Hope Despite Every Distraction And Diversion (3)

[Zac Loh]

THE HOPE OF GOD

Hope Despite Fear
(Hittites)

Hope Despite Flesh
(Girgashi-tes)

Hope Despite Fame
(Amorites)

Hope Despite Freeze
(Canaanites)

Hope Despite Freedom
(Perizzites)

Hope Despite Friendship
(Hivites)

Hope Despite Fix
(Jebusites)

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashi-tes and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. (Deuteronomy 7:1-2; underline mine)

We now identify the seven enemies of The Hope Of God i.e. Fear (Hittites), Flesh (Girgashi-tes), Fame (Amorites), Freeze (Canaanites), Freedom (Perizzites), Friendship (Hivites) and Fix (Jebusites).


HOPE DESPITE FEAR

HITTITES

The root meaning of the name Hittite is `terror’.

Central to the `mechanics’ of fear is that it gravitates us towards being earthward. We are earthbound by fear, so to speak.

Fear is a great distraction. It distracts us from serving God. There are all sorts of fear and phobia. There are the fear of financial collapse, the fear of sudden tragedy, the fear of loneliness, the fear of deteriorate health and etc. And ultimately, of course, is the fear of death.

Fear of death is our last enemy. We can conquer the fear of death because we have an eternal hope.

...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:52-55)

This is about `The Rapture’ when Christ will come and meet us in the sky. We have a great hope.

Esau lost his birthright because he feared starvation:

Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29-34)

No matter what, Jacob and Esau, they were both sons of Isaac and remained so. But the birthright, the heir of the family, defines the role one plays in his family. Some, fearing economic starvation, has given up their spiritual birthright to make ends meet. They have forsaken their role and ministry in the Body of Christ.

We need to walk the walk of faith ...to trust God to provide ...even in the midst of extremely harsh reality. God can prove Himself in our reality. But it is to our loss that we do not trust Him.

Some focus their lives on their job and career to the neglect of hearing what God wants him/her to do in His kingdom. Their focus is bread-and-butter.

If bread-and-butter is our priority, we would not be effective for the kingdom of God.
The last fear that the devil can use is the fear of death i.e. the weapon of intimidation. We see this happening in countries where Christians are being persecuted. Most were threatened. Many were tortured. And some were killed.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)

In China, where the underground church has been persecuted for a long time, the number of believers is still growing phenomenally. The number now has exceeded 100 million believers according to one article. This certainly exemplifies the scripture Revelation 12:11 above.


HOPE DESPITE FLESH

GIRGASHI-TES

The name of Girgashi-tes is derived from a word meaning ‘dwelling on a clayey soil’.

Clay, of course, is the stiff sticky earth used for making pottery.

2 Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,”

Clay, therefore, speaks of our earthly body.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

A clayey soil is slippery and sticky when wet, and is slow to dry. It differs from all other soils, being tough and cold, and consequently requiring a great deal of labor from the husbandmen before it can be sufficiently pulverized, or placed in a state for bearing crops.

In short, a clayey soil is a barren soil. The devil’s strategy is to cause barrenness in our spiritual lives. His aim is to make us unproductive for the kingdom of God. When we are earthly-minded, we tend to gravitate to, and be attracted by the things that satisfy the body alone. The devil wants to keep us in bondage to the flesh life.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (Galatians 5:16-17)

When we walk after the flesh, the anointing cannot be channeled effectively through us because of our insensitivity to the Holy Spirit. By living in the fleshly life, not only will we find it hard to serve God effectively, we will be at enmity with God constantly.

We will be subjected to a spiritual up-and-down. The flesh will always focus on the temporal. To overcome this, we have to constantly look into, and seek after, the eternal.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6)


HOPE DESPITE FAME

AMORITES

According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, the name `Amorites’ means `dwellers on the summits, mountaineers’. Strong’s Bible Dictionary tells us that the derivation of its meaning has the sense of `publicity’ i.e. prominence; thus a mountaineer.

Another strategy of the devil is to fill us with agendas for self-esteem. Because we motivated this way, we tend to be diverted from the will of God.

Many say that we are defined by our achievement in life. We all have our pet projects. We could be involved in a society that recognizes our contribution, thus, we find our fulfillment there. We may be active in a hobby or sport that win admiration of others. All these are not wrong by themselves, but they will distract us from serving God ...provided they are within the communicated will of God, serving a divine purpose. You and I, are required to nurture our personal relationship with God, we ought to have at least a sense of God's will and of our own motives. God's sheep will hear and recognize God's voice, God knows His sheep and His sheep knows God (John 10:3-4,14).

Are we there because of our own motives? Is it really God who wants us to be there? We have to ask ourselves these tough questions. There is no other way about it. Some have no time to serve God. They are Christians merely by namesake.

Eternal values need to be constantly before us. Have we unwittingly let it escape our horizon?

The phrase, `the summit of career/achievement’ is regularly coined during small talk.

A mountaineer recognizes his own achievement. His glory is to be at the summit.

A career-chasing man eyes the summit. A `sold-out’ wealthy businessman plans a corporate tower to mark and identify his empire. He dreams often about his penthouse.

The pull is strong. We are often caught by our long-term financial over-commitments. It is a situation that sucks most of our time and energy.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the rat race. The rat will surely die for sheer non-stop panic running, trapped within the circular wheel of life. Are you a rat running the status/fame wheel?


HOPE DESPITE FREEZE

CANAANITES

Smith’s Bible Dictionary stated the meaning of Canaanites as `low, flat’. Strong'S Bible Dictionary gave a more detailed explanation to its root meaning: humiliated i.e. to bend the knee, hence to humiliate, vanquish:- bring down (low), into subjection, under, humble (self), subdue.

For some of us, before we became believers of Christ; the devil had hit us with many blows causing us a very low self-esteem. Psychologically and emotionally, we were beaten-up, we were so defeated.

Even after we have accepted Christ, the devil continued to deliver his blows. The devil whispers, “you cannot make it, you cannot do it.” The devil used people to speak negative things about us, even to belittle us. The devil’s purpose was so that we would have a low image of ourselves. So that, ultimately, we would not believe that God can use us for His kingdom’s sake.

This low self-esteem can be masqueraded as humility: a false humility. We were deceived and imprisoned in an emotional and psychological cage: rejection.

The surprising, and fearful thing, about our false humility, is that it can stir-up God’s wrath against us.

Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to You servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send by hand of whomever else You may send.” So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses; (Exodus 4:10-14).

If we keep ourselves in false humility, we will be in a freeze. We just cannot do anything for the Lord, because we are mentally subjugated.

There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33)

How can we serve powerfully and yet humbly, if we cannot look beyond our own self-image?

The future king, David, was not an impressive person. Just ask his father. But then, God looked into David’s heart. God saw someone who would seek to look towards Him, to depend on Him and to please Him. David had a relationship with God. And David saw the bigness of God. David saw that in comparison to God, the giant Goliath was a minuscule.

Realize that self-confident is as detrimental to God’s using as self-doubt. The devil would like you to swing to the other side of the pendulum, as well, as long as it keeps you unavailable to serve God.

I know of people who overcame their self-doubt through self-help materials and positive-thinking. Inadvertently, there will be an element of self-interest cultivated because of the drive to improve oneself for the sake of self. The end result was that they became both self-confident and self-inclined. These people are unlikely to serve God out of a pure heart.

David did not look to himself because he saw the bigness of God. When we see the bigness of God, we will not behave like grasshoppers which blend-in and fly-off quietly. WE WILL BE GIANTKILLERS.