Go against the flow: Jordan crossing (Part 1)

To view this online as a video: https://youtu.be/OtsTPOjqses

[For those online, see this book overview from The Bible Project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqJlFF_eU )  

Here in Australia we regularly see drought conditions throughout this sunburned country of ours. Then after several years of harsh conditions, we experience a La Niña and all of a sudden, we have plenty of rain. In some areas, floods occur where droughts have been the norm, and the weatherman apologizes to the people. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-24/la-nina-watch-issued-increasing-chance-of-rain-2020/12385876) The dams will diminish to within 2 years of supply (20%) and then increase, even to overflow. For instance, the Warragamba outside Sydney is currently at 96.1%. 

And just up the state and inland, our Border Rivers is at 12%! All within one state.

In today’s episode at the Jordan River, the usual reality was that the Jordan would overflow at this season, bringing its own irrigation to the many. Verse 15 says, 

“When those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest)”

Butler says this, 

“Whereas the opening section of the chapter centred on the person and office of Joshua, the final verses centre on the words and actions of Yahweh for Israel at the waters. The living God, the Lord of all the earth, moves before his people and makes good his claims to universal dominion.”

God indeed is Lord over all the earth and the usual flooded Jordan now becomes a heap. Remember when Moses led the Jewish people out of Egypt, the Red Sea also became a heap, and according to the traditions, there were actually 12 lanes of escape, one for each of the 12 tribes to facilitate the escape/ the Exodus from Egypt. 

In today’s episode, which is actually the first half of two chapters (chapter 4 is the conclusion of this event), God demonstrates his power to his people, so that we will trust him and trust his soldier/ general Joshua. And the main item in view today is the Ark of the Covenant. Next week we will centre on the stones, but for now, the main item is the ark. Mentioned 17 times in the dual chapters. Speaking of a central position, that’s pretty clear. 

And you want to see it more clearly, then stand 2000 cubits away at the closest! By the way,  later we learn that a Jew was permitted to travel a maximum of 2,000 cubits on the Sabbath (Exod. 16: 29 and Num. 35: 5), which is about 1.2 km. (¾ mile)

 That distance is not the crucial thing to note. You want to note that the ark is that much more central when the people are ‘giving it space.’ The ark stands out. The ark is observable by everyone as they pass by. Imagine 3 million Jewish people. Have you ever watched a large crowd trying to get a glimpse of a celebrity from Hollywood or a sports hero? When everyone stands back, the hero is more visible. Think of a noteworthy person in centre stage at the Opera House or at the crease at the SCG. So it is with God that he wanted everyone to know that it was HIS presence which was the centre of their lives. He had saved us from Pharaoh; He had supplied manna and water (yes, and even quail) in the wilderness; he was going to save us and empower us against the enemies in the new land of promise. We needed always to look to him for sustenance and strength. The ark would symbolize that. 

Back to verse 1: Joshua rose early in the morning. This is a characteristic of all those who have made a difference in biblical history. Abraham rose early. (Gen 21.14, 22.2) as did Jacob (Gen. 28.18), Moses (Ex. 9.13), Gideon (Judg. 7.1), Samuel (1 Sam. 15.12), even Yeshua (Mark 16.9, Luke 21.38, John 8.2, Mark 1.35). I believe it’s a spiritual principle. Since Watchman Nee mentioned that in one of his books I read in the mid-1970s, I’ve tried to be up and about early. Everyone is different, of course, and modern living allows for dark shades and quiet windows, but generally speaking, if you rise early, the day is yours for the taking.

“Before they crossed” ַעֲבֹֽרוּ

22 times in chapters 3 and 4 we see this verb, to cross over, in various forms. It’s hard to miss. The purpose of the people at the river is not to remain there, but to cross over. The river stands as a shield, a guard, a prevention, and a test. Today’s lesson will feature the ark and the people; next week we’ll see some memorials. And we will cross!

The word “Ya’avoru” = “before they crossed”. What is the name of the Jewish people in the time of the book of Exodus, that is, what are we called? Hebrews. The same root word is used in that word. We are those who cross over. We left one place and are destined for another. But friends, it’s not only geography, but kingdom change. We are destined for a King who is eternal. We are destined to live in the Kingdom of Light, not the Kingdom of Darkness. We are to be a different people, a peculiar people, a people for God’s own possession. We are born to cross over!

Verse two, the officers go through the tribes and command the people. The officers are under authority and don’t lead their own lives. They are commanded and they pass on those commands. Joshua again comes out as primary commander-in-chief. 

Remember back in the 10^th chapter of Numbers, Moses led a chorus, 

קוּמָ֣ה ׀ יְהוָ֗ה וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙

אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃

Kuma Adonai v’yafutzu oyvecha, viyanusu misanecha mipanecha. What was that occasion? The moving out of the ark of the covenant!  But here in Joshua it’s not for war as it was in Bamidbar. It’s for focus. All Jewish people were going to pass by, and thus it’s for focus. Not on a box, but on the God who is over all. He is to be our focus. 

Verse three—follow the ark. It’s now going to lead us, not into battle, but into the Promised Land. 

Verse four- We’ve already covered the distance for the sake of showing the pre-eminence of the ark to all Israel. 

Verse five- Consecrate yourselves. This is not the first time we have seen this phrase. Moses used it at Sinai. (Ex. 19.22) and Samuel later will say this at Bethlehem (1 Sam. 16.4-5). It carries with it the idea of sexual abstinence and prayerfulness. And also carries an ‘extra day’ often in Scripture. 

Verse six- The command is sent out…. March! And they marched. Again, the writer testifies to Joshua’s authority. 

Verse seven- Assurance of God’s presence, even as he was with Moses. This is designed to comfort the new leader, but when you think about it, it may also highlight the end of the honeymoon period. Think about it. God was with Moses in Egypt, but the Jewish people were not always keen to follow him. Again, after the Exodus, God was with Moses, but again the Jewish people were not always keen to follow him, certainly not without complaining. So here in verse 7 when God assures Joshua, it may be an assurance, but also a testimony that says, “Joshua, you will be misunderstood and your role of leader, although significant today, will be undermined and rejected down the road. But hang in there, I’m with you.” 

Verse 8, God tells Joshua to command the priests to wait right there at the river. 

עַד־קְצֵה֙ מֵ֣י הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן בַּיַּרְדֵּ֖ן תַּעֲמֹֽדוּ׃

When you get to the Jordan River’s edge, in the Jordan you shall stand. 

No alternate opinions allowed. No minority reports. Here’s Plan A. Get it? Got it. Good.

Then Joshua gives charges to the people. Now that he has the priests’ actions sorted, he moves to the general public’s activities. 

Verse 9- Come and listen. What I’m telling you is significant and requires a Sh’ma moment. It’s not Sinai, but it’s significant. When God speaks we should listen. 

Verse 10- We are introduced to the name of God as 

אֵ֥ל חַ֖י

The Living God. Butler says, 

“Israel’s God is thus contrasted to the other claimants to the title. Only Yahweh is active and alive. Only Yahweh intervenes in the affairs of his people. God’s actions for his people prove his power and demonstrate the nature of his person.” (Cf. H. Ringgren, “חיה,” TWAT 2 [1977] 891–93).

And this God of Life will cause us to possess the land of the 7 nations listed. That’s a confidence that Joshua gave when the spies returned from their month-and-a-half survey in Numbers and he still has it to this day. A man of faith doesn’t stop believing because he hasn’t yet received the promises. In fact, this is precisely when he has to believe! Faith which is seen is not faith. (Romans 4.18) Joshua continues to demonstrate his faith and his encouragement to the people that God is to be trusted, for he is trustworthy, and the Land is going to be possessed by our tribes.

Verse 11- God’s presence in the ark is our assurance. Trust him! He’s not only the Living God, or the God of Life, he’s also the Lord of all the earth. Nothing is outside his realm. He is omnipresent and he is not simply a tribal deity like the Girgashites or Hittites admired and to whom they offered sacrifices. He is THE God of the whole earth. Israel, no matter where we are, in Egypt, in the Wilderness, and even crossing the Red Sea—he’s God and trustworthy. 

Verse 12- Choose 12 men, one from each tribe. No one is left out. No territory is out of his domain. No tribe is left out of God’s sovereignty either. Each tribe is represented. Even the 2 and a half whose homes are east of the Jordan. Everyone is there—all hands on deck! And be sure that when the people start to march, you are going to be the flagbearers, just like the Olympic carriers of each national flag. 

Verse 13- Again the phrase of God as Lord over all the earth

אֲד֤וֹן כָּל־הָאָ֙רֶץ֙

Comes to the front. The priests are getting soggy and muddy feet, but God is Lord over all the earth. The waters of various kinds are mentioned 10 times in this section. You can’t miss it. The drama of the ark, the priests and their feet, and the waters are all in view. And above and beyond it is the Lord of all the earth, the Living God. 

I love the drama of it all. God chooses the most auspicious time of year to perform the river crossing. Now sometimes the Jordan can be as wide as 14 miles! The flood plain can be anywhere from a few hundred yards to a mile wide. In that plain were all kinds of brush and jungle vegetation. This is the season of the year when it’s wet—really wet—and the floods take place. The priests walk out along the flood plain and trust Joshua and trust God himself. Can you hear the musical score building as the tension mounts? Imagine Tchaikovsky’s “1812 overture” or Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” The crescendo and the drama match one another. 

Waters will stop? This is unheard of—except that 40 years before it happened to Israel and will happen again!

Verse 14—so it happened. The priests moved out.  The people followed. The ark was there. 2000 cubits distant from at least the closest. 

Verse 15- Ark bearers stood in the water. Priests stood in the water. Soggy. Wondering if this would work. Were they meshuggener? Would God come through? Skip ahead and you will see the water dries up!

THEN verse 16—it happened. Upstream the waters stopped. The river stopped flowing.  The people crossed. I’m guessing they ran a bit. I’m guessing they didn’t linger to shoot a selfie with the water dammed up river. I certainly would have been hurrying!

Verse 17- The priests stood. Verse 16- the waters stood. Everyone is standing at the command of the Lord of all the earth. Now look at the riverbed—it was dry. For the priests and for the people. Even as the Red Sea was dry for the Hebrews (but very wet for the Egyptians who chased them (Ex. 14.21, 15.4))

God is sovereign. He knows how to accomplish his work and to make things happen for his people, and at times against others.

Dear friends, the Lord is over all the earth, even over your earth. Over New Zealand and over Japan. He’s over South Korea and over Perth. And we know his love and life is ours as we gaze at the Saviour whom he has sent.

We are not his because of something we earned; we are his because he made us and made us to know and love him. Unfortunately, we fall short of that love and reject him and sin against him. Yet his plan is ever to reach out to his own and draw us to himself. 

Our response is faith. Our response is to believe him for what he says and what he says about us and our sin, and what he says about his love to us. Our response is faith.

Invitation

Dear friends, do you have such faith today? if you have never asked Yeshua to be your Saviour, today as we keep learning from Joshua, would you choose to believe the Lord of life?   What does it mean to be strong and courageous in light of learning about Yeshua? Would you be willing to take a stand for him who took a stand and died on a Roman cross for you?

If you’d like to do that today, just now, join me as we pray.

Say something like this: “Father in Yeshua’s name, forgive me my sin, I was wrong to dismiss you and to disbelieve in you. I need your mercy. I deserve punishment but you are kind and merciful and I receive your grace. I repent. I receive Yeshua as my saviour and Lord. I will live because of my faith in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.

If you prayed that, please let us know of your profession by writing straightaway, won’t you? Bob@JewsforJesus.org.au We’d love to hear from you.

 

Conclusion

We are delighted you have joined us today. Please join us next week and learn with the others how you can stay on track in 2021 and beyond.   I hope to see you next week as we continue our studies in Joshua.  You will certainly see yourself in the readings and in the lessons. Line by line. It will be worthwhile!  Next week we will look at chapter 4 and see what lessons we can draw for ourselves especially about 12 large memorial stones!

Hope to see you then… until then, Shabbat shalom!

 

 

 

Bibliography

Butler, Trent C., Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 7. Joshua. Word, Waco, 1983.

Davis, Dale Ralph, Joshua: No Falling Words, Christian Focus, Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland, 2019.

Hess, Richard. Tyndale Commentary Complete. 

Meyer, F.B., Joshua and the Land of Promise, Christian Literature Crusade, Ft Washington PA, 1977.

Sanders, J. Oswald, Promised-Land Living, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984.

Weirsbe, Warren. Be Strong: Putting God's Power to Work in Your Life. David C. Cook Publishing, Colorado Springs, 2010.

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D-Groups for this week

1)            Tuesday 11 am Sydney time. Led by James Howse

2)            Monday 7 pm, Sydney time, led by James White

(Contact our office for zoom details)

If you’d like to host a D-Group either online or in person, please contact bob@jewsforjesus.org.au for further details. It’s time to step up. Ponder this—who will be in your D-Group?

From here to eternity...where did that idea come from?

Solomon, the Jewish king, wrote, "He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." (recorded in the Holy Scriptures, in Ecclesiastes 3.11) This notion of 'eternity' is recorded here in Qohelet, but is a translation of the Hebrew word "Ha-olam" which often is translated as 'the world.' 

Don't get bogged down, but have a quick glance at this information from Murphy. (Or you can even skip this next paragraph, but come back afterwards)

The commentator, Roland Murphy, said this of the word. 

"Qoheleth says that God has put (Ha-olam) ‏העלם‎, “duration,” into the human heart. Whether this action is seen as positive or negative, the result is the same: humans have not been helped because they cannot understand what God is about. The interpretation of ‏העלם has been a crux interpretum. LXX (ἀιῶνα) and Vulgate (mundum) understood it to mean “world.” This could be taken as a desire for knowledge of the world in a good sense, or as a kind of secularism or worldliness (1 John 2:16). However, olam עלם in the sense of world is not found in biblical Hebrew, and Qoheleth elsewhere (eg, 3:14) uses the word in a temporal sense. A traditional view understands the word to mean “eternity” (so the RSV and many commentators such as W. Zimmerli and H. Hertzberg; but NRSV, “a sense of past and future”). F. Delitzsch understood it to be the desiderium aeternitatis, or “the desire of eternity.” 

If you don't recognize F. Delitzsch, that's not a surprise, but if you were a student of XIX theology, especially among Jews or Lutherans in Germany, you would know the name very well. Franz Delitzsch, although baptised in his birth year of 1813, has some serious interest in and relations with the Jewish people. His godfather, Franz Julius Hirsch, was likely his own birth-father. Hirsch was a Jewish antiques dealer, although Delitzsch called Hirsch his 'benefactor.' Delitzsch went on to be a commentator along with C. Keil of the entire Older Testament, and actually translated the books of the Newer Testament into Hebrew as well. This, well before the modern State of Israel, and well before the modern use of Hebrew, but still his work is standard among Jewish people in studies in Israel.  Delitzsch went on to assist in mission work among the Jewish people, like what would later be called 'Jews for Jesus' back in the XIX. He was an amazing scholar and man of God.

So when he translated Ecclesiastes 3.11 to mean the desire of eternity, that really helps us in understanding what the wise old king meant. Solomon is saying that God has put the desire of eternity in our hearts, and as a result, we long for its satisfaction, not with temporal things like Solomon considered in the rest of that short Bible book (wine, women, song), but only with eternal things that only God offers.  All because of a longing, a deep desire for 'something more.'
This resonates with me. I grew up with Jewish scholastic considerations. Yet I also grew up in the 1950s and 1960s where hedonism had a culture and a definition: hippies. We lived 'for today' and 'we were sure to wear flowers in our hair when we went to San Francisco.' It was a time of self-love and selfishness. Our desire was for today and not for eternity.

Against that backdrop of dark human consumption settles the words of the king: "He has also set eternity in their heart." Because God has placed this longing in us, we will not rest until we find our rest in Him. All the fake rests we had in the 1960s pale in comparison to the reality of eternity with God.  Not a forever where we sit on clouds and pluck harps, but a forever of being with the Creator of all who as a master artist painted every sunset to which we say, "wow." He is the clever designer of all the mountains and rivers, the colors of every artist's palate and the best symphonies since Haydn. The personal God who wants each of us to know him and to learn of his love, that's the one who has set eternity in our hearts.

Does that resonate with you?

Yeshua said, "God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3.16). He cares about you. He cares about your cousin and the protestors. He cares about the poor in Africa and in Sydney's west. He wants us all to know him and to have life forever, life eternal, eternal life.

The way to receive that is to believe. After all, God has started this longing in you for all that. Why not ask him to resolve that now?

The God who Ever-Is

The God who Ever-Is
By Bob Mendelsohn
Given at Greenlane Christian Centre
Auckland, New Zealand
4 April 2013

Greetings
As a missionary among the Jewish people for 34 years I’m keen to make sense of the Bible and sense of the messianic hope found in Y’shua for all people, both to the Jewish people and for all churches. So today as I lead us in some biblical consideration, I hope you will find meaning and relationship with the Almighty, who ever-is, and ever-was, and ever-will be. May the Eternal One give you revelation as we hear this message.

Let me ask you anytime during this talk to fill out that involvement card you received as you came in, and you can be involved with us down the proverbial road.

Reporting time sheets
Asking a pastor to fill out reports seems a funny thing for religious people. After all, taking what looks like something from school or the business sector and imposing it into a religious worldview seems odd. Ask your rabbi or pastor to account for his work time with a clock in/ clock out timesheet—unusual, right? Or ask him “How many visits with congregants did you conduct?” or “How many funerals did you lead last week?” seems almost morose or odd anyway.

But in 2013, in many arenas of life, we want bang for our buck, we want good value from our investments, and as such we often think in these terms from those whom we hire to lead us.

Does he perform enough to warrant his salary? And why do these guys get so many days off?

The converse is there, isn’t it? “Why should I donate to the synagogue? Why should I give that no-good, lazy rabbi money to do what anyone else could do given his especially easy time constraints?” Or we think that the rabbi or pastor at the church only works one day a week, and they should find other employment if they want more remuneration. Most of you, to be fair, don’t think that way, but some in the world do just that.

Last week of course, was Passover. We celebrated in Sydney together, you somewhere else, and I’m glad we were able to remember the blessed season celebrating the Redemption God provided us in our exiting Egypt some 3,500 years ago.

Four cups of wine
In the Seder on first night, we drank four cups of wine. And the tradition about that revolves around four verbs in the book of Sh’mot (Exodus chapter 6). God will 1) bring us out, 2) deliver us, 3) redeem us, and 4) bring us to the Land of Israel. Celebrating God’s actions in the time of Moses makes sense.

But in 2013, many people think God is less involved, not concerned about us, not concerned about the planet. They think that if there is a God, that he is incompetent or without interest in the messes on our planet. They almost demand to see His timesheet, and ask to see His log of activity in these days. Or as the moderns say, “What have you done for me lately?”

In light of this, let me read from the Bible, in this Passover section, and see if it has anything to say to us as 21st century people.

Let’s read that section in Exodus 6, where those verbs are found, and I want to show you what ELSE God did. “Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. ‘Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.” (Exodus 6.6-8)

Looks like God did a lot more than those four drinking verbs.

Other verbs of God’s actions
Verse 6 begins with a “therefore.”When you see a therefore, see what it’s there for, let’s look at chapter 6.1-5 to see the context.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand (under compulsion) he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai) but by My name, LORD, (Yahweh) I did not make Myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourn in which they sojourned. Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.” (Exodus 6.1-5)

Look how active God is in this chapter. And honestly if you can, look in the rest of the Bible, and you will see a God who although you might think Him distant, uninterested, and busy, He is very involved in His people’s lives and concerns. Listen to these verbs:
Verse 1: I will do
Verse 3: I appeared
Verse 4: I established covenant
Verse 5: I heard and finally…
I remembered my covenant

There is not a time in our relationship with the Almighty where He is uninvolved. He listens. He watches. He acts. He accomplishes. Look at the Passover verbs in Exodus 6 and see the brackets that frame His other active verbs. Verse 6 says “I am the Lord” and verse 8 says “I am the Lord.” In fact 164 times in the Tenach we read that phrase. There by the way, is no verb in that sentence. It’s God who is Being. It’s God who is always. He was. He is. He will be. There is not a time when God wasn’t and there will never be a time when God isn’t. The God who was, is. The God who is, was and will be. Get it? The Hebrew word “Yahweh” has in it all three tenses of the verb “to be.” No wonder some call Him “The Eternal God.”

And it’s because God is, that we can look to Him. He is always on the clock. He is ever working.

But you say, I didn’t find Him when my dad died. My sister had cancer and I asked Him to help and He didn’t. He didn’t fix my situations. He didn’t resolve things as I wished.

This may be a tough one for you to hear, but God is not your servant. God has His own agenda, His own will, His own purposes, and those will be fulfilled.

Isa. 14.27 reads, “For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” There’s that Exodus phrase of the Yad Netuya, the outstretched hand of God reaching to do what He wills. Nothing can stop it. Not even you. Not even your prayers or plans. He will do what He wills.

Most of us have problem with God when He waits too long. We expect His participation; we demand it. Then He seems silent, even aloof, and a father who has gone walkabout, and we are unhappy. Where is the God with outstretched arm and mighty hand?

This is a common criticism of those agnostics and atheists who knock back our beliefs. They say if God does exist and if He really is powerful, then He must not care about us, because so much evil happens in this dark world. Their argument is that if God does exist and SINCE HE DOES NOT ACT, then he must be impotent or not exist at all.

Their problem is the same as ours, when we don’t really process this well. We don’t see the God behind the actions. We don’t see God because we are too focused on ourselves and our situations. What is God up to anyway? And how shall we respond?

What God is up to? He created the world. He evicted our First Parents after instructing them clearly and they failed. He initiated a method of Redemption, which allows us to get back into relationship with Him, through the blood of lambs back in the Exodus and through the Blood of the Lamb of God in Jerusalem some 1500 years later. All of these things are designed for one reason: God is about the business of making His name and reputation big. And anything that gets in the way of that has to be removed. He wants His glory to be known. One of my favorite authors and thinkers is American John Piper. Piper’s most famous quote is “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” So the author was asked, “What is God's glory? ‘ He answered,

“Wow. That's a good question, because we talk about it endlessly, don't we? And we should know what we're talking about. And yet it is very difficult to define. I'll make a stab at it.

The reason it is so important is because in the Bible I don't know of any truth that is more fundamentally pervasive than God's zeal to be glorified, which means his zeal for us so to think, so to feel, and so to act as to make him look as glorious as he is. We don't add to his glory.

So we want to make God's glory shine. We want to make it visible. "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). So the goal of my life should be to so live that when people know me well enough, they would say, "God is glorious!" Not "John is glorious," but "God is glorious!”

What is it? I believe the glory of God is the going public of his infinite worth. I define the holiness of God as the infinite value of God, the infinite intrinsic worth of God. And when that goes public in creation, the heavens are telling the glory of God, and human beings are manifesting his glory, because we're created in his image, and we trust his promises so that we make him look gloriously trustworthy.

The public display of the infinite beauty and worth of God is what I mean by 'glory,' " (End of quote)

Friends in Auckland, God is glorified in us when we are satisfied in Him, Piper says, and that means when you are resting in His capacity and in His accomplishments.

King David and King Solomon wrote a lot about satisfaction. Solomon said it this negative way in Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.” (Prov. 27.20) A longing, and a compulsion, and never satisfied. How unhappy are all those who ever hunger and never eat. And again in “The leech has two daughters, “Give,” “Give.” There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, “Enough”: Sheol, and the barren womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough.” (Prov. 30.15-16) There is a craving and it is unyielding. Always wanting more.

In his day, John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest men in the world. For all practical purposes, his money was virtually limitless, a sort of Bill Gates in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Once, an interviewer asked him, “How much money is enough?”

Rockefeller replied, “Just a little bit more!”

King David had already given us the comfort of what is titled satisfaction but is really the more biblical idea of contentment with these words, “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.” (Psa. 65.4) And again “My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” (Psa. 63.5) But my favorite is the comment in Psalm 17: “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied when I awake with your likeness.” (Psa. 17.15)

We shall be satisfied when we wake up and look like Messiah. Anything less than that is …less than that. We long to change; we long to have a new life. We are not going to be smug about how far we’ve come. Contentment is another thing. We should be content with our lot in life, with our God, and with our lives, as He has assigned us. But satisfied? Only when we get to be complete. The problem comes when we take what we have as enough, as Hosea the prophet warned, “As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and being satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore they forgot Me.” (Hos. 13.6)

End of the day, the goal of God in our lives is to love Him and love others with whole hearts. And the only way that’s going to happen is if we remember God, the God who acts and never fails.

His greatest act of all was 2,000 years ago. It was then that God sent His son to earth, and Y’shua lived, taught, died, was buried and rose again, to give us eternal life. No greater love has anyone than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

King David’s words in Psalm 65 are still ringing in my ears, ““How blessed is the one whom you choose and bring near to you to dwell in your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,”

How did David do this? He saw God as ever-being. He was struck by the Presence of God, in Hebrew, the panim Adonai (the face of the Lord), and he remembered the Almighty.

We do it today in gatherings like here at Greenlane tonight. We remember the Lord. We do it in Passover like we did last night, or last week, in Seders worldwide, in remembering what God did. We read it in the Bible; we hear it sung and watch the movies of God’s actions in history and we rejoice. And we are content. We are never satisfied because we know we are not done. Not yet. But we will be. We remember in communion, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes back.

And we will be, because He ever is. Because of God’s presence and because of His promises, we will be changed into His likeness and we will be like Him one day. Hallelujah!

And the goal of our gathering tonight, is to continue to live for His glory, to bring others to that glory, and to make the world a more glorious place.

Maybe that’s why I do what I do for a living, in sharing the good news of Messiah Y’shua with our Jewish people. The ever-Is God has come to us, and we must hear, we must believe, we must live in the name of Y’shua, the Eternal one.

If you are a believer in Y’shua, you are here and I need you to join me in evangelism. That is, in bringing the good message of messiah to our Jewish people, by giving financially and by praying with us. If you are not yet a believer, I hope you will fill out this card and extend to us the privilege to speak to you again.

Everyone fill out this card and sent it to us using this email Bob email Please pray for us in Sydney and New York, in Israel and South Africa. All around the globe, to make a difference in the lives and hopes of Jewish people. They will be satisfied when they wake up in the likeness, the image of the Son of God. That’s our hope, amen? That’s our work, amen? It’s His presence, which brings this all about.

God took on flesh, emptied Himself, and died for our sins. His presence in Y’shua was enough. It is still enough. And our rejoicing is being in His presence which gives us eternity, today and when He comes, and into the ages of the ages.
Shalom!