Today’s verse of the day for the YouVersion Bible app was,
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
I think a distinct line in the sand that separates a true Christian from a novice or a non Believer is having “Experiences” of being in and in “Knowing” the LORD God’s Presence. If you have been there you understand exactly what I’m saying and if not you don’t have a clue, you may even think I’m a little nuts. A second scripture of the day for today that I read is from Tecarta Bible app and touches on the same point, “The LORD God’s Presence.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 KJV And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
https://tbibl.es/9SKp
Moses is speaking to Israel in the verse from Deuteronomy 31 and it’s part of his farewell speech. In verse 16 God tells Moses,
16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; (You are about to die, NLT) and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?
God spoke clearly, He didn’t stutter!!! If you, as the nation of Israel that I have redeemed from bondage “will forsake me” then “I will forsake you and I will hide my face from you.” God has never hidden the fact even from the Garden of Eden that sin has consequences. Actually, it’s the reason God has told Moses that he will not be allowed to enter the promised land and will die on the east side of the Jordan.
ONCE!!! God told Moses to “strike the Rock” that it would bring forth water for Israel to drink. The second time God told Moses “speak to the Rock” but in his anger at the people of Israel Moses struck the Rock instead. When God told Moses the first time to “strike the Rock” it makes His “Presence” known in a tangible way. It should put to rest their question, “Is God Among Us Or Not?”
Exodus 17:6-7 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?
Over and over through the history of Israel, either as the 12 united tribes or later as a divided kingdom of Judah”s 2 tirbes in the south and Israel’s 10 tribes to the north, God made His principle of obedience & presence vs disobedience & forsaking known. Before I go any further I want to make a point. There is NO Place where the presence of God does not exist. You can’t hide from God but God can, if He chooses “Hide His Face” from you. In a time of trouble and in desperation you will easily question if God knows the situation you are in. In His humanity, when the weight of the world’s sins came upon Jesus nailed to a cross, even He felt for a moment a separation from His Heavenly Father,
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
I wrote all the above to make the point that either as an individual or a nation, God’s tangible “presence” or lack thereof can be understood and experienced.
For a few days now, actually after the 1st 2020 presidential debate, an account from the Bible has been on my mind. It took place shortly before the northern kingdom of Israel’s 10 tribes became what is known today as the “Lost Ten Tribes.” After that point, there was no longer a “northern kingdom.” They were killed or taken captives and hauled away to other nations.
After Saul, David and Solomon ruled over the united 12 tribes of Israel the “split” came. There were times when the 2 kingdoms of God’s people got along and faced trials and even enemies together. At other times they were at odds with each other from bickering with to waring against each other. Just one king before the northern kingdom became known as the “Lost Ten Tribes” a picture of how bad the relationship between Israel’s (Jacob) 12 sons had gotten. The level of hatred and decency towards each other is presented in scripture,
2 Chronicles 28 (The Living Bible)
Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. But he was an evil king, unlike his ancestor King David. 2 For he followed the example of the kings over in Israel and worshiped the idols of Baal. 3 He even went out to the valley of Hinnom, and it was not just to burn incense to the idols, for he even sacrificed his own children in the fire, just like the heathen nations that were thrown out of the land by the Lord to make room for Israel. 4 Yes, he sacrificed and burned incense at the idol shrines on the hills and under every green tree.
5 That is why the Lord God allowed the king of Syria to defeat him and deport large numbers of his people to Damascus. The armies from Israel also slaughtered great numbers of his troops. 6 On a single day Pekah, the son of Remaliah, killed 120,000 of his bravest soldiers because they had turned away from the Lord God of their fathers. 7 Then Zichri, a great warrior from Ephraim, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, the king’s administrator Azrikam, and the king’s second-in-command Elkanah. 8 The armies from Israel also captured 200,000 Judean women and children and tremendous amounts of booty, which they took to Samaria.
9 But Oded, a prophet of the Lord, was there in Samaria, and he went out to meet the returning army. “Look!” he exclaimed. “The Lord God of your fathers was angry with Judah and let you capture them, but you have butchered them without mercy, and all heaven is disturbed. 10 And now are you going to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem? What about your own sins against the Lord your God? 11 Listen to me and return these relatives of yours to their homes, for now the fierce anger of the Lord is upon you.”
12 Some of the top leaders of Ephraim also added their opposition. These men were Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai.
13 “You must not bring the captives here!” they declared. “If you do, the Lord will be angry, and this sin will be added to our many others. We are in enough trouble with God as it is.”
14 So the army officers turned over the captives and booty to the political leaders to decide what to do. 15 Then the four men already mentioned distributed captured stores of clothing to the women and children who needed it and gave them shoes, (clothed all that were naked among them, KJV) food, and wine, and put those who were sick and old on donkeys, and took them back to their families in Jericho, the City of Palm Trees. Then their escorts returned to Samaria.
16 About that time King Ahaz of Judah asked the king of Assyria to be his ally in his war against the armies of Edom. For Edom was invading Judah and capturing many people as slaves. 17-18 Meanwhile, the Philistines had invaded the lowland cities and the Negeb and had already captured Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their surrounding villages, and were living there. 19 For the Lord brought Judah very low on account of the evil deeds of King Ahaz of Israel,[a] for he had destroyed the spiritual fiber of Judah and had been faithless to the Lord. 20 But when Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, arrived, he caused trouble for King Ahaz instead of helping him. 21 So even though Ahaz had given him the Temple gold and the palace treasures, it did no good.
22 In this time of deep trial, King Ahaz collapsed spiritually. 23 He sacrificed to the gods of the people of Damascus who had defeated him, for he felt that since these gods had helped the kings of Syria, they would help him too if he sacrificed to them. But instead, they were his ruin, and that of all his people. 24 The king took the gold bowls from the Temple and slashed them to pieces, and nailed the door of the Temple shut so that no one could worship there, and made altars to the heathen gods in every corner of Jerusalem. 25 And he did the same in every city of Judah, thus angering the Lord God of his fathers.
Footnotes
[a] 2 Chronicles 28:19 King Ahaz of Israel. King Ahaz ruled two tribes of Israel—Judah and Benjamin—and so is referred to here in this unusual way as a king of Israel.
Only a handful of spiritual leaders in the northern kingdom of Israel recognized that their army had taken the level of inhumanity and violence of war too far. They marched the captive women and children from Judah back to Samaria naked and barefoot. At the same time God is allowing similar things to be done against Judah by other “servants of His Will.” God uses the chastening rod of His choosing as when He spoke of Neb this way,
Jeremiah 27:6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him.
Jeremiah 43:10 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.
To use the recent words of Nancy Pelosi, God has “many arrows in His quiver,” at His disposal to be used in His hand of correction. God in His Sovereignty doesn’t even have to “use” any of them. All God has to do is “lift His Hand” from upon a person or a nation, just do as He told Moses to warn Israel, “I will hide my face from them.” (Deut. 31:17) God only needs to let man’s fallen nature go unchecked by the restraining power of His Holy Spirit to let very much pain and suffering overwhelm America.
How bad will it have to get in America before enough people realize and cry out to God, “Is The LORD Among Us or Not.” Will America have to go the way of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel? Will America ever fear God enough to stop shedding the innocent blood of unborn infants or it’s lack of compassion shown through inhumanity towards each other. These things aren’t the problem. They are only symptoms of the problem. America as a nation has forsaken God and have NO Desire to walk in His Ways. In large and in very outspoken ways America has told God to butt out, leave us alone. Can the sins of America cause this nation to fear these words of Isaiah without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit? NOPE!!!
Isaiah 7:17, 20 The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”
20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a hired razor,
With those from beyond the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.
I just learned that Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive for Covid 19. After almost 4 years of many in America having outright hated this man and have done all in their power to not give him a “peaceful transition” to be it’s president. Impeachment from office has been their threat for almost 4 years. Maybe now they will be praying that their desire to be rid of him for good will be answered. For me personally, I will trust in the Complete Sovereignty of Almighty God.
A couple days ago, on Wednesday morning after the 1st debate when I thought about the narrative of 2 Chronicles 28, a scripture concerning this was the scripture of the day.
“Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand.”” (Daniel 2:19-23 NKJV)
#Bible https://www.mydailybible.org/dv/nkjv/2020-09-30.htm
To be honest, there are many things about Donald Trump I don’t like either but from an American and as a Christian point of view I see him definitely as the “lesser of two evils.” He is “for” prayer, freedom of religion and the 2nd Amendment just to name my top 3. He is “against” abortion, a one world government and racism.
I started this post with the comment that when God’s Presence is near it can be know in “tangible” ways, not by only a feeling. God has always done “signs and wonders” to show His Great Power and has told of events through His prophets long before they happen to prove His Sovereignty. For me, a definite proof, beyond a shadow of a doubt that Almighty God “Raised Up” Donald Trump to be president of America for such a time as this is crystal clear.
Notice the year of the Hebrew calendar. 5 is widely accepted as the number of God’s Unmerited Grace. 7 is widely accepted as God’s number of “perfection” even divine “spiritual perfection.” Read the book of Revelation if you don’t think so.
Almighty God used the number 7 as His “Watermark” of Sovereignty in these verse concerning Neb as spoken and recorded through Daniel the prophet,
Daniel 4:13-14, 16, 32-33
13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus:
16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man,
Let him be given the heart of a beast,
And let seven times[b] pass over him.
32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven [j]times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
Footnote: [b], [j], Daniel 4:16, 32 “Possibly Years”
So what does this have to do with Donald Trump?
On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump’s Inauguration day, he was exactly 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old. 777 on the Hebrew calendar year of 5777. There are no Hebrew words that relate directly to our English word “coincidence.” Everything that happens is filtered through God’s allowing it or not. That is the meaning of “Sovereignty” concerning God.
Could God use a fallen man like Donald Trump? Did God use unbelievers like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and Tiglath-pileser of Assyria just to name a few?
I’m 67 years old and in my life I’ve seen the downward slide our nation has been taking falling farther and farther from God and any desire to “Walk in His Ways.” Maybe for a young person it could be hard to see the changes but for me it’s crystal clear. I’ve lived in the times when you didn’t have to lock your house at night or even during the day as we now do. Then, you could leave home for hours without locking you house. If you chose to own a gun it was to go hunting or for sport, not for self defense.
For many of the 30 years I owned my 42 foot shrimp boat it wasn’t under lock and key. There was crime and criminals at that time as there has always been but they were few and far apart. Then, chances of crime reaching your door was very slim. People watched out for each other and there was an honest to goodness “fear of God” among many. Today, even many Christians don’t have a “fear of God” because they have been only taught about the “Love of God” and little about the severity of God. Many only see God as their provider and friend without the “Holiness” of who He is.
Many have created a God in their imagine, defining Him in the ways they choose. One day they will be in for a rude awakening.
To answer my question in the title of this post, “Is God Among Us Or Not?”
Not So Much!!!
Not Nearly As Much As We Need Him!!!
Not Nearly As Close If We Walked In His Ways!!!
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalms 16:11 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/psa.16.11.NKJV
Oh God, Teach Me Your Ways!!! Give Me A Heart To Follow You Alone!!!
P.S. Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020,
While in prayerful thoughts concerning Donald Trump’s wellbeing and God’s Hand evidently upon him concerning the “7’s” aforementioned, this thought and revelation came mind.
If you have read my blog very much you know what the numbers 3, 33, 333 mean to me. They too are a “Watermark” of God’s Sovereignty in my book. I truly believe God had an angel wake me up countless times when I was working both days or the nightshift to look at my digital bedside clock at exactly 3:33. It’s the reason the signature verse of my blog is Jeremiah 33:3.
Of all the days that Donald Trump could have been diagnosed with Covid 19. What are the odd’s it would be “33 days” before this election? Maybe not as great as him being inaugurated when he is exactly 70 years, 7 months, and 7 days old but it’s certainly noteworthy to me. I don’t claim to know or understand the implications of this other than for me, Almighty God is still on the throne. This event or anything else for that matter ever takes Him by surprise. If it could, Almighty God wouldn’t be the Sovereign of the Universe.
Psalm 139:1-2 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
(Even our thoughts don’t take Almighty God by surprise!!!)
All of my hope, faith and trust are in Almighty God, Father of Jesus Christ my LORD. I put no confidence in any man. God has shown me in marvelous ways that I should always keep my eyes on Jesus Christ and His Cross. Tomorrow, God could have Donald Trump eating grass or as Daniel wrote, “16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, Let him be given the heart of a beast.”
Keep Your Eyes On Jesus And The Cross, https://intheword.blog/2019/03/25/keep-your-eyes/
Are the numbers 3, 33, 333 important to God? I think their use in scripture serves a purpose to draw our attention towards God’s way of creating patterns. An interesting display of using 3, 3, and 30 is in 2 Samuel 28 which is very important because it begins with, “Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,” (2 Samuel 28:1)
If you are interested in learning more about this subject these two articles may shed some light.
In The Word 