4/9/11
Greetings, This week we are going to take a peek into Israel’s history. Israel first began to become powerful in the incubator of Egypt.
“And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” (Exodus 1:7)
When the Egyptians saw how much Israel had multiplied and how powerful they were becoming their solution was to oppress and enslave them (Exodus 1:8-11). The move to enslave Israel was not a move of convenience or practicality. It was a decision based upon fear. They were afraid that a rebellion from the people of Israel would result in their downfall. It is important to point out that this occurred during Egypt’s role as the world power. Israel was just getting started as a nation, and the inherent power that they possessed eluded them.
The same is true of the body of Christ. After the ascension of Jesus the church immediately began to explode. Satan made a move based upon fear. His decision was to oppress the people of God because of their strength. He has never stopped. Satan oppresses you because of God’s strength in you. The moment we realize the inherent power that God has delivered to us as His people, it’s over for the enemy’s kingdom. Unfortunately, this fact is still eluding a majority of us today.
The bondage of Israel was no surprise to God because He actually appointed this time of incubation for the nation. He prophesied this to Abraham saying that the children of Israel would be afflicted four hundred years in a land that was not theirs (Genesis 15:13). When the time was up, God sent Moses to deliver the people of Israel. By the use of plagues and judgments God set Israel free from the Egyptian bondage and led them into the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. Israel remained there for forty years before finally entering the Promised Land.
During their time in the wilderness they were attacked by giants and they won every battle. A significant reason for this was the fact that under Moses all of the tribes were united. This unity continued under Joshua’s rule as he led the children of Israel into the Promised Land. As long as they were united and obedient to God, they were taking territory. This came to an unfortunate end with the passing of Joshua. The people of Israel failed to remain united after he died. Every tribe began to seek after their own self-interests. They not only fell into idolatry and sin, but they also failed to continue taking territory.
We are looking at an ancient picture of a timeless concept. When unity breaks down people will fail to continually take territory. When we consider that one of the purposes of the kingdom of God is to take territory from the enemy, it is easy to point out that our discord is not only an offense to God but a great obstacle to His agenda.
As a result of the selfishness of the tribes of Israel, their inability to work together, and their idolatry, the people repeatedly found themselves in bondage to their enemies. They were often facing hopeless situations. Throughout the book of Judges, God would continually have to appoint judges that would deliver the people of Israel from their enemies. How would the judges do this? They would unite the tribes and lead them into victory. They would cleanse the land of sin and idolatry and reunite the people to the heart of God. Unity did not come apart from reuniting people to the heart of God because unity of His people is the heart of God.
The people of Israel eventually asked God for a king, and although God was not particularly happy about this, He gave them one. Saul became king over Israel and the people united and began to win battles against their enemies again. The Kingdom of Israel under David continued to expand and became very powerful. When David died the kingdom of Israel united under the leadership of Solomon and became extremely wealthy as well. The nation even ceased from war. Unfortunately Solomon fell into gross sin.
After Solomon’s death, the consequences were devastating. The kingdom became divided into the Northern kingdom and the Southern kingdom. Ten of the tribes formed the Northern kingdom and Judah, Levi, and Benjamin (2 Chronicles 11:5-13) formed the Southern kingdom. Both kingdoms eventually fell into the hands of their enemies. The northern tribes fell to Assyria, and later on the southern tribes fell to Babylon. Leading up to this ultimate demise, the kingdoms even conducted open war with each other (2 Kings 14:8-14). Their failure to center their focus on God’s heart and fulfill His purpose for them as a nation led to their destruction. Moving forward, the nation would never again have the potential of becoming a world power and would continue to struggle through intense adversity. They are still struggling through intense adversity today.
By taking a brief glance at the history of Israel we can glean some vitally important concepts:
1. When a kingdom is divided against itself it cannot stand
2. A kingdom that is composed of God’s people can only remain united when His heart is at the center of their ambitions
When a kingdom of God’s people tries to unite on an agenda that is in opposition with God’s heart ,they will not have any more success than those that refuse to unite altogether. Many groups within the body of Christ are desperately trying to rally troops, unite and strengthen themselves—among themselves. They are so concerned with defending their tradition that it blinds them to the bigger plan and purpose of God.
We have to make our focus and the center of our ambitions the heart of God. If we do this, it is impossible to conclude that we do not need other parts of the body of Christ; even when we do not entirely agree with them. Even in our disagreement, if we agree to seek God together we will find ourselves rallied around His agenda and taking territory for the kingdom of heaven. As we press into this type of conduct, it is my firm conviction that we will naturally begin to agree upon more and more. The time is now!
Discussion
1. Why did Egypt enslave Israel?
2. Why does Satan oppress Christians?
3. What do we learn about the historical church from the parable of the 10 virgins?
4. What two vitally important concepts do we learn from historical Israel?
5. What must we focus on to overcome the obstacles to unity?
