Journey So Far Part 2

Journey so far II…

The embodiment of servant-hood/slavery

(This is the continuation of the Journey So Far Part I Read it Here)

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterwards shall they come out with great substance.

There are two things I will love us to put in our heart as we begin to read this second part. These were highlighted in the above verses of the scripture. The first is "SERVING" and the second is "GREAT SUBSTANCE". Moreover, we should note that the initiator of these two things is "GOD". It was Him that pronounced this prophecy to Israel while they were in their father's loins, Abram. This co-notes or shows that God has a purpose for sending His people into slavery and the end result is "GREAT SUBSTANCE". With this is mind, we can now go into this second part fully.

Moab hath been on ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity; therefore, his taste remained in him, and his scent is not change.

Some of the means that the great God has created and made on this journey to the Kingdom are challenges and slavery; without these means, the level of one growth cannot be measure in God's eye. Just as an athlete is not worthy of a crown and a gold medal without passing the test of race/competition, so also any Christian is not worthy of any crown or being glorified with Christ without challenges and slavery.

If these two things are missing in a believer's life then, degeneration is inevitable. This is why most men of faith in the past had to pass through many challenges and slavery. They were not men or women of faith by mere confessions but by what they went through. Was it Abraham, Enoch, Moses? Was it Peter, Paul and the other disciples? Were they not a slave or bondservant of Christ? Was it by mouth confession only? No! It was a result of reality. I'm not saying you should not confess good things but my emphasis is that those good things will and shall not come without challenges and slavery; your confession are mere word when it lacks the reality of the cross.

According to that scripture above in genesis, the blessing of the children of Israel were tied to been a slave in Egypt; if they refuse it, they would not experience the blessing. They cannot refuse, it was/is the laid down rules and plans right from God's hands to all his children. It was God that ordained it. Though they were yet to begin the journey but the laws and road map had already been drawn and mapped out for them; the foundation was laid in their father by God. And, I'm very persuaded that Abraham would have declared the whole counsel of God to Isaac, then Isaac to Jacob and Jacob to his children.

Jacob experienced slavery and challenges, Joseph was not exempted nor spared from it, even Moses had his own share of it, and then all the children of Israel partook of it.

If we call ourselves spiritual Israel needless should we think that we are exempted or God will bypass his laid down pattern for the sake of us. God maintain His standard in every generation, the world may change, people may go and come but His standard is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Things that God hates....

From the above passage, God hate freelancers- a man that has not gone into slavery/captivity cannot become a useful instrument in God's hands.

Captivity in itself is not evil but whom or what is holding you as a captive is what really matter.

There are having been two masters from the past and yet, there are yet two masters now. God is the first Master while the devil is the second. Every man on earth is either serving the former or the latter. There is nothing like "I'm not a slave to anyone". To whom you yield yourself to obey to such you are slave to, either to God--righteousness, or the devil--unrighteousness. There is nothing like middle or not being a slave to anyone.

In case of Moab, he was such a person that enjoy pleasure right from his youth; he was not subjected to the law of God. Moab was the alpha and the omega of his life. And to God, his cry of being at ease came before him and He needed to do something on behalf of Moab.

And what did God do to Moab’s cry? The next verse showed how the Lord answered Moab’s cry;

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles (Jer 48:12)

You may ask "how does that apply to me?"... Moab is just a metaphor as you see here though, but the characters and behaviors is what matter...

To be at ease means to be doing your own thing, enjoying pleasure without God consent... You may call yourself a Christian but I tell you, been a Christian without going into captivity or becoming a slave to Christ is not really Christianity...can you imagine been an Israelite without captivity in the land of Egypt?

Moab is at ease!!!

Woe on to them that are at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1)

Are you at ease? Are you doing your own things in your own ways? God does have an antidote for your easiness; "Captivity" is the antidote!!

 Moab has settled on his lees

Here again is another problem with Moab; “Settling down”. I know the question that may likely pop-up in your mind is “are you saying we should not settle down?” No. God is not against your settling down but against your stagnancy in that realm of settling down. There are times God ordained for us to settle down and enjoy the achievements/success (es) we’ve made so far. Just as God was not against the settling down of children of Israel while dwelling on the mountain, but against their stagnancy and reluctance to leave the mountain and move ahead with Him.

God has a plan that we must follow if truly we want to walk/work with Him. Let us ask ourselves; have we settled on those achievements of the past or the present ones? Are we willing to move on with the Lord if He indicates the need to? No doubt about how God has used you or me in one way or others, in achieving this or that but have you come to the end of the road in this journey? There is no settling on this journey, you are either moving forward or journeying backward.

God do not only ask you to do away with your Ishmael but also ask you to lay your Isaac on the altar as offering to Him.

And has not been emptied from one vessel to another!!

We’ve come now to another problem of been a Moabite and I am going to illustrate this with the Vessels of Old.

In those days wine were stored in vessels to preserved their tastes and uniqueness. This was a process in the land of Israel and the neighboring cities/countries. One fundamental thing about this process is that wines were not kept more than necessary in a vessel without been empty to another vessel. Week in week out the processes continued. This process allows wines to be swift off of any particles in them.

The vessels in this passage of the scripture does not mean bottle as we have it today. The vessels that were used then were animal’s skins and there is a limit to which a wine can stay up in a particular vessel. Why? Simply put. Keeping a wine inside a vessel so long do not only mess up the vessel but the wine also get mess up.

The same thing applies to you and me as Christians. We are the vessels in God’s hands, we are never the wine. God expectation from us is to be empty from one vessel to another meaning, the anointing, the gifts or whatever He pour into us need to be empty from us to another vessels. We are never to be a stagnant water that only received but do not let out.

Our journey with God has levels and dimensions, God expects us to follow Him as He takes us through those levels and dimensions of His kingdom. But, Should we failed to comply with Him, should we refused to be empty of ourselves (both the bad flesh and good flesh in us) then the antidote is still the same; Slavery and Captivity from the hands of the enemy awaits our arrivals. According to the book of Isaiah that says “there is a lawful captive”, which mean the captivity such a person is experiencing is not an illegal captivity-it is the right of the person to go through it.

Once we failed to be emptied of our so called God’s given grace, anointing, fame, money, along-side with our fleshly nature whether they be good or bad, in essence we are saying “Lord Send me into Captivity” and the Lord is a righteous Judge who will not despised our cry for captivity.

 Therefore; his taste remained in him, and his scent is not change.

The promise of God to Abram when that prophecy came to him was “Great Substance”. God plans and purposes of doing all these to us as His Children is to change us form earthly to Spiritual being. He is not doing these things to punish or afflict us rather, His intention is that we may prosper as our soul yield to His dealing and prosper in Him.

Great Substance does not necessary have to do with money, cars, houses or materialism though those may be included or are included but, the Great Substance mean God becoming our inheritance. God said to Abram: “I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen 15:1). Money, fame or Material things are not our reward, God is our reward.

But, what a lost will it be if all you ever wanted as you are journeying with the Lord here on earth is those things not God as your inheritance? On that day, the Lord will say to you “Your taste remained in you and your scent (carnality, greediness, Adamic nature and all that constitute flesh) is not change. Then, it would have been too late for you.

        

And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men (with women also) that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become booty and their houses desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. (Zeph 1:12-13)

We must never forget that on this journey, God wants us to become His bond-servant and His captive, He wants us to be empty day in and day out so that our scent and our taste could be changed. That is the way of God for us.

In Adam we refused and God sent us out of Eden... But, in Christ God present to us another opportunity to have Him in Complete.

May we not refuse and become like Moab and the foolish virgins.

………to be continue in part III….