Numbers 14:21 but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
(1) Has the whole earth yet been filled with God's glory? ______________ Then that is an unfulfilled prophecy. It is yet to come!
Our author points us to a time in the Old Testament when, because of the irreverence of men, the glory of the Lord departed Israel. Eli's sons had taken the ark of the Covenant into battle as an talisman or a good luck charm. The ark was captured by the enemy and taken to the house of Dagon.
1 Samuel 5:2-4 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4 But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
(1) Would this be enough to make you begin to suspect that there is something supernatural going on here? _________________
It didn't seem to get their attention so God tried something a little heavier. 1 Samuel 5:6-6:7 Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7 When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god."
(1) Does God now have their attention? _____________
(2) Their reaction is interesting. They understood it was God who afflicted them, Dagon couldn't prevent it, but did they turn an serve the true God? _________
As a result they moved the ark of God to Gath, to Ekron. " "Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people." 6:1 Now the ark of the Lord had been in the country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we shall send it to its place."
(1) They sought out the wisdom of men, not to find out how to serve this powerful God, who had made a mockery of Dagon, rather to _______ it to its ________..
6"Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed? 7"Now therefore take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them.
(1) These religious leaders, in their own wisdom, told the people to make a _______ cart and yoke it to two ___ removed from their young.
(2) It is a fleece, like Gideons fleece.. If the God of Israel were really causing these tumors and death because of the Philistines possession of the ark, then these cows would take the cart to Israel overcoming their mothers instinct to move toward their __________..
1 Samuel 6:11-13 And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the golden mice and the likenesses of their tumors. 12 And the cows took the straight way in the direction of Beth-shemesh; they went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
(1) When this happened did the Philistines then turn toward God? _________
1 Samuel 6:19-20 And He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?"
(1) Notice that the judgement on these Jews was immediate, and yet for the Philistines it was a gradual judgement of tumors and confusion. Why the different standard? ______________________________________________________ Mr Bevere has pointed to this principle earlier - The stronger God's manifest glory the swifter and more sever His judgement for irreverence. (Q)
(2) If the severity of judgement is predicated on the knowledge, or availability of knowledge, how severe should God's judgement be upon America? ______________ ____________________________________________________.
1 Samuel 6:21 Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your place."
(1) An encounter with God will either drive a man to his knees or cause him to put as much distance as possible between himself and the creator. What did the Jews of Beth-shemesh do? ____________________________________________
And so the ark of the Covenant remained at Kirath Jearim for some 20 years until the reign of David. It is a reflection on the spiritual interests of Saul who never sought to restore the ark to the tabernacle.
The restoration of God's glory to Israel begins with David's heart seeking after Him and God's commission of Samuel to prepare the way by calling Israel back to Himself .1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines."
1 Chron. 13:1-3 David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. 3Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul."
(1)Who did King David confer with? ___________________
2 Samuel 6:3 And they placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart.
(1) They placed the ark of God on a ________ _______.
(2) How is the ark of God to be transported according to Deut. 10:8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. The ark is to be _________ on the shoulders of the men of the tribe of ___________.
(3) Where did David get the idea to carry the ark on a new cart? 1 Samuel 6:2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we shall send it to its place."
1 Samuel 6:7 "Now therefore take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them.
2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
(1) They really had a praise service going, they lauded God with all of their _____________.
2 Samuel 6:6-7 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
(1)To the unregenerated mind this might appear that God was un-grateful and extremely harsh. What did God call Uzzah's act of touching the ark? _________________
2 Samuel 6:8 And David became angry because of the Lord's outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day.
(1) In fact David became somewhat perplexed by God's response to Uzzah's attempt to steady the ark. He thought that he and the people were honoring God. The verse says that David became ___________ .
(2) If God thought and acted as humans do, what would God have done to David? _______________ .
2 Samuel 6:9 So David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?"
(1) Instead of reacting as many do, including the Philistines and the men of Beth-shemesh, David sought to find a way to do what? _____________________________.
(2) Is that not true for us today. When we act presumptiously and either God's blessing does not follow or we are met with chastisement, what should we do? ____________________ ____________________________________________.
Listen to Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, 2Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God.
(1) Although it wasn't written as Scripture for David to consult, the principle was present, and the Law was available. Can a person know the will of God? _____.
(2) If we will allow our search for understanding to drive us to our knees and to the Word, this passages explicates "Then you will discern the______of the Lord, And discover the ______________ of God.."
Moses gave a clear directive to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:1-2 "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
(1) When we are students of the Word, we will __________ (hold in awe) the Lord our God and it is this awesome reverence and respect that motivates us to _________ all of His statutes and His commandments.
Not only did God give instructions to the people, He gave specific instructions to the King as well.. Deut. 17:18-19 "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19"And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes,
(1) The king is to _______ a copy of the law himself, in the presence of priests to insure accuracy. He then must _______ it daily, that he may learn to ___________ (hold in awe) the Lord his God, attested to by carefully ________________ all of the words of the law and statutes.
The conclusion of the matter: If David had consulted the word instead of seeking the opinions of men the situation with Uzziah could have been avoided. The results of this shortcoming to follow the example of other men, in this case the Philistines, reduced the image of the majesty of our God to that of the imaginations of man.
2 Samuel 6:7 The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
(1)In spite of the religious zeal of the people God saw their actions as _________
Our author asks some probing questions of today's Christians.
Have we not " substituted the knowledge of God for the motivational techniques gleaned from unregenerate man" (r)
(1) Is our music influenced by the music of the world? If the world rocks, do we? ________ When they rap, does it find its way into the church? _________ When the secular stations began with "hard rock" did the Christian youth move into "high energy music"?___________. Is God leading the Christian or are we following the trends and wisdom of the World?
(2) Are our methods influenced by earthly wisdom or God's Word? Many ministries bring in secular professional fund raisers with clever campaigns to bring home the bacon. Others use Hollywood entertainment methods and stage sets to draw large crowds. Has the church in America been following God or irreverently chasing after the wisdom of men? __________.
Hosea 6:1-2 "Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
(1) By itself this passage make no sense. Coupled with the passage in 2 Peter 3:8 it takes on a new significance. 2 Peter 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Again look at Hosea 6:2 After two _____________ years he will revive us; [and during] on the third _____________ he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
(2) If this is a correct interpretation of Hosea 6:2 then the period that we are living in is coming to a close, for it has been almost _______ thousand years since the death of Christ.
Now look at Hosea 6:3 "So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."
(1) We have learned earlier that the spring rain is the latter rain. The passage says that He _____ _______. Our focus should be to _______ on to _______ the Lord
(2) This knowing of Jesus can only be done through the word. John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. When we _________ the Word and _________ God who sent Christ, we receive _________ life. We have passed from our state of condemnation, _________ into life.
(3) Hosea 6: declares that we should press on to know the Lord. John 17:3 tells us why."And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. The way to eternal life is to ___________ Jesus.
Just as knowing the word could have saved Uzzah's life, so knowing the word to know Jesus can save us. A great error in the church today is chasing after the testimony of men and signs and wonders instead of the higher witness of the word which will enable us to agree with Paul in Philip. 3:8 where he says "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
(1) Does Paul consider anything more important than knowing Jesus? _______________
(2) Which is the greater authority, Jesus the living word or signs and wonders? "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told them, "you will never believe." John 4:48 Jesus was miffed. The people were addressing Him, the living word, and yet they wanted the testimony of __________ and ___________.
Observe the correct progression of Spiritual growth found in the passage on the Samaritan woman at the well John 4:39-42 It is the same pattern that should be found in us. Vs 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
(A)We come to hear about Jesus through the _________ of a person and even signs and wonders. (B) Did Jesus perform any signs for this woman? "He ________ me everything I ever did."
40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.
(A} Jesus stayed and taught them for two days (could be a picture of the two thousand years of church history) Others became believers because of His ___________.
42They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
(1) In the end it wasn't the testimony of the woman or of the signs or of the word. It was coming to know Jesus the living word that caused them to ___________ that Jesus is the _____________ of the ____________.
Proverbs 2:1-5 My son, if you will receive my sayings, And treasure my commandments within you, 2Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; 3For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; 4If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5Then you will discern the fear of the Lord, And discover the knowledge of God.
(1) Contained in this passage is not only the creed for our salvation but the formula for knowing God's will and remaining therein, establishing divine order, enabling the glory of God to be revealed.
Step 1 you will _________ my sayings, And __________ my commandments within you. That is to believe.
Step 2 Make your ear attentive to wisdom. That is to ___________ to the Word.
Step 3 _________ your heart to understanding; For if you cry for___________, that is to submit yourself to the authority of the word of God-Jesus
Step 4 Pray or ______ your voice for understanding;
Step 5 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the ________of the Lord, And discover the _____________ of God.
Mr Bevere points out again, at this juncture, that to the degree of glory revealed, to that same degree judgement will be executed whenever the glory of God is met with irreverence and disrespect. (R)
We have established earlier that the former or early rains and the latter rains refer to the revealed glory of God through the Holy Spirit.
James 5:7-8 Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
(1) James tells us to be _______________ until the coming of the Lord and during that interlude we are to ____________________ our hearts. The word for strengthen is, sterizo, means; to make fast, establish, confirm, fixed, resolutely set, strengthen.
Paul elaborates for us what it means to have our hearts "sterizo" or established.
1 Thes. 3:13 so that He may establish your hearts un-blamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
(1) An established or strengthened heart is ________________ in holiness or in agreement with the word, in a state of divine order and persists in that state..
Here Paul defines for us how we maintain that state of divine order.
Col. 2:6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
(1) Being "firmly rooted" is a reference to the parable of the sower and clearly defines your salvation. "Built up in Him and established" indicates divine order in your life through the Word. And now Paul tells us to _______ in Him, which is submission to His lordship, and to do so with ____________.
Peter confirms and further defines what it means to"walk in Him".:2 Peter 1:5-12 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; [6] and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; [7] and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
The evidence of an established heart is to submit to His Spirit as He renews our minds. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
[8] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1) It is the _______ knowledge of Jesus that establishes divine order in our hearts and allows us to walk in him fruitful.
2 Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
(1) A person who does not continue to "walk in Him" is ________ and ______ -sighted.
(2) What does it mean to you personally to "practice these things" ?__________________
___________________________________________________________________.
2nd Peter 1:12 Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.
(1) When Peter says that he is "always ready to remind you," does that imply some significance or special importance to the previous passage? _________________.
(2) Does Peter recognize a tendency of the human heart to wander? ______
Listen to the writer of Hebrews! For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. Hebrews 2:1
(1) Can you see that diligent effort on our part is necessary to keep from drifting away from the word of God and divine order, and so miss the blessing of God's glory? ____________
David having consulted the word of God, did not need to call a counsel of men this time.1 Chron. 15:12-13 [Niv] He said to them, "You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. [13] It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way."
(1) David finally understood why God judged them in spite of their religious zeal. He counseled with men but not ___________. Once he understood the instruction He submitted to the _________________ way.
When David set about building the temple of God in the prescribed way, divine order was eventually established and the glory of the lord was restored to Israel.
So it must be with our temple building for we are told that the glory of the new testament temple of God will exceed the glory evident during the time of the first tabernacle.
Numbers 14:19-21 "Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Thy lovingkindness, just as Thou also hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." Moses is praying for the people for they have provoked God.
[20] So the Lord said, "I have pardoned them according to your word; [21] but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.
(1) Implied in God's response their will come a time when the earth shall be ________ with the _________ of the _____________, greater than during the exodus.
God speaks prophetically through the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. [2] "For behold, darkness will cover the earth, And deep darkness the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you, And His glory will appear upon you. [3] "And nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
(1) Notice that there will first come a __________. This ties in with the passage from 2 Thes. 2:2-3 .. . . the day of the Lord has come. [3] Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
(A) There will first be an ________________ and the ________________ is revealed.
(2) After the darkness the _________ of the Lord will appear upon _______.
Amos 9:11 "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, [the tabernacle] And wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
(1) "In that day" refers to some time in the _______________.
James is quoted in Acts 15:14-18 in reference to this and applies the restoration of the tabernacle to the church also Acts 15:14-18 "Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. [15] "And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, [16] 'After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the TABERNACLE OF David which has fallen, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will restore it, [17] In order that the rest of MANKIND MAY SEEK THE Lord, And all the Gentiles WHO ARE CALLED BY My Name,' [18] Says the Lord, who MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM OF OLD.
(1) Why is God going to rebuild the tabernacle? In order that the rest of ____________MAY SEEK THE Lord, And all the ____________ WHO ARE CALLED BY My Name,'
What is real exciting is the next verse in Amos: Amos 9:13 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine, And all the hills will be dissolved.
(1) For what other reason would the reaper be so long in the field except the harvest is so large that the _____________________ is ready to sow seed again.
Mr Bevere believes that conclusively we are entering "that day" and the church needs to be ready in purity and knowledge. An old Indian wise man once said in reference to the "Rain Dance", "timing is everything." So it is in our day. The Lord will come in His time and pray that we are found a bride without blemish. Our ministry is that of John the baptizer, to prepare the way for the Lord by making His people ready to receive His Glory.
If you have questions or comments please Email Greg at deans@interpath.com
To Home page , To the "Fear of the Lord" index , forward to Chapter 11