DEPARTING BRINGS US TRIUMPH, RESTING BRINGS US PEACE

Shalom,

In two days, we will host a revival meeting with the theme of 'One Spirit in One Tabernacle.' Will we experience victory only in the church while outside the church we are not confident, even afraid and then backtrack? Can we unite in one Spirit in one Tabernacle? Why do we need to be in one Tabernacle? God has given an example of how the Israelites became strong and achieved triumphs in their obedience in one Spirit and one Tabernacle.

Here are what we have learned from the journey of the Israelites in one Tabernacle:

· The Israelites left the Sinai desert and, within three days, they reached and dwelled in the wilderness of Paran. The Ark of the Covenant went before them and the cloud of the LORD was upon them in the daytime. When the Ark moved forward, Moses said, "Rise up, LORD, and let Your enemies will be scattered and those who hate you flee before you." When the Ark rested, he said, "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel" (Numbers 10: 11-13, 33-36).

This was the first time they were ordered to leave Mount Sinai where the Tabernacle was built. This proved that God was not stagnant but alive and mobile as if to 'show off' Himself through the Tabernacle and the nation of Israel.

Can you imagine the preparation for the departure of the Israelites? Young and old, big and small (± 2½ million) – the men had to disassemble tents, pack things, take care of cattles while mothers prepared food supplies for their children. They might have had babies or their babies might have been on the way.

The preparation must have cost them a lot of trouble. Possibly, they might been afraid because that was their very first journey! Moses himself had no idea how long the journey with such a great number would take to find a place to rest. That’s why he begged the LORD to lead them as they set out to scare the enemies away. And God was in their midst when they took a break after their victory. Having the good grace, Moses knew he was not the one who led the way but the LORD Himself did.

Implication: There is a time when we should leave the comfort zone (when God dwells in the established Tabernacle) but do not be afraid because the cloud of His glory still protects us and He leads us forward on the way to the Promised Land – the new Jerusalem.

In a great number, the Israelites set out leaving no one behind. What would have happened if the elderly had refused to leave because they were weak and afraid of fatigue, while the youngs were so curious to see a new atmosphere? In fact, they all set out and stayed safe and sound under the direction of God, the Creator of the universe without beginning or end. He who departed was the One who promised to fulfill it.

The LORD was not present among those who chose not to leave Mount Sinai where He provided neither security nor tranquility. Watch out, if our hearts do not want to go forward, we will miss the atmosphere of victory that He has promised. Christians must be convinced that ‘going with God provides a promise of victory and we never miss peace wherever we live.

• The eyes of Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israelites were to stay focused on the same view, meaning that once they saw that the Ark moving, they had to be ready to lead the group to move forward; on the contrary, when the Ark stopped, they all had to be ready to stop (Numbers 10: 35-36). In other words, the entire journey of the Israelites to reach Canaan was under the command of the Ark and cloud.

As a leader, Moses was ready to give the command either to move or to stop when he saw the cloud rising or coming to rest. He did it repeatedly at the resting place that the LORD had appointed. Obviously, as a good and responsible leader, Moses did not stay apathetic or did things any old way every time they moved to one place from another. Precisely because he did not know what lay ahead, he could not help boosting the morale of the Israelites to win.

Applications: Spiritual leaders should not be lazy and reluctant in giving encouragement to their congregations. A leader must have a caring heart for his congregants (in large and small groups). He is not that easy to deligate his duty to his asociates when it comes to establishing unity among them and reducing complaints.

For instance, a God's servant enthusiastically preaches the Word of God but the congregation ignores it and even grumbles out of boredom when hearing the Word of God preached in the same fashion repeatedly. The truth is that the Word of God is alive and powerful. If we read or hear the Word of God but do not believe it, we will not gain serenity and victory but make complaints instead.

• The glory cloud of God did not rise when the Tabernacle was set up but rather right after the Israelites had came out of Egypt when the pillar of cloud led them at noon and the pillar of fire gave them light at night (Exodus 13:21). The problem was that the Israelites had been enslaved by the Egyptians for 430 years (Ex 12:41) and were freed from the oppression of Egypt by the blood of the Passover lambs (Exodus 12: 5-7, 12-13) but their minds and hearts were still in Egypt. This was evident when a slight problem reminded them of Egypt (Exodus 16: 3).

We have been freed from the slavery of sin by the blood of the Lamb of God. This points to the Altar of Burnt Offering, meaning that we have repented and accepted Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Will we we turn back to the world (Egypt) simply due to provision, family and business issues? Did we leave our hearts there? Be vigilant and get rid of the spirit of slavery that works hard for the sake of the stomach (food) because God has released us from the bondage of the world and is leading us to the Heavenly Canaan. So, stop begging and manage the blessings He has provided us on our own.

Therefore, we must walk on (instead of resting in one place) whenever God wants us to (day or night). Since His forgiveness, He has been leading us to abandon the evil of sin. However, we must stay on our gurads against the human nature persistently nestling up to our flesh. God does not want us to return to the old sin because, ahead of us, we still have many 'battles' to win.

There are times when God wants us to 'take a break' and sit listening to the Word of God at the Sunday service, the Prayer service and the Bible study; do not spend time working to earn money and forget to worship. Instead, obey His command when we are told to 'leave' with an eye to victory; do not refuse to 'leave' under the disguise of many 'roaring lions' out there while the fact is that we are lazy (Proverbs 22:13).

• Moses led the Israelites and faced the Red Sea before them. This refers to the Brazen Laver.

Moses did not know how to proceed the journey because the Red Sea blocked their way. But God had His own way to troubleshoot the deadlock so that the Israelites could cross the sea (Exodus 14: 19-22).

Oftentimes our spiritual lives do not make any progress, because we know the truth but we act against the truth (according to our own will). In other words, God wants us to see His great power but we limit His power out of fear as the Israelites did when blaming Moses for bringing them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness chased by the Pharaoh and his armies (Exodus 14: 9-12) while, before them, the Red Sea was ready to devour them.

However, God does not want man to tell Him what to do and His plan is everlasting. Moses did not understand God's plan. He was only told to keep silent and to calm the Israelites because God would fight for them (Exodus 14: 13-14). Moses had no experience but he learned to obey God's commands.

We must admit the fact that we often deal with our problems in our own way while God promises victory because He goes before us and fights for us. If God accompanied the Israelites to face of the Red Sea, the Pharaoh and his armies, we must also believe that God is with us and gives us victory as long as we believe in and follow Him. If God goes before us, our enemies will never win. On the contrary, we will be no match for our enemies if we fight on our own without God’s help.

We have believed and repented (the Altar of Burnt Ofering) and have been baptized (Brazen Laver). It means that God has given us victory not to remain idle but to make progress no matter what may come our way.

• The priests did their duties in the Courtyard and in the Holy Place when the clouds stopped /did not rise. They did it every day. When the clouds rose, they continued the journey.

God has a way to calm us (it doesn mean that we do nothing during the worship and get tired of listening to the Word of God). An illustration: You can imagine how shocked a husband will be when he hears that his wife gets bored of living with him after 52 years of marriage same.

In the same way, how disappointed God will be, if we, His church, are tired of listening to His Word (His voice) and weary of worship! Grow spiritually mature and do ministry with joy instead of under pressure! Regular church attendance provides no access to Heaven if we have no intimate relationship with Him!

• The tabernacle was built according to the model shown to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40). When the Israelites moved to the next place, the tabernacle was dismantled but all the utensils in it were packe up so that when they arrived at the next stop, they had no difficulty in setting up the tabernacle again. The eyes of all Israelites stayed focused on the direction of the cloud visible from from every corner of their campsite.

We do not live in the church, but after the service, we go home. Do we have the 'Tabernacle tools’ in our lives so that we are empowered to establish a relationship with God?

• Moses was a meticulous leader. He was a student with high IQ while studying in Egypt. Later, he worked as a shepherd for his father in-law in Midian for forty years. But when he was called by the Lord to go and see the Pharaoh, he did not boast of all his experiences. That’s why Moses felt incapable of leading the nation of Israel (Exodus 4:10).

Having experienced victories and obstacles time and again, Moses, as leader of the Israelites, began to understand the maneuver. When the ark moved, he cried out because of the experience (fear, peace, victory) that he had gone through.

To move forward, let us not forget our past experiences as our strategic supplies. Let us not be traumatic due to unpleasant experiences and make excuses for slacking off in service!

• Something unusual took place. When the cloud had risen from above the tent, the Israelites did not depart because Miriam was affected by leprosy and they had to wait until Miriam was clean (Numbers 12:10, 15-16). This hindered the progress of their journey due to Miriam’s and Aaron's rebellions against Moses.

In fact, Miryam was used by God as a prophetess who led the women to sing the song of triumph for God (Exodus 15: 1-22). Unfortunately, she spoke against Moses because of the Kushite woman he had married (Numbers 12: 1). We have to keep the 'mouth' under control. Probably, Miryam was jealous of Moses and turned the issue of the Kushite woman into a polemic.

Introspection: What comes out of our mouths? God created the mouth to praise and glorify Him (by playing tambourines and singing triumphs), not to judge and gossip about someone (cf. James 3: 9-12). Watch out for our words that can affect others. And do not be a busybody interfering with other people’s marital problems.

The problematics caused by the 'mouth' occurred when the 10 people spying on the land of Canaan faked their report triggering the Israelites’ rebellion and rejection to enter the land. Joshua and Caleb failed in their attempts to reassure them that he LORD was with them (Numbers 14: 6-9).

It turned out that truthful words did not always get a positive response. Instead, Joshua and Caleb, as crew of the spy mission (representing the Table of Showbread), were almost stoned by the crowds since the statements of the other 10 spies had provoked a storm of protest from the whole nation of Israel (v. 10).

Be on your guard when someone preaches the Word of God but he himself does not believe in the truth of the Word. Unknowingly, he makes the congregation 'stop,' no spiritual progress. A heart doubting the Word of truth makes the mouth spew threats. Unlike Joshua and Caleb, for the sake of the truth, they were not afraid of being threatened to be stoned because God Himself was their defender who extended the punishment of the Israelites from 40 days to 40 years. Consequently, their children suffered shepherds in the wilderness (vs. 30-34) .

Implications: When it comes to the Word of God and parents do not speak the same language, children, as the fruit of marriage, become victims. Do not act like Eve who believed the words of the serpent then deflected the truth of God’s Word and shared the forbidden fruit with her husband. As a result, their son, Cain, became a nomad way far from the sight and face of God after killing her brother, Abel (Gen 4:12).

Remember, husband and wife must live in unity and obey the truth of God's Word because it impacts their marriage relationship and provides family harmony. Indeed, God is loving but do not forget that He is also ultimately just. If parents do not live up to the Word of God, children will become victims. Husband and wife who love God and understand His heart will be able to accept the weaknesses of his/her life partner and forgive each other.

Now the 'cloud' has come down and become flesh tabernacling in our midst (John 1:14). Instead of showing off His greatness, He suffered and even died on the cross to save sinful men from the threat of eternal punishment (Phil 2: 7-11).

Let us submit ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, we are instructed to stand up and move on in the ministry to gain victories. At other times, we are told to rest but not to stay idle and do nothing. Rather, we are to persevere in our worship and ministries to obtain peace. Whatever happens, God always wants to stay close to humans. Do not miss out on His love and justice. Therefore, let us hear the voice of His Word so that we may live in triumph and peace with Him. Amen.

By Pastor Paulus Budiono

Sunday, September 17, 2017