Reaction To Numbers
8/28/20
All of us like to have a wealth of numbers on the team we
represent, for in numbers the more the merrier, right? What happens when the pool of the available
participants is not there, to begin with, what happens to the confidence level
then? What if there are plenty of
numbers present but the majority of them are sent home due to a certain flaw or
circumstantial belief, which then dwindles the numbers on your side to almost
nothing? Do you realize that this is
what is occurring in the Church world today and do you understand exactly what
we are facing during all of these events that haunt us today? This is not the first time this type of low
numbered individuals has been called upon to fight a huge army, but what guts
and courage it took for the small few to stand tall and obey the leader of the
army. God expects us not to look at the
physical numbers of who is on our team, but see what is common within our
hearts to fulfill the common goal of witnessing to the lost and to win people
to the Lord. God does not care about
numbers, He cares about eternity and which of His Creation shall spend it with
Him.
Some have heard about how China has over 1.5 billion
inhabitants and how through this population the country could easily form a
military well over the entire population of our nation. This number is staggering when we place it into
this context, but it is one that can be fathomed and possible if provoked. Now, not every nation can produce such
gigantic numbers for a defense budget and if those smaller nations were to come
up against the military of China, it would not be too pretty when every dust
particle has fallen. Furthermore, even
smaller countries seem to present a formidable military docket when it comes to
advanced maneuvers and training but how will they perform on an actual
battlefield is all the rage to see.
Having an enormous military may be handy in some accounts but not all
nations who have a large sustained population deem having a large military
important. An untrained large military
can charge up a hill that is only defended with a few strong points above and
be totally wiped out before they even leave the base of the mountain.
Even a well-supplied contingency of personnel cannot
guarantee a victory just with numbers alone, so one must ask are numbers really
that important when obtainable situations arise? Just for the security and peace of mind, that
answer would be a resounding yes, but is it even plausible to have a small military
and still be considered an impact on potential attackers? One should ask Israel, for they are the prime
example of such a small country that invests almost every man and woman into
their defense. Whereas we may afford to
lose a battle or two in a military conflict, Israel cannot for if they lose
just one battle their existence as a nation is over and the possibility of an
entire race could be once again on the verge of being wiped out. The numbers game draws close to every person
in this nation along with dozens of other nations as well, so what makes the
difference when it comes to fighting in small numbers versus a vast army in
front of you?
Another question to be asked and answered is the fact if
we could watch our current military or defense numbers be declined by certain
conditions or just by people objecting in any way? Many would like to believe that all defense
systems are shrinking proof or leaving proof but that is not the case. How confident would we become if our defenses
were quickly cut from a 100% security protection plan to only a 10% protection
plan, what would our attitudes and confidence levels be then? One may never know exactly what is going to
occur when times become tough or an imminent attack changes the entire outcome
of a region or nation. It is at this point
that we must have some sort of solid and true foundation that we can stand upon
so that when necessary we can form a defensive posture and even look like we
are able to mount a credible attack after the defenses have held. Do we believe that something like this
scenario could be achieved today and could we truly be organized enough to
trust a leader that we have not even met before personally?
Judges 7:1-7
“Then Jerubbaal,
who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched
beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north
side of them, by the hill of Morah, in the valley. And the Lord said unto
Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the
Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying,
Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the
people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart
early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two
thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The
people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them
for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go
with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This
shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people
unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappet of the
water with his tongue, as a dog lappet, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise
every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that
lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the
rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord
said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and
deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every
man unto his place.”
So, this passage brings to light a problem with the
numbers we wish to inflate when it comes to how many people we believe consider
themselves to be Christians. For some
reason, we think that the Church is strong due to the size of those who “claim”
to be Christians and hold God sacred in their lives, yet there are countless
amounts of people who allow worldly atrocities to be harbored within the belief
system that go totally contrary to the Word of God. Where does this type of belief and condition
of this “Christian” fall? It falls into
the category of those who God told Gideon to ask who was afraid, for it was in
this category that most left the scene.
They have no intention of standing and fighting for the Word of God even
though they claim to be in the numbered army of God, a sad placement and the reason
that most in this category would be as babes when it came to defending what God
deemed important.
When studying this passage, one cannot help but wonder if
the same conditions are being leveled today with the number of people that
consider themselves to be Christians are dwindling. Church attendance, tithing, and almost every
other Church tradition is being shattered due to the lack of people willing to
volunteer themselves for the Kingdom. It
would be easy to read such a passage and wonder if God is doing such a thing
once again, but when you understand the context of the Scripture passage here
you shall see that this belief by many today is far from the Truth about what
is going on. I have heard many times
over my fifty-odd years or so that there will be a great falling away in the
last days and that there will be a great revival in the last days, and while
both of these statements are true we have had the tendency to sit back and
watch them unfold on their own totally missing the fact of just how important
world events conduct such measures. It
is not our position to sit back and to watch things pass us by and then cry out
to God for mercy, nor is it our responsibility to build enormous palatial like
buildings to draw in people either. It
is our responsibility to bring in people to the salvation and Covenant of Jesus
Christ and it is this Truth that we need to focus on now and not wait until
time passes along.
When you look at this passage, you must take into account
the attitude of the people for they showed up for their duty to protect their
nation. Yes, the people were great in
number at first but they were there, they did not sit back and stay at home
(church pews) and wait to see what occurred.
After God spoke to Gideon and gave the first command, thousands went
home. Still, God said this was too many
people for Israel to have on the battlefield, so He gave a second command of
action and through this act dwindled the number of warriors down even further;
wow, what a bold measure this was but it was an active process and the men
acted once again on what to do. Again,
they were out there and acted in order to defend the nation of Israel from
their enemies. The number of people that
began was numerous but the number that ended up on the battlefield was the
exact number of three hundred. The
difference was clear, the battle was fought with a handful of men that God
chose that were willing to fight not the ones who might have had the idea of
staying home and waiting for the headline news reports in the evening.
This process that we currently claim as our own is not
following God’s plan of reducing numbers to fight a more formidable opponent,
but a strategy for total annihilation through our own spiritual and biblical
Truth that has been in front of our eyes, hearts, and ears for generations. How dare we thumb our noses at God and then
beg for prosperity and mercy when times become strained. How dare we cry out to God for blessings and
continued structure when we hold the torch of the world in our hands and wave
it in front of the cameras for all to see.
How dare we say we are Christians and protest against those who stand
for all life including the preborn child who never gets to fulfill their
deepest wishes of becoming a true spirit.
And how dare we call upon the name of the Lord to give us the strength to
defeat the ones who are on the corners of the streets and in tents trying to
proclaim the gospel of Christ and label them heretics and enemies of the State. In each of these instances, we find people
carrying their own lines of embarkation with the masses of the world. We should be embracing these few folks who do
their best to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the dying world, we should be
standing with them and listening to what God wants us to say to these people in
need. It does not matter if the times
are good or if the times are bad, God never changes and His eyes are always in
favor of the lost, so should ours be.
Church, can’t we see that we are dwindling our numbers by
our own choices for the world and not through the correct manner? When we place worldly ideas into Church
practices it removes the “C” and replaces it with a “c” because the authority
we have been given falls for the lies of the world and it is obvious that we have
fallen for the biggest shame of life itself and have succumbed to the lies that
the world has placed in front of us. How
hard is it for us to see that we are following in the exact footsteps that
Israel did so long ago and why is it that we continue to believe that God does
not have the guts to wipe us from our man-made selfish pedestals? When God chose these brave three hundred men
that would stand firm against the Midianites, He did so in a cutting and
precise manner that could not be mistaken for anything but holy and pure. Those who were not chosen were cut away from
the job to be done for various reasons, not used in the job that had to be
done. In other words, God looked at each
of their hearts and knew exactly which ones would fight and those who would
have doubts. There is no faith present
to take on an attack from the enemy much less proceed in one from God, so the
question that remains is would you be willing to be a part of this static
force? Numbers mean nothing when it
comes time to go to war, it is the heart to win that matters, and God saw
exactly what He needed to when He chose the army for Gideon. Do you know God needs an army today, for the
same type of battle that Gideon faced so long ago?
Our numbers that sit inside church buildings used to be
more numerous than ever before, but it is now evident that those numbers were
useless to God and had to be removed.
However, it was not God who removed these beautiful people, it was the
enemy. Both kingdom leaders understood
what was and still, is at stake and both shall do their eternally best to fight
for your existence. Sadly, we have
fallen for the lies that it is okay to sit silently and wait for Jesus to
return and expect to see our eternal reward as soon as this event occurs. Worse, is the fact that because our pews have
been lined with people not willing to work for Jesus, those same pews shall
continue to be filled after Jesus comes to get His bride, sitting in the same
places but this time with confused looks on their faces due to the fact that
while they knew the Word of God they had no idea about God of the Word. God has never administered any type of
falling away in spirituality in order to make His army stronger, He has shrunk
numbers of His army in order for Him to get the glory for the victory through
faith and trust in Him and not in mankind’s numbers.
No, we are not in the middle of some God-like miracle
shrinking session so that we will have an adequate amount of people to fight in
the Spirit when the time is necessary.
How do I know this to be true? It is because we have been charged with
the Gospel for millennia and have sat around and did nothing with it and now
God has to take matters into His hands.
Yes, until Jesus returns there shall be people that shall proclaim the
Gospel to those who are dying and need Christ but God had no intention of
starting over in this manner. It is true
that restoration shall be coming but not in a smoothed out manner that we
believe it to be. It shall be in God’s
timing after God gets us down to a level that our hearts shall trust in Him alone
again. However, God shall once again
through this restoration process begin to count the number of people who want
to worship Him as they should, but for many, that chance is gone and the reality
of such sinful acts from the Church shall be noted for eternity.
DLB
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