We Are His People
We can learn a lot about the nature of God by what happened to Israel (Romans
15:4) says “for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope”.
This world has been going through some trying times, the number of disasters
have greatly increased, and many people blame God. But looking back as Israel,
we see that every time they God tells His people the would rebel against God’s
command, God would eventually remove His hand of protection from them, and
things would happen to them.
The Israelites turned from God after coming out of Egypt, when Moses was on
the mountain with God for forty days and they did not know what had happen to
him, they talked Aaron to make them a god and worshipped it (Exodus 32:1-10)
“and when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, up, make us
gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up
out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said to
them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your
sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people brake off
the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he
received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had
made it a molten calf; and they said, these be your gods, O Israel, which brought
you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before
it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And
they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burned offerings, and brought
peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to
play. And the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, go, get you down; for your people,
which you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They
have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have
made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereto, and
said, these be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of
Egypt. And the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiff necked people. Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may
wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a
great nation”. God was upset and was going to destroy them, but Moses stood in
the gape for Israel (Exodus 32:11-14) “and Moses besought the Lord Yahweh his
God, and said, Lord Yahweh, why does Your wrath wax hot against Your people,
which You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with
a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, for mischief did
He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the
face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against
Your People. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Your servants, to whom You
swear by Your Own Self, and said to them. I will multiply your seed as the stars of
heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they
shall inherit it forever. And the Lord Yahweh repented of the evil which He
thought to do to His people”.
Many will say that Moses had nerve to speak to the Lord Yahweh this way, yet,
we see this also when Abraham stood in the gap for Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33)
God came down to destroy Sodom because of their wickedness, but Abraham
pleaded with God to have mercy on them if He found 50 righteous people among
them, and he continued to plead with God all the way down to if there were ten
righteous people there, but because there were not ten righteous people there,
Sodom and Gomorath was destroyed.
The Bible tells us that God is looking for someone to stand in the gap, and in
Ezekiel 22:29-31 which says “the people of the land have used oppression and
exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor, and needy; yea, they have
oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that
should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I
should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore I have poured out My
indignation upon them; I have consumed then with the fire of My anger; their own
way have I recompensed upon their heads, says the Lord God”. So you see that
what Abraham and Moses did, was according to God’s will. And when we recall
that God does not want any to perish, but that all should come to the knowledge
of the truth; we too can stand in the gap.
The apostle Paul being inspired by the Spirit tells us to pray for those in authority
over us (I Timothy 2:1-4) “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. For kings, and
for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the
truth”. Today there is great need for us to be praying for our nation to be turned
around. God is a merciful God, because He is patient and gives people much
time to repent (II Peter 3:9).
God tells His people the solution to turn their nation around (II Chronicles 7:14)
says “if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. Notice that He said “if
My people”, so regardless to what’s going on in our nation, we, His people can
turn things around.
Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthews 6:9-13 and “then gives us the keys to
the kingdom of heaven and tells us that whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven” in Matthew 16:19). But many people don’t even take time to pray.
Jesus also said “you have not because you ask not”.
God is a loving God, but God is also a just God, and will have to judge right
(Psalms 9:7-8) “but the Lord Yahweh endure forever; He has prepared His throne
for judgment. And He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister
judgment to the people in uprightness”.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: January 6, 2012
We can learn a lot about the nature of God by what happened to Israel (Romans
15:4) says “for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope”.
This world has been going through some trying times, the number of disasters
have greatly increased, and many people blame God. But looking back as Israel,
we see that every time they God tells His people the would rebel against God’s
command, God would eventually remove His hand of protection from them, and
things would happen to them.
The Israelites turned from God after coming out of Egypt, when Moses was on
the mountain with God for forty days and they did not know what had happen to
him, they talked Aaron to make them a god and worshipped it (Exodus 32:1-10)
“and when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, up, make us
gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up
out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said to
them, break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your
sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people brake off
the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he
received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had
made it a molten calf; and they said, these be your gods, O Israel, which brought
you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before
it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And
they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burned offerings, and brought
peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to
play. And the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, go, get you down; for your people,
which you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They
have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have
made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereto, and
said, these be your gods, O Israel, which have brought you up out of the land of
Egypt. And the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiff necked people. Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may
wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a
great nation”. God was upset and was going to destroy them, but Moses stood in
the gape for Israel (Exodus 32:11-14) “and Moses besought the Lord Yahweh his
God, and said, Lord Yahweh, why does Your wrath wax hot against Your people,
which You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with
a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, for mischief did
He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the
face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against
Your People. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, Your servants, to whom You
swear by Your Own Self, and said to them. I will multiply your seed as the stars of
heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they
shall inherit it forever. And the Lord Yahweh repented of the evil which He
thought to do to His people”.
Many will say that Moses had nerve to speak to the Lord Yahweh this way, yet,
we see this also when Abraham stood in the gap for Sodom (Genesis 18:23-33)
God came down to destroy Sodom because of their wickedness, but Abraham
pleaded with God to have mercy on them if He found 50 righteous people among
them, and he continued to plead with God all the way down to if there were ten
righteous people there, but because there were not ten righteous people there,
Sodom and Gomorath was destroyed.
The Bible tells us that God is looking for someone to stand in the gap, and in
Ezekiel 22:29-31 which says “the people of the land have used oppression and
exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor, and needy; yea, they have
oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that
should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I
should not destroy it; but I found none. Therefore I have poured out My
indignation upon them; I have consumed then with the fire of My anger; their own
way have I recompensed upon their heads, says the Lord God”. So you see that
what Abraham and Moses did, was according to God’s will. And when we recall
that God does not want any to perish, but that all should come to the knowledge
of the truth; we too can stand in the gap.
The apostle Paul being inspired by the Spirit tells us to pray for those in authority
over us (I Timothy 2:1-4) “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. For kings, and
for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the
truth”. Today there is great need for us to be praying for our nation to be turned
around. God is a merciful God, because He is patient and gives people much
time to repent (II Peter 3:9).
God tells His people the solution to turn their nation around (II Chronicles 7:14)
says “if My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. Notice that He said “if
My people”, so regardless to what’s going on in our nation, we, His people can
turn things around.
Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthews 6:9-13 and “then gives us the keys to
the kingdom of heaven and tells us that whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven” in Matthew 16:19). But many people don’t even take time to pray.
Jesus also said “you have not because you ask not”.
God is a loving God, but God is also a just God, and will have to judge right
(Psalms 9:7-8) “but the Lord Yahweh endure forever; He has prepared His throne
for judgment. And He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister
judgment to the people in uprightness”.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: January 6, 2012
