Knowing God
The book of Deuteronomy gives an account of the children of Israel
wondering through the desert for the second time. They had spent 400
years of slavery in Egypt, then another 40 years in the desert. God
ordered the first part of the wilderness, but the second was the result
of the people’s failure to enter the Promised Land because of their
rebellion.
God had manifold purposes in leading Israel through the wilderness
experience:
- To change their thinking from slaves to chosen people
- To teach them how to trust Him (though faith and patience)
- To humble them so they wouldn’t forget Him – Deut.8: 2
- To separate them from wrong desires and chose Him – Deut.32: 10
- To reveal His ways and His character to them
Although they didn’t pass the test the first time, God gives them a
second chance and we find them at the edge of the Promised Land again.
As they prepared to enter Canaan, Moses challenged the people
congregated before him.
“And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the
Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.
Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and
possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear
not, neither be discouraged. Deut 1:20-21 (KJV)
They would be facing giants, wars and all kind of confrontations. To
be able to trust God was absolutely essential, but a striking sentence
in this passage reveals what their opinion of God had been in the past.
“And ye murmured in your tents, and said, because the
LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of
Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.”
Deut 1:27 (KJV).
They were actually saying: “ the Lord hates us”. After all they had
seen God do for them! It is hard to conceive that they would doubt God’s
love for them.
The Lord had saved them from Egypt, had opened the Red Sea before
them, He had kept them in the desert providing, protecting, each time
revealing His faithfulness and care; yet they still grumbled and
complained. (How sad that we can be exactly like them: recalling all
the works we have seen Him do and at the same time revealing a lack of
personal knowledge of His character. Yes, we can know His acts, without
really knowing HIM).
To know God is to be secure in His Love. The Israelites
needed to possess that kind of security in order to fulfill their
destinies in entering the Promised Land where they would live in God’s
victory; but because they didn’t have it, they lost their inheritance
and remained in the desert. The Lord kept them back. Was He judging
them too severely? No, God is not hard. He knew that they would have
been defeated if they had gone without knowing Him. His people had been
under the oppression of Pharaoh who was a hard taskmaster. Pharaoh was
their authority figure and now they were projecting that authority
figure on God!
WHAT IMAGE DO WE HAVE OF GOD?
The New Testament records another sad story that resembles the one of
Deuteronomy 1. It can be read in Matthew 25:14-27. It’s the parable of
the man who gave talents to his servants. He gave five talents to one,
two to another and to another one. The man had given to each servant
according to his or her capacity; therefore he was not unjust in the
allocation, although the servant with only one talent didn’t think so.
Consequently, when the lord of those servants came to settle his
account, “the one who had received the one talent said, ‘Lord
I knew you to be a hard man…and I was afraid
and went and hid your talent in the ground’ “. Matthew 14:24-25.
The third servant was jealous because he doubted the justice of God;
he didn’t know God and – like the children of Israel – lost a lot.
Is this your story and mine? But, you may say, it’s not my fault if
I have a wrong concept of God considering all the Pharaohs I have had in
my life! However Jesus called the man with one talent “…you wicked
and lazy servant…” Matthew 25:26.
The Lord is aware of all the abusive authority figures we have had:
that was no fault of our own. Yet He holds us responsible for holding
that projected, wrong Image of Himself. He wants to set us free, He
wants us to come to Him for healing and deliverance so that we may see
Him as He is, without that cloud of guilt, insecurity and doubt that
blocks our vision, not only of God, but of ourselves.
Remember, there is a connection between our knowledge of God and of
His Love with the entering and conquering the Promised Land. Without
that knowledge we will see the giants bigger than God and ourselves like
grasshoppers.
WHAT MUST I DO?
- Recognize that holding a false image of God in my heart is sin.
- Acknowledge the sin. Lord am I like this third servant?
- Receive forgiveness. The minute we confess our sins, He forgives
and cleanses us.
- Receive the healing for the wounds of the past.
- Determine to walk in a newness of life. Remember Caleb? He also
had slaves for parents but chose to walk in faith.
- Refuse the lies of Satan that accuses God to us. Resist him.
- Learn to know God: His character, His attributes. He loves us;
He doesn’t send bad things to us. Sometime He permits them for our
good, so that we may know Him, but He doesn’t send them.
Here is a prayer you and I can pray together:
Father I confess that I have held a wrong image of you in my heart.
I have believed the lies of the enemy and I have projected the image of
Pharaoh upon you. Forgive me Lord. You are not a hard taskmaster, but
you are a Father to me who wants me to experience your joy and your
peace. Thank you Lord that you forgive and wash me clean with the
precious blood of Jesus, who died for me so that I may live in the
newness of life.
Lord I come for healing. Heal my soul, my emotions, and my
memories. Heal the wounds I received from those who put me down and
reproached me, as I forgive them for doing it. I receive this healing
by faith, even if I don’t feel anything right now. Lord, thank you for
helping me to know you better. I declare your gentleness and your
fatherly love. You carried me like a mother carries her baby and if I
have been wounded I refuse to say that it was you, because you love me.
I love you Lord, help me to love you more.
Amen..
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