Grace VII

Graceful Lips

Proverbs 22:9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

He who has a bountiful, gracious, giving, caring, good, loving eye shall be blessed; because he gives his bread to the poor.  There are so many out there today who are just plain cranky and rude.  I had someone argue with me the other day whether a female with the ministry of a prophet was a prophet or a prophetess.  I have to ask, “What is the difference in operation?”  There is none.  What is the difference in administration?  None.  A woman or man who prophesies is speaking the will of God to a situation.  There is no male nor female in that.  God’s Word simply is, without respect for persons.  Let the gifts and actions speak for themselves.

Someone who loves with the love of God will give with the love of God.  It is done without a lot of words or fanfare.  We give and offer our love freely and if we have what you need and can spare it, we will give it to you.  In this we are of a bountiful eye.  People who are bound so tightly with tradition that they cannot see the spirit behind the rule have missed the best of God.  Jesus spoke of those souls and said, “They strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.”  The Pharisees worried so much about the rule of law that they killed the spirit of it.  Jesus sought to embrace the spirit of the law.

These days we have defined ‘religion’ as a series of rules and regulations to be followed.  God’s definition was a bit different.  James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”  Simple right?  No major rules or regulations.  Follow the fruit of the spirit and not the fruit of the flesh.  Care for the orphans and widows afflicted by poverty.  The Pharisees used to devour widows houses and say long prayers while they did it.  Jesus called them hypocrites and blind leaders of the blind.

10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

In Exodus 14 God told the Israelites to be silent, stand fast and see the salvation of the Lord.  Jude 1:16 AMP says, “These are inveterate murmurers and grumblers who complain of their lot in life, going after their own desires [controlled by their passions]; their talk is boastful and arrogant, [and they claim to] admire men’s persons and pay people flattering compliments to gain advantage.”  Scorners believe that they will be respected and attended to by those who also believe in nothing.  In truth, they respect nothing and no person.  Once they are cast out of your group the strife and reproaches will cease. 

Israel wasn’t destroyed by the faithful ‘saints.’  Israel was destroyed by the ‘mixed multitude’ of hangers on who followed the money trail out of Egypt.  These unbelievers kept picking at the faith of the rest of the saints until they began to doubt God and His appointed leadership.  They should have been cast out of the camp but instead they found like minded Israelis to complain to and with.  They stole the spine out of God’s people.  We must beware of these and not be like them.

11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

There is nothing a king despises more than murmurers and mockers.  A king or leader is seeking someone who will link to his vision and assist his cause.  A noble king will give a lot to have faithful and honorable followers.  He will cultivate them and bless them.  Read the story of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4) and you will see a king who had a noble servant who began life as a slave and became an honored advisor by his faithfulness.  Even when this greatest of all kings lost his mind for seven years for pride, his servant remained faithful.  Only two great men in the Bible had nothing negative said about them.  Both became prime ministers to powerful kings and both came to power as slaves but died free, Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. 

Both had a pure heart to serve the Lord and do no evil to the king.  They never sought an opportunity to harm the king or the foreign nation.  They were humble, honorable, honest and faithful.  They were Galatians 5:22-26 men before there was a Galatians.  Many men live in Galatians 5:19-21 but only those who trust God and live humbly according to His Word and His precepts will succeed in eternal things.  He will not speak evil of the king but will honor him and offer grace to the king.  A king offered grace will often strive to be worthy of that grace, but a king offered hatred and evil will destroy you.

12 The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

You might ask yourself why you should be so gracious and honorable to someone who might hate you.  The reason is simple.  The truth and knowledge of God will never fail.  It will come to pass though famous scientists and diplomats and politicians full of words might speak against it.  God’s Word NEVER fails and it will accomplish ALL that God sends it to do.  Thieves, liars and cheats will ultimately fall because God Himself fights against them.  Have you been lied upon or cursed by the wicked?  Why do you fear?  God will bring their words to nothing and they will feast on bitter herbs and broken glass.  Their own words will be cut up by the lies.

Grace for Redemption

Jeremiah 31:1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

Consider this…  God saw Israel in an instant of time.  He looked upon the Jews while they were still in Abraham’s loins and He loved them.  When God looked upon the Jews He saw them until time ended.  Has time ended yet?  No…it has not.  God saw Israel yesterday, today and forever and chose them at that moment to be his special people.  He chose them with His eyes wide open and was not surprised or dismayed when they failed Him repeatedly.  His love and purpose for Israel has not ended nor could it because our God is not a fool and has not been tricked.  Israel is STILL God’s chosen possession as is the land they dwell on.

Jesus knew Judas was a devil.  He knew it when He chose him to be a disciple.  Jesus had to die for our sins and someone had to betray Him as the ultimate insult.  Jesus was not betrayed by the Jewish people; He was betrayed by a man and the nation that man came from was irrelevant.  Jesus was honored and followed by both men and women and those men and women with very few exceptions were Jews.  When Jesus died and was resurrected those same men and women honored Jesus and followed Him – in many occasions unto death – and they loved Him more than life itself.

It’s sad that we have chosen to believe that God hates Israel and has given their future and promises to gentile Christians.  HE HAS NOT!  Our promises are different and while we are a part of spiritual Abraham, Israel will one day be completely spiritual and natural Abraham.  They have a task to perform after the Christian church is taken out to meet Jesus in the air.  God is not one to give up on a people simply because they have fallen short.  You might say that both Esau AND Jacob were God’s chosen ones and in the lineage of Abraham but scripture says that God loved Jacob but hated Esau.  Why?  Because He did and because He chose to.  God made an eternal vow to Israel and the Jews and no matter how much we think we are God’s chosen ones…we were just wild olives grafted in (Romans 11:17).

Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an EVERLASTING love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.

How can we believe God who says His Word never changes and that He does not think like we do, and not simply take His Word at face value without trying to turn Him into an all powerful man in our eyes.  He is NOT a man.  He is God.  Notice it says He has loved Israel with an everlasting love?  Everlasting means never ending.  It is eternal.  God will ALWAYS love Israel and cursed is any man who curses Israel; especially if you try to curse them in the name of God.  God draws them with loving-kindness and will not abide it when we choose to curse them in our ignorance.

Ask yourself a question.  How many times have you missed it with God and yet He continues to remain more than faithful toward you, even merciful and full of grace.  So many Christian groups say that we have been given Israel’s blessings because God is done with them.  Where do we get that kind of idea?  If God expects us to forgive seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22) then just how gracious do you think He is with His chosen people.  Has He punished them severely?  Absolutely.  That should make us stop and think.  We are the wild olive branch and if anything He will be less gracious to us than to the Jews.

Jeremiah 31:4 AGAIN I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

Look at that first word…AGAIN.  God built Israel up over and over again but I have never read where He did it as many times as He requires we forgive.  Verse 4 above is not just for their escape from Babylon.  It applies to them in all things because God’s promise to Israel is an EVERLASTING promise and while 2000 years of punishment may seem excessive on our time scale, it is only two days of “time outs” on His scale.  God made a covenant with Abraham while Abraham was asleep and because God could swear by no greater than Himself.  If God promised Abraham and by extension, Israel, and promised it by His own strength and not Abraham’s; what could Israel do to be utterly cast aside?  Nothing. 

With this understanding we can acknowledge that one day, Israel will be much more than a nation; they will be a people once again.  Their hearts will be turned to their God and His blessings will flow through the nation.  They will once again dance in joy and happiness before God in the streets of Jerusalem.  They will play instruments before the Lord and rejoice in honor of His love and grace.  Once again the mountains of Israel will be covered by vineyards.

Spiritual Grace

Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

Zerubbabel was the king who led Israel out of Babylon after their captivity and laid the foundation for the second temple.  His name meant ‘sown in Babylon’ or ‘born in Babylon.’  Zechariah quotes him in one of the most important verses contained in the Bible.  Not by might (wealth, virtue, valor, goods, substance or riches), nor by power (strength or force), but by my spirit (ruach) saith the Lord (Yahweh) of hosts (war, armies, forces). 

God is the Lord of all warriors, armies, forces and realms.  He is filled with all power and all might and yet states here that it is not those attributes that will make a difference.  His Spirit and that alone will make us MORE than conquerors.  When scripture calls Jesus meek and lowly, it does not mean weak and useless.  It means He is humble, submitted unto the Father and completely in charge of the situation.  Why do we fear appearing weak or foolish?  If we are in Christ, we are indeed more than conquerors. 

Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for our good.  A few verses later it says that, v-35 tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword  cannot harm us.  Does this mean that we will never endure physical pain or suffering?  In verse 36 it says, “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  This sounds quite intimidating doesn’t it?  It almost seems like we are supposed to just walk around being abused.

Oddly, that same passage of scripture continues to make the allegation that we are completely the winners, v-37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Scripture after scripture states that we are supposed to live in the spirit and not in the flesh.  The reason for this is simple; our greatest strengths lie in God’s Spirit and our every weakness in the flesh.  God has given us limited physical and psychological strength but our access to His Spirit is unlimited.  It is only limited by our willingness to enter into it.  We rarely walk in the Spirit all the time in fact all too many of us do not walk in the Spirit most of the time.  This is one of the marks we need to press toward to reach the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

Zechariah 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Bear in mind that it is not by might, nor by power.  There are many great mountains in our lives that seem to stand in the way of accomplishing God’s will.  If we press into the Spirit like Zerubbabel though, they will be turned into a flat place.  In the end, the cornerstone shall be placed, that cornerstone called Christ.  It is His great grace that makes it possible to do all these things in the Spirit of God..

Notice that it is God who brags about Zerubbabel laying the foundation of His house.  Nobody thought the house would ever be built again, but God had declared it.  He purposed that it would be completed by the hands of His faithful servant and so it was.  When mankind built the tower of Babel they did it in their own strength.  Zerubbabel built the Temple in God’s strength and for this received both God’s honor and His respect.  If you want God to honor you then your life must be lived in His Spirit.

Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Have you ever seen a stack of wood and thought, “How will that ever turn into a house?”  God says, “Zerubbabel merely held the plumb bob on the end of a string to make sure the stones were laid straight and yet the seven Spirits of God were on hand watching.  The eyes of the Lord sighted along the string and it was God’s strength that brought the whole process along until it bore fruit.  We can do nothing without the grace of God lending His strength. 

Restoring Grace

Zechariah 12:6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

Why Judah?  Because Israel had already been conquered by the Assyrians and their sin was so great that God allowed them to be utterly destroyed.  It was this absolute destruction of Israel that spawned the theory of the ten lost tribes.  In actuality there are still all twelve tribes.  For many years before the Northern Tribes were captured, those who wanted to serve Yahweh moved to Jerusalem in the South and left the sin and licentiousness in the North.  Though they now occupied a smaller area around Jerusalem, they still tended to remain in tribal groupings; especially the Levites.  By the time even Judah was conquered by the Babylonians for THEIR sin, all twelve tribes were fairly well represented in the South. 

Now, seventy years later the Lord had raised up a new leader who would reenter Israel like a firebrand and cause the new temple to be built against the rage and anger of the current inhabitants of the land.  Like today’s inhabitants, they felt the Jews had no right to the land and both the Jews and God disagreed.  Verse six is all about God lighting this fire with His own power and authority.

Zechariah 12:7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

Joseph in the guise of Manasseh and Ephraim was no longer the driving force of Israel’s future.  Judah, the lion tribe, would carry the power and authority of the nation.  All the tribes were included of course but Judah was the apple of God’s eye.  They had failed to release the land from its labors for hundreds of years and God had required that rest.  Now, seventy years later they were being returned to the land.  Verse seven states that God placed Judah first and raised them up.

In verse eight we see that it is God Himself defending the children of Israel against the heathens in the land who wish them dead.  No matter the trickery and no matter the strength, they would be unable to overcome this land which was truly, “One nation under God.”  If you recall I once described the concept of a remez.  A remez is a hint, a finger pointing to another scripture.  Can you see the remez’s in this chapter of Zechariah.  Notice it says that he who is feeble will be as King David and the house of David (Judah) shall be as God and as the Angel of the Lord in battle.  Joel 3:10 says, “Let the weak say, “I am strong!”  This is a remez and a commandment of God.  Are you in Him?  Are you in Christ?  Then you cannot be weak.  You must be as your Father in Heaven has made you.  As you press into God, He will press His strength into YOU!

They are strong because God and His Word will have made them strong.  In the End Time they will be strong for the same reason.  All mankind will seek to battle against Christ and the Father as well as the Jews in Israel.  God will take the battle to them Himself and they will be defeated.  “Let the weak say, “I AM STRONG!”

Zechariah 12:9 And it shall come to pass in THAT DAY, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

In a much smaller sense this took place many centuries ago in Jerusalem after Cyrus let the Jews go.  The promise from God still stands.  He has sworn to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem.  A strong remez is included in the statement above.  This is not a fanciful hope written by a Jew in fear for his nation.  This is a glorious and powerful promise written by God to a world in sin. 

The first time God punished Israel for seventy years and destroyed a few nations surrounding Israel for their sins against God’s people.  There is a time coming in the not too distant future when God will be finished punishing His children Israel and He will destroy ALL nations on the earth for attacking His chosen people.  Their sins were great and their punishment greater; but as with all chastening, it is about to come to an end and Israel will triumph through God’s power and all mankind will say, “Jesus Christ is Lord!”

Notice in verse ten that it says God has given the people of Jerusalem the spirit of Grace and Supplication.  This is a remez even to today.  Israel has sinned often against God but God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).  His grace, His UNMERITED favor has always been over Israel and now He watches over them to perform His word of blessing to them.  In addition it says He has given them a spirit of supplications. 

People often say that Israel is the most secular nation on Earth.  This is a foolish lie.  Even if a majority of the people there are non-religious there is a strong group who are very much in love with God.  You see them in every picture of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.  They rock back and forth while reading or quoting scripture and then they place SUPPLICATIONS written on slips of paper into the cracks of the stones.  Scripture says that no man comes to the Father unless the Spirit calls them.  If God had written off the Jews they would not be there in answer to Zechariah, worshipping God.

One day in the not too distant future they will realize that Jesus is the one they have pierced when He was crucified.  They will acknowledge Him as a son of Israel as well as the Son of God.  In that day salvation will come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem and Israel will acknowledge that they have killed their son…their Firstborn son.  The bitterness of the gall Jesus tasted will also be experienced by the Jews and they will look on and grieve for the one they have pierced.

Bishop J