Wednesday, September 9, 2020

the Skin Graft

What an amazing process is horticultural grafting! 

Part of one plant is joined into the stem, branch or rootstock of a different plant, in such a way that a union is formed and both plants grow together! Fruit trees and roses are commonly propagated this way, and I expect there are numerous other examples. 

Getting back to your roots:

I became fascinated with the process of grafting while I was reading Romans 11:16-21. The Apostle Paul had written to the Messianic Jewish and Gentile congregations in Rome because of conflicts between their beliefs.

The Jews would not accept Gentile believers as members of the Jewish community if they did not convert to Judaism.

The Gentiles developed an arrogant supposition that God had abandoned His Jewish nation Israel, in favour of a new Gentile-only covenant. We recognise this as early anti-Semitism against the Jewish people, which has infiltrated Christianity for thousands of years. 

But in his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote about grafting. Essentially, Paul was saying that if the rootstock (referring to Israel) is holy, so are the branches, but when a wild branch (referring to the Gentiles) is grafted in, then both branches (the holy and the wild) become equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree. His analogy using the olive tree wasn't lost on the Jews - for they knew their Hebrew heritage was symbolised as God's Olive Tree. "The Lord called your name Green Olive Tree, lovely and of good fruit." (Jeremiah 11:16) "With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken."

Paul went further with his horticultural example:

He warned the Jews they were in danger of being 'broken off branches' if they stopped trusting in their Messiah.
And Paul warned the Gentiles that their arrogance could result in also being 'broken off branches'. 
"Don't boast as if you are better than the Jewish branches! Remember that you are not supporting the root - the root is supporting you!" (Romans 11:18)

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Fragrance

“Your anointing oils have a wonderful fragrance; Your Name is like anointing oil poured out.” [Song of Songs 1:3] 

The Lord initiated the fragrant anointing oil and incense, to usher in His Holiness!

Moses assembled the whole community of Israel to give them the Lord’s instructions to take up a collection – yes, fund-raising for the church. Well actually, to build an incredible tabernacle in the wilderness, to house the Holy of Holies (the Ark of the Covenant), with a magnificent gold candle-stand to light inside, a huge bronze washbasin outside and a big altar for burnt offerings. The people generously gave gold, silver and bronze, yarns, ram skins, acacia-wood, precious stones, olive oil for light and spices for both the Anointing Oil and the Fragrant Incense.

Fragrance can be defined as a sweet or delicate scent; something compounded to give off a pleasant odour, such as flowers in perfumery. A fragrant aroma refers more to aromatic plant oils which are extracted from seeds, peel, resins, leaves, roots, bark or flowers – oils that are the essence of nature in a very concentrated form – and smell astonishing! Essential oils deliver natural healing support for our mental, emotional and physical well-being. I love the scent of oils emanating from a diffuser through my house!

The Lord provided Moses with all the plans for His house, the ‘Tabernacle’ and its furnishings, including making the Altar of Incense. It was small – eighteen inches square (45.72cm) and only twice that in height, made out of acacia-wood and overlaid with pure gold. It was positioned in front of the tapestry curtains behind which was the Holy of Holies. God also specified the formulas for His incense and anointing oil:

Fragrant Holy Incense: Balsam and Frankincense resins, bitter Galbanum gum and sweet Onycha (Labdanum) root, all ground finely and salted;

Holy Anointing Oil: Myrrh, Cinnamon, Cassia bark and Calamus cane, blended expertly in pure, fresh olive oil.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

On Reaching a Compromise

“Because you’ve been making a fool of me!”

(No one likes to be taken for a fool. It’s embarrassing… intimidating. There’s pride at stake, reputations to recover. Revenge to consider?        Or perhaps one can make a compromise so that all is not lost.)

Would you have ever attempted a compromise with God?

After the Israelites had endured their 40-year sentence in the wilderness, the time came for The Lord to lead them out and bring them into the Promised Land. But their conquest wasn’t going to be any easy takeover. There were many skirmishes and outright battles to win to possess the land.  Their numbers were very confronting – over 600,000 military men aged over twenty years old – with their families they could possibly have numbered up to three million people!

They defeated and destroyed the Amorites, then camped in the acacia plains of Moab east of the Jordan River, opposite Jericho. The campsite was enormous, and not just a conglomeration of tents as far as the eye could see.  It was a well-designed city, sectioned off in four distinct tribal areas to the East, South, West and North of a central temple precinct, above which hovered the God of the Israelites in the cloud on fire day after day, and in a column of fire every night.

The people of Moab were overcome with dread when they learned what had happened to the Amorites. Moab’s king Balak realised his people had no strength against the Israelite multitude, so he consulted with the leaders of his eastern neighbours in Midyan, saying of the Israelite encampment ‘they cover the face of the earth!’ Balak sent messengers with a generous diviner’s fee to Balaam – a soothsayer living in Midyan near the Euphrates River – requesting he come at once to curse the Israelites so that Moab could drive them away.

Here’s where Balaam gets very interesting:
 He told the Moabite envoys to stay overnight, and the next morning he would give them God’s answer. Balaam’s conversation with God is recorded in Numbers 22:9-12 with God’s instruction You are not to go (back) with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed.” [CJB] The messengers returned to Balak in Moab without the magician.

Panicky and desperate, King Balak sent a second delegation to Balaam. The Bible describes these emissaries as princes of high-ranking. Although they promised Balaam great honour and ‘name-your-reward’, Balaam again answered that he couldn’t go beyond the word of The Lord God… however, he added “stay overnight, so that I may find out what else (The Lord) Adonai will say to me.” [CJB]

Numbers 22:20 records God’s words to Balaam during the night. He said, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you – that shall you do.” [NKJV] In the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and went with them.

Something that always puzzled me is:

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Bread and Water

How long would you survive without water?

Three days... four at the most - depending on your health and the weather conditions.


SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN were on the move with their women and children, having escaped slavery. They had watched on as Moses negotiated with Pharaoh, but as each request was denied, GOD responded every time with different terrible plague. It must have been nearly a year later that they were chased out of Egypt, and their pursuing enemy drowned in the surging sea.  After celebrating their freedom with singing and dancing, their expedition to the Promised Land set out across a desert, following their GPS (GOD's Positioning System) - a pillar of cloud during daytime, and at night a column of fire to give them light.  For three days they pressed onwards through the wilderness, finally finding water. Desperately thirsty, they were horrified to discover the water was undrinkable! 

How frantic are you likely to be when you're nearly dying of thirst?

Three days without water and when they bent down to drink, the water was bad. There's no way to describe their anguish, grief and fear. They named the place Mar'ah [Hebrew: 'bitterness'].Have you been there? Did you regret burning the bridge behind you? What were you thinking? That you should NEVER have listened to someone you THOUGHT you trusted… Was that ‘someone’, GOD?

Bad water, bad attitude, bitterness, complaint. These people complained to Moses. We probably complain to GOD. It was a life -or- death situation. Without water to drink, there will be mass deaths of an entire nation during the next 24-48 hours. They complained to Moses because they were afraid of this GOD of the cloud, GOD of the fire, GOD who seemed to have abandoned them for 430 years.

Do you know who were your ancestors in the year 1590? Who was your 'tribe' generations ago, and where did they come from? Who else other than William Shakespeare was alive in 1590?  430 years is a very long time ago, and I don't know my family tree from that era - but the Hebrew people knew that four centuries ago their forefather Jacob (whom GOD renamed 'Israel') brought his family down to Egypt because the drought had caused terrible famine in their land of promise. The 12 tribes of Israel were the descendants of Jacob's 12 sons.  

Everything was fine for a couple of hundred years. But look what happened… maybe they forgot the GOD of the Promised Land while they enjoyed the foreign land. But for as long as living memory, Egypt had about-changed from being a benevolent benefactor, to a cruel master demanding their life-blood in forced labour. 

Everything's fine until it’s not - suddenly everything they took for granted was taken from them. THEN they cried out to the GOD of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, and He sent Moses who led their freedom – something to sing and dance about - until three days later when there was no drinking water.  Had they misunderstood God? Fear and regret are there, in the waters, a bitter reflection of life almost lost.

Desperate and afraid, the people complained bitterly to Moses. He cried to The LORD who showed him a "certain tree, when thrown into the water, made the water taste good."

It might seem mysterious why the tree healed the water, but I think this was a prophetic Sign from Heaven, that a wooden stake - a cross, would lead the Way to heal us of our bitterness. 

OH! Taste and see, that the LORD is GOOD! See to it that no one misses out on GOD's grace, that no root of bitterness, springing up causes trouble and thus contaminates many. 

There was a time when my family had no food.

(I looked in the pantry one day, and felt bereft. Other than rice, salt and pepper, there wasn't anything to make a meal. A lengthy sickness had resulted in no income to buy food or fuel for the car. There was no bread, eggs, milk or meat in the fridge either. A car pulled up out the front - a visitor. I went out to greet him and he opened all the card doors, revealing bags, boxes and bundles of food, food and more food! I cried with joy and relief. GOD provoided all we needed plus we were able to bless our extended family as well, because the abundance was so great we would not have been able to eat it before it went stale!)

 

One month after they left Egypt, the Israelites had no food.

Although a mixed crowd had also gone with them, as well as livestock, by the 15th of the second month they had no more supplies - no food - no meat or bread.  Grumbling to Moses, they moaned, "We wished The LORD GOD had used His own hand to kill us off in Egypt. There we used to sit around the pots with the meat boiling, and we had as much food as we wanted. But you have taken us out into this desert to let this whole assembly starve to death!"

So here they were, stranded in a wilderness so far from food, and how far away WAS this 'promised land'?  GOD spoke to Moses, "Here, I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you. Every day, one day's worth of bread from heaven, enough for everyone to eat their fill." 

The next morning when the dew evaporated there was a fine flaky substance as fine as frost on the ground. When the people saw it, they asked each other "Manna?” [Hebrew: ‘what is it?’], because they didn't know what it was. Moses said "it is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat." Every day, they had to go out and gather what they needed to eat for the day's food rations. If they tried to store some, the next day it was full of worms and stank.

I love the way the people named this Heavenly bread "what-is-it?"  

What is it, indeed, that God will rain down from Heaven for you?


WHEN THE PEOPLE ASKED JESUS TO TEACH THEM HOW TO PRAY, He gave them the example we call The Lord’s Prayer

And look what’s in the middle – “Give us today, our daily bread.”

We aren't to just sit here, moaning and complaining, grumbling, full of bitterness. The Lord's provision for us is providing we GO OUT AND COLLECT IT EVERY DAY.  It doesn't just land in our laps!

Yes, our body needs bread and water to survive, but our spirit and soul must eat and drink of the Lord's Word and His Will day by day, every day.

~ ~ ~

Scripture References:

600,000,000 men - Israel departs from Egypt [Exodus 12:37-40

The Angel of God in the cloud and fire [Exodus 14:19,20]

The Red Sea divided [Exodus 14:21-29]

The water of Mar'ah made sweet [Exodus 15:22-27]

Taste, and see that The Lord is good [Psalm 34:9]

No Root of bitterness [Hebrews 12:15]

The Lord provides Manna [Exodus 16:1-30]

'The Lords' Prayer [Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4]







 








Wednesday, June 10, 2020

the Thorn Bush


THE FARM where I grew up used to have an expansive house-yard full of hundreds of rose bushes. It must have been so beautiful, so fragrant – and so full of thorns! 

My dad often called me Thorn Bush.
Even before my first memories formed, I knew my names were Rosemary, and Thorn Bush... but as I grew, I connected the meaning of my nickname to my birthname -

Roses and thorns grow on the same bush!





There was another thorn bush, and a man named Moses: 

        He was born during an overwhelming time, when newborn baby boys had to be thrown away, abandoned to die. Not ALL baby boys, just those born to the slaves - the people called Hebrews. This was Pharaoh’s Final Solution – after he realised that the growing numbers of Hebrew slaves could mount a huge army, outnumbering and overthrowing his Egyptian kingdom.

        Moses’ mother was an extraordinary Hebrew woman, preserving her baby’s life by hiding him in a floating basket. Another extraordinary woman intervened - Pharaoh’s daughter rescued the Hebrew baby, and after he was weaned she raised the boy as her son! Right under her Pharaoh's nose!
 
        It’s interesting that although the lad grew up enjoying the luxuries of privileged Egyptian life, while he was learning palace policies and procedures, he was also mindful of his Hebrew kinsmen. Visiting them one day, he witnessed their struggles under forced labour - so he killed an Egyptian task-master, hiding the body in the sand.
        Did Moses think he could solve their problems by secretly despatching every Egyptian?
        Did Moses assume that his elite position gave him authority to intervene using his own measure of justice?