Understanding the Nature of God

I think often on the account of Jacob going to Egypt to see Joseph, the son he thought to be dead for twenty years; and especially how Joseph brought Jacob before Pharaoh: "And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh" (Gen. 47:7-10). Now Jacob blessed the greatest king in the world because Jacob was the greatest man of God living at that time, and the scripture plainly tells us that "without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better" (Heb. 7:7). That isn't what I'm wanting to make a point of here today, but it is a really interesting fact so I thought I would throw it in. The point I am wanting to make is about what Jacob told Pharaoh in regard to his own life: "... few and evil have the days of the years of my life been." In using the word 'evil' here it does not mean that Jacob was telling Pharaoh that he had lived a wicked life, but rather that his life had been full of adversity, misfortune, affliction, and pain. As I said, Jacob was the greatest living man of God in the world at that time, and he did not become that by having an easy path to trek. A whole lot of folks want to do great things for God, but a whole lot of folks have no idea what they are wishing for. Elisha ministered to the great prophet Elijah for a number of years, the greatest man of God living at that time; and when he learned that Elijah was going to be taken from him he made sure to stay close by his side so that he could be there when he left. And why was Elisha so intent on staying by Elijah's side till he was taken away? "And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so" (II Kin. 9:8-10). Elisha wanted a double portion of the anointing of God's Spirit that was upon Elijah. Was there anything wrong with that? Of course not, and Elisha proved that the remainder of his life. The point I'm making here is what Elijah said to Elisha in regard to his request: "Thou hast asked a hard thing." Now Elijah was not telling Elisha that it was going to be difficult for God to transfer a double portion of Elijah's anointing onto Elisha. What he WAS telling him was that in asking for that, Elisha was also asking for what goes along with it; namely a lot of hardship, rejection, isolation, and pain.

I wonder if Elisha knew that Elijah's departure was the result of Elijah requesting death from God after being set at naught and targeted for death by the evil queen Jezebel, following Elijah's memorable proving of God's glory at Mt. Carmel against Jezebel's prophets of Baal. The scripture doesn't say whether Elisha knew that detail or not, but it's certain that he had not fully equated the hardships he would incur with the double portion that he asked for. Elijah knew, and Elijah knew that like Jacob, "few and evil had been the days of his life." Job, another 'greatest living man of God' of his day, gave it to us straight and true: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble" (Job 14:1). Like Elijah and like Jacob, Job knew this not only by observation, but by profound personal experience. In fact his statement was about mankind in general, so how much more is it when someone is basically standing contrary to the rest of the world because of the word of God? So let's take this on down through history to the very greatest man of God in the history of the world. That would be the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Tim. 2:5). Jesus was in spiritual substance God himself, and therefore it is evident that he walked closer to God than anyone in history. It is also evident that he suffered for God and man more than anyone else in history, having died the agonizing death of the cross for the sins of all men of all time. Jesus, because he is still a man as well as being God along with the Father, remains the greatest living man of God and will be so for eternity. So now it is those who are 'in him,' and are made "one spirit" with him, who can count on the adversities that go along with that anointing (I Cor. 6:17: Gal. 3:27; II Cor. 3:17). Like the men of God of old, those who "are led by the Spirit of God" today are stemming the tide of an entire world that disbelieves God for who and what he actually is (Rom. 8:14). If you want to do great things for Jesus, just be sure to remember what the scripture says about it: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Tim. 3:12). The reason is evident, and Jesus told us exactly what that evident reason is: "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also" (Jn. 15:20). He could have added that most people do NOT keep his sayings, which can certainly compound the issue. The apostle Paul suffered more than probably anyone has for the sake of Christ, and there were times when he saw no way out: "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life."

There was and is only one solution to such a thing, and Paul gave it to us in the same breath: "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us" (II Cor. 1:8-10). Though we may suffer, we always have what I consider the greatest of all the promises of God: "... for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Heb. 13:5). When someone walks closely with God, persecution will not be the only adversity that they will be pained with. Like Jacob and Job, often times we will incur suffering from general and great hardships in this life that God uses to shape us into the vessel he needs to get a particular purpose accomplished. Jacob's son Joseph was also an outstanding example of suffering great and many misfortunes and adversities which were used to make him what God needed him to be for a great purpose to be fulfilled. I remember when I first started out with the Lord, being with some friends and brethren, telling them that I would come to places of hardship in my life where I knew I could not go any further, but that God would carry me through somehow.That was probably the first word of prophecy I ever gave, and didn't even know it. All I can say is, I didn't have a clue. Knowing by prophetic insight what is coming is one thing. Living through it is quite another. Not saying I've suffered more than anyone else, but there have been times that I have been so battered and bruised that I have no idea at all how I got through it. Well, I of course know that Jesus has never left me or forsaken me, and that he has certainly carried me through. Yet there have been times when I haven't felt that I had the strength to even let him carry me. But I'm still moving forward today somehow and feeling his peace and power within me, so I have learned the hard way what he meant when he said, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (II Cor. 12:9). I haven't written these things for the sake of discouragement on anyone's part, or to turn anyone away from wanting to excel for the name of Jesus. But with all of the wild and woolly zeal that so many have today, maybe the sobering words of Jesus on this very topic should not be forgotten: "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish" (Lk. 14:27-30). So as it is said these days, "I'm just saying." God bless.