“Making Much of God” (Exodus 14:10-18)

Saved for God’s Glory

D. L. Moody sums up 120 years of Moses’ life this way: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; then he spent forty years on the backside of the desert realizing he was nobody; finally, he spent the last forty years of his life learning what God can do with a nobody!” From somebody to nobody, then to God’s body. God displays his glory and makes his name great by saving his people out of bondage and making them holy – God’s body, God’s holy people. In Psalm 50:15, God says “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” The theme of Exodus is “saved for God’s glory.”

Today’s scripture, Exodus 14, begins with how God leads Israel after the Exodus (“getting out”) from slavery in Egypt. God could lead them to the Promised Land in less than two weeks. But for God, the shortest way is not necessarily the best way. Rather, God’s way is always the “holy way.” God saved his people, so that they might become holy and live freely as God’s children. By this, Israel would give God glory. In Leviticus 11:45 God says, “I brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, be holy.” God leads the Israelites in the exact opposite direction, taking them south, away from Canaan, into the wilderness. So they encamp near Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea (v. 2). From the standpoint of military strategy, it’s a suicidal act. In front of them, there is the Red Sea, behind them the Egyptian army, beside them Egypt’s forts (Midgol means “tower”). Basically, the Israelites are surrounded on every side. They are completely vulnerable. But that was God’s plan. God says, “Pharaoh will think that the Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion. He will pursue the Israelites. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (v. 4).  

Three Commands

The path the Israelites are on is not the shortest way. It is not the safest way. But it is the best way because it is God’s way, because it is the holy way, God-glorifying way. But of course, the Israelites don’t see it yet. When they see the Egyptian army marching after them, they are totally afraid. They cry out in fear to God.

Then, Moses issues three commands: “Fear not, stand firm… be still.” First, Moses says, “Fear not.” Out of fear, the people complain against God and Moses, saying, “Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (v. 12) We are often tempted to do the same thing. We decide to follow Christ, but as soon as we start having problems and become vulnerable because of the new way of living, we get scared and go right back to our old ways of coping: anger, addiction, depression, backsliding. We may hate our old ways, but there is security in the way we used to live, so we return to the same old harmful relationships, the same old sinful attitudes, and the same old bad habits. And the root cause of all this is fear – fear of man, fear of losing control, fear of losing identity, fear of dying and death. But God wants to save us out of that fear, that bondage. The Bible says, “[Jesus] came to set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying” (Heb 2:15). The phrase “do not be afraid” is written in the Bible 365 times. God encourages us to live everyday without fear.

Fear not. Stand firm. The verb hityatsev used here means to “report for duty.” Like a solider reporting for duty awaits his orders, God wants his people to attentively wait for their time to march forward. Like the Israelites, we are in a spiritual battle everyday, and in that battle we need to stand our ground. The Apostle Paul by the Spirit gives us the same marching orders. “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm, therefore…” (Eph 6:13-14). When we are tempted to give up and run away, God says, “Stand firm.” When we are tempted to cry out in fear, God says, “Stand firm.” When we are tempted to lose our heart and grumble, God says, “Stand firm.”

Fear not. Stand firm. Be still. In times of trouble it is not easy to be still and wait for God. At one point Charles Spurgeon says, "I dare say that you will think it a very easy thing to stand still. But it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. I find that marching and quick marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still." But, Moses says to his people, “Be still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Here we find the Hebrew word Yeshua (Jesus’ name in Hebrew). It’s essentially saying, “Be still and look to Jesus, the salvation of the Lord. Be still and know that all your salvation is in him. Be still, and know that you have nothing to contribute at all.”

The Man in the Middle

The people cry out in fear and in rebellion. Then, in verse 15 the Lord says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?”  God rebukes Moses. Moses gets rebuked for the Israelites’ sin. And later, he is also a vehicle for God’s saving power as he divides the water with his staff. Moses is the man in the middle, who is so identified with the Israelites that their guilt is upon him, and also the man who is so identified with God that God's power is coming through him. Moses is a mediator. Now we have a better mediator, who is fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ our Lord. The Bible says, “Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself” (Heb 3:3). Jesus is the greater Moses.

Earlier, we learned God’s plan that he would gain his glory at Pharaoh’s expense. He said, “I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army” (v. 4). God used the same strategy when he sent his Son to the cross. Just as to Pharaoh it seemed like Israel had no idea what they were doing in the desert, so to Satan it must have seemed like Jesus had no idea what he was doing. He was the Son of God, but he allowed himself to be handed over to sinful men, who mocked him, beat him, and crucified him. On the cross he was so vulnerable. Satan thought he had the strategic advantage, and he pressed it to the death. But of course, this was his fatal mistake, because the whole thing was a ruse. The cross was not a defeat for Jesus but an eternal victory over sin, death, and the evil one. The Bible says, “He [Jesus] disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross” (Colossians 2: 15, NLT).

The Pillar of Cloud and Fire

Today we may feel like standing in front of the Red Sea, hard pressed on every side. But instead of running away, all we need to do is stand still and look to Jesus, God’s salvation. While standing and waiting for God, we may feel so vulnerable today, but we need to remember this: we are completely safe and secure in God’s presence.

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, God was always present to protect them and guide them. “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (13:21-22). When the Egyptian army was marching after them, the pillar of cloud moved from the front and stood behind the Israelites. The pillar of cloud, then the pillar of fire at night settled between the Egyptians and Israelites so that the Egyptians could not come near the Israelites. This shows that God is with his people all the time, day and night, to guard them as well as to guide them.

In his sermon on Exodus 14 Dr. King shares his personal story with us. Mrs. King and he had a chance to spend a lovely weekend near the ocean. They watched the sunset behind the ocean. As the sun appeared to be sinking to the ocean, the moon appeared to be rising from the ocean. From this experience, Dr. King says, “[In times of darkness and despair] we feel that there is no light anywhere. But ever and again, we look toward the east and discover that there is another light that shines even in the darkness.” Then, he continues,

God has two lights: a light to guide us in the brightness of the day when hopes are fulfilled and circumstances are favorable, and a light to guide us in the darkness of the midnight when we are thwarted and the slumbering giants of gloom and hopelessness rise in our souls.[1]

The Death of Evil on the Seashore

God is with us when we lie down in green pastures. God is with us when we go through the darkest valley. Not only is God with us, but he goes before us. God has a plan for us. Our God is able to save us and make a way for us. Today’s story, Exodus 14, concludes this way:

That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant (vv. 30-31).

Now the Israelites have a different kind of fear: “fear of God” instead of fear of man and fear of death. They are standing in awe of God. They are transformed into God’s image from one degree of glory to another – from somebody to nobody, then to God’s body. Today may we hear the voice of the Spirit: Fear not. Stand firm. Be still and look to Jesus. That will make you a Christian if you’re not yet. Be still and look to Jesus. That will make you holy. Be still and look to Jesus. And he will come and save you. By this, you will glorify God. Amen.

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[1] Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love (Fortress Press, 2010), 84-85. 

“The Journey to Forgiveness” (Gen 45:1-11)

The Magic Eyes: A Little Fable

In the village of Faken there lived a righteous man, named Fouke. He and his wife, Hilda, were living a happy life. Hilda respected her righteous husband, and loved him too, as much as he allowed her; but her heart ached for something more from him than his worthy righteousness. And there, in the bed of her need, lay the seed of sadness. One morning, having worked since dawn to knead his dough for the ovens, Fouke came home and found a stranger in his bedroom lying on Hilda’s round bosom. Hilda’s adultery soon became the talk of the tavern and the scandal of the Faken congregation. To everyone’s surprise, Fouke kept Hilda as his wife, saying he forgave her as the Good Book said he should. But deep in his heart Fouke could not forgive Hilda for bringing shame to his name. He only pretended to forgive her so that he could punish her with his righteous mercy. But Fouke’s fakery did not sit well in heaven.

So, each time that Fouke would feel his secret hate toward Hilda, an angel came to him and dropped a small pebble, hardly the size of a shirt button, into Fouke’s heart. Each time a pebble dropped, Fouke would feel a stab of pain. The pebbles multiplied. The pain multiplied. The angel came to Fouke one night and told him how he could be healed of his hurt. The angel said, “There is only one remedy for the hurt of a wounded heart. You need the miracle of the magic eyes – the eyes that could look back to the beginning of your hurt and see your Hilda, not as a wife who betrayed you, but as a weak woman who needed you. Only a new way of looking at things through the magic eyes could heal the hurt flowing from the wounds of yesterday.” “How can I get your magic eyes?” replied Fouke. “Only ask, and they will be given you. And each time you see Hilda through your new eyes, one pebble will be lifted from your aching heart.” Fouke could not ask at once, for he had grown to love his hatred. But the pain of his heart was so severe, so finally he asked for the magic eyes. And the angel gave.

Soon Hilda began to change in front of Fouke’s eyes, wonderfully and mysteriously. He began to see her as a needy woman who loved him instead of a wicked woman who betrayed him. The angel kept his promise; he lifted the pebbles from Fouke’s heart, one by one, though it took a long time to take them all away. Fouke gradually felt his heart grow lighter. He invited Hilda to come into his heart again, and she came, and together they began again a journey into their second season of humble joy.[1]

The Journey to Forgiveness

As Christians, we know we need to forgive, seek reconciliation, and carry on with life gracefully. But in many cases, this is incredibly difficult. The journey toward forgiveness is long, humiliating, painful. There is no magic wand or short cut. But, the Bible does give us the new magic eyes to see things differently, so that the pebbles in our hearts can be taken away, one by one.

In today’s scripture we meet a man who was given the magic eyes from God. Joseph. For him, it took 22 years to forgive his brothers. The story begins when Joseph was 17 years old (Gen 37:2). He was Jacob’s favorite. Jacob made a special robe for him. His brothers hated Joseph because of the father’s favoritism. They wouldn’t even speak to him. Finally, the opportune time came. When Joseph was looking for his brothers in the field at Dothan, they plotted against him and sold him into slavery. From a beloved son to a slave. Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. But even there, he saw God was there with him. “The Lord was with Joseph, and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master” (39:2). Then, another trial came. Joseph was falsely accused by the master’s wife and put into prison indefinitely. From a slave to a prisoner. But again, even there, Joseph saw God was right there with him. “The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the eyes of the prison warden” (v. 21).

Joseph had been a slave and then a prisoner for 13 years. He could blame his brothers for his misery and hardships. He could have a pity party. Instead, from all of those years Joseph learned to see all things from God-centered perspectives. He begins to understand that all things, good and bad, are under God’s control, and that God is able to use even evil deeds to fulfill his plan. Joseph is given God’s magic eyes. So, he says to his brothers, “You sold me here; … It was God who sent me here ahead of you to save lives” (v. 5). The brothers sold Joseph to Egypt with evil intent; they are fully responsible for this wicked deed. But God used this wicked deed for a good purpose. And Joseph is able to see that. He continues, “God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So it was not you who sent me here, but God” (vv. 7-8). God. God. God. Here Joseph fixes his eyes upon God – God’s providence, God’s sovereignty, God’s steadfast love. By this, he is able to love and forgive.

The True and Better Joseph

Though Joseph is a shining example of forgiveness, today’s passage is much more than just a moral lesson, such as “Let’s follow Joseph’s example.” In fact, Joseph prefigures our Lord Jesus Christ. We see the clear parallels between Joseph and Jesus. As God sent Joseph to Egypt to save his family, so God sent Jesus to earth to save his people. John 3:16 makes this point: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus saves from more than famine. Jesus saves us from our sin so that we may receive new life. 

Tim Keller righty said, “Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new [resurrection] power to save them.” Although Jesus was God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, became human. He humbled himself and died a criminal’s death on a cross. On the cross he destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility – between God and humanity, between us. He mended our broken relationships and established peace.

So now we have access to a life of freedom – freedom from grudges and bitterness, freedom from anxiety and hostility. This is good news. God knows we are weak. God knows it is impossible for us to forgive others perfectly. So God did it for us in Jesus. All we need is to receive Jesus, trust Jesus, abide in Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Co 5:17). If we are in Christ, we are forgiven, we are reconciled. If we are in Christ, we are ambassadors of reconciliation. If we are in Christ, we are given strength to love and forgive. If we ask God for his magic eyes in Jesus’ name, they will be given us.

Unbroken

The life of Louis Zamperini is a real example of what the journey to forgiveness is like. His story was published in the book and 2014 movie titled Unbroken. He was a young Olympic runner, but then fought in World War II. He was a B-24 bombardier, but his plane was shot down, and he was captured by the Japanese. As a prisoner of war, he went through difficult days. One particular Japanese camp guard (aka “the Bird”) was especially cruel to Louis. The guard would beat him for hours and then moments later he would hug him and give him handfuls of candy, and cigarettes. Few minutes later, he would return and beat him again. He even commanded fellow prisoners to take turns punching him in the face. The guard was a mad man.

Miraculously, Louis survived. But even after the war ended, his hatred for the guard never ended. It became so intense. He was only thinking about plotting his revenge. He was held captive by his memories and his desire for vengeance. He drank heavily and had nightmares every night. His marriage was in jeopardy. His wife, Cynthia, convinced Louis to attend a Billy Graham crusade. Louis heard the gospel and committed his life to Christ. Only through embracing Christ’s forgiveness personally Louis could forgive the Bird. He received the new eyes. He began to see the guard as a broken man who needed compassion instead of a wicked man who did harm to him. Later, Louis visited Japan and requested to meet with the former guard, but he declined the meeting. Then, Louis had his letter delivered to him, which in part read, “I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you. I forgive you.” Louis went on to minister to many people with his story of grace.

If we focus on the hurt, we will continue to suffer. But Joseph’s story teaches us to look up and see all things from God-centric perspectives. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (50:20). Our God is in control. He can use even evil human deeds to fulfill his plan. So let us keep singing this hymn with confidence,

This is my Father’s world:

O let us not forget

that though the wrong is great and strong,

God is the ruler yet.

Let us keep praying and asking God for the new eyes. Jesus promised, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Let us fix our eyes on Jesus and let him be our Master. Then, we will receive the new eyes. The pebbles in our hearts will be taken away, one by one. Then, we will be free at last. Amen.

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[1] Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget (HarperCollins, 1984), xvii-xix.

“God’s Blessing” (Genesis 32:22-32)

Poor in Spirit

Someone once asked Jesus, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” And Jesus answered, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:23-24). Does it mean that God sets the bar so high? No, the Bible clearly tells us that God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). But it doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved automatically. Rather, it does mean that salvation is available and open to everyone. Why then will only a few be saved? It is not because God sets the bar too high, but because we are too proud to ask for help.

On another occasion, Jesus says, “It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Why is that? Because rich people tend to be self-sufficient. Rich people have the means to get what they want. Rich people don’t have to rely on anyone else. They are independent. It will be hard for independent, self-sufficient people to enter the kingdom of God. That is why Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt 5:3, 5, 8). So the opposite of “the poor in spirit” is not “the rich in spirit.” Instead, they are those who are self-sufficient, those who don’t see the need to ask God for help.

Prayer in the Night

In the Old Testament Jacob was such a person: self-sufficient, a self-made man, grabbing opportunities as they presented themselves. Even when he was born, he was grabbing his twin brother’s heel. That’s why he was called Jacob – “heel-grabber.” Jacob wanted to be first. He wanted the blessing of the firstborn – receiving a double portion of his father’s inheritance. But his brother Esau was the oldest. So what did Jacob do? First he cheated Esau out of his birthright with a bowl of lentil stew. Then he deceived his blind father and stole the blessing of the firstborn. Jacob is a heel-grabber, a deceiver, a self-made man.

Because of Esau’s anger, Jacob had to flee for his life. After a long journey, Jacob arrived at the home of his uncle Laban, who was a greedy deceiver like him. When Jacob fell in love with Laban’s younger daughter Rachel, Laban made him work for her for seven years. But then, on the wedding night, Laban switched daughters, and Jacob had to end up working for another seven years. After working fourteen years, Jacob agreed with Laban that he would continue working for him. But Laban cheated Jacob and changed his wages ten times, but Jacob still got the better of him. The independent, self-sufficient Jacob has become rich at Laban’s expense.

Now he is on the way back home. But then, crisis. Everything is turned upside down when he hears the news that Esau is coming with four hundred men to kill him for deceiving him and his father. Jacob is greatly afraid, distressed, terrified. But Jacob is Jacob. He comes up with a shrewd plan. First, he divides the people and the flocks into two groups, thinking, ‘If Esau attacks one, then the other left will escape.’ Then he sends gifts – wave after wave of gifts – to appease the anger of Esau. Though Jacob did everything he could do, he still cannot sleep. He is still restless. The same night he gets up and takes his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and sends them across the stream. He also sends over all his possessions. Nothing, no one is left. Now he is left all alone – lonely, vulnerable, broken. Perhaps for the first time in his life Jacob desperately prays for deliverance. Jacob prays in the night, he prays through the night. Suddenly, a man appears and wrestles with him until daybreak. It is a long battle. The man says, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replies, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” By this time perhaps Jacob realizes that this man may be God, and he wants his blessing. The man asks Jacob, “What is your name?” It’s an embarrassing question because a person’s name reveals his character, his identity – especially in Jacob’s time. But Jacob admits, he is Jacob – a heel-grabber, a deceiver. Then the man says, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel (“God-wrestler”), because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” His whole life Jacob had striven with others – with Esau, with his father, with Laban, with all other people to receive the blessing. The result? He has become wretched and miserable.

God’s Blessing

Here at the Jabbok River, for the first time Jacob has striven with God. And in the night, in his suffering, when he is separated from his loved ones, and from all his possessions, he begins to understand that the greatest blessing is God himself. Jacob asks the man, “Please tell me your name.” But the man refuses to give his name, and instead blesses Jacob. After this, Jacob calls the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face.” When Jacob strove for God’s blessing, God gave him the best gift – his presence, himself.

If you have Jesus, you have everything. Jesus says, “What profit is there if you gain the whole world and you lose your soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matt 16:26) If you have the world, you have the world. You have the whole world, but you don't have Jesus. What have you got? And it's nothing. What if you don't have anything, but you have Jesus. You've got everything. Paul is a perfect example. He was educated under the most renowned Rabbi Gamaliel, a member of the Pharisees, an influential leader of the Jewish religion. But after he was converted, he lost everything. He lost his fame, his power, his status, his community, his security, everything. Paul said, “Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:7-8).

The greatest blessing Jesus gives us is himself. After Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, they were following Jesus. In fact, they were ahead of Jesus, waiting for him. When Jesus saw them, he said, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (John 6:26). Jesus knew that they were seeking him, because he was useful, not because he was precious. The crowd said to Jesus, “Lord, give us this bread always.” “Satisfy our desires!” Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life.”  Here, Jesus was saying, “I came not to give bread, but to be bread. I didn’t come into the world to meet your natural desires. I came to change your desires, to give you new desire so that I would be your main desire, your precious one.”  So he often takes bread out of our hands so that we may trust him as the true bread.

Jacob to Israel

Jacob was a self-sufficient, self-made man. But after his encountering, his wrestling with God, now he is a changed person. God gave him a new name Israel. God also knocked out his self-sufficiency. Jacob is limping because of his hip. But Jacob’s limp is a perpetual reminder that he is no longer self-sufficient, but he has to fully rely on God. For Jacob, God is no longer his useful one, but his precious one. Jacob did taste and see God’s greatest blessing in the night. e He

Recently, I had a chance to listen to the story of a devout Christian woman, Vaneetha Rendall Risner, who had lost her infant son, Paul, after she had already grieved three difficult miscarriages. As she was grieving, one of the church members said to her, “Don’t take this wrong, but we prayed before our children were born, and all of them were born healthy.” In other words, Paul’s death and her miscarriages were easily preventable. According to the church member, she hadn’t prayed enough. But in fact, she did pray. She fasted. She recited set prayers. She read books on healing. She asked friends to pray. She begged God. She did everything she could do. She assumed her prayers would be effective. She had been faithful. She taught Bible study. She tithed. Surely God would do what she wanted. But months later, sitting beside Paul’s empty crib, Vaneetha had more questions than answers. She had many sleepless nights. One night while she was praying, she realized that she was living as if God’s blessings were dependent on her faithfulness and as if trouble was a result of her failings. She realized that her morality was little more than a way to use God to get the things in life she wanted. As she searched the Bible for answers, she found a simple but transforming truth:[1]

This life is not about me; it’s about him. And my supreme delight is not to rest in anything in this world. My delight is to be in God. The best gift he can give me is not health or prosperity or happiness, but more of himself — a blessing that can never be taken away; a blessing that grows richer with time, and lasts throughout eternity.

This blessing is often found in suffering, in the night, at the Jabbok River. God doesn’t promise a happy, pain-free life. But God does promise to walk through every trial with us. Through the story of Jacob God says to us today: “I love you. You are precious to me that I will not let your self-sufficiency become your God. I will be your God.” My prayer is that we may receive the best gift God gives us, God himself, as we trust him, love him, delight in him. Amen.  

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[1] Vaneetha Rendall Risner, “The Greatest Gift Is God Himself” (April 22, 2015), DesiringGod, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-greatest-gift-is-god-himself 

“Resting in God’s Sovereign Grace” (Gen 22:9-18)

Questions

How is your Bible reading going? I don’t know about you, but for me, every time I read the Bible, it makes me think of a lot of questions. The other day I was reading Genesis 5. It was about the family tree of the human race – from Adam to Noah. Genesis 5:32 says, “After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.” For some reason, I always thought Shem is the oldest because he comes first. But this time I learned that Japheth is actually the oldest, then Shem, and Ham the youngest (Gen 9:24, 10:21). Then, I thought, “Why did the Messiah come from Shem’s line, instead of Japheth the oldest?” Then more questions began to run through my mind on a continual loop. “Why did God favor Jacob over Esau even before they were born or had done anything good or bad?” (Romans 9:10-13) “Why did God choose Judah, who did terrible things, over Joseph, the favorite to be Jesus ancestor?”

All these questions are about God’s sovereignty. When we say God is sovereign, we mean He rules the universe. He is in control. But, hard and practical questions still remain. For instance, “If God is sovereign, why did he allow 22 people in northern Pakistan to die as they were stuck in heavy snow?” “If God is sovereign, why are so many people (more than 800,000) in the US die of Covid-19, and why are not the circumstances getting better?” “If God is sovereign, why did not my loved ones come to the faith although I had prayed for them for so long?” All these questions are about God’s sovereignty. God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present. God is full of grace and truth. Then why all this suffering and pain in this world? If you had questions similar to this, today’s scripture is for you.

Abraham’s Faith

God so loved Abraham. Abraham loved God back. Abraham didn’t have a child for a long time, but God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as the sand of the sea, and as the stars of heaven. Abraham believed in God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. At the very time God had promised, God gave Abraham a son in his old age.

Everything seemed to be going well so far. But then, some time later God tested Abraham (22:1). Abraham was about to face the biggest storm of his life. God wanted Abraham to give him his son, his only son – Isaac. Surely God promised that through Isaac he will make him a great nation. After all, Isaac was a child of promise. But now God wanted Isaac back? Abraham didn’t understand. Furthermore, the sacrifice of children was always an abomination to the Lord. Then, why did God want him to put his boy on the altar and kill him as the sacrifice? How could God want him to do such a terrible thing? It didn’t make any sense. From this story, now we know that God wanted to know Abraham’s heart. God wanted to establish Abraham’s priorities. But how could possibly Abraham understand all this at that time?

When God didn’t make sense, Abraham chose to trust him, because he knew that God was his father who loved him. Abraham believed that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead (cf. Heb 11:19). Early the next morning, Abraham and Isaac set off. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then, he said to his servants by faith, “We [Isaac and I] will worship and then we will come back to you” (v. 5). On the way to the mountain Isaac asked, “Father, we have everything except we forgot the lamb for the sacrifice.” Abraham answered by faith, “Son, God himself will provide the lamb” (v. 8).  Finally, they arrived the place. They built an altar and laid out the wood. Abraham tied his son to the wood. Isaac didn’t understand, but he knew his father loved him. And so he trusted him. He didn’t struggle or try to run away. Then, Abraham took his knife to kill his son. He lifted the knife high into the air, then he heard the voice say, “Abraham, Abraham. Don’t hurt the boy. Now I know that you love me because you have not spared your only son.” Suddenly, Abraham saw a ram caught in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham named that place “Jehovah Jireh” – The Lord Will Provide.

Ebenezer and Jehovah-Jireh

God is sovereign. Our God is able. God has power to do what he has promised. God still provides for those who trust him. Hudson Taylor, missionary to China, had a plaque in every home he ever lived, reading Ebenezer Jehovah-Jireh. The name Ebenezer is found in 1 Samuel 7:12; when God saved Israel from the Philistines. Samuel set up a stone "and named it Ebenezer, meaning 'thus far the Lord has helped us.' We find the name Jehovah-Jireh in today’s scripture, Genesis 22:14. This is when God provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son Isaac. Abraham declared "Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide". Hudson Taylor always remembered these two names of God: Ebenezer and Jehovah-Jireh. He trusted in God who had helped him thus far would see to it.

Hudson Taylor went through a lot of trials and tribulations in China. At that time all the mission works were done along the coast. No one dared to go inland. But he founded the China Inland Mission (CIM), and by faith he preached the good news to those who lived inland. Travel was dangerous, and foreigners and missioners were forbidden, feared, and hated. His wife Maria died when she was 33. Four of their eight children died before reaching age 10. He was often suffering from illness or injury. As an elderly man, he had to go through the Boxer Rebellion in his area. 58 of his missionaries had been killed, along with 30,000 Chinese Christians.

Not only external challenges, but also internal conflicts were even greater. In one of the letters to his mother Hudson Taylor shares his constant pain this way: “I need your prayers more than ever… I cannot tell you how I am buffeted sometimes by temptation. I never knew how bad a heart I have... Often I am tempted to think that one so full of sin cannot be a child of God at all; but I try to throw it back, and rejoice all the more in the preciousness of Jesus, and in the riches of that grace that has made us “accepted in the beloved.”[1] At the lowest point of his life a few years before his death, he heard another sad news that some of the missionaries and converts were martyred. His response was this: “I cannot read, I cannot think; I cannot even pray; but I can trust.” Hudson Taylor trusted God, trusted who he is – Ebenezer and Jehovah-Jireh. Thus far the Lord has helped us, and he will provide.

The Finished Work of Christ

God sometimes allows us to be tested. God tested Abraham. But I don’t think God ever intended for a moment that Abraham should actually sacrifice his son Isaac. He wanted to know that Abraham really loved him more than anything or anyone else. God wanted to establish Abraham’s priorities.

Many years later, another Son would climb another hill, carrying wood on his back. Like Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked. He would not struggle or run away. He was silent and didn’t open his mouth like a lamb. Who was he? The Lamb of God, God’s one and only Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. On the cross he said, “It is finished.” So what is finished? Finished is redemption for the world and for you and me. God showed his great love for us on the cross.

God is love. And God is sovereign. He knows what he is doing. God holds all things together. God holds the future. Because God is sovereign and he loves us, nothing will ever come into our life that he does not allow. We may be going through trials we never thought we’d go through. We may not understand what God is doing and why God is doing this to me today. But, no matter what we face in life, we can take comfort in the fact that God is sovereign. We can walk in peace because we know that God loves us and that God is sovereign.

The verse of the day for yesterday was from John 6, feeding the five thousand. Jesus asks Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He does this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already has a plan. He knows what he is going to do. My question for the verse of the day members was this: “In what areas of your life do you need to grow your faith in Christ?” One of the members answered, “I need to grow my faith in whatever God has planned for the rest of my life.” The time might come when we cannot read the Bible, we cannot think, we cannot even pray, but still we can trust God. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us trust, trust, trust. The plans of the Lord will stand forever (Psalm 33:11). Amen.

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[1] Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Howard, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret (p. 141). Kindle Edition.