Psalms 27:3-4 Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that I will seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.
As the war in the Middle East rages, its raised our “prayer intensity” and this reminded me of a story I came across some time ago, which I hope is a blessing.
A United States Army officer who trained pupils at Fort Sill for over 20 years once described the different qualities of the students during the two decades of his tenure. During the 1950s, he observed the students’ attitude as being so lax that the instructors had trouble keeping their students awake during their lectures. This drastically changed in the mid-1960s. The students began taking meticulous notes and absorbing every word of instruction. So, what changed? The lectures weren’t any different. Were mid 60s students somehow more diligent? No… but the circumstances had changed. The pupils of the 1950s weren’t expecting to be sent to war, but the men in the 1960’s were being prepared to go to Vietnam.
We are already at war and the battle is raging. We cannot afford to be unprepared, as though we were at peace. Each of has a post or a position to occupy, or a battlefront to advance upon.
So let us stay awake, alert and in constant preparation, feeding and abiding in the Word of God, continuing instant in prayer and growing mighty in it. There’s so much work to be done, and our Commander in Chief is looking for eager volunteers who are well prepared to serve. Honoring Him in the battles ahead will bring great joy through the exploits He will enable us to do.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The story of the Exodus is a story of miracles – yet in the beginning when Moses first appeared before Pharaoh to deliver the children of Israel from 400 years of slavery, the Israelites were severely tempted and became angry because of the initial hardships that were laid upon them.
One beautiful correlation when celebrating Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) is recognizing its connection to marriage, specifically pointing to our future union with God. This festival not only commands us to rejoice, but it also carries deep symbolism that mirrors the joy and intimacy of a wedding celebration.
During the feast of Tabernacles in Yeshua’s (Jesus’) day, the temple priests would set up four great lampstands with golden lampholders, which they would light with the aid of enormous ladders in the Temple courtyard. The lighting of these lamps began the celebration of the “Great Hosannah” (Hoshannah Rabbah, in Hebrew).
So Jonah goes and begins to preach in this pagan city. His message is very simple. “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown”(v. 4). That’s it. That was his whole message. It’s eight words in English; only 4 words in Hebrew.
So the captain came to Jonah, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” At this point the captain (who probably worshiped Baal and Yamm, god of the sea) has more faith than Jonah.
It must have been a bad storm. These men were experienced, hardened sailors who had seen it all at sea. If they were scared, this could have been the first “perfect storm” since Noah’s flood. So they started the first interfaith prayer meeting in the Bible, each man crying out to his own god. As the ship groaned and creaked in howling wind and massive waves, and the men threw cargo overboard in a desperate attempt to save it, where was Jonah? On deck helping them? Confidently praying to His own God? Shaking with fear and paralyzed with deep conviction? No, he’s taking a nap down below…
For the next week or so we’ll be looking closely at the life of Jonah the prophet. Jonah was told to “preach against the city of Nineveh”, that was in the ancient kingdom of Assyria. Nineveh was a major city on the banks of the Tigris River about 500 miles north and east of where Jonah was; located on a contemporary map in modern Iraq, about 300 miles north of Baghdad. Archaeologists have found the ruins of ancient Nineveh right outside the Iraqi city of Mosul. Yes, the same Mosul that was taken last week by jihadists!