Rise Up, Lord!

Let your enemies be scattered!

Thus goes the history of the Israelites in the wilderness: “And whenever the Ark set out, Moses said, ’Rise up, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.”’ (Numbers 10:35)

“And when the Ark was set down, he would say, ‘Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel!’”  (Numbers 10:36) 

Yaweh gave instructions to Moses about the route of the long journey that lay ahead of them:

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.   Pay attention to him and listen to what he says.  Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.  

“If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.  My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.  

“Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.   If you worship me, the Lord your God, I will bless you with food and water and take away all your sicknesses. ”  (Exodus 23:20-25)

There are people today who get very upset about this instruction of the Lord regarding other tribes  It is clear their opinions are based on a real lack of knowledge and understanding of the truth.

God had once already dealt with human wickedness by sending the flood, in which He wiped out all but the members of a chosen family who would act righteously.  He was looking for a righteous nation who would become His chosen vehicle for His redemption of mankind from sin, through the coming of His Son.

Idolatry

But fast forward 1000 years or so – sin was rampant again in the people: every kind of wickedness.  The tribes mentioned above, in addition to ‘marketplace’ wickedness, were worshipers of idols: Baal and Moloch – and the people thought both of these inanimate gods favored temple prostitution, and the regular sacrifice of live infants on their altars.

Talk about gods formed in the image of man…

This idolatry was anathema to Yaweh.  He wanted none of that in His chosen people – hence the instruction given time and again to wipe out the enemy tribes.

Well, the people disobeyed Him, and although the Israelites had women of their own, they made a practice throughout their history of taking foreign wives.   The natural outcome of that was the reintroduction of the worship of Baal and Moloch.  (Think King Ahab’s wife Jezebel as an example.)

This was a regular pattern in the history of the Jewish people.  Time and again, they backslid on this point, time and again the Lord allowed their enemies to overcome them and their fortunes slumped.  Time and again, there arose a righteous leader who cleaned up false worship and set the nation back on track.  For a while…

It still goes on today.  Abortionists, take note!  Baal is still calling for worship, still anathema to God.   Do not look for a lovey-dovey God of unconditional love – that is not His way, thank goodness!

He will not be mocked.  Nor will He condone the slaughter of the innocents.

So spiritual warfare goes on – and it will continue until the End Of The Age.  Our present troubles are evidence of this – and we wonder why life does not go well?

For more information about the works and products, click on the images.

The Lord Will Fight

For anyone facing a mountain of difficulty in their life, the most valuable advice comes from the Old Testament.

To Moses God had entrusted a massive undertaking – to bring His people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses didn’t want to go, but God had His way, promising to go with him. It took 10 plagues, released one after another upon the people of Egypt before Pharaoh relented and agreed to let the Children of Israel go.

Mountain Of Difficulty

Ahead of them was a mighty trek across the desert to The Promised Land but Yahweh went before them in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Finally they reached the Red Sea.

And then disaster struck. “And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.  So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.” (Exodus 14:8-9)

The Israelites were caught.  With no escape to the north or south, they were herded together on the beach, the waters of the Red Sea in front of them and behind a convoluted mountain range with a narrow, twisting wadi now filled with the pursuing Egyptian army.

The people threw up their hands in horror.  “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?” they said.  “…it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”  (Exodus 14:11, 12)

The Solution

We all know how the story ends – how God caused the sea to recede, giving them a dry land passage, and how the waters rushed back when they were safe on the other side, drowning the pursuing Egyptian army.

But the really crucial part of the story tends to get overlooked in the overall epic.  Moses remained calm in the midst of the people’s wailing cries, and he said to them:

“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.  The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”  (Exodus 14:13-14)

Two important directives:

• Stand still;
• Hold your peace.

“The Lord will fight for you” – IF – you do these 2 things.

How often do we try to fight our battles in our own strength?  And how often do we find failure?  One of the greatest warriors of all times, David the Psalmist, hardened in battle, had this to say:

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”  (Psalm 20:7)

Again:

“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”  (Psalm 46:10)

It may be hard to give up trying to fight in our own strength, to ‘be still’ and ‘hold our peace’ (mentally, too: that’s even harder) – but remember this: if you are determined to be in charge of your own struggles, the Lord will leave you to it.

Note:  When designing this artwork (first begun in 2008), I had in mind the beach at Nuweiba.  I am aware of the longstanding controversy that surrounds the route of the Escape, but this location seems to me the most apt.

For more details about the artwork and products, click on the image.