THE CROSS FOR OUR JOURNEY,
OUR ARRIVAL AND OUR STAY
Mike
Blume
January 12,
2003 am
Ezra was used by God to return the people of Israel to their land in Canaan,
after being bound in Babylon for 70 years.
Notice the three points noted in this return.
JOURNEY TO ISRAEL:
These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them
that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
(Ezra 8:1)
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there
abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests,
and found there none of the sons of Levi.
(Ezra 8:15)
ARRIVAL AT ISRAEL:
And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
(Ezra 8:32)
LIFE IN ISRAEL:
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber
of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread,
nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that
had been carried away. And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem
unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves
together unto Jerusalem; And that whosoever would not come within three
days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all
his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation
of those that had been carried away.
(Ezra 10:6-8)
I've spoken much about the significance of THREE DAYS in the Bible.
- The period that spanned
Christ's death on the cross, through His burial and until His resurrection
from the dead, to the day He ascended and presented His blood to the Father
to save our souls.
- And I realize that
many of you may get getting part of that concept, but not enough to have
a full confidence that you really have a handle on it.
- Not enough to perhaps
fully live by the truth of the work of the cross when you face situations
and battles.
Israel would take a three
days' journey into the wilderness, leaving Egypt, to serve the Lord, Moses
said.
Joshua stayed with the people in a town named Shittim for three days at the
end of their wilderness journey to the land of Canaan.
Gideon experienced three days of testing and proving before He came against
the Midianites and defeated them.
So let's look at the story of Ezra, the man who led Israel out of captivity
in Babylon, whose story mentions THREE DAYS in three different points of
the book.
Israel had been in Babylon for 70 years.
- This represents how
the church world can be bound up and not where God wants it to be in regards
to reaching people and ministering in real ministry.
- When Ezra led Israel
out of Babylon back to their land, we see a picture of God taking His church
to the place He wants it to be in.
- So let us study what God wants to do in our church world, in
YOUR church world, with YOU.
A Three day period of time
was first noted when Ezra told the people who were leaving Babylon for Jerusalem
to meet him at the river that flows to Ahava.
- They dwelt in tents
there for three days.
- During those three
days, Ezra noticed that there were priests present amongst the people, but
none of the other sons of Levi.
JOURNEY BEGINS
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there
abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and
found there none of the sons of Levi.
(Ezra 8:15)
Priests who were Levites were there, but no people who were simply Levites.
- They were going to
reconvene the temple operations once they returned to Jerusalem.
- Ezra 3:8 says there
was a very small number of Levites called a remnant who were scheduled to
see the temple work go ahead.
Once there we read:
And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia,
and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims,
at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house
of our God.
(Ezra 8:17)
There were Levite priests and then simply Levites who were supposed to be
ministers for the temple.
And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children
of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service
of the tabernacle of the congregation.
(Num 18:6)
The journey began with a period of three days.
- In those three days,
Ezra realized they required people who would work for the Lord.
- Priests were there,
but none of the Levites who would also work for the Lord in other areas.
We need to understand that
all of us are like the Levites.
- Originally God wanted
all tribes to be priests.
Now therefore, if ye will
obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure
unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto
me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou
shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
(Exodus 19:5-6)
A nation of priests.
- When God gets His church
back to where it should be, the people of the congregation will be ministering
in the Spirit, too.
- Not just in preaching.
- That is the preachers'
jobs.
- But there are many
ministries.
- Some sang in the temple.
- Others here will work
with sunday school, ladies groups, ways and means functions, men's groups,
interceding in prayer at home, SOMETHING FOR EACH OF YOU.
- If you are sitting
on church pews for years and doing nothing more than waiting for what else
I am going to preach, then you are not where God wants you to be.
- You're in Babylon.
- RELIGIOUS BONDAGE.
Wanting a NATION of priests,
only a tribe of Priests and ministers were chosen because when God gave the
ten commandments, only the Levites chose to come to Moses' side and depart
from t he golden calf Israel had erected at the bottom of the Mount Sinai.
Israel was returning to the place God wanted them.
God wants us in a certain place, also, but a place in the spirit.
- A place of dedication
and ministry.
When we spend a spiritual
period of three days, we will realize who we are and what we can do for God.
- We'll realize that
we are supposed to be ministers.
- Some think the pastor
does everything.
- Priests are present,
but no Levites.
- No congregation members
who should be ministering in other areas aside from the preaching ministry.
Israel lost the advantage
of being a nation of priests to only having a tribe of priests, but God has
said this of the Church.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light:
(1 Peter 2:9)
Three days at this river caused Ezra to realize there are supposed to be
people who will minister aside from the preachers.
Let me explain more of the significance of the three days again.
The full work for all our salvation and victory we will need as Christians
was provided in one fell swoop of God's work through the cross.
- The significance of
the DEATH, BURIAL AND RESURRECTION are called the GOSPEL in 1 Corinthians
15:1-4.
- It took three days
and nights for the work of the death, burial and resurrection to occur.
- Therefore, that period
of times represents the work of the cross.
Mark it down:
- Every story in the
Bible is intended to tell you something about God's way of salvation through
that cross.
- ...through that death,
burial and resurrection, and what it means to people who believe that it
was the way of salvation.
- Especially whenever
something took three days to occur.
- Whenever anything took
three days, there is going to be a message underneath it that God wants you
to be able to relate to your similar situation in that story, and how the
work of the cross is the answer!
The manner in which they
waited for three days at this river to Ahava, represents us getting an understanding
and full appreciation -- A REVELATION -- of how the work of the cross is
our answer for our particular situation that is represented by and is similar
to their's.
The river speaks of the moving of the Holy Ghost.
- Jesus said the Holy
Ghost is "rivers" of living water.
- Get your life to the
place where the Spirit is moving, and appreciate the work of the cross and
the change God made in you, and you will realize you should be ministering
for the Lord.
- They spent three days
there and noticed MINISTRIES were missing.
- If you can sit week
after week and never start to see a ministry in your life, you are not where
the river of the Spirit is moving, and neither are you getting the message
of what change the cross made in your life to be able to minister!
We must come to the realization
that our acceptance of the salvation of God through the death, burial and
resurrection QUALIFIES us for everything God can give to us.
- It QUALIFIES us for
the blessings of God.
- It is because our faith
in the work of the cross caused God to redeem us from darkness of sinful
living into light of righteousness.
- It changed our lives
from being members of Adam's human race to being members of Christ's new
human race.
- It made us new creatures!
- It wiped out God's
memory of all that we did before we involved ourselves in the cross.
- Realizing what this
feat of God accomplished gives us great confidence!
- And it puts things
into proper perspective and prods us to realize some things.
In Ezra's case of seeing
lack of ministries in the camp, the three days signifies to us we have been
made priests of God, everyone of us, and must start ministering!
God does not want us twiddling our thumbs and watching someone else do something
for the kingdom of God while we simply take in something from someone else
all the time.
- He wants us to give
of our ministries, too.
- And if you do not think
there is anything for you to do, then you have not taken a "three day rest",
or in other words you have not realized how the cross made such a difference
in you that you have something by way of a GIFT MINISTRY to give to this
world.
Church, this understanding
of how much of a change the cross made in our lives takes years to appreciate.
- There is so much that
happened by Jesus for all who would accept that cross, that our Bible is
as thick as it is to deal with it all, whether by analogies of stories like
this, or explicit teachings.
- Not only that, but
any spiritual understanding we gain about who we are in Christ is easily
dissolved away in our minds since we walk around in a world that constantly
bombards us with the material things, and in no way assists us in keeping
the spiritual truths of the cross in our hearts.
Church is actually a form
of having you spend those THREE DAYS over again and again, and opportunity
to teach you more and more of what the cross did for you.
I am here to clarify to you the truths of what God does for us and provided
through the cross.
- We need maintenance.
- We require a means
of maintaining our faith and confidence in who we are in Jesus.
- And that is what church
is supposed to provide.
- It maintains your faith
and awareness of the things of the Spirit, but is not maintenance in simply
maintaining what you got and never getting any more.
- It also teaches you
MORE truths that you will not know just because you spent 30 years living
for God.
- THERE IS NEVER A PLACE
WHERE WE CANNOT LEARN MORE of God's will and His truths.
There is never a place where
you do not need someone to pray for you at the altar any more, for example.
- Some think that being
prayed for at the altar in church after the sermon is only for folks who
are new.
- That sort of thinking
goes hand in hand with the FALSE idea that you've arrived, and there is nothing
more that God has for you.
- And that is a spirit
of religious pride that achieves the same thing in your life as outright
sin -- not growing in the Lord.
Every church service is a
three day period of truths from the cross to the grave to the sky!
Ezra also called a FAST after those three days.
- They fasted for the
following reason:
Then I proclaimed a fast
there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our
God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for
all our substance. For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers
and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken
unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that
seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
(Ezra 8:21-23)
This tells us more!
When we decide to get to where we need to be in God, and we experience those
three days of taking in what God did in the cross, we will realize that we
need to stop saying what God can do for us, and start experiencing what God
can do for us.
Ezra was ready for travel through terrain peppered with marauders and bandits
and murderers, who laid in wait to attack anyone who would pass through.
- He told the King that
God's hand is upon all who seek Him.
- But now he had to put
his money where his mouth was.
The enemy is going to be
there to ensure you do not get to the place God wants you to dwell in.
- And you do not need
a herd of body guards around you.
- You need to "walk"
the things you "talk".
You might think you cannot
have faith for that.
- If you take in those
three days and realize what God did for you through the cross, you will have
all the faith you need to experience the safety God will give you.
- You need faith in order
for God to work in your life.
- You cannot please Him
without faith.
- And if you are ready
to face enemies when you begin to return to the place God has for you, then
you can have faith that GOD IS WITH YOU.
- Realize that the cross
took you from being an enemy of God to becoming one of HIS OWN CHILDREN!
- He said He'd never
leave you nor forsake you, so what can man do to you?
...for he hath said, I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
(Heb 13:5-6)
The Spirit is moving by the river!
- Beside the river of
Chebar we read that Ezekiel saw visions!
- Get in the moving of
the Spirit.
- Get into the truths
of the cross.
- We need SPIRIT AND
TRUTH both!
They fasted for direction!
- They were not just
going to go the way that seemed right to them.
- It's not always the
QUICKEST way God wants you to travel.
- We have to go God's
way.
We have got to operate in
the Spirit and stop operating in the flesh!
Eventually they arrived in Jerusalem safe and sound!
If you allow other people to successfully cause you to stop serving God faithfully,
you have not stirred up your faith in the work of the cross and kept it in
your heart that God is with you!
Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first
month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he
delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the
way. And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
(Ezra 8:31-32)
Three more days after they were delivered from enemies.
After this, Ezra began business with getting the temple prepared and everyone
offered sacrifices of thanks for returning home, and being kept safe on the
journey.
Once you get to the place where you must minister now, you must once again
experience the three days.
- Just because you find
your ministry, does not mean you can go at it in the way you THINK it should
be done.
- You need direction
in your ministry as well as direction in getting to your ministry.
- People lead songs without
faith for it in prayer.
- They prepare sermons
without faith.
- They have no concept
of getting the mind of God by praying and having faith you'll actually get
inspiration and feel what to do because you experienced the cross!
We must realize that only
by virtue of what God did for us on the cross, can we be used for His kingdom!
- Your singing talent
is useless if you are not using it for God.
Then another problem arose.
- Some princes or leaders
of the people came to Ezra after some time, and indicated that many of the
people had broken the very Law God gave to Moses for how they should live
in the land once they arrive.
When the LORD thy God shall
bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast
out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the
Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the
Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD
thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly
destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto
them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt
not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For
they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other
gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee
suddenly.
(Deu 7:1-4)
We read:
Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people
of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves
from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even
of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites,
the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their
daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have
mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes
and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. And when I heard this thing,
I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and
of my beard, and sat down astonished.
(Ezra 9:1-3)
All of chapter nine is Ezra grieving and realizing Israel had no defense
for this sin, since it was in plain black and white in the Law.
- He prayed and called
for God's mercy lest He destroy Israel and wipe them out for this great sin.
And Ezra called for everyone
to come back to Jerusalem again.
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber
of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread,
nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that
had been carried away. And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem
unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves
together unto Jerusalem; And that whosoever would not come within three days,
according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance
should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those
that had been carried away.
(Ezra 10:6-8)
Every step of dealings here involved a three day period.
Every facet of your life must involve the cross.
- You thought the cross
was only some info on how to first get saved.
- In fact some of you
thought these sermons about the cross are only for newcomers who never heard
truth before.
- But we are learning
the cross has so much involved, that even those who engage in ministry still
have much to learn about the cross for their lives after many years of service.
These people overlooked things
they knew God spoke about.
- And as time went by
they may have figured God was overlooking those sins as well.
- I just heard this week
that a prominent minister was arrested for sexual violations in a public
place in propositioning other men for sex.
- People can be in ministry
and sin and figure they are getting by with it.
- But Ezra gathered them
altogether and gave a three day period, after which, if they had not come,
they would lose all their substance and would be cut off from Israel.
- And then Ezra laid
out the law about marrying heathen people.
Because sentence against
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of
men is fully set in them to do evil.
(Ecc 8:11)
Many think sins that they can get by with for months or even years without
getting dealt with by God means they can continue in sin.
All arrived and there was a heavy rain occurring that shook the people.
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto
Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day
of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling
because of this matter, and for the great rain.
(Ezra 10:9)
The heavy rains were like a sign from God that he was angry.
- The heavy rains should
have ended a month before in what was called the latter rain.
- But this unusual rain
seemed to show God's anger.
It took three days to gather
the wrongs amongst them together.
- It takes us a
good time appreciating the work of the cross in order to gather all that
may be in our lives that is wrong and deal with it all.
- If we fail to experience
this revelation of the work of the cross -- this period of three days to
gather the sinful people -- then we will lose our substance and be cut off.
- Failure to get hold
of the truth of the cross when there is sin in your life, causes you to forfeit
all the blessings God gave to you.
- The PLACE in the ministry
is represented by BEING IN THE LAND.
- That is the reason
they came to Jerusalem -- to be where God wanted them to be.
- And all of this is
lost.
Truths of the cross get you
on your way to where you need to be.
Truths of the cross start you into ministry.
Truths of the cross clean your life to continue in ministry.
If there were transgressors, gather the sins up and deal with them through
the cross.
- No sin can bind you
so strong that the cross cannot deal with it.
- Simply claim the same
work God did on the cross, the same blood Jesus shed there for our sins,
and deal with the problems you have long after you first had anything to
do with the cross.
- The cross is for everything
and for your entire Christian life.
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