we weren't meant to be back there, but they were very kind and they managed to put me on to the same flights that I would have been on later in the week. They even upgraded me to Premium Economy so that I had a bigger seat with more legroom. What a prompt and encouraging answer to prayer!
However, things still weren't smooth sailing from there on out. Once we arrived in Paris, I discovered that my connecting flight had a 2-hour delay, because airport disruptions meant that it hadn't arrived in Paris yet. When it finally did arrive, the pilot said that he thought there was no point heading back to Malaga at such a late hour, because there might be no ground staff on duty to receive the plane. (I only know this because I overheard Paris gate staff having an anxious discussion in French.) It was time to send out another request for prayer....
God answers prayer and the story ended well. We were eventually given clearance to fly and finally arrived back in Malaga at 2.30 am. I was back in my own house, being welcomed by the cats, at around 3 o'clock in the morning. Meanwhile, other members of our ILT team that had been with me in Lebanon were experiencing their own miracles to get back to the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
So now I'm back in Spain, which has shot into fourth place worldwide in terms of new incidences of the virus being diagnosed. (Friends of mine arrived home from Madrid last weekend, and are currently suffering the symptoms of corona, as are other friends who recently celebrated a family wedding.) For this reason, the Spanish government has followed Italy's example and announced a state of emergency (un estado de alerta) to be enforced immediately. This basically means that the whole nation is in lockdown for the next two weeks. No one is allowed to leave their home unless they have a legitimate reason for doing so. (Legitimate reasons include going to the doctor or going to a supermarket to do your shopping. Taking your dog out to do its business is also considered a legitimate reason, but some people have been stopped by the police, checking that they are genuinely close to home and not using their dog as an excuse to go for a longer walk or run. There are very hefty fines if you do.)
France has now also announced lockdown and curfew, which means that if I hadn't managed to fly from Paris to Malaga on Sunday night, I would not be back home in Spain at the moment. I am so thankful for the people who were praying and for our God who answers prayer.
It seems strange to realise that last week I was visiting Kurdish refugees in Lebanon, walking on snowy peaks among ancient cedars and eating fish in the old city of Sidon.... This week I'm sitting by my fireplace in Spain or I'm buying my groceries in a supermarket that has security guards in the aisles and tape markings at the checkout to help you maintain at least one metre distance from the customer in front of you.
What security there is, however, in knowing that, when the whole world is being shaken and fear is running rampant, we serve a God whose kingdom is unshakeable and who tells us, "Fear not!"
As King Jeroboam continued to lead the northern kingdom of Israel into idolatry (see yesterday's post) God, on more than one occasion, sent a prophet to warn him about the error of his ways. In 1 Kings chapter 13, we read of a time when God even sent a man of God all the way from the southern kingdom of Judah to prophesy against the evil that Jeroboam was perpetuating at his new "places of worship" in Dan and Bethel.
There's no doubt that this man is a genuine prophet who knows how to hear from the Lord. He foretells the future reign of young King Josiah and the things that will happen at that time. When Jeroboam attempts to have him detained, the king's hand becomes paralysed and the prophet from Judah heals him. The sign that he foretold (that the pagan altar would crack open, spilling ashes on the ground) happens right there and then, proving the veracity of the prophet's message. Yes, this man knew how to hear God's voice.
I often think of this man's story when I'm speaking to young people about learning to hear God's voice for ourselves, because it illustrates the importance of testing words that come from others. God does often speak to us through other people, but those words are usually a confirmation of things that He has already been speaking to us personally. It's vitally important that we know how to hear directly from God for our own lives, because He will hold us accountable for what we do with that.
In this story, the man of God from Judah had heard God telling him not to stay for anything to eat or drink in Bethel, but to come straight home again after prophesying to Jeroboam. So when the king invites him to stay for a meal, he declines, explaining that God told him not to linger for anything to eat or drink.
But when he is already on the way home, an older prophet, for reasons we're not told, rides after him and lies to him, telling the younger man that an angel told him to invite him back to his home for a meal. The Judah prophet trusts the older man and goes back with him for something to eat and drink. However, after deceiving him in this way, the older man then gives him a prophecy that actually is from the Lord: the prophet from Judah is going to pray a price for disobeying what God told him. Sure enough, on his way home again, the younger man is killed by a lion.
I remember feeling outraged, one of the first times that I studied this passage, back in the 1980s. The younger man acted in good faith and paid for it with his life, while the older man who deliberately lied to him apparently got off scot free! But God reminded me at the time that this passage simply doesn't tell us the end of the story for the Bethel prophet or how God may have dealt with him in the future. What it does warn us is that we will be held fully responsible for our own obedience or disobedience to the things things God has spoken to us, irrespective of what others may have said to us.
In yesterday's post, I wrote about "easy allegiance" - when we settle for a form of Christianity that is easier than the real thing. One of the areas where this can be a particular danger is when it comes to hearing God's instructions and guidance for our lives. Unless we had the privilege of learning to hear God's voice when we were children (4 year olds seem to have no trouble at all knowing what God is saying to them) it often requires patience and practice when we're a little older. We need to learn to be comfortable with waiting in silence and stilling our own thoughts and distractions so that we can really hear from God. Sometimes it seems easier to have someone else, a pastor or a leader, hear from God for us.
But hearing and obeying God is an essential part of being a Christian and, as today's story reminds us, it's vitally important that we learn how to hear from God first hand and not only second hand through others. He longs for us to listen to Him and joyfully, and carefully, obey.
I'm reading each morning this month in the book of 1st Kings - that season in Bible history when the formerly united nation of Israel is divided into two separate kingdoms - the kingdom of Judah in the south and the kingdom of Israel in the north.
The big split happened when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was too arrogant to take advice from those older and wiser than himself; despite their counsel, he announced his intention to be a harsh taskmaster over the nation of Israel. Most of Israel rebelled and proclaimed a new king for themselves instead of Rehoboam. Only the tribe of Judah remained faithful to him. And thus began centuries of the nation being divided into two kingdoms, each with their own king.
The northern tribes chose a man called Jeroboam to be their king. In fact, this had been foretold by a prophet, quite a number of years earlier. While King Rehoboam of Judah still had the Palace and the Temple in Jerusalem, King Jeroboam of Israel began to centre the northern kingdom's political and religious life around historically significant locations such as Shechem, Peniel and Bethel. The problem was that Jeroboam was ambitious, and therefore a bit concerned that people's going to the Jerusalem temple to worship God might renew their allegiance to Rehoboam and weaken his own position as king.
And so Jeroboam begin to establish some alternative forms of worship. First, he had two golden calves made and he set these up at either end of his kingdom, one at Dan in the north and the other at Bethel in the south. It's unclear whether his original intention was for them to represent the Lord or whether he was knowingly promoting idolatry from the beginning. He said to the people, "Here are your gods that brought you out of Egypt." Of course, that's how a lot of idolatry and compromise begins; it starts with something familiar and true (there's a God that brought our ancestors out of Egypt) but adapts it to suit our own convenience.
Jeroboam may have been doing this in his own interest, but his steps also offered the people an easy allegiance. He even said to the people, "It's too much trouble for you to go down to Jerusalem and worship the Lord Yahweh there." Instead, here are your friendly neighbourhood gods, all within easy travelling distance, whether you live in the north or the south of the country. (1 Kings 12: 28 - 29)
Such blatant idolatry may be shocking to us on a superficial reading of the text, but it's not so very different from the easy allegiance that can creep into some churches nowadays. Whenever it becomes "too much trouble" or too costly to worship and obey the one true God, we will inevitably slip into easier alternatives to true obedience.
When it's "too much trouble" to get out of bed on Sunday morning, we'll opt to watch a service on TV instead, and only go to church when we feel like it.
When it's "too much trouble" to welcome people of different backgrounds and cultures into our church family, we'll tend to huddle in our middle class, well dressed, monocultural congregations.
When it's difficult to have victory over our invisible sins - like criticism, gossip, pride or materialism - we'll focus instead on condemning those with more visible failings - like smoking, drinking, wearing "unsuitable" clothes or having an ugly tattoo.
When it's costly or feels awkward for us to share the gospel with our neighbours, friends or workmates, we'll slip into an unremarkable form of Christianity that never takes a stand for the claims of Christ.
When it's "too much trouble" to spend time studying the Word or listening in silence to hear God's voice or battling in prayer for that lost family member... when following Jesus requires difficult steps of obedience or perseverance or faith... we'll back off and say that this may work for some, but not for me.
And so, little by little, we slip into an easy allegiance that is no allegiance at all. Or, as Paul described it when writing to Timothy, a religion that has an outward appearance of godliness but lacks the power of real faith. (2 Timothy 3: 5)
Very soon, modern day idols will have crept in. For the Israelites in 1 Kings 12, it was golden statues, pagan priests and an alternative festival to the feast of tabernacles. For church folks today, it might mean giving unbiblical importance to how we dress, the type of music we sing or the way we do communion. Like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, our own preferences and traditions become idols and are given more allegiance than biblical truths.
Where is there a danger of "easy allegiance" in my life?
