Mar 24, 2003

In the fall of 1988, I was looking at and studying the implementation of 'sieges' in the Old Testament when I came upon the story of King Hezekiah, revival in Judah and the attack (siege) against Jerusalem by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, with whom Hezekiah's father, King Ahaz had made an alliance and to whom Judah was committed to paying tribute. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been taken captive by Assyria, as had a number of the fortified cities of Judah. I went back to read in Numbers 21:5-9. The children of Israel had sinned against the Lord. They had murmured against God, God's leadership (Moses) and God's provision (the manna) and His direction. God sent venomous snakes into the midst of the people as a punishment for their sin. The people cried out for mercy in repentance. In response to their cry for mercy God commanded Moses to make a bronze serpent and to place it on top of a pole that was to be held above the heads of the people. The people were instructed that when anyone was bitten by a snake they only needed to look upon the bronze serpent and they would be made well. When I read this verse in 2 Kings 18, I stopped to consider it for a moment. With a little help from various study aides I came to the conclusion that this brazen serpent that God had commanded Moses to construct, that had become an object of their worship over the years, was about 900 years old, personified with a name, 'Nehushtan'.

I sensed in my spirit that this was significant. I sat my tablet and books aside and prayed for wisdom and understanding of the application of this verse. The Holy Spirit seemed to speak the following words to my spirit. "Many of My people worship the methods of My movement of deliverance in their lives rather than Me, the One for whom they were delivered, and so they grieve My Spirit within them and there is great contention and division among them. Their worship is done in the secret places of their heart and is the same as the worship of idols and the groves. They contend against each other and against Me to perpetuate similar methods in the lives of others, in doing this they sin greatly against Me. My people often reject what I am doing in their day in preference to what I performed for their fathers before them. That which they worship, put their hope in and rely upon is not even their own deliverance, but the method of the deliverance of their fathers, the 'method' by which I set them free." The incident recorded in Numbers 21:5-9 was a true movement of God among His people as He responded to their cries of repentance. But, the children of Israel and possibly Judah in 2 Kings 18 were putting their faith in the method of the movement, or instrument of the deliverance of their forefathers 900 years before, rather than fully entrusting their lives into the hands of the one for whom they had been delivered and who could meet their need today to bring deliverance from their bondage to the king of Assyria, Shamaneser. In considering the history it is clear that throughout the years much had taken place in the life of Israel demonstrating God's continued presence and even acceptance. In His mercy He apparently tolerated or overlooked this particular sin for years (Acts 17:30); possibly the brazen serpent had only recently begun to be worshiped, or perhaps He simply could find no one courageous enough to destroy this sacred idol of the people, until Hezekiah. This may be the reason for the tremendous praise of 2 Kings 18 verses 5, 6 and 7: "He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. The Lord was with him; he prospered wherever he went."

We might wonder if the same thing may not be true, to some degree in the church today. Is God looking for courageous believers to break into pieces the 'brazen serpents' of today's church; to go beyond the obedience of the preceding generation? How many of us are in a similar situation to the children of Israel and Judah in 2 Kings 18, and we are not even aware of it? Is it possible that we are in bondage and paying tribute to the systems of foreign kings with whom our forefathers had made allegiances through their various traditions, while at the same time we are worshipping at the altars of past experience, mingling idol worship with our worship of God? Is it possible that as we pray for revival in our local church that what we may be truly hoping for is that God will revive our old methods, restoring and breathing life back into that which has become religious formalism of creeds and lifeless doctrines? Are we motivated to pray for revival and restoration of these old methods and movements in order to justify our worship, adherence and perpetuation of them? We may want to seek God for the grace, strength and courage to embrace what God desires to do in our lives today, even if that means that we must release our hold on what may have been done in the past.

The Bible says, "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy." Jonah 2:8 (NKJV) In the NIV the same scripture reads, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." This was precisely the sin of the children of Israel in adhering to the symbol of the method of the previous movement of God, making that symbol into an idol. In a similar fashion this is the sin of many in the church today. As we look into and research past revivals we may come to the following conclusion: The majority of the different denominations of today were birthed, to one degree or another, as a result of a genuine move of the Holy Spirit among God's people at some point in the history of the church. Either the denomination or group was established in order to guard and perpetuate the reformational methods of the movement and new revelational truth of that particular revival, or is the result of those who refused the movement of God in that revival. They chose to stay back, unwilling to move on in trust and obedience to the 'present tense', restorative, refreshing touch of the Holy Spirit, in that particular unique season. They preferred the more established methods of application of God's word, regardless of that method's Biblical or scriptural accuracy.

For example in 1517 Martin Luther was among many of those whom God used to continue a great reformation of the medieval Christian church. As a result of his writings and teachings many people sacrificed their lives for the sake of what he and others of his day believed to be a truer more accurate application of the scriptures than what had been commonly practiced up to that time. In the very next generation, approximately 40 years, the Anabaptists, and within a century the Baptists, went even further in their move towards what they believed was a truer application of the scriptures, rejecting such things as infant baptism, choosing instead to baptize only those who could make a personal confession of faith in Christ. Amazingly, those who had followed Luther in his efforts to move in a greater adherence to the scriptures and had suffered severely, then turned, within a generation, to attack and persecute those who had chosen to proceed further in their quest. This pattern of religious persecution by worshipers of the same God was established in the beginning in Genesis 4:1-15 with Cain and Abel. It usually stems out of envy, insecurity and other negative character qualities rather than a heartfelt desire to know the truth and become progressively conformed to the image of Christ. It was prophesied by Jesus in John 16:2-3 that personal and corporate revival and reformational obedience will provoke the antagonism of many who had previously been friends.

Every historically significant revival which has taken place among God's people, whether Israel or the New Testament church, has brought or produced with it a certain measure of conflict, division and even separation in direct proportion to its impact upon God's people and the communities and society in which they lived. It is very probable that any true, Holy Spirit breathed revival today will be no different. We might rightfully expect that there will be conflicts with and in renewal, restoration, revival and especially reformation, seeing that neither the nature of God nor of man has changed. We may want to consider Matthew 10:34-39 in this light. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will those of his own household.' He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." In general, the Holy Spirit does not lead His people into division and separation from one another. Such sectarian separation is usually a result of the carnality of the human nature (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) and the influence of the enemy of the souls of men. However, we can clearly see many examples where our Lord Jesus seemed to purposefully precipitate divisive controversy, (Matthew 8:18-22, 12:1-8, Mark 3:1-6, Luke 9:57-62,13:1-5, 14:25-33 and John 7:43 to list only a few of a long list of examples), perhaps in order to turn back the half hearted and to purify the faithful. There can be no denying that the Lord, in obedience to the will of His Father (John 5:19) would often appear to make an effort to do or say something which would cause the less committed followers to turn back from following Him.

This is clearly the very heart of the truth revealed in the story related in John 6:41-71, where Jesus could have chosen a less inflammatory dialog with His disciples. Verses 53-54 are a good example. "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." The scriptures record that, "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." (John 6:66) after hearing this hard to digest teaching which seems to clearly speak of cannibalism. Which, of course, would be an abomination to any Jewish person. Others stayed true and faithful in following Him, apparently choosing to wait for the explanation that finally came at the Last Supper on the night of our Lord's betrayal. We may face similar challenges in our life with Christ today. We must not be put off by these apparent conflicts, but prepared to triumph through them by the fear, comfort and direction of the Holy Spirit, (Acts 9:31) trusting in His faithfulness to lead us into all truth, (John 14:26, 16:13). We must always be careful not to react hastily, but purpose in our heart to respond appropriately to the confirming testimony of two or three witnesses searching out the scriptures. In every generation there will be those who willingly respond to the Holy Spirit and break into pieces their personal and corporate 'brazen serpents'. They will forsake the idol worship and adoration of the methods of the movements of God in their lives in the past and they empty ways of life handed down to them from their forefathers (1Peter 1:18), in order that they might receive a 'present tense' refreshing from the One for whom and by whom they were delivered. And there will always be others who will stand afar off and watch a 'present tense' move of the Holy Spirit among His people, while they insist on pointing accusing fingers of judgment while they justify themselves as they continue in their worship before the idols of their traditions and methods of past refreshing.

In this hour it seems that the Holy Spirit is echoing the words of Joshua 24:15, saying to many and through many, "Choose you this day whom you will serve." It is a good thing to build altars of remembrances to those precious times and seasons of refreshing or deliverance from our Lord. It is good to remember the lessons and principles He has instructed us of in the past, but we must always keep in mind that while the principles are universal and timeless, the methods are specific applications, into a specific circumstance for a particular application of those principles. Which will we reverence most highly, the method of application or the Giver of the principle? Let's look at just one of many examples. Psalm 100:4 provides us with the kingdom principal, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise." The method of entering into God's presence with thanksgiving and praise in one part of the world may be to bow reverently and quietly pray through a Psalm. In another part of the world, or perhaps in another culture it may include dancing and singing with some type of drum instrument, cymbal and even banners. Both of the methods described are portrayed in different places in the scriptures as being acceptable to God. But, even today, there is much conflict and judgment in the body of Christ over the method of the application of the principal. Since the beginning of the New Testament our isolated cultural methods have become even less significant in that God looks at the heart of the worshiper rather than the form of the worship. This is made so readily apparent by so many of our Lord's teachings and open rebuke of the religious establishment of His day. This is not to say that we cannot or should not maintain a healthy respect and honor for the efforts of the heroes of the faith and of our traditions. But we must guard against what Jesus spoke of in Mark 7:1-23, where the leaders, and subsequently the people, held the traditions of interpretation of the law, civil traditions and the doctrines of men as more important and binding than the word of God.

By doing this they made the word of God of null effect in and through their lives resulting in being relatively ineffective in accomplishing the redemptive purposes of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:18. It is unsettling to consider that our traditions may result in our unknowingly adding to the word of God and provoking God's rebuke, as pointed out in Proverbs 30:5-6. "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." It is significant that in both the story of Israel in Numbers 21 and the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah in 2 Kings, that God's judgment for their sin was being administered. God had removed His protective shield. Is it possible that our traditions may provoke God's discipline and perhaps, at times, even His judgment against us as individuals, our families, our communities and even the countries were we live? The question we may ask ourselves is: "Have our altars of remembrance and honor of the methods of God's past movements in our lives become idols mingled within our worship, our hopes and that in which we are trusting?" The name of our God is 'I am', not 'I was' or 'I will be'. How much of what we grasp so tightly and defend so righteously as truth is the result of the instruction of our intellect by men rather than revelation to our spirit by God, the Holy Spirit?

We should take careful heed to the warning of Isaiah 29:13(c), "And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men." (NKJ) "Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men." (NIV ) "And their reverence for Me consists of traditions learned by rote." (NAS) Jesus quoted this verse in Mark 7:6-7 and, in verse 8 went on to declare: "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men..." In Mark 7:13 Jesus concluded His rebuke of the Pharisees and scribes with the words; "making the word of God of no effect through your traditions which you have handed down. And many such things you do." In our cry for revival, are we prepared to relinquish our grasp upon the horns of the altars that we've constructed within our hearts to the methods of the movement of our past deliverance, in order that we might move on in the current movement of deliverance by the Holy Sprit today? Are we willing to allow God to chose how, when, where and by whom He will bring such sweet revival, deliverance and even reformation when necessary? Are we willing to abandon any portion of our past methodologies, based upon past experience, for His great names' sake, in order that we might experience the 'I Am' present tense awareness of His presence? He may require it; are we willing? We should each allow the Holy Spirit to search the motives and intents of our heart in our cry for revival. We should cry out for the mercy and grace that will allow each of us to release all the hidden idols of our denominational and sectarian identities. Let us allow God to do a new thing in our midst. He is calling each of us to break into pieces our personal and corporate Nehushtans, the idols we've made to the method of His past movements in our lives and history, in order that we might better know the one for whom we were delivered.

And in all of this, let us not be so quick to build new altars to the methods God chooses to implement in the movement of His deliverance for revival in this hour. Let us not build again that which the Lord has already commanded us to break down. Let us not esteem the apostles and prophets of God's deliverance above the lowliest of His servants. Let us not allow a judgmental and critical spirit to enter into our lives towards those who choose to stay on the other side of the Jordan, content with the pasture and cities of their inheritance in the wilderness. (Numbers 32) Who are we to judge another man's servant? (Romans 14:4, James 4:12) Let each believer choose for himself. Finally, before any of us begin throwing stones at others, it might do us each some good to notice that the scripture says concerning the brazen serpent, "...for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it." This was not the sin of one particular tribe, (or denomination), but of the nation of Israel. King Hezekiah may have destroyed this particular idol at this time in an effort to protect and guard Judah from falling victim to the same sin of idolatry as the northern kingdom of Israel. He may have been trying to avoid returning to the same practices of his own father that had possibly caused him so much grief and anguish of body, soul and spirit. Idolatry of this sort is the tendency of the fallen human nature. Surely not all of the people agreed with or practiced this form of idol worship, but enough did to cause difficulties in Israel's relationship with God. Rather than smugly attacking one another, we should simply allow the Holy Spirit to search our own hearts for any wicked way, any personal Nehushtans, which might be offensive to our Lord, and the grace to deal with them as instructed by the Lord.