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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Rest of God, #3
Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. (Joshua 1:1,2)
The termination of the Church Age is not far off. The Kingdom of God is at hand.
After the death of Moses, Israel was confronted with radical change. Moses had been leading the nation for forty years. God had brought Moses close to Himself. Moses represented God to the children of Israel.
Now Moses was dead and it was time for Joshua to assume leadership.
Moses had been a shepherd of sheep for forty years and then a shepherd of people for an additional forty years. Eighty years a shepherd!
But Joshua was not a shepherd. Joshua was a general, a man of war. One can imagine the consternation of the Israelites when they lost their trusted shepherd and were given instead a warrior to lead them.
As we approach Armageddon, the Lord Jesus is beginning to blow the trumpet in the Church. Total spiritual war is at hand. In order to stand and fight in the coming conflict we must be dead to the world, dead to sin, and dead to self-will. If one of these three areas remains alive in us we cannot possibly stand throughout the shaking that even now is upon us. The end of the adamic creation is at hand.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd of the Twenty-third Psalm.
The Lord Jesus Christ also is a General. He is the "Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle," of the Twenty-fourth Psalm.
The Christian churches do not understand the warrior aspect of Christ's Personality. One has but to look at the pictures of Christ that can be found in a Bible book store. How many pictures portray Christ clothed with a garment dipped in blood, mounted on a white war horse, judging and making war? Yet this is as true a picture of Christ as the more common portrayals of the gentle Teacher who loves the little children.
What Jesus is, He is. When He is a Shepherd He is all Shepherd. When He is a General He is all General. At no time is Christ half-shepherd and half-general. Christ is not a militant shepherd; neither is He a compassionate general. In one set of circumstances He is a gentle, tender Shepherd, greatly to be loved. In another set of circumstances He is a cunning, ferocious Man of war, greatly to be feared.
Multitudes today have received Christ as personal Savior, while just a few, it seems, have received Christ as personal Lord. The fear of the Lord, the Lord mighty in battle, is not always found in the churches.
Change is upon us. The end is near. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is time for the believers to be organized into a highly disciplined army, to die to the world, sin, and self-will, to maintain the face of a man (Moses) while developing the heart of a lion (Joshua), to come to know the Lord of Armies.
To be continued.