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Where Are Thou? Part 1

To begin with, it is imperative to write briefly about the concept of `where`. “Where” being adverb of place, refers to “at or in which place”. “Where” is an adverb that qualifies the meaning of a sentence by telling us places things happen. This adverb of place always answers one important question: Where? (Ginger Software 2017).

One can imagine how frustrating it could be to seek the one you love and not find him or her at the designated places (s). This is echoed in the feelings of Solomon´s wife. She narrates her story that,
by night on her bed, she sought him whom her soul loves: She sought him, but found him not. She told herself “I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not” (Son3:1-2).

God Visits Adam and his Wife

God had been visiting Adam and his wife for fellowship in the cool of the day. But one day, He visited them at His usual time of visitation but they had disappeared from where they were supposed to be located. He had to search for them until he found them. This story is read from the book of Genesis as presented below:

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Gen 3:7-11).

It is read that God created Eve to be with Adam because God said that it is not good for a man to live alone (Gen 2:18). If God provided social support to Adam, why was it necessary for Him to continue to visit man in the Garden of Eden? God created human beings to be together so that we could interact with each other and reap the social, emotional, psychological and other benefits of being with one other. God still wants to be part of our lives as people. He still desires to have an un-breaking relationship with man. He has myriads of Angels to be with, but He still seeks human fellowship and be in koinonia with them. God speaks to children of men as a man speaks to his
neighbor (Ex 33:11)

I Heard Thy Voice

Adam and his wife had sin (Gen 3:6) and had fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) but God called out to them while they were still hiding (Gen 3:10). God does not completely cast out the backslider. He still communicates to them if peradventure they would come back to Him. When Cain murdered his brother Abel, God spoke to him and sought his repentance (Gen 4:10), but he
refused to come back to Him. God has not rejected backsliders. He still calls out to them through His prophetic word. It is read that the prodigal child came to his senses and returned to his father(Lk 15:17-23). For a sinner or a backslider to come back to their senses, it is the work of the Holy Spirit of God because, it is Him, who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment (Jn 16:8-9). The Bible records God´s invitation to the backsliding Israel as quoted below:

“Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God” (Jer 3:20-22).

Every believer still hears the voice of God when s/he commits sins, but if s/he ignores this voice of God and continues in their sins, the enemy blindfolds their eyes (2Co 4:4), seals their ears, and also sears their consciences (1Ti 4:2) and disconnects them completely from God, making it very difficult for them to return to Him, as it is being lamented in Hebrews 6:4-6. At this point, they no longer hear God´s voice, thus making it impossible for God to hear their cries and save them (Isa 59:1-3). At this point, people do hide themselves from His presence as a result of their iniquities.

Hiding for Being Afraid

The moment man (Adam and Eve) fell, they recognized that the presence of God about them had been withdrawn from them. They were left vulnerable because the enemy had gained access into their lives. The wicked flees when no one pursues but the righteous is as bold as a lion (Pro 28:1). They understood that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) because God had already made it clear to me that they would surely die should they disobey His instructions and eat of the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:17). Fear of death and fear, in general, has torment, so those who are fearful are not made perfect in love (1Jn 4:18).

What alluded Adam and Eve was the recognition that God is love and that He would not punish forever. Jeremiah writes convincingly that the Lord God told him that the backsliding Israel had justified herself more than treacherous Judah. So he was sent to go and proclaim His words to them (Jer 3:11-12) to “return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:12-15).

Instead of withdrawing from God´s presence to hiding among the trees, Adam and his wife should have run to God with a feeling of remorse to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with Him. When believers sin, they usually leave the church and abandon their responsibilities toward God. This should not be so. Again, when men and women of God sin, they are mostly expelled from the church even if they repent and are willing to continue with their service to God. We tend to forget the words of the Apostle which advises believers to abstain from sin, but if it happens that any should fall into sin, there is an advocate with the Father, who is in the person of Jesus Christ (1Jn 2:1). God requires believers genuine repentance when they sin against Him. God is merciful so must Christians be, and must end character assassinations and the attitudes of continuously reminding people of their past sins. All believers need to remember that sin is not encouraged by the
Word of God because it renders believers naked.

Conclusions

It could be said that God desires to live among men and to fellowship with them. When a man commits sin, God´s grace multiplies correspondingly so as to restore the man unto Himself. People run away from God because of sin, but He still demonstrates His love towards them. It is written that when we were yet sinners, God commends His love towards us, in that He sent Christ Jesus to come and He died in our place (Rom 5:8). Your sins should not drive you out of the Kingdom of God. If you fall, get up, feel sorry for it and run back to God to receive forgiveness and power to continue with Him. God still loves you.

Prayer: Almighty God and the Prince of Peace, we thank you for your love for us as your children. We have sinned in a number of ways against you, for not obedient to your word. We ask your forgiveness. May you empower us to renew our love and commitment to you, and help us to live in obedience to your holy word. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

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Going in the Strength of the Meat

Introduction

This edition of our Newsletter discusses God´s provision and the relevance of His Word to those who depend on Him. This is seen in the life of Elijah, who, after having killed the prophets of Baal, received death threats from Jezebel, the wife of king Ahab. This made him run for his life into the wilderness and took refuge under juniper trees (1kgs 18-19:1-4). In his desperation and loneliness, Elijah desired of God to end his life (1Kgs 19:5), but God´s plan was not to kill him, but to protect and provide for him so that he might live on. This is supported by the scripture in the next section.

God´s Provision in the Midst of Hopelessness

“And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him,
Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God” (1Kgs 19:5-9).

When all hopes were gone and Elijah never expected the last meal, God provided for him. In this, God revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh (Gen 22:12-14). God´s purpose for Elijah was to give him an expected end as He has promised His people (Jer 29:11). Paul strongly defends God´s provision for believers when he writes that his God shall supply all their needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Php 4:19). In the book of Exodus, the Lord God showed himself strong by providing manna and drink in the wilderness. These provisions were prepared in heaven and dropped down for the people to eat. They ate this for forty (40) years until they got to the boarders of the promised land (Ex 16:35, Ex 17:6).

In another account, Psalms records that God rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them of the corn from heaven. Man ate the food of angels: He sent them meat to the full and He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. He allowed it to fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations, so they ate and were well filled because, God gave them their own desire (Psa 78:24-29).

Here, God is the provider, but His children are the eaters. They had the responsibility to pick the manna up and to eat in order to be nourished by it. God knows how to provide for His children in the midst of difficult times.

Jesus, Our Meal

Jesus informs us that He was that manna that the Old testament church ate in the wilderness. He argues that that manna was not provided by Moses, but His father gave it to them. Upon further
discourse, He made it clear that He is the bread of God that comes down from heaven and gives life unto mankind, so that anyone who eats of him shall never hunger again (Jn 6:31-36).

Again, Jesus affirms to His listeners that He is not only the living bread but also the living drink. He contends that anyone who believes in Him shall never thirst (Jn 6:35). He proves this to the
Samaritan women at the well. He informs her that if she knew the gift of God and who he was, she would require of him living water because whosoever drinks of His water shall never thirst, but that
water shall be in him or her a well of water springing up into eternal life (Jn 4:11-15). This makesHim a complete meal; bread and drink.

Paul, in his argumentations, puts it forward, that, the rock from which the Israelites drank in the desert was Jesus who followed them, and that the water they drank was a spiritual drink which came from Jesus Himself (1Co 10:1-4). We have sufficient evidence to believe in God as our provider. We need to trust Him fully because, He would never leave us nor forsake us (Deut 31:6, Heb 13:5)

Our Manna; The Word of God

It has been noticed, from the foregoing discussions, that the manna was the food of angels, and that Jesus Himself is that manna. It could be said that the cake and the drink provided to Elijah were angels food since they were brought by the angel of God ( 1Kgs 19:6-7). What then does it imply to us today? Angels still bring to us glad tidings and spiritual food, which is the sweet scroll (Eze 2:8) meant to be internalized. The scroll ought to be thoroughly ruminated and digested for our spiritual growth and development in Christ Jesus.

Ezekiel was made to eat a scroll as below statements indicate:
“Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son
of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them” (Eze 3:1-4)

According to Ezekiel, God caused him to eat a scroll which is the Word of God. This is a confirmation of the words of Jesus, that a man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Mat 4:4), as detailed in Deut 8:3. Ezekiel´s strength came from the scroll he ate and he was to fill his belly with God´s word and to preach same but nothing else.

Similarly, John was asked to take a little book from the hand of an angel which he did. He was instructed to eat the book up. The book was expected to be sweet in his mouth but taste bitter in his stomach. Having eaten the book, he was instructed to prophesy before many nations, people, tongues and kings (Rev 10:8-11). The scroll is more to be desired than gold, and even than much fine gold because, it is sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. It must be chosen because by it people are warned and in obeying them people receive great reward (Psa19:10-11).

In his admiration, David exclaims “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way” (Psa 119:103-104). Jeremiah also shares with his hearers how he esteems the Word of God. He writes that “thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts” (Jer 15:16). Job tells of his attitude toward the Word of God as he answers back his friends. He indicates that he has not gone back from the commandment of God because he values the Words of God more than his necessary food (Job 23:11-12). Job esteems the Word of God more than his physical foods and needs.

The Bible as divinely Inspired Book

Peter informs us that, scriptures, though written by men, they did so at the will of God, as holy men of God were moved by God´s Spirit (2Pe 1:21). Paul is of a similar view when he writes that all scriptures are given by the inspiration of God, and it is good for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness, so that people of God may be perfect, completely prepared for all good works (2Ti 3:16-17).

Making Too Great a Journey

The Angel encouraged Elijah to awake and eat because the journey was too great or burdensome for him. When he did, he was able to walk for forty (40) days and nights in the strength of the food until he got to the designated destination (1Kgs 19:7-8). The Israelites also walked in the strength of the manna until they got to the borders of their destination as detailed above. In the same way, believers would be able to walk in the strength of God´s Word to the promised land (heaven). The written word of God must be trusted or depended on, if we could ever make it to the end. Believers must make conscientious efforts to systematic study and digest the scriptures and live by them.

Conclusion

According to Job, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others, scriptures are as sweet as honey in their mouths, but to some of us, modern day Christians, the Word of God as a bitter pill, both in our mouths and stomachs. If the people of God continue to show strong dislikes for the word of God, they would grow weary and fall by the wayside before their complete salvation. As believers, we have a great journey to make so we need the strength in God´s word to finish it. The best way to keep ourselves from sin is to keep the word of God in our hearts and be willing to be obedient to walk it. Peter writes that for new and young believers, we need to desire the sincere milk of the Word of God, in order to grow by it (1Pe 2:2). Christians would be able to go through the challenges of life and overcome sin only if the Word of God is made our daily meal.

Prayer: Dear Lord God, we humbly ask you to reactivate our taste buds for your Word, for us to hunger and thirst for it, so that we shall live the rest of our lives on it. May we and our families find comfort and refreshment in the study of your Word. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen