3. THE RIGHTEOUS & THE UNRIGHTEOUS NOAH Gen. 7 & 8

 

Scripture tells us Noah was a righteous man. In that day, just as today if you were a righteous person you stood out like a beautiful rose among thorns.

People knew he was righteous, a Weirdo!!! but righteous. (isn’t that how many people see us today) after all, who goes round building a huge three storied boat in a place that had never seen water falling from the sky, however, God had told him exactly what to do and how to do it and he did it.

Sometimes God tells us to do something, perhaps not as dramatic as Noah's assignment, but still we are hesitant, even though we have the Scriptures, The Holy Spirit and other Christians to pray with us; none of which Noah had, Still he was obedient to God.

He trusted God and in so doing God brought him through the greatest flood the world has ever known, and not only him, but his whole family and all those animals.

So what exactly is Righteousness?

According to Scripture, it is trusting and being obedient to God. I say “according to Scripture”, because God's righteousness and the world’s

righteousness (at least today) are poles apart and getting further apart daily, when in doubt it always pays to check with Scripture. In fact through Noah's righteousness God renewed the entire human race..... (According to history, The three sons went to Asia, Africa and Europe with their wives and hence repopulated the earth. Not doctrine, but that's what history tells us. See Encyclopedia Britannica).

What I am saying here is our integrity should be beyond reproach, our righteousness should fly like an Iridescent banner wherever we are or even when our name is mentioned; only then can we be regarded as followers of the most high God, Our behaviour, speech and attitude should reflect purity, health and wisdom. We must always remember we are representatives of Christ Himself 24/7.

We belong to God, He bought us at the very highest price.

It's interesting to note God's reasons for bringing the flood on the earth,” Corruption and violence over the whole earth.” Another thought I have is, Did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah before their sin could spread “Over the whole earth?” As it did in the time of Noah. And what about now, I wonder if Corruption and violence has covered the whole earth yet? and how long will it be before it does and He acts?

Many teachers and preachers believe Noah's Ark is a forerunner to The Ark of the Covenant which God established later. That Ark was going to carry the very presence of the Word of God, which was His law (The ten Commandments,) Manna, or Bread from Heaven, provided by God for His people in the desert and Aaron's budding rod, signifying the miraculous power of God;-- This speaks to me of The Righteous who choose to walk in the provision, protection and the very presence of God. All these things Noah did.

And Scripture says God was pleased with him.

After Noah entered the Ark with the animals, God waited seven days.... God always gives us time to come back to Him before shutting the door and sending “the rain” His judgement.

Clean and unclean animals speaks to me of us, even if we are clean, He doesn't separate us from the unclean. He didn’t separate the wheat from the tears, The sun and rain fall on both the good and the wicked. Noah took the clean animals to lay on the altar of sacrifice to God, quite often God takes us along with the wicked for the same reason, Have you ever been ridiculed or laughed at for standing on your Christian principles?

Consider yourself on the altar of sacrifice! It costs to follow Christ!!!

After Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives entered the Ark, Scripture says “God shut the door.” Interesting isn't it that God gave such specific instructions on how to build the Ark, but there was not one door handle or lock mentioned in those instructions, which leaves us to conclude that God is the one who opens and shuts the doors in our lives, in my experience He seldom shuts a door, without opening another, He may sometimes take a while about it, but He always does. Being a Spirit-filled Christian means giving God the right to open and shut doors in our lives.

After forty days the rain stopped. Forty is a number that is often used in Scripture and often precedes something very meaningful; --- The Israelites were in the wilderness forty years, before entering the Promised Land, Jesus was in the desert Forty days, when He was tempted by the Devil, Before He began His public ministry and Jesus remained on earth forty days after His Resurrection before ascending to His Father in Heaven to send us the Holy Spirit. There are also many instances in the Old Testament where the number “forty” is used.

The church doesn’t give us any official explanation for this, but, I find it interesting!!!

When the water had receded and the ark had settled on mount Ararat. Scripture tells us “Noah sent out a Raven” When researching this sending out of birds, I learned a few things. First, Ravens are black and eat rotting flesh this was the first bird Noah sent out from the Ark where he and his family had been for over a month. This black bird kept going and coming back, but not settling except on dead carcases. (When Jesus was in the desert,The devil kept leaving Jesus and then returning with another temptation)... A few days later Noah sent out a dove, these are white clean living birds that don't eat meat, or land on floating bodies it came back to the Ark and to Noah's outstretched hand.... If we invite the Holy Spirit, he will come to us too and make His home in our hearts. The dove is a sign of the Holy Spirit who longs to find a home with us. After seven days Noah sent out the dove again and it returned with a fresh olive branch, a sign of peace, (Peace is the very first gift the Holy Spirit will bring when He comes into the life of a new believer)... Seven days later and again Noah sent out the dove, this time the dove didn't return, so Noah knew it would soon be time to come out of the Ark. There is yet another thought here for us, four times Noah asked God and four times God said wait. But some time later God did speak and told them to come out. We have to understand that wait doesn’t mean “NO” it means wait.

Timing is one of God’s many prerogatives. It means He knows best.

When God did give Noah the green light, it must have been a huge relief, and also a huge job getting themselves and all the animals out of the Ark as God told him to, but even then after being in that smelly old Ark for so long, they didn't get all excited and have a BBQ, or a picnic in the sunshine and fresh air, No! Scripture says the first thing Noah did was build an altar and sacrifice some of the clean animals to the Lord. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way with our God (remember the ten lepers) God appreciates a heartfelt thank you.... And the Lord was so pleased with Noah's obedience and sacrifice that He made a covenant with Him saying He would never again send a flood over the earth and sealed it with the Rainbow which He set in the sky.

What I learned from the story of Noah was Trust, Obedience and Gratitude.

This is what God requires, deserves and rewards

Thank you for reading my lessons from the Flood. God bless you all.

Phaline.

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2. NAAMAN'S LEPROSY HEALED 2 Kings 5:1.23

 

Naaman was a Roman citizen and a commander in the kings army. He was a valiant soldier and a great man. But with a problem, he had contracted leprosy, which in that day was incurable and contagious. This meant physically nobody could get near him, shake his hand, pat him on the back, or shoulder. He would have to sleep and eat outside the camp, apart from his men, have his own bowl utensils etc.

Being a high ranking officer He would have been a wealthy man and we can presume he had consulted all the local physicians and Gooroos of Aram where he lived and worked. Also, I believe he must have been absolutely desperate to have taken and acted on the advice of a young Jewish servant girl who was his wife’s maid.

Isn't it interesting how God puts us in the right place at the right time. God permitted this young Jewish girl (whose name isn't even recorded in scripture) to be kidnapped or removed from her family for just this purpose, so that He could use her and give her the opportunity and privilege to be His instrument to bring about a great miracle for this man who was willing to go to such lengths and do anything to be made clean. I wonder, if we truly realised how unclean and “desperately wicked” our hearts are, what we would be prepared to do to be made clean, isn't God good to keep such things from us? So that we might recognise our own sinfulness and come to Him on our own volition.

I have to think here, how this child must have felt having to be a slave in a Roman home, away from her friends and family. Perhaps, being kidnapped, never to see her parents and siblings again. From the story we can gather, Her faith held her up; she still remembered the “Holy Man” (The Prophet Elisha who lived in the area) and also she still heard and obeyed God's voice telling her to speak to her mistress.

I wonder if she like Esther “Was born for such a time as this.”

I believe we are all born for a special purpose, we should ask God to show us what it is and be alert, prepared and ready to answer the call.

For each of us there is a “Time such as this” Yours or my obedience to God can change history.

Now to get on with what God is telling us here; When the king of Aram (Naaman's boss) was told of the Prophet Elisha, he encouraged Naaman to go to him, giving Naaman silver, gold and 10 sets of clothes and a letter stating his business. When the king of Israel read the letter, He immediately thought that the king of Aram was picking a fight with him. Perhaps sending men out to spy out the land. He did not understand that God was at work here; (When we are suddenly confronted with the unusual we often get suspicious, maybe we should take a few minutes to check with the Lord to see if He is doing something special for us or someone else. “Take every thought captive” (think about it). When the prophet heard and sent for Naaman, things started to become clear.

We all know the story of Naaman's pride, how he was insulted because Elisha didn't come out to meet him, but sent his servant Gehazi with a message for Naaman to go and bathe in the Jordan river seven times. Not being prepared to accept the word of the Prophet, regarding the river saying, “What's wrong with our rivers, aren't they good enough.” There's a point here, for us to consider, sometimes when we ask God to help us out and He shows us the way, we often try to short-circuit or improve on His answer, or put our own spin on it, thinking He doesn't quite understand, or “That’s a good Idea, but, I’ll just do the same thing my way,” That's pride! We need to beware of it.

Eventually after his soldiers had spoken to Naaman, the healing did happen. Not only was he healed of leprosy, but God had healed his heart too and Naaman said, “From now on I will serve only the God of Israel” No sooner had he said this when he realised He now had another problem. Often when God shows us how to deal with problems, Satan very quickly presents us with a reason why God’s solution wont work, Naaman knew he could no longer keep bending his knee to other gods, but because his boss the king needed help when attending the Roman temple to pray and bend his knee to Rimmon (the Roman god) Naaman being his right-hand man had to be there with him and would be expected to do likewise, so, he asked Elisha's advice, on this matter, but... the Prophet knew his limitations and wasn’t going to play God, so he said “Go in peace” He was a Prophet, not a judge, and without God's say so He wasn't prepared to be one (wise man).

He knew that if God did the healing, He'd tend the details. We have to let God be God, and remember “We are the clay and He is the Potter.”

With gratitude for his healing, Naaman pressed Elisha to accept the gifts from his King but Elisha refused. It's important for us to remember we are servants of the most High God, blessed to be vessels of His, for Him to use, not the other way around.

We cannot use God, or take Him for granted. The gifts we have belong primarily to God, the Holy Spirit and are to be used to glorify Jesus and nobody else. When we use the gifts we must not expect or accept payment for them. Think about Paul when a Magician wanted to buy his gift off him, he was given a short, sharp shift. Why? Because God says (Freely you have received, freely give).

Now to complete our story... - Gehazi Elisha's servant was upset about his boss not accepting the silver, gold, clothes etc, from Naaman, and could not control his greed (sin had taken hold) and Scripture says “he ran” to succumb to the temptation. That was his 1st sin, when we decide on one indiscretion we make a runway for many others to follow. Sin 2, next he lied to Naaman saying there were two men that really needed some money and clothes. Not true. Gehazi’s number 3 sin, was to make sure he wouldn't be found out so he hid his loot before going back to Elisha (we always try to cover up when we know we've done wrong). When Elisha asked him where he had been, he lied again, (4^th one) he should have known better, after all he worked for a Prophet. This was his opportunity to come clean but like Judas when Jesus met him in the garden and said “Do you betray the Son of man with a kiss” he too let his final opportunity pass. Then came Gehazi's time of consequence.

Elisha said “Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and your descendants forever.” that's not just a one off, Sin always has a consequence and that consequence can often effect not only ourselves but our families. Think of drunkenness, gluttony, pornography, bad language, etc. Most times inherited.

In lying to Elisha, Gehazi was lying to God, this is a very serious matter, we can't say things like;--- “He will understand,” NO, He's God, He doesn't understand or accept being lied to. Or, “it's only a white lie,” there's no such thing for a Christian! Or “I didn't mean to”. Then why do we do it?

Think of Ananias and Sapphira.

The final lesson I get out of this story is;--- we don't know how or when judgement will come on us, or how many chances we'll get to come clean, Gehazi had four chances, Ananias and his wife only one. But judgement did and will come, and in both cases it was instantaneous.

Most of us have been Christians long enough to know God's expectations. I believe the time for bottle-feeding and nappy changing is over. We must read the signs, the end is getting nearer. It really is time for us to stand out in the crowd and be seen to be what we profess to be. The chosen Sons and Daughters of Almighty God, ready to fight for the Kingdom.

Thank you for Reading this

God bless you all

Phaline ----------------------------------------

1. JONAH God’s Omnipresence Jonah 1:4-11

 In my Bible (NIV) as I read of Jonah’s adventures I was strongly reminded of God’s Omnipresence.
    Jonah was a Prophet called by God to preach to Israel’s long time enemy Assyria in their capital city of Nineveh. At that time, this city was very evil and in fact was known as “the city of blood” because of the murders and bloodshed that took place there on a regular basis. So one can have a bit of sympathy for Jonah not wanting to go there. However that’s what God told him to do.
As was then and in fact right through the Old Testament, Prophets were not keen to give out bad news, very often Prophets received a hard time if the news they were bringing was not acceptable by the recipients. God’s message for Nineveh was definitely not going to be acceptable, so that was another reason why Jonah took off in the opposite direction to a port called Joppa, where he caught a boat going up north to Tarshish (a distance I understand of about 500 miles).
    Jonah must have been tired after walking to Joppa  with God’s voice in his ear saying “Go to Nineveh!, go to Nineveh.” (If God is telling us to do something He keeps at us until we do it.) So to get away from God’s voice, when Jonah got on board, he went to sleep. Do we do that? When God is trying to get our attention? Do we go somewhere else or have a nap?  God will get our attention one way or another, His will will be done even if it takes a storm. And it wont be in a tea cup!!
    So as we all know, a storm took hold. (Historians tell us that there were two unusual things about this storm
1. This wasn’t the season for storms in that part of the world and 2. These sailors were competent men and would never have risked their ship, cargo or the lives of their crew by going out in an eminent storm).            However there was a storm, and in the light of the above they could only attribute it to “the gods”
    As the ship was about to capsize, and after throwing all the cargo and unnecessary equipment overboard, the crew realised the problem was not with them, but with someone on board. It’s interesting to note here that even these superstitious, heathen sailors attributed this weather phenomena to the working of a     higher power; that this was no ordinary storm and therefore must be the result of the behaviour of someone on board.
    The only way they knew of finding out who was responsible, and what to do about it was by casting lots. Even then God came through for Jonah and he had to confess and pay the penalty for his sin. Once we confess and acknowledge our offences against God He is ready to forgive, that is forgive, not necessarily let us off the hook.
Sin always has a consequence either for us, our families, friends or workmates, and that’s where true remorse and repentance is required.  As he expressed in the prayer he prayed inside the “big fish” (Jonah 2.1-9).
    Three days later God caused the fish to vomit Jonah up on the shore, the sight and smell of him must have been horrific but that was enough for Jonah to then do as the Lord had told him to. There should be a another lesson here for us too (face the music before it’s too late, i.e before you get a name for yourself and people start to avoid and or distrust you.
    Again God spoke to Jonah telling him to go to Nineveh with His message, this time he went and gave them the word from God “Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed” and the people believed him, I also  believe he would have told them about his exploits over the previous week which would have been confirmed by his appearance and odour.
    
Labouring the point of the omnipresence of God, I need to explain, God was there when Jonah walked to Joppa, He was there also on the way to Tarshish, on board the ship, even when he went to sleep, God was there, also in the midst of the heathen sailors, then again at the bottom of the sea when Jonah was being strangled by seaweed, even in the belly of the Big Fish, God was there, and on the shore when he was thrown up.
God gave Jonah several opportunities to turn back to Him, as He gives us too, but it wasn’t until he was at the bottom of degradation that God spoke to him again. “Now will you do as you are told.” Only then did Jonah reply “Yes Sir” The lesson here is when we are sure God is speaking “Do it” don’t wait till He has to bring out His “Big Guns” or Big Fish!!.
    
Jonah went to the very large city of Nineveh and proclaimed the message God had given him, and all the people heard, even the king went into mourning and declared a fast, they were all penitent before the Lord...
It’s interesting to note here that when the King made a declaration to fast and pray for their city, God heard and relented. When the leader of a country recognises God for who he is, then the people change.
We need to pray for our leaders even if they are unbelieving heathens as these were.
    
The Bible tells us, God heard their prayer and stayed His hand. It talks to me about corporate prayer, about when people come together on a particular issue (Abortion and Euthanasia) God hears from heaven and answers prayer. Of course the decision is always His, but in my experience prayer, accompanied by a humble spirit always touches God’s heart.
Now, Jonah as we know, went outside the city, built himself a little shelter and waited to see his prophesy come to pass. And when it didn’t happen he became very angry with God for not fulfilling that prophesy. Why? Because now his credibility was at stake (Pride) and may be his head too knowing the reputation of that city. But the will of God is paramount and overrides everything even our God-given gifts. He and His will is in all and above all. So very soon after his first experience of God’s power, Jonah had another lesson to learn.
    Maybe he thought, by way of apology God had sent a plant to grow up overnight to shade him from the heat, thus Jonah felt justified by his anger.
     Not so!!!   God has no need to apologise to anyone, there are no accidents, mistakes, apologies or coincidences with God. He is perfect in all His ways. So here comes the next lesson “God sent a worm to eat the plant and Jonah received a sunburned head. this only made Jonah more irritable and angry. Now God had to speak to him in very strong but simple terms... (“What’s wrong with you?  You get upset over a plant that’s here today and gone tomorrow but you didn’t show any sympathy for the one hundred and twenty thousand people of Nineveh who would have been killed if my anger came upon them.”
    

Human beings are the most precious creation of God, He lived and died for us. That is something we all need to take on board, yet there are people today to whom life is very cheap, it has no value, purpose or validity as in the cases stated of abortion or euthanasia. Life is so very precious to God that we all will be held accountable for how we use and treasure it, both our own and everyone we encounter. Why? Because each and everyone of us is made in the image of God who is our loving Father who only wants the very best for us and who alone can provide that for us. Thanks be to God for our eyes, ears and minds which we should keep continually tuned into our God so that we don’t miss what He wants us to see, hear and think as He imparts His will to us.
                           Thank you for reading this
                               Phaline.                 ----------------------------------------