Faith in Giving--by Linden Malki

When Jesus saw all the hungry people on the hillside, he made a point of how much it would take to feed all these people.  He could have done it by himself: that had been the first one of the temptations he had to face before he was ready to cope with the program God had laid out for him.  Satan pointed out that anyone who had created the whole world could easily turn rocks into bread. (Actually, he didn't actually need the rocks; if he wanted, he could create whatever he needed!)  But what he did is to turn that conversation away from the emphasis on perishable food that only lasts a few hours to the truly important spiritual food that we need to grow up into Him.

What Jesus actually did when he fed people, was that he first asked what there was available, even though it was obviously inadequate--except in His hands. This wasn't the first time this happened; about six hundred years earlier, during a drought, the prophet Elijah was told that a widow in Sidon, not even an Israelite, would provide for him. He found the widow as she was getting ready to bake up the last of her flour and oil and expected to starve, but Elijah told her that God was going to see that she never ran out of flour and oil until the rains returned.  Note that he asked what she had, and she shared her last food with him, and then it was multiplied through the provision of God.  Elijah's successor Elisha was faced with the widow of a prophet with debts to pay and nothing left in her house except a jar of oil. By the provision of God through Elisha, they poured out of this jar enough to fill every jar and vessel that had or could borrow, which she then could sell to pay her debts and take care of her children. God took what they had, and made it into enough to take care of His people.

We see something similar in the first miracle that we have on record: Cana, the wedding that he saved for the host by turning the jars of water that the servants brought into fine wine. It wasn't even a case of starving people, but a joyful occasion that Jesus blessed.  It is interesting that the Passover meal that became our Communion service, by which we remember what Jesus did for us, consists of bread--that is broken and given to us, and grapes that become the wine that reminds us of His blood He gave for us.

Our church family has been blessed by the efforts of people over the years who built our spiritual home, and those who joined with us to renew and enhance a facility that was in trouble.  Jesus can take what have and multiply it into facilities to bless our communities with spiritual food and actual food. Jesus created our world and turned us loose in it. He is taking a chance on us—that we will learn what we need know. He asks us who do know Him to give what we are willing in order that He will multiply His blessings!

Faith in Layers--by Linden Malki

The Israelites who came out of Egypt--through the Sea, fed on manna, and given water out of a rock, facing a wilderness--found themselves under attack.  Their attackers were the Amelekites, a tribe who were descended from Esau.  Moses called on his young assistant Joshua to raise defenders from the Israelites.  This is the first layer in the defense--as important as it was to break this attack, it was not the only thing on their side.

Moses told Joshua that he would be on the hill overlooking the battle, with the staff of God. This was the second layer. When Moses raised his staff, the Israelites were successful in their defense. However, Moses couldn't hold up his hands long enough for the battle to be finished, so another layer of faith was needed. Moses was not alone! He had his brother Aaron with him, and an associate named Hur. (We don't know much about him, just that he was from the tribe of Judah, his grandson Bezalel was later asked to be in charge of the decorations on the Tabernacle, and he may have been related to Caleb.)  We see him with Aaron later when Moses goes up the mountain to get instructions from God.  Aaron and Hur were the next layer in the faith required--they found a stone for Moses to sit on while they held his hands, with the staff, showing God's strength. The army went on with confidence, knowing  that God was on their side in this great adventure.  It took all the layers, working together, to provide the victory they needed.  We do hear of Hur later, when Moses went up the mountain of God and Aaron and Hur were left in charge. However, he doesn't appear to be there when the people give up on Moses and beg Aaron for their own "god".  This was a time that Aaron needed to have his backbone stiffened, and he was alone.

Later,when Moses was again challenged to provide water, he and Aaron were told to speak to the rock at Meribah.  Instead, Moses, in a fit of temper, did not remind the people to trust God for their need, but struck the rock in his own strength.  The water came, but both brothers were punished by being forbidden to enter  the promised land. Aaron died shortly after, and Moses himself was given a look from a mountaintop and then died and was buried by God outside of the land. 

As much as Moses and Aaron did, and as much as God did for the people, in the end their obedience was not enough to completely fulfill their vision.   Joshua went on to lead the Israelites into the promised land, and see them gaining control over a land that had suffered from idolatrous peoples for several centuries, some of whom were descended from Abraham's family. As much as Moses and Aaron did, there were lapses in faith and obedience--which are two sides of the same coin--that cost them part of the fullness of the promise they had started with.

Faith and Sacrifice--by Linden Malki

         
The concept of bringing an offering to God goes back to the first family: Abel brought a choice lamb from his flock, and Cain brought an offering of produce from his field. Abel's offering was accepted;  Cain's was not, and we see that the acceptable offering was a living creature, the best of the flock. (There is a provision for an offering of produce of the field, but Cain apparently did not fulfill the requirements.) After the Flood, we see Noah bringing an offering of "clean" animals and birds from the additional ones on the Ark.

The next major character in our story is Abram/Abraham, who is called by God and offered a covenant as the father of nations if he will move his family to a new land. Abram's only son was from his barren wife's  slave, but he was willing to go where God sent him, and every where he stopped, we see him building an altar for an offering.  What he did not expect was the birth of a son by his elderly wife and the promise that this son Isaac would be the ancestor of a nation, and then the more surprising command that he was to take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice.  We know the story:
Abraham's faith that God would (and did) provide a miracle and Isaac would come back--alive--with him. (There is a Jewish legend that the stress of this caused the death of Sarah; which would have made Isaac in his 30's at the time. This is possible; Isaac didn't marry until he was 40.)

There is more to the tradition of sacrifice: when the law was given to Moses 500 years later, it included a provision for the firstfruits of crops and the firstborn of animals were to be offered to God, including the firstborn son.  However, the son was to be brought to God but an animal was to be offered as a substitute, as a reminder of the loss of the Egyptian firstborns in the plague that freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The idea of sacrificing sons was common in the surrounding pagan cultures; after the fall of Jericho, there was a prophecy that if the city were to be rebuilt it would be at the cost of the builder's sons--and in 1 Kings 16 we see this fulfilled during the time of the apostate King Ahab of Israel. Over a thousand years later, we see Jeremiah preaching against Israelites who copied the Moabite practice of sacrificing children to their  "god" Chemoth (borrowed from neighboring tribes)-and they were originally related to Abraham through his nephew Lot.

Unfortunately, we live in a world today where children and young people are not safe; there are still places where young people are killed to preserve a family's "honor", and too many die of violence, drugs, trafficking, abuse, and neglect in many parts of the world including our own country.  Those of us who know that we are all responsible to each other and that this breaks God's heart, need to be in prayer and take the challenge as His church to combat the evil that too many face in our world.

Joshua the Faithful--by Linden Malki

We first see Joshua as Moses' apprentice--a young man, who was in charge of a militia to fight off the first attacker in the journey, the Amalekites, descended from Esau. Moses, Aaron and Hur were on an overlooking hillside. Moses held his hands up to empower the Israelites; when let his hands down, the Israelites fell back. Aaron and Hur held Moses' hands up until the battle was won.  Joshua was on the mountain with Moses when the Israelites made the golden calf; the next time Moses went back up, Joshua stayed with the people as the guardian of the tabernacle. He was one of the spies sent to check out the land God promised them; he and Caleb were the only ones with the faith that they could do it, and so the only onesto survive until God allowed them to enter the land, after Moses viewed it just before he died. God gave Joshua this command: "Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9).

Joshua led the people across the Jordan river (the river was blocked upstream for them). We know the story of Jericho and its fall.  Joshua and the people were getting too confident at this point: they attacked the neighboring city of Ai without asking God, and didn't know that there had been a case of illicit looting at Jericho.  Then Joshua asked God what happened, and was told to find the person(s) who had the loot.  They investigated, were led to the thief and his family, who were stoned and buried with the loot. Then God gave the instructions for an attack on Ai, which was successful. In fact, it was so successful that the a neighboring city was afraid, so they sent a delegation to negotiate a treaty. The trick was that the delegation was dressed in rags and their provisions were dried and moldy; and they said they had heard about the Israelites from far away. Once again, Joshua didn't ask God, and made the treaty--and then found out they were close neighbors. They did let the treaty stand, with the provision that the Gibeonites would become their servants.  Then the next act in the drama was five more kings who agreed that these upstart invading Israelites needed to be stopped before any of them were attacked, so they attacked Gibeon.  The Gibeonites immediately invoked the treaty with Joshua, who agreed that they should be defended.  Joshua checked with God, sent out an army at night, and surprised the invaders. As they were fleeing, God sent giant hailstones on them. Joshua then went to God, asked for more time to finish them off, and for the sun and moon to stop in their tracks until the battle was won.  We don't know what happened next or how, but it happened and the battle was won, and the fleeing kings hid in a cave, where they eventually were killed.

The story behind the story was that Joshua was one of God's great leaders--when he was in touch with God's will. When he tried to do things on his own, they backfired on him. At the end of his life, he gathered all the tribal elders, judges and headmen, and reminded them of where they had come from, He challenged them:  Joshua said to the people, 'You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” ... We will serve the Lord our God and we will obey His voice.” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. (Joshua 24:22-25)