The Separated Brethren
By Malcolm E Baker

Jdg 7:4 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

Jdg 7:5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”

Jdg 7:7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.”

Jdg 7:8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

Last month we looked at issues concerning believers in Israel. This month we will look at Israel again but from a different perspective.

It is not only what you drink, but also the way (reason) that you drink it

When Gideon and his army stopped by the water they all drank. They were all soldiers and they all drank. Some drank in one fashion and some in another, but they all drank of the same water. It is not only what you drink but the way that you drink it that is important too. Some people today drink of the Spirit for their own satisfaction, and for the feel-good factor. They will go off to camps that advertise “exhilarating worship”. They consider the time in camp to be “real Christianity” whilst to go back to their church is to go back to the humdrum life for another year until camp comes around again and off they go once more. That is just one example. Some churches build on this type of drinking. On the other hand there are those that drink to go on with the work of the Kingdom. Their eyes are on the Lord and where He is directing them, even if it is to suffering and death. They drink to serve. They drink to keep their being energised for the fight of faith. They are the faithful and true witnesses that take the Gospel into the world. They are the ones that invest in the world to come and not simply the here and now.

God, in His wisdom sifted the men that were with Gideon and sent many of the soldiers back to their tents and to a life of comparative ease. Others, a small band of three hundred He sent out to fight. Looking back, which group would you rather belong to?

It is interesting to see that neither group bickered or complained about the other – the large group obeyed and returned to their tents. The small group obeyed and got on with the business of fighting and defeating the enemy. God saw in the small group people that he could use to accomplish His purpose. If we have faith the size of a mustard seed…These were men of faith.

The tremblers at the spring of Trembling

Gideon and his men had camped at the spring of Harod (Trembling). Small does not necessarily mean beautiful, but God wanted small numbers for Israel’s sake – that they would not boast by saying that her own strength had saved her. (Judges 7:2). Midian was camped near the hill of Moreh, the site where God revealed Himself to Abraham, promising to give the land of Canaan to his descendents.

The Lord told Gideon to announce to the people that ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ Twenty thousand men left, leaving ten thousand remaining. These, as we have seen already, were cut down to just three hundred. Gideon and the three hundred may have been a motley bunch rather like those of King David’s day, but they were the chosen ones, and God does not get it wrong. God has shown that it was He that gained the victory. It is He that gained the victory at Calvary as the disciples, trembling with fear, deserted Him and fled, leaving the Commander of heaven’s armies (Matt 26:56). One, the Lamb of God remained and through that One came the redemption of the world. The enemy was routed and man, through Christ Jesus can have peace with God. Gideon divided the men into three companies of one hundred each. In redemption we see the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the three Persons of the Godhead.

They are the ones that invest in the world to come and not simply the here and now.

Something like fifteen years ago Margaret and myself were on retreat with a ministry that we were involved in at that time. Around the lunch table the discussion was on where one should invest ones money (those that had any!). It was in the light of the coming one world government system. People there felt that one should invest in Israeli Government Bonds and that kind of thing because they thought Israel would not be in the one world system. The concern was to make ones money safe, not so much to preserve Israel in any way that I can recall. Today people invest in this way to help Israel. The same people however will not involve themselves in evangelising the Jews. It appears to me that this is as much a distortion of Scripture as Replacement Theology. Putting our money into Israel is investing in the here and now. It is not a bad thing to do but it is not supporting the work of the Kingdom. We can wave Israeli flags, we can dress so that we look like Jews. We can invest in Israel and meet important officials of the Government without necessarily doing the work of the Kingdom. Jesus met all the high officials of His day and look where it got Him! They didn’t listen to Him. They were not interested in His Kingdom. Jesus didn’t come to impress the “religious” and the powerful. He didn’t come to make a reputation for Himself. Jesus was here to do the will of the Father and so are we. Don’t be hoodwinked and sidetracked by the wiles of the devil. We might feel important when we meet the officials and are invited to join in with various Jewish organisations. It might give us things to report to people back home, but what are we doing for our Father, what are we doing for the Lord? Jesus said in Matthew:

Mt 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Mt 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

We in Pointers Ministries encourage support of Israel in a world that is hostile to the people and the land, but we must not lose sight of reality. This is God’s business. If we turn it into a hobby where we make Israel more important than what God has to say and plan for Israel, we go into error. If we are going to invest in a way that is not destroyed by moth or rust then we must invest in the work of the Kingdom. We should look to support those believers in the land that are reaching out with the Gospel and not just social or financial relief or security.

What of the indigenous believers in Israel – are there dangers for them? I believe there are. There are the dangers that have been mentioned before from Government legislation. There is a further danger that I see. The believers in Israel that are not in the big groups and ministries that are always before us and always in the forefront of Christian news concerning Israel, are in danger of taking their eyes off Jesus and looking at what the big ministries have and possess and their comparative comfort and ease. They are beginning to look at the material and lose sight of the spiritual and eternal. These believers are in danger of losing what they have.

One of the things among the Jewish believers that have thrilled me is the urgency to evangelise. They are compelled in their spirits to spread the Gospel. We in the West condemn it of course because we are such nice people that we do not want to offend anyone. We have forgotten how to share the Gospel. I heard one church leader in the UK say recently, “How do we do it? How do we tell people about Jesus?” If this is what the leaders say, what hope do the rest of us have? We will not offend people but we do not mind offending God! In the past Gentiles burned Jews in the ovens. Today we confine them to the fires of hell because we refuse to speak the truth in love and tell them about Jesus.

Where are the Gideon’s today that will take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Eph.6:17. Where are the three hundred that will take the truth, the Gospel out into their communities and into the world? Are we all tremblers today? Are we drinking from the spring of Trembling rather than being filled with the Spirit for service? Are we drinking simply to satisfy our own desires? Thankfully, and it is what excites me, there are those Jews in Israel as I have already said that are compelled to preach the Gospel. They are so in earnest that they become frustrated with those who draw back and are afraid of causing offence. Pray for these brothers and sisters that they keep their eyes on Yeshua and go on with what He is calling them to do and not get sidetracked in reproaching those who go back to their tents and comfort.

144,000

Rev 7:4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. Rev 14:1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Rev 14:3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Many commentators say that the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation are Jews. The context would seem to suggest this. The sealing (Rev 7:1-8) was done for service and for protection. These are called to preach the Gospel. Are we seeing the forerunners today in Israel of the 144,000, those few that are so urgent to spread the Word; indeed, are we witnessing some of that very number from Revelation? Source: Pointers Magazine May 05