The God who sabotages chariot wheels

 

 

 

Many, many years ago my parent’s neighbours threw a huge party, I had to study for a test the next morning and was trying my utmost best to concentrate but to no avail. After many unsuccessful requests for silence that kept falling on deaf ears my dear husband took to the streets and flattened the party goers’ car tyres. When they eventually wanted to leave roundabout dawn the next morning they had to take off the tyres, roll them to the nearest garage (which was not particularly close) to get it pumped up again, after all a car only has one spare wheel…. We lived against a hill so downhill was one thing but coming back was quite something especially if you were still quite drunk but also very tired and weary after a whole night’s partying…. Off course we were all finding this very amusing and even though they suspected us to be the culprits they could not prove we were guilty because technically it could have been anyone in the neighbourhood. This morning I read from Ex 14 and discovered a story in the Bible that reminded me of that incident.

Exodus 14:19-20 and 24-25

19 And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night….

24 Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled [discomfited] the army of the Egyptians. 25 And He took off [or bound] their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Very often in the bible God is named after a particular part of His nature or character that He displayed in a specific situation. For example when Israel fought against the Amalekites where Moses (with the help of Aaron and Hur) kept the staff lifted over Israel, Moses Named God YHVH Nissi stating that God is the Banner over His People. In the story of the Red Sea I would have liked to Name God the “YHVH that sabotages chariot wheels”. I mean can you imagine God causing a cloud of darkness on the Egyptian side while providing light for Israel and then in the dark cloud He tip toes around the army’s chariots to bind or take off … whichever way he did it… sabotaging the chariot wheels!!!????

To a certain extent it feels disrespectful to even try to imagine such a picture of God in my mind and yet that is exactly what the Word tells us he did. However, what does it tell us about the character of our God, about his nature? I think it tells us something about his grace. He must have had intensely deep grace for the Egyptians. God could have obliterated them on the first day of the plagues, he didn’t… why not? He wanted them to see that he is the one and only true God. So he took on their so-called gods one by one… overcame them, demonstrated his sovereignty, this all took TIME. Now he was taking on their earthly army making a bunch of slaves, with very little weapons let alone sophisticated weaponry like chariots, victorious over the mighty Egyptian army.
The Egyptians were scared, very scared. Hardened soldiers wanted to flee from the face of Israel as they recognize that the God of Israel fights for his people. Yet they do not turn around and go back to their country, nor do they defect to Israel serving the God who fights for his people. They cling to their weapons, even driving their discomfited chariots with either bound wheels or without wheels!? Pride is a dangerous thing. They ended up at the bottom of the Red Sea… The one thing the Egyptians had was TIME, plenty of it. They had months and months of time to reconsider, time to repent, time to turn back to Egypt, time to bow the knee and worship the God who sabotages chariot wheels. Time is one of God’s most graceful gifts. What a disgrace when we do not see God’s grace, do not embrace it even when He gives us a lifetime of time to do it.

The God who sabotages chariot wheels is by nature an extremely graceful, patient, slow to anger God but also he is a righteous God. Grace-time also has an end, if it does not have an end grace will become unrighteousness for it will allow evil to overcome. We still have grace-time, what are we doing with it? Or are we stubbornly driving our discomfited chariots with bound wheels into the Red Sea because we are too proud to acknowledge and worship on bended knee the graceful God who tip-toes around in darkness to sabotage chariot wheels to give us yet another chance, yet another few minutes? 

 

Come worship with Melanie the God who removes the chariot wheels of the enemy:  

 

Melanie: It was Proven at The Red Sea 

 

 

 

©2015 All rights reserved HG Venter

Seek the face of God

Have you ever been in a place where you felt that God is so angry with you that the situation is completely unsalvageable? Well, Israel was at that exact place. Where God had blessed them with His presence while He led them out of Egypt, yet there came a day when He said to them that He will not bless them with His presence anymore.

Exodus 33

3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

These harsh words God spoke after they had made the golden calf and worshipped it. God had had it with them. In this chapter, when God speaks about the people with Moses, He calls them “the people you (Moses) brought out of Egypt. He says He will send “My Angel” before them - but in essence He is saying to Moses that God Himself will no longer travel with them. He will no longer bless them with His presence.

What a terrible, terrible place to be – when God Himself says I am not going with you anymore, I will send an Angel, because I made a promise to Abraham to bring his generations into the promised land, but it’s over, I am done with you.

Meanwhile, in the same chapter, we read how God does not make a secret of the fact that He will be with Moses. He meets with Moses in full view of the people. Every time Moses enters the tent of meeting, the cloud descends, stands at the door and God speaks to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.

In one of these discussions Moses one day said to the Lord 12“See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

Moses pleads with God that God would remember that this stubborn, stiff-necked nation is His People. But God is relentless in His answer to Moses:

14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” The ‘you’ in this sentence is a singular “you” because God maintains that He will go with Moses, but not with the nation.

But Moses is unrelenting in his intercession for the people when he pleads with God on behalf of an unfaithful, rebellious and stiff-necked people. He makes it clear that if God’s presence does not go with “US” – all of us – the whole nation – then rather do not let us move one step from this place.

15 Then he (Moses) said to Him (God), “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So, we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”

And then God relents and grants Moses his request:

17 So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”

God says to Moses He will grant him his request – because he found grace in His sight – and He knows him by his name.

When I read the news and hear everything going on in our country, I wonder if God is at that same place with us where He was with Israel after the golden calf incident. Is God at a place with us where He is saying, “I will no longer be with you, for you are a stiff-necked, rebellious people, filled with lies and corruption and hatred and murder and violence against each other.” We are much like the congregation of Sardis where God said to them:

“You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3).

And yet in the midst of all this we can be encouraged that God relented when Moses interceded.

In Romans 8 Paul encourages us that Jesus Himself is interceding for us:

“It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

Jesus prayed for us in John 17: 20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who [j]will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

With such powerful intercession going on in the throne room for us – are we stubbornly remaining stiff-necked, or are we willing to bow in repentance, worship and adoration?

 Let us pray with David in Psalm 27:8

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”

Let's join Worship Central NZ as they seek the Lords's face

Living out calling - bringing hope

Today I share with you one of Huguenot College's Alumni stories in celebration of woman's month.  Desiree Joseph was one of the very first group of students of colour that was allowed to study at the college after the apartheid's years.  She still lives in Wellington and has dedicated her life to bringing hope and healing to the children on the farms in Wellington district.  Read her inspiring story here:

 

Desiree's Story 

He is the God who moves the mountains.

 

 

Jesus and the Woman at the Well

People of Hope Part 18: The Samaritan Woman
Monday Devotions@ Work 10 August 2020

Since we are celebrating Woman’s day this week, I decided to share a movie.  The movie is about the Samaritan woman that met Jesus at the well of Jacob.  Jesus travelled there purposefully, while most Rabbi’s and Jews would travel around Samaria rather than through it.     He travelled there because He had a divine appointment with the Samaritan woman at the well.  She would be there in midday because she was not willing to go with the other woman to the well anymore.  She was of questionable reputation and probably did not have much hope anymore, and yet Jesus breaks every convention of the day to meet with her and bring change and reconciliation to her and her people. 

We can read about this in John 4:1-26 (NKJ).  It is to this woman that He offers to give living water, teach her to worship in spirit and truth, and reveals himself as the Messiah:

" ...but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”   23 ...But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”  25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”  26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

We can say that Jesus truly went 'out-of-His-way' to meet with the Samaritan woman, and off course this was not co-incidental.  The Samaritans was descendants of both Hebrew and gentile nations.  Therefore in this one meeting He reveals himself as Messiah to the whole world.  In this one meeting you and I are represented - and in this one meeting, He shows us that God is Spirit and that we need to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and that His Spirit will become a Well of Living Water unto everlasting life, springing up inside of us. 

 Let us take some time today to go with the Samaritan woman to meet Jesus at this well.  

 (There are first some announcements from the producers - the movie starts about 11:15 into the video.  If you are on a phone you might have to click on the 'web version' option at the bottom of the page to be able to see the movie)

 The Chosen Episode 8:  I am He

 

Redeeming the celebration

People of Hope part 17: Deborah and Lappidoth
Monday devotions @work 3 August 2020

 "Then the people of the Lord shall go down to the gates:
“Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake sing a song! A song of victory!”
Judges 5 Amp

Deborah was a prophetess judging Israel at a time when women were not as a rule allowed into positions of leadership over the nation. She did not allow the culture of the day to define her identity or her calling. Nor did she allow the people and the culture to steal, kill or destroy her God-given birthright. In a male-dominated world, her vision of herself was not shaped by the culture, politics or even her social status. It was shaped by her relationship with God alone. She was married to Lappidoth – we do not know much about him – except that his name means “lamp or shine” and that he allowed his wife to walk in her calling against the popular opinion of the day. He must have been a man who knew his calling and worth as a man is not determined by keeping his wife conforming to the standards of the culture of the day. He must have known that his calling included to support and assist his wife to reach the full potential that God has placed in her. Deborah had no legitimacy on grounds of position and yet she raised above all these challenges to become a prophetess and a woman of hope. A woman God used mightily against one of Israel’s most formidable enemies – the Canaanites. God called Deborah to be a prophetess and a Judge, and she fulfilled that calling against all odds. However, I think something about Deborah that we can easily miss was her capacity to celebrate, and it was this, worship-celebration characteristics of hers that God used to redeem and restore Israel’s godly worship of Him. There were several judges and in the book of Judges we can read all their stories of victory over different kinds of enemies, however only in Deborah’s story do we read that she celebrated God’s victory in an elaborate worship-song. The whole chapter of Judges 5 is taken up by Deborah’s profound worship of God’s victory over the Canaanite enemy. She celebrated with gusto – and she did not celebrate alone. She invited Barak, the army and all the people to join her in celebration.

Why this elaborate worship? What did Deborah’s world look like? What did the enemy she overcame look like? I think the answer to this restoration of the worship-celebration lies partially in the kind of sin committed by Israel during that time. Not only did Israel sin against God by accepting the Canaanites idols into their lives, but the worship of those idols caused oppression, stole and robbed Israel of their worship-celebration. Deborah lived in a world where she saw the people of God worshipping and celebrating in a way that included for example the practice of temple prostitution. In her time there was a mixture of spirituality and sexual perversion that was celebrated in ways that devalued, abused, and exploited people, including children. It is in these circumstances that God comes in the complete opposite spirit and elevates a woman against the culture of the day to a position of leadership.

The Canaanites had 900 iron chariots with which they forced Israel into the mountain ranges, where they struggled to produce food. Israel also had no such weapons. There was no way they would be able to overcome this iron hand of oppression unless God supernaturally intervened. Well, He did. He told Deborah and Barak on which day they had to be at the river Kishon with their troops. Then He made it rain and the river came down, and the chariots got stuck in the mud. Without their weapons that usually were so effective, the Canaanites just were not able to overcome.

Against this backdrop Deborah not only became instrumental in changing the circumstances of her people, but she was used by God to restore and redeem proper godly worship. She was a woman mightily used by God to overcome oppression and exploitation and to restore and redeem godly worship in a glorious display of movement and sound to the honour and glory of her God.

 Every Tribe and Tongue and Nation in celebration...

Chris Tomlin - How Great is our God - World edition

©2020 Copyright All rights reserved HG Venter

What can I believe God for in this situation?

I decided to share a link with a message from another ministry with you today.  It is on choosing hope in this time we are in.  I hope that it blesses you the way it blessed me.  That one sentence of "What can I believe God for in this situation?" blessed me immensely this week.

You can find the message by clicking on the following link:

Choose Hope




Let's worship with Philippa Hanna:  

What is the size of your battle?

People of Hope part 16:  King Jehoshaphat

Monday devotions@work  20 July 2020

Am I the only one or do you also sometimes feel that the size of this Covid-19 battle is overwhelming? Today we need to restart life and SAW classes in a whole new way that none of us had foreseen, or are looking forward to. There is a story in 2 Chronicles 20 about King Jehoshaphat, whose battle was seemingly overwhelming. The story starts with some messengers who came to bring King Jehoshaphat the news that a great multitude was gathering against his kingdom, and Jehoshaphat feared. He feared because the multitude was overwhelming and they came from beyond the sea. Beyond the sea? Hmm… sounds like an army of Covid-19 viruses to me.

It is under these circumstances that Jehoshaphat decides to do seven things:

• He seeks the Lord (vs 3)
• He proclaims a fast (vs 3)
• He calls on the people to come to Jerusalem – and they came! (vs 4)
• He asks for help from the Lord ( vs 4)
• He stood in the midst of the assembly (vs 5)
• He and the people gathered in the temple, before the new court (so they gathered in a specific location in the temple)
• And where everyone could see and hear him – he spoke to God. (vs 6) In other words, he publicly acknowledged his dependence on God. He did not pretend to be strong before the people, he did not pretend to have all the answers, and he did not try to look good in the eyes of the people.

Then he starts speaking to God. And he asks God a few questions. However, his questions are not really demanding an answer from God. Rather the questions remind him and the people of Who their God is.

So here’s what he asks: 

• Are you not… our God in heaven? (vs 6)
• With this question he calls on the identity of God, His sovereignty, and the ‘our God’ calls to remembrance the covenant He has with His people. 
• Do you not… rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? (vs 6) This is an acknowledgement of God’s supremacy over all the kingdoms of this world – but also over the kingdoms of the spirit world. 
• Is there not… (vs 6) power and might in Your hand so that no one is able to withstand You? This is a declaration and acknowledgement of God’s power. Not only is He supreme in who He is, but He is also the all-powerful One! Are you not… (vs 7) our God who drives out the enemy?

In vs 8-9 he says – on grounds of the above, when we face disaster, we will stand in the temple and in His presence and You will hear us and save us! In this discussion he has with God he declares his inability, his powerlessness against this multitude, he acknowledges that he does not have an answer, a plan or a strategy, in other words he declares his dependence on God by saying:

“For we have no power against this multitude that is coming against us,

 nor do we know what to do”.

I think we very much feel that we have no power over the multitude of viruses coming against us, nor do we really know what to do.

King Jehoshaphat declares that his trust is in God by saying ‘our eyes are on You’ - we look to You, we focus our attention and our faith and our trust solely on You, God, for an answer in this situation! I think we should be doing the same. Let’s see what God answeres King Jehoshaphat. He says:

• Do not fear nor be dismayed because of the great multitude
• The battle is not yours but it is God’s
• Go down against the enemy
• They will come up against you
• You will find them at the brook before the wilderness
• You will not need to fight the battle
• You have to position yourself
• You have to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord
• Do not fear nor be dismayed
• Go out against them, the Lord is with you

Our current battle is against an enemy we cannot see. It is a tiny invisible virus. The battle is not against a fellow human being or an army that threatens our existence. It is true that in every battle that comes to the door of our life there are some things we must do but the real, spiritual battle is the Lord’s. He is the stronger covenant partner who will fight for us! The battle is His, the victory is ours. We need to not fear nor be dismayed, we need to be obedient to what He tells us to do – we need to position ourselves and go face the enemy, we need to stand still and see the salvation of God!

Note Jehoshaphat’s reaction when he heard this from God:

•  He bowed his head with his face to the ground, and the people followed his example
• They worshipped the sovereign God with all their hearts
• They praised God with voices loud and high

The very next morning they went out to face the enemy and Jehoshaphat exhorts the people to BELIEVE in the LORD YOUR GOD!

He positioned the worshippers in front of the army as they went out. Worship is our strongest form of warfare against fear and despair in the current crisis we are in. We need to move ourselves into a position of worship where we can praise the beauty of God’s holiness, His provision and protection and His mercy that endures forever!

In the story of Jehoshaphat, when they began to sing – the Lord ambushed the enemy and the enemy fought against each other, destroying their own army. I do not know which strategy God will use to overcome this virus pandemic for us, but I do know that we need to face this enemy with the courage He placed inside of us, and with the spiritual weapons He gave us – like worship. When the battle just seems to be simply too big and our courage falters, let us worship our covenant-keeping God Who promises to fight the battle for us and give us the victory.

  
 ©2020 All rights reserved HG Venter

Destiny changing decisions

People of Hope Part 15: Isaac and Rebekah
Monday devotions @work 13 July 2020

Read Gen 24

Abraham was growing old. Sarah had already passed away and Isaac was a grown man. Isaac was going to have to get married. Abraham sent his servant Eliezer (whose name means “my God is my help”) to his own people to find a wife for Isaac, but there was a prerequisite. He was not allowed to take Isaac with him, so his future wife would have to make the decision to marry Isaac even though she had never met him before. She was to be from Abraham’s extended family, not a woman from the Gentile nations where Abraham lived. Abraham had no particular woman in mind. God would have to bring Isaac’s chosen wife to the attention of Eliezer, and if she did not want to come, Eliezer would be under no obligation to fulfil his duty in this matter.

Eliezer journeyed to the far land and arrived at a well near the city of Nahor, and conveniently arrived just at the time when the women went out to draw water. He worshipped and prayed fervently to the God of Abraham, knowing that the daughters of the men of the city would come to the well in the late afternoon. Note that he did not go to the family of Abraham canvassing all the possibilities. He just stayed outside the city waiting for God to bring the right bride to him. He asked God to give him a sign so that he would know which one of the daughters would be the wife for Isaac. This sign had to do with servanthood. He would ask her to give him some water without any promise of reward or payment, and if she offered out of her own choice to provide water not only to him but also to his camels, that would be the sign. Rebekah arrived and the servant asked her to give him some water which she gladly did, but she went the extra mile and ran to water his camels also. Now we may be tempted to just read over that sentence, but if we contemplate it for a moment, we see what an amazing woman she must have been. There were 10 camels. Apparently a thirsty camel can easily drink 113 litres of water, multiply that with 10 and you get 1113 litres of water - which she gladly ran to draw just because she wanted to do him a favour – for no apparent reason or reward she just offered to do it? Eliezer silently wondered at her servant heart, waited until she had finished, rewarded her with gold and jewellery, and then asked whose daughter she was. She just happened to be family of Abraham and again Eliezer bowed his head and worshipped the God of Abraham.

Rebekah invited him to stay over with her family. He then proceeded to negotiate with her father to take Rebekah to Isaac as his wife. He wanted to leave immediately, the family still tried to negotiate for ten days to prepare for her leaving, but after Rebekah was asked her opinion, she agreed to go with him. She made the decision of her life that day, a destiny-changing decision for herself and her generations to come. She was going to marry a man whom she had never met, in the hope and faith that this was her destiny and that he would be good to her. She made the decision on the grounds of the report the servant gave her about Isaac. Rebekah’s father and brother both recognised the hand of the Lord in this and agreed that Rebekah return with Eliezer to Isaac to be his wife. The family saw her off with a blessing: “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousand, and may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them”. Little did they know that Rebekah would become the mother of thousands of believers because she became part of the generational line of the coming Messiah, Who would possess the gates of hell – the gates of those who hate Him.

Imagine her journey to Isaac with Eliezer. Many a night around the campfire I am sure she would have asked Eliezer about her bridegroom. Who he is, what is his nature? What does he like and dislike? What is his favourite food? How does one cook that?

Meanwhile back at home, Isaac was waiting, expecting the arrival of his bride on the return of the servant. However, he did not just wait for this special bride that God would send him. He prayed, meditated, and spent time with God, purposefully separating himself unto his God. Isaac had vision and expectation. He had the vision of receiving his bride and in faith he was preparing himself for the moment when he can receive her into his heart, serving his God and serving his bride-to-be with prayer even before he met her. In Gen 25:21 we see how this continued throughout their lifetime as Isaac continued to pray for his wife, pleading with the Lord for her to fall pregnant when initially she was barren.

When Eliezer and Rebekah saw Isaac in the field coming to meet them, she immediately dismounted and asked Eliezer, “Who is that?” How many male travellers would they have passed on their journey? I am quite convinced she did not ask that about every traveller they passed, but this time she did. It is as if her spirit knew, as if she recognised him. Perhaps because of all the discussions and descriptions from Eliezer on the way, she recognised him when she got near. She veiled and covered herself as was the custom of the day. Isaac took Rebekah into his tent, she became his wife, and he loved her. He loved the one God chose for him, no questions asked, no arguments, no clever reasoning… It simply says - he loved her.

The story of Isaac and Rebekah is an unusual love story. A story of life-changing decisions that moved them both into their destiny – the destiny God the Father had for them.

I believe that even so many years after this there is still a spiritual lesson in this story for us. When Jesus ascended, He went to His Father and send the Holy Spirt to journey with us through life. Like Eliezer went to fetch Isaac’s bride so the Holy Spirit fetch, teach, counsel, guide us and reveal the nature and character of Jesus to us. Just like Isaac prayed for his bride-to-be it says in Romans 8:34 that Jesus intercedes for us “…who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Sometimes we are faced with a crossroads in our life. A place where taking risks and making seemingly foolish decisions to serve beyond what is asked for, makes the difference between having just an ordinary life and having a life with larger-than-life purpose and destiny. Sometimes we must wait pray, meditate, and intercede in faith, preparing our hearts to receive the answer to prayer beyond a shadow of a doubt, deciding in blind faith and with immediate obedience. Like both Isaac and Rebekah did. A remarkable man of faith meeting a remarkable woman of faith. Both serving beyond what is asked for.

Jesus intercedes for His bride and is looking forward to receiving her into His tent. We have to make a decision based on faith, based on the report of The Servant to follow Him, to allow Him to prepare us and journey with us on our way to the ultimate meeting with our Bridegroom – at the marriage supper of the lamb. The heart the Bridegroom is looking for is one prepared to serve beyond what is asked for. Are you and I prepared to serve beyond what is asked for? If we are, it will be a destiny-changing life decision to do the seemingly foolish thing to follow The Holy Spirit into uncharted territory, into a new and unknown life, into a destiny unbeknownst to us, possibly never even understanding the full significance of it in our lifetime. 

Wedding day:  Casting Crowns

©2020 Copyright:  All rights reserved:  HG Venter