How shall we think about God, about His people? What should be the attitude of a man of God, and what is God’s attitude toward His people and toward the man He chooses to lead them? Two passages in the book of Exodus will help us to understand what God is seeking.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why doth Thine anger burn against Thy people whom Thou hast brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?” (Notice that Moses was challenging God here.) “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. ’ ” So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. Exodus 32:7–14.
Exodus 33:12–23 records another conversation between Moses and God. Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, Thou dost say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But Thou Thyself hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me.” When God first called him, Moses looked for someone to go along with him, and God gave him Aaron. Later, Moses changed his opinion, realizing that Aaron was really no help at all. When Aaron led the people into sin by making the molten image of a calf for the people to worship, Moses saw that he could not depend upon him. He saw that it had to be the Lord who walked with him and he wanted to know whom the Lord would send with him.
Moses continued, “Moreover, Thou hast said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ ” (God told Moses that He could bring forth the entire nation from him alone.) “Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found favor in Thy sight, let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee, so that I may find favor in Thy sight. Consider too, that this nation is Thy people.” (Moses was reminding God, “These are Your people, God—not mine.”) And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then he said to Him, “If Thy presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.” Moses was saying, “Lord, if You are not going to fulfill the contract right down to the last step, do not even start it.” Have you ever felt that way? “Do not lead me one step further, Lord, if You are going to abandon me later.”
“For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Thy sight, I and Thy people? Is it not by Thy going with us, so that we, I and Thy people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight, and I have known you by name.”
All of this was good, but Moses was pushing for more. Then Moses said, “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
In this story of Moses we see the father spirit that tries to protect the people, even when they have fallen into drunkenness, adultery, fornication, and other sins of the flesh. A true shepherd of God’s people must deal with them, standing many times like Moses, filled with the fear of the Lord, praying and interceding that God will not destroy them.
What God is doing in the earth today is the greatest work He has ever brought forth. A man of God who is leading God’s people today is in a position similar to that of Moses. When Moses saw the idolatry of the Israelites, he was so grieved that he broke the tablets containing God’s commandments. When a man of God in this day sees that the people are not walking the way they should before the Lord, according to the patterns of divine order that the Lord has shown him, then he, too, is deeply grieved; and, like Moses, he may feel like throwing to the ground the revelation God has given him. Upon our spirits, there should be a sense of great carefulness and a feeling of dread that God’s wrath be not kindled against us. Let there be no more days of fleshly wanderings.
Like Moses, a true shepherd no longer can think of the sheep as “my people.” In a sense he stands between them and God, but he must recognize that they are God’s people and from their own hearts they must cry out for His righteousness. Let the searching of heart and the cry for His holiness and His righteousness come up from His whole Body. As our filthy rags become apparent to us, let us repent, realizing that God wants the restoration of the New Testament church to see a greater concern about our relationship with Him. We should be concerned about what God is restoring to the Church, but more concerned about our relationship with the Lord, as a Bride espoused to Christ. Let our love for Him mount continually. May God continue to loose us from the dangerous days when the wickedness of our hearts could displease Him. Let our repentance be very deep and constant. Our repentance before the Lord must be a way of life. As we awaken in the morning and go to sleep at night, let there be repentance and weeping from our hearts.
We see brethren come to the brink of losing their walk with God; but as we cry to the Lord and intercede, He hears and delivers them. As we believe to be a holy and righteous people, He hears us. Be thankful for His mercy to us, that we were not consumed when we failed Him. Be grateful that He has loved us so much, especially during those times when we ignorantly walked along the brink of a precipice. The deep reactions of rebellion that have been hidden in us are giving way to a deep submission to God, to a focus upon the Lord with an intense desire to please Him, to serve Him, to love Him. God is again bringing His people out of bondage and is sanctifying them unto Himself.
This inner relationship to our Lord is more important than the restoration of the spiritual gifts, with signs and wonders. It is good to prophesy, to preach, and to understand God’s truths, but how much more important it is to walk with God! You can stumble and make many mistakes, but if you just walk with Him, you will eventually be doing what God wants you to do.
Learn to wait on the Lord. Express your love to Him more and more as your hands are raised in worship. Let your bond with the Lord grow stronger. Do not hesitate to give whatever sacrifices God requires. The motivations for personal things for yourself must diminish, and your desire to do the will of the Lord must grow. There is no greater joy than to stand in His presence. Do not draw back from Him.
As one of God’s children, you are not the possession of any human leader. You are God’s. The shepherds are to have a father’s concern to intercede for you, and you are to do the very same for them. The greater emphasis is not on their intercession for you; the real issue of the Kingdom is your intercession and cry for them. You will grow up when you turn from a focus upon yourself and pray for those who are your fathers in the Lord. It is not that you are to have your eyes on any man to exalt him; but the Lord wishes you to pray for your leaders. You may be like a child wandering through a wilderness, but you can effectively pray.
Do not look at the shortcomings and failures of those who watch over you. Israel did this in the wilderness when they murmured against the Lord and against Moses. When God begins to point out to you the areas of lack and need and bondage in the ministers, pray for them. In doing so, you will mature. Let your love for the shepherds be a heart response, so that you believe God’s Word over them and pray for them until that Word comes to pass. The need for this intercession without judging will increase.
People come up under a leader and tend to deify him. They think that he should have no faults, and so the leader does not dare let his weaknesses be exposed. He must not show what he really is. He has to be remote and have an image of being superior, without any faults, perfect in judgment. You cannot ask that; you must grow up. You must see the needs of the ministers and intercede for them. When you attach and bond yourself to the ministers to pray for them intensely, you will be truly liberated from the necessity of having human leaders such as other movements have had. Then the ministers can be to you what Christ wants them to be, not what people in their human thinking demand of leaders. They will be able to do whatever God speaks to do and rely upon your love continuing to be there. Intercede for the shepherds, even as they intercede for you. Reach out to them in love. When you have this deep love, you are one of God’s own.
Do not allow the focus of your walk with God to remain continually upon the various steps of the Church’s restoration, even though this is something which we need to grasp as we progress and grow in the Lord. Isaiah 61 is a beautiful chapter on restoration, but it actually speaks about relationship. Restoration leads to relationship. In verse 10 we read, I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Verse 4 tells us, Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Concerning this restoration, the Lord promises, Instead of your shame you will have a double portion.… Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, everlasting joy will be theirs. Verse 7.
During this time of restoration, the Spirit of God comes to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord (the year of Jubilee), and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:2–3.
The restoration is bringing forth the Kingdom of God, but the real key to the restoration is a relationship like that of a bridegroom and a bride. The word for “bride” in Hebrew means “a complete one, one who completes or makes perfect.” God is speaking to us, “You will be My complete one, My perfect one,” as though God, in His perfection and His omnipotence, were able to so restrict Himself, so as not to be made perfect without us. If God needs us and He chooses not to be perfect without us, then is He still perfect? Yes. Is He still omnipotent? Yes, for if God can do anything He desires, if it pleases Him to make Himself need us, that is as great a miracle as His making us perfect to meet His need. How awesome!
For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. Isaiah 61:11. This righteousness, this holiness, this purity, this relationship between a bridegroom and a bride is what God will bring forth.
Isaiah 62:4 continues this thought. The Lord promises, It will no longer be said to you, “Forsaken,” nor to your land will it any longer be said, “Desolate”; but you will be called, “My delight is in her,” and your land, “Married”; for the Lord delights in you, and to Him your land will be married. Do you believe that this relationship is what the Lord is seeking? You must determine that regardless of what you must do, the priority in your heart shall be to be a delight unto the Lord, to offer up sacrifices to the Lord in righteousness and praise.
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate. You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. Isaiah 62:1–3.
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord has sworn by His right hand and by His strong arm, “I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies; nor will foreigners drink your new wine, for which you have labored.” But those who garner it will eat it, and praise the Lord; and those who gather it will drink it in the courts of My sanctuary.
Go through, go through the gates; clear the way for the people; build up, build up the highway; remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples. Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, “Lo, your salvation comes; behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.” And they will call them, “The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord”; and you will be called, “Sought out, a city not forsaken.” Isaiah 62:6–12.
Let us set our hearts to worship the Lord, to love Him, and to cleave to Him. May our problems never again swamp us or discourage us in our walk with Him. The Lord is drawing us into this blessed walk with Him. We have offended; He has forgiven. How merciful He is! We have failed God and come close to being completely destroyed, God has revived us and redeemed us. We are His people. We belong to Him.
Our worship unto the Lord shall continually be a delight to Him. It shall not be the desperate prayer and worship of a people who have stumbled and failed, whose heads hang low before God; but it shall be the worship of a people who have sought the Lord with repentance, a people whose countenances have been enlightened and whose hearts have been lifted up before the Lord. We shall be a people for a praise and a glory unto the Lamb of God, a Bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The days of restoration shall become the days of sweet communion with the Lord, and in the eagerness of our worship we shall be as one who waits eagerly for the bridegroom to come. Our hope shall be set upon Him and our delight shall be in Him.
The Lord shall look upon us with favor, for we have turned away from our transgressions. He has granted us to be clothed before His face in fine linen, clean and white—the very righteousness of His people before Him, His righteousness with which He has adorned them. It is the day of His beautifying the meek with salvation, the day in which He has turned His smile upon His people and said, “No more shall I weep at your transgressions and no more shall I grieve over thee. No more shall the night seasons be spent in intercession lest My wrath should be kindled against thee. But you shall be My people, and I shall smile upon thee. I have picked thee and chosen thee and raised thee up to walk before Me in the beauty of holiness. Nothing shall stand before thee. You shall be the apple of Mine eye, and I shall protect thee in the hour of adversity. When I gather up My jewels, My precious ones, shall not thy name be written in the book of life.”