Jehovah Tsidkenu – The LORD our Righteousness – Part 1

Jeremiah, the prophet, found himself in the middle of a world that was consumed by corruption and wickedness. Jeremiah watched as his nation was conquered and carried away into a strange land as punishment for their wickedness. Still the leadership didn’t learn. They remained wicked, corrupt and godless he was even arrested and held in prison as a corrupt rulers attempted to silence the prophet of God.

It was in these terrible circumstances that God gave Jeremiah these messages and revealed God’s chosen leader “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

Righteous Leadership

Judah had a leadership problem – Jer 23:1-4

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.” 
Jeremiah 23:1

These pastors are the leaders of Judah (one of the tribes of Israel), the guiding influences that are so inherently trusted. Judah’s trust was misplaced in these men. They had destroyed and driven away the flock and God promised to punish them for these actions.

God promised them a Leader (Jehovah Tsidkenu) – Jer 23:5-8

Under the leadership of “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” Israel would remember the return from captivity like they had the Exodus from Egypt. They would be regathered from the scattering that the unfaithful leaders had caused. Once they were regathered they would know true, righteous leadership.

Who is this Leader? The New Testament gives us greater insight into the identity of this Leader.

Jesus is our righteousness:

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” 
1 Corinthians 1:30

Jesus is righteousness to the believer.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus became sin for us “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. What a beautiful thought! Our place of rightness with God isn’t through our merit, it’s through the person of Jesus Christ.

We aren’t promised wise or righteous leadership in this life. In fact the example of scripture and all of history is that you can count on leadership to be unrighteous, unfair and self serving.

This is why an understanding of the leadership of Jesus is so comforting. He is always righteous and is the way for us to be made righteous.

Pray with Jesus’ Righteous Leadership in Mind

As we pray, we may be praying for the infant struggling with a major health problem and think, “That’s not right.” We my be petitioning the throne of grace for a missionary imprisoned for serving God and think, “God, wouldn’t he be able to serve you better if he were free?” We may mourn with the child who survived when her parents were killed in a drive-by-shooting while her sister clings to life in the hospital and cry out, “Father, what about this is just?”

But in this honesty, mourning, and pleading don’t lose sight of the fact that Jesus is the King. He will reign and set everything right.

Isaiah described the world that Jesus will reign in as king in a couple different passages. Take a few minutes to read Isaiah 11:1-10 and Isaiah 65:17-25 (a few verses will be selected for summary).

“4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.  
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins.  
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.” 
Isaiah 11:4–6 (emphasis mine)

What a joy to see the justice that Jesus will bring as King. He will bring perfect righteousness to the government of men through His Millenial reign, and then into eternity. The results of this everlasting righteous leadership are seen in Isaiah 65.

“17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: And the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: And the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” 
Isaiah 65:17–19

Later in this passage it describes what prayer will be like:

“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; And while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” 
Isaiah 65:24

Our perfectly righteous King will know our requests and answer them before we even have a chance to pray about them. Fellowship with God will be perfected.

Studying and Application:

Think through the injustice you see in the world. How does this prompt you to pray?
- Tell God about the things you see that aren’t “right”, trust them to His righteous care.
How does 1 Timothy 2:1–2 emphasize praying for our leaders?
- Make a list of your local, state, and federal government officials and purpose to pray for them at least once a week. Try to meet some of your local or state leaders to ask for prayer requests.
Review your prayer list. Take a minute to add any new requests now.

5 Strategies to Maintain Your Devotional Life on Vacation

Vacations are awesome! A chance to get away, rest, and spend quality time with loved ones.

Dad and me standing at the top of a water fall during one of our hikes.

Last week I went on a family vacation. It was great, last-minute, but great! We did quite a bit of hiking, played games in the pool, and did a little shopping. Though this doesn’t sound like a lot, once you factor in meals, conversation, and a coffee run… or two it’s a full schedule.

On vacation, you’re out of your usual environment so most of your routine is gone. But that doesn’t mean your devotional habits have to suffer while on vacation.

Below are 5 tips that help me when I am trying to maintain my devotional life on vacation.

1. Pick Your Time

For Devotional habits to be maintained on vacation you have to decide when you’re going to do them. This is VERY basic but that’s how this stuff works.

On this most recent trip, my nieces decided that the apartment I was staying in was going to be where they’d hang out. I enjoyed this a lot. But it meant some very cute 6 and 8-year-old distractions would be coming over as soon as they knew I was up. I needed to plan my time accordingly.

I try to give myself at least 20 minutes of focused time. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t, but if I don’t try nothing happens.

2. Pick Your Place

Choosing a place for devotional habits is something that has helped me for years. In the new environments of vacation lodging, this can be challenging as well.

The first couple of days on this trip I went for a walk in the morning for my prayer time. The new sites and sounds held a few distractions, but for the most part, I was able to focus. Then I would read my bible in the apartment where my stuff was set up.

Walking may not help you, but maybe there’s a balcony where you can hide for a few minutes, or if things get crazy you could try going to a coffee shop, anywhere that you can be consistent and that is accessible. I’ve known some who get up early and hide in a bathroom for their devotional habits. This wouldn’t be ideal for me but it worked for them.

3. Set Up for It

When you get to where you’re staying get out your Bible, Prayer Notebook, Journal, devotional book, or whatever you need. Make it visible. This visual reminder can help you keep up with your devotional habits.

I like to have a place to keep my Bible (I usually bring a hardcopy with me on vacation), journal, and prayer notebook where I can get to them easily in the morning. This also helps me to not lose them somewhere else.

4. Go To Church

Being in church is one of the best things you can do for your devotional life. On vacation, this can sometimes fall through the cracks, but let me encourage you to make it part of your plan.

There are many reasons to attend church even on the road. We, as believers, need fellowship with other Christians. We need to be challenged from God’s Word even when we can’t be part of the meeting of our local church. It is such a joy to meet like-minded brothers and sisters in other parts of the country.

Going to a different church can feel uncomfortable. You’re not with your church family, you can’t sit in your seat, the pastor may preach differently.

I’ve had some strange experiences visiting churches on vacation. When I was a teenager we went to a church for a Sunday evening service. My family and I arrived a little early and walked up to the front doors. They were unlocked. Assuming that someone was inside we went in to find that the building was empty. After about 20 minutes of us sitting in an empty church building, people started to show up. They had a service and then left, just about as quickly as they came.

This was a strange one, but most of my church visiting experiences have been much better.

This last week most of my family was able to attend a prayer meeting with a small but great church not far from where we were staying. It was a blessing to sing with these brothers and sisters and to share in their prayer time. We were encouraged to hear the Word of God preached with boldness and clarity.

5. Give Yourself Grace

Give yourself some grace. Not everything will be like it is at home. Leave yourself some room. Remember these habits are about walking with God not keeping up with a checklist.

While I was on vacation my scripture memory plan just didn’t happen. I didn’t choose to stop, it just didn’t happen. But I can get back into it now that I’m home.

One day while I was gone, my schedule went crazy and I ended up reading my bible on my phone away from my journal. I texted myself my journaling thought for the day. I don’t like having my quiet time that way that’s how things worked that day.

When things go different than you had planned remember to put God first, not your habits. Give yourself some grace.

Your Turn

How have you maintained your devotional life while on vacation?

What are some struggles you’ve had in this? (There may be others in the comments who can give help from their experience.)

Are you on vacation? About to go on vacation? Put some of these tips to use and let me know how it goes.

Share this post with anyone you know who is headed out on vacation this summer.

Jehovah Shalom – The Lord Our Peace

I’m a worrier. By that I mean that I find it easy to slip into worry, to get caught up in thinking about the dangers of things, to fret about how someone might respond, or to just be stuck in thoughts of my potential failure. But I’ve learned that I can’t let fear or worry consume me. This fear can be crippling and if I’m not careful it will spread to other areas of my life, and ultimately leave me unable to fulfill the role God has for me in life.

As I look at my life I see that I don’t really have anything to worry about. If there was ever someone who had a right to worry it was a guy we read about in the book of Judges named Gideon.

The Story

Gideon lived in Israel after the nation had been established in the promised land but before they had their first king. During this time Israel was constantly in and out of trouble with other nations because it wasn’t faithful to God (Read more on this in Judges 1-5).

One day while Gideon was threshing wheat, trying to keep it hidden from the Midianites (the nation oppressing Israel at this time), “the angel of the LORD” appeared to him.

God wanted Gideon to lead His people to deliverance from the captivity of the Midianites. This would be a huge responsibility and Gideon wasn’t sure he was up to the challenge.

After the Angel of the LORD assured him that He would be with him, Gideon brought a meal to the Angel of the LORD, and the angel gave Gideon instructions for the meal to be given as an offering to God.

When the angel set the offering on fire with the tip of his staff Gideon was overwhelmed. It seems that he thought he would die.

“And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” 
Judges 6:23

This must have been a huge comfort to Gideon, the passage goes on to say:

“Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.” Judges 6:24

Jehovah Shalom

This is one of the names of God that isn’t translated into English for us in the Bible. It is a compound word in Hebrew, made up of the word translated “LORD” or “Jehovah” elsewhere (see my previous article on this name of God) and the Hebrew word “shalom”.

The word Shalom generally means “peace” or “well-being, health, and prosperity” W. W. Wiersbe,

While we aren’t given a translation of this combination in English, there are a few options that bible scholars have given for our benefit: “The Lord is peace.”^⁠1 – Warren Wiersbe, “the Lord, our peace^⁠2” – Roy Gingrich, “The Lord is my peace, or The peace of Jehovah” – Adam Clark.

Though the wording changes from one attempt to another one thing remains consistent through them all: The LORD is PEACE, the connection can’t be ignored.

Application

Prayer is the most potent source of the Peace of God.

“⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” 
Philippians 4:6–7

The idea behind the word “careful” is anxiousness or worry. We aren’t to be worried or anxious about anything. But we should be sure to pray about everything

Be careful for NOTHING

Gideon had a lot that he could have been worried about. Imagine the responsibility of leading a nation. Imagine the potential for horrible losses in battle. But he trusted in God.

He talked to God and asked God to give him a sign (the fleece see Judges 6:36-40), later God reassured Gideon of His plan by letting him hear about a dream one of the Midianites had (Judges 7:9-15).

Pray about EVERYTHING

We can ask God to teach us how to trust Him. The missionary Hudson Taylor, while studying medicine before his ministry in China, purposed to never ask for his pay. This would be a way to test his faith in God. If God couldn’t provide for him in his home country how could God provide for him in far off China?

Once, after Hudson Taylor had been impressed by God to give the last of his money to a poor family, he found himself praying again for his daily food and the rent money he owed his very gracious landlord. Out of the blue, a letter was delivered with money that met the needs. He was surely tempted to worry but God proved Himself faithful to Hudson Taylor over and over again and He will be faithful to you.

Prayer is the avenue of this trust, it is the plan for freedom from worry. We see three parts of this in Phil 4:6

Prayer – Talking to God

Supplication – Pleading with God

Thanksgiving – Thanking and praising God

Don’t be afraid to bring your requests to God or even to plead with Him for an answer. Then don’t forget to praise Him for the answers to prayer you see and for the peace that He gives.

Studying and Application:

What are some of the greatest areas of worry or concern in your life? How can you pray about these?
Read and compare Colossians 3:15 with Philippians 4:6-7. What relationship should believers have with the “peace of God”?
Review your prayer list. Take a minute to add any new requests now.

¹Warren Wiersbe, Be Available 2. “Does God Know What He’s Doing?” (Jdg. 6:14–24)

²Roy Gingrich, The Books of Judges & Ruth E. The Judgeship of Gideon (Chapters 6–8)

Pray First

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Timothy was in a war (1 Timothy 1:18). He had been called and gifted by God for ministry in training people in God’s word. He had been trained by Paul for this ministry. And now he is on his mission: teaching truth, calling out error and leading souls to a merciful savior.

Now what?

What’s his first step? How should he get started?

Pray

“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;” 
1 Timothy 2:1

Notice the word “therefore”, this word is an arrow pointing us back in the text. It’s telling us “You may have read on, but don’t forget what I just said.”

Yes, Timothy is on a mission. And that mission will involve a lot of interaction with people. But it MUST all begin with prayer.

Pray First

Prayer must be first. Whether this is in priority or in chronology it must be first, not an afterthought. I wrote before on this passage and I’ll refer you to that post for further application of this verse.

Our focus in the ministry of God’s word is often consumed by the words we plan to say. We stress over the order of points, we look up endless lists of words in Thesauruses to find just the right word. This isn’t a bad thing, precision is important. But when we get fixated on our own performance we can miss the power of God.

We must pray first.

Pray for Everyone

Paul encouraged Timothy and the church to pray for “all men”.

Pray for everyone. Don’t hold back your prayers. Don’t assume that someone is beyond help.

I once had a student in Victory Club who was very difficult to work with. Rebellious, mean, defiant. I have to admit that when she stopped coming to club, I didn’t miss her. A couple months later I was going through my prayer planning notebook and was just about to strike out her name, when something stopped me. I left it there and prayed for her daily.

About 6 months later she came back to club, out of the blue. I was shocked. Then we invited her to a youth event a couple weeks later, where she was saved! I don’t give any real credit to my prayers, I give credit to the God Who called me to pray.

Don’t stop praying! Pray for everyone!

Pray for Leadership

“For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” 
1 Timothy 2:2

Pray for your government leaders.

Our government dictates the boundaries of how freely we can present God’s truth. We in the United States are very blessed to have the freedoms we do. God’s influence in governmental affairs is vital for our freedom to carry out His commands. In praying for them we are looking for God to give us peace.

We do not look to government for permission to share God’s word. However government can be a tool in God’s hand for protection as we share his Word.

Pray for Souls to Be Saved

“3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;  4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 
1 Timothy 2:3–4

God wants us to pray this way, because He wants everyone to be saved. This is a powerful reason to pray and to present God’s word boldly.

“5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;  6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 
1 Timothy 2:5–6

Not only does God want people to be saved, but Jesus made the way for us to be saved. Jesus is the mediator between God and mankind. He is uniquely able to ransom sinners.

Your Turn: Pray

My challenge couldn’t be simpler. Pray!

In preparing for this post I remembered someone that I have wanted to be see saved for years, but I haven’t been praying for them. I know how easy it is to want things but never pray, even things that I know God wants.

Think through your prayer list. Are there people who you should be praying for but you aren’t?

Is there anyone you have “given up” on. Let me encourage you to keep praying for them. God isn’t done with them, keep praying.

Jehovah Qadash – The Lord who Sanctifies You

Once the children of Israel were away from Egypt and had some experience watching God provide for them, heal them and rally them, God took them to a mountain where He would teach them how He wanted them to live.

Israel’s Sanctification

Here God gave them the Law. Starting with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) God began teaching them how to live in relation to Him, to each other and to the world around them.

The book of Leviticus carries on this theme containing God’s instructions for tabernacle worship (the way they would worship in the tent designated for His service). Israel is given a lot of specific instructions about sacrifices and cleanliness in this book.

In Leviticus 20 God warns the Children of Israel about associating with the worship of Molech, and evil spirits. Then He tells them:

⁷ Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. 
Leviticus 20:7–8

“sanctify” (verb) – sacred.

“to set apart, consecrate, dedicate, regard as holy; to set apart as dedicated to God; by extension: pure, innocent, free from impurity”
Mounce

To Israel this meant that as they followed God He would show that they are special, He would let it be seen that they were holy.

New Testament Sanctificaiton

This concept is expanded on for New Testament believers in: 1 Peter 1:15-16.

^“15But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; ¹⁶ Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

“holy” (adjective) – “sacred (phys. pure, mor. blameless or religious, cer. consecrated)”
Strong

This greek word is sometimes translated “saints”. But here it isn’t used positionally as much as it is in a sense of intentional dedication to God. Notice the context:

¹³ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: ¹⁵ But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; ¹⁶ Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. 
1 Peter 1:13–16

These verses point out five things that are involved in this holiness. While they are important in all areas of our sanctification, we’re going to focus on how this passages relates to our prayer.

1. Focus

“gird up the loins of your mind”

Focusing in prayer is often a point of spiritual warfare. Distractions surround us and obstacles arise. Our minds need to be prepared for action in our prayer like a warrior would bind his clothes up to not hinder his movements in battle.

2. Self-control

“be sober”

“to be calm, steady, controlled; to weigh matters.”
Wiersbe, W. W.

We can’t pray as we should when our mind, emotions, or will are out of balance. We need to be sober.

3. Hope

“and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

Without our future sure, and without a sureness of God’s ability and willingness to act on our behalf for good, what’s the point of praying. But we can be sure of God’s word. We pray knowing that our king will return for us.

4. Obedience

“As obedient children”

Prayer is ultimately seeking God’s will and then acting on it in faith. In this we pray about the mundane and the extraordinary. But we obey.

5. Holiness

“not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance”

Believers are holy through the gift of God the Son, Jesus. In salvation the power our lusts hold over our lives is broken, we can still choose it but we no longer have to choose it. We are no longer ignorant of our place with God. He is Holy, we need to be Holy.

Our own fleshly desires and lusts have no place in our prayers.

This passage is primarily to be interpreted in the broader view of our sanctification. But prayer is a vital part of our sanctification. In prayer we should be and can be Focused, Sober, Hopeful, Obedient and yes Holy.

Studying and Application:

Think through when and where you have your prayer time. Are there distractions that you have to deal with frequently? Make plans to remove those distractions before your next prayer time.
Read Isaiah’s experience in Isaiah 6. How should an understanding of God’s Holiness change the way we see ourselves and the world around us?
Review your prayer list. Take a minute to add any new requests to your list now

Hymn of Praise

“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” 
1 Timothy 1:17

This is one of my favorite hymns in scripture. From it comes one of my favorite hymns to sing in church.

Immortal, Invisible by: Walter C. Smith

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, 
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, 
Almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, 
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; 
Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above 
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, 
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; 
All praise we would render- O help us to see 
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!

Hymns in Paul’s Writing

Paul includes this in his introduction to the letter to Timothy. Right in the middle of his exhortation to doctrinal accuracy, right after his remembrance of the grace and mercy of God given to him in his salvation Paul includes this hymn.

Let’s not miss this. Paul is writing to someone who is to be an apologist, a belief warrior and he writes in the words of this hymn.

I can imagine Paul sitting at a desk, writing this letter to his son in the Faith, his heart overflowing with praise for the God Who saved him. Committing with the words of this song to honor and glorify God for ever and ever.

Music Teaches

This hymn isn’t out of place. Just the opposite. Music teaches. As a teacher of truth Timothy could harness the power of hymns such as this in leading others to stand for truth. We can teach ourselves and others with the music we choose to let into our minds.

The Power of Music

What we sing to ourselves can strengthen or weaken us. We can pump our brains full of the ideology of a world that is against God. Or we can live in the joy of praise to God. These choices exist in every area of life. But none more than in what music you choose today.

I am blown away by the messages of modern music. The selfishness, sensuality, the disregard of God and his ways. Just last week I was exposed to a country song that basically had the message “God stays in his part of my life and I get the rest”. This isn’t a health perspective of God or life!

Our hymns are a different story. These songs are composed of words that move us to praise. Combined with their music, these hymns present a God worthy of praise and worship.

Your Turn

Make music a part of your worship to God.

What are some of the songs and hymns that lift your heart to praise and worship God? In the comments share some of the music that helps keeps your focus on God and His truth.

Be willing to turn off music that is teaching you things you know to be contrary to scripture.

Find some music that will lift the eyes of your heart to God, and motivate you to praise Him.

Here are a few songs and hymns that have been a blessing to me:

Is He Worthy?

You Alone are God

(To my knowledge this song has not been professionally recorded)

Immortal, Invisible

Jehovah Nissi – The LORD Our Banner

The Story

A nation newly freed from captivity in Egypt, just beginning to get her feet under her, struggling for basic needs like water (Exodus 15) and food (Exodus 16), Israel meets her first military threat (Exodus 17:8-16). The Amalekites, a nomadic people distantly related to the Hebrews, had come against them. They must have felt that such a large group of Israelites was a threat to their territory, they were right.

Moses assigned Joshua to lead a choice group of warriors into battle against them while Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of a hill overlooking the battle and Moses raised his staff, “the rod of God”, above his head.

As the battle raged below them, as long as Moses’ staff was raised the tide of battle would be in Joshua’s favor, but as Moses’ hands grew tired and began to droop, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Aaron and Hur must have seen this pattern so they set Moses on a stone and standing on either side of him helped him hold up his hands.

Joshua and the army won the battle.

In the aftermath of this battle God promised the ultimate defeat of the Amalekites to Joshua.

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 
Exodus 17:14

Then in verse 15 Moses makes an altar commemorating the battle and the victory that God gave them in it. He named the Altar Jehovah-Nissi, meaning The Lord Our Banner.

Moses knew there would be battles yet to come. And while they were victorious that day, war is never pretty and never easy.

Our Banner

Nissi means banner, flag, or standard (Like a rallying point)

In a battle, this rallying point is vital. Any warrior who may be disconnected from his unit knows where to go. This is where he can find safety and where he can get further instructions for the battle. The banner waving in the breeze reminds and reassures the warrior that the victory can still be won and reinforcements will still be sent.

This is true for believers today as we labor for the cause Christ. Caught up in the details of where we are in the fight it can seem like we’re losing… I imagine this is how David felt when he penned the words of Psalm 61

^“1 Hear my cry, O God; Attend unto my prayer. 
² From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: 
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 
³ For thou hast been a shelter for me, 
And a strong tower from the enemy. 
⁴ I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: 
I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” 
Psalm 61:1–4 (Take a few minutes as soon as you can to read the rest of this precious Psalm^⁠)

God is our banner, our rallying point whether we think the battle is going well or not. When we see victory we can rally to Him, when we feel defeated we can rally to Him. When we aren’t sure where we stand or wonder if our orders have changed we can look to The Lord Our Banner.

Our Rally Point in Prayer

This is how we should see our prayer. No matter what we feel or where we are we can make it to our Rallying Point through prayer.

You are not alone

Moses and his staff provide a object lesson on prayer. Notice his strength failed, his arms got tired and his staff came down. But there were people with him who literally came alongside him. Aaron and Hur were there to help him. This is why we meet for prayer.

One of the key, indispensable functions of a biblical church is prayer. Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 said it is “first” or the most important thing we do. Our prayer meetings are a time for us to rally together to Jehovah our Banner and raise our requests and cares to Him, and to do it with the help of our fellow believers. And to be the help our fellow believers will surely need in prayer.

Studying and Application:

How can you better make prayer a “first” thing in your life or in your church? What is one practical step you can make toward this goal today?
Are there some requests that have you “weary” in your prayer life? Share this with your church or Sunday school class to get others praying with you. If you can’t share it that publicly share this request with your pastor or trusted christian friend.
Review your prayer list. What are the victories God has given you in prayer this week? Take a minute to add any new requests to your list now

Operation Ephesus

1 Timothy 1:18-20

Operation Neptune Spear

Wartime is filled with special missions. Missions so important that great care is taken to keep them a secret. They are staffed with only the people critical to success, and each person is trained to have laser focus on the objective.

In May of 2011 the US Military undertook one such mission. This one to capture or kill one of the United States most wanted: Osama bin Laden. Codenamed: “Operation Neptune Spear” the mission included a group of highly train Navy Seals who entered the terrorists compound, cleared it, killed the mass murder, and left with valuable intelligence in under 40 minutes.

The mission Timothy was on wasn’t going to break the news cycle like Operation Neptune Spear did, but it was very important nonetheless.

Operation Ephesus

Paul had asked Timothy to stay in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3), but this was more than a request. This was a specific charge, a mandate that would involve Timothy’s calling, skill, training and focus.

“This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;” 
1 Timothy 1:18

Mission Operator: Timothy

God had told them that Timothy would take part in this Charge. I don’t know what form this prophecy took, but it’s safe to assume that God made it very clear to his church that Timothy was meant to work for Him in the proclamation of the gospel and defense of the truth.

Mission Objective: Sound Doctrine

Timothy was to ensure that the believers in this place were taught the truth (1 Tim 1:3-4). This would be no small task. Already just a few years after the gospel was first preached in this region false teaching was making its way into churches.

Mission Resources: Faith and Good Conscience

Paul knew that this would be a war, but Timothy had the resources he needed to carryout this struggle.

“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” 
1 Timothy 1:19

Timothy would need Faith and a Good conscience in this fight. These are the same words we discussed in 1 Tim 1:5. Paul was very concerned that Timothy keep these things as he went to battle.

Faith

This refers to the whole of what Timothy knew from scripture and from Paul’s teachings. He would need this confidence in the fight.

Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus called faith a shield that would “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” (Eph 6:16) This Faith is the main line of defense against the doubt that evil forces hurl at believers. Timothy would need this confidence just as much as the people in his church.

Good Conscience

In the defense of the truth I fear that some abandon their own conscience. We can get a christian version of “the ends justify the means” and leave behind the guidance of the Holy Spirit in a vain attempt to advance the cause. This is a sure way to lose your way.

Mission History

Others had failed this charge because they lacked faith.

“Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 
1 Timothy 1:20

While we don’t know a lot about these men, they are used as negative examples. They abandoned God, put aside faith and good conscience leaving Paul no choice but to bar them from Christian fellowship.

Learn from examples like this, view the wreckage of their lives and ministries as a warning about a way to avoid. Preach the word, with your words and with your choices.

Your Turn

Operation Ephesus lives on wherever you are when you read this. The Gospel still needs to be proclaimed boldly, the truth is still the only place to stand. Like Timothy you will need the resources of faith and a good conscience. Many have fallen in this struggle as they give in to false doctrine and reject God.

Will you stand in this war?

Jehovah Rapha – The Lord Who Heals

The nation of Israel has just been freed from slavery in Egypt. God has shown His great power in their Exodus through the plagues that Egypt endured and in the overthrow of the armies of Egypt in the Red Sea.

Imagine walking on dry ground through the sea then turning to watch the most feared army in the world destroyed as the walls of water come crashing down. How could this special people not see God’s power? How could they question His ability to care for them?

This is where we find the nation of Israel in Exodus 15:22-26. Their “big problem” of chapter 14, the army, was solved. That leaves them with a new problem: water (v 22). Moses finds himself being responsible to find water for ≈ 2.5 million people along with their livestock.

Marah

Three days into this problem they arrived at a place called “Marah” where there’s a pool of water. “Marah” means bitter, and as it’s name indicates that water was bitter and they couldn’t drink from this pool (v. 23). We don’t know from scripture if they were being water snobs and the water didn’t taste good enough for them or if the foul taste indicated something worse. Either way this source of water wasn’t the solution they had hoped for.

So what do they do? Do they pray about it? Do they encourage Moses that they’re with him and trust him? No. They complained… They didn’t ask God to heal the waters, they went straight to complaining.

“And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?” 
Exodus 15:24

Moses however went to God with this problem. He prayed and God showed him a tree to cut down into the pool and the “waters were made sweet.” (v. 25)

God gave them a decree. As they stood before the waters that they knew God had healed, He gave them this message:

“And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.” 
Exodus 15:26

The LORD Who Heals

“The LORD that healeth thee” translates the name of God “Jehovah” (see a previous article in this series for more on this Name) and the Hebrew word “Rapha” which means “to mend (by stitching), i.e. (fig.) to cure^⁠1”

In this context this word most specifically refers to the idea of treatment, prevention, or the alleviation of the symptoms of a disease. But the word itself meaning “to mend” refers back in the context to the healing of the “waters of Marah.”

It’s special for God to speak about healing in this way. They may have been in great fear of the power of God. They had just seen God unleash some terrifying plagues on the people of Egypt just before their release from slavery:

Water becoming blood (Ex 7:14-24)
Frogs (Ex 7:25-8:15)
Dust becomes lice (Ex 8:16-19)
Flies (Ex 8:20-32)
Plague among the animals (Ex 9:1-7)
Boils (Ex 9:8-12)
Great Hail (Ex 9:13-35)
Locust (Ex 10:1-20)
Darkness that could be felt (Ex 10:21-29)
Death of the First-born (Ex 11:1-10, 12:29-30)

Many of these things could, and did, cause great health problems, or physical injury. And then, think, if God could do all of that what other harm could He cause.

But now they’ve seen God heal. They’ve seen God restore this water to something that can be used. He is no longer just a God that releases destruction on those who stand against Him, He is the LORD who gives healing to those who walk in His way.

The Lord WILL Heal

God makes another promise of healing to the people of Israel in the book of 2 Chronicles.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 
2 Chronicles 7:14 (Emphasis mine)

This is in the context of the completion and dedication of Solomon’s temple. God wanted His people to know that He stood ready to heal them. “Heal” in this verse is translating the same Hebrew word as the one used in Exodus 15:26.

While the primary application of this promise belongs only to the Children of Israel, we as God’s people can apply a few of these principles ourselves.

Listen to and obey God

We can and should humble ourselves to God (James 4:10 see context), pray to God, seek God’s face and leave behind any evil ways we’ve been traveling down.

Prayer for His healing

The world around us and all the people in it are broken. Our hope is to call on the Lord Who Heals

We can not only pray for our own healing but also for the healing of those around us. God will hear, and He will Heal.

Studying and Application:

Read Job 1-3. How could the evil of this world and the ways God leads us to growth give us a fearful view of God’s power?
Think over your perspective of God. Would you say you view Him as being more destructive or healing?
Review your prayer list. How has God worked in these areas you’ve been praying? Take a minute to add any new requests to your list now

Footnote:

¹Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 110). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.