Saturday, July 29, 2006

Laugh with Sarah

This message from Genesis chapter twenty-one could make you laugh or mock.


Start from verse one.


God visited Sarah according to a promise He made earlier (see Genesis chapter seventeen, from verse fifteen to verse twenty-one, KJV).


Verse two now.


Sarah became pregnant. She gave birth to a boy baby. The timing of the birth was according to promise.


Verse three next.


Abraham named his son Isaac. That name was given to him by God (see chapter seventeen, verses eighteen and nineteen).


Now to verse four.


Abraham fulfilled God's commandment of circumcision of his son Isaac. He kept the commandment when Isaac was eight days old.


In verse five.


In this verse Abraham's age of one hundred years is given. That was his age when his son Isaac was born.


Verse six. Sarah's Laugh.


This verse contains an important declaration by Sarah. She declared that God made her laugh. This laughter was for joy, because the old, once barren Sarah, can no longer be reproached because of barrenness.


She went on to say that all those who hear will laugh with her. Did she mean that only those who heard her laughing will laugh with her? Could it be that those who hear about Sarah's laughter now, will also laugh with her? Yes, because Sarah did not say only those who were in her presence would laugh with her. She said all those who hear. Hear what? Sarah's laughter, or that God had made Sarah to laugh?


It is important to note that Sarah said "ALL THAT HEAR" will laugh with her. To understand this kind of hearing consider verse nine. Soon after Sarah's declaration (about three months), Ishmael  was caught mocking Sarah's son. The son that God ordained to give many laughter. Certainly Ishmael was not one of the group of "ALL THAT HEAR", because he failed to hear. If he was one of those who heard, he would have behaved differently.


Look what happened next. Check it out in verse ten to verse twelve. Sarah was not laughing. When Sarah stopped laughing because Ishmael failed to laugh with her, it affected Abraham.  Next it affected Hagar. Ishmael should have laughed with Sarah. Ishmael had to go. Sarah was sure about that. How could she be so sure? God had made her laugh. God's will was to make others laugh with Sarah and not at her. Therefore God will not be pleased with those who do not laugh with Sarah. Sarah was confident about that.


So who are those that will laugh with Sarah? They are the ones who understand that it was not a light thing that God did for Sarah. They understand that even Abraham had to submit to God and to Sarah, to cast out Hagar and her son Ishmael, in order to restore Sarah's laughter. They understand clearly, and are confident as Sarah, that God's choice for Abraham's heir was Isaac and not Ishmael.


When you laugh with Sarah you are laughing with Abraham's God. When you mock Sarah by mocking her son Isaac, you are mocking Abraham's God.


If you exalt Ishmael above Isaac you are not laughing with Sarah. You are in serious trouble. You need to repent. You need to call upon Sarah's God to give you an understanding of Sarah's laughter.


You can find Sarah's God through His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, can you imagine if you mock Sarah it is a serious offence? Do you realize that God's Son, Jesus, is far greater than Sarah? Are you mocking God's Son?


This message is brought to you by A. Nizamuddin by the authority of God's Son, Jesus. Sinners, Jesus is not willing that you perish. However, you must do your part and believe in Him.


Thank you for learning with me.


Abdool N.


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posted by Abdool N @ 12:56 a.m.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Moses---Guilty or not Guilty?

How do you view Moses' act of killing an Egyptian?
Did Moses kill an innocent man? What did the
Church in Egypt think? What does the Church
think now?


Do you see Moses as a murderer or as a deliverer?


How did Moses see himself? how did God see Moses?
And how did the early Church see Moses?


What does the word of God say?


The account of the killing is found in the book of
Exodus in the Holy Bible. See KJV chapter 2, verses
11 to 15.


In verse eleven Moses saw the burdens of his
brothers. He also saw the oppressor (an Egyptian)
beating an Hebrew.


Moses took a stand for the defence of his Hebrew
flesh and killed the Egyptian. He buried the dead
man with sand to hide him.


When Moses went out the next day he saw two
Hebrews fighting. Moses questioned the man that
was wrong. The man did not like Moses' stand as
a judge. The man questioned Moses whether Moses
would kill him as he killed the Egyptian. Later,
Pharaoh judged Moses as guilty and sought to kill
him. Moses became fearful and so he fled to
Midian.


Here we have a view of someone in the Church
(wrong doing Hebrew) seeing Moses as guilty
of murder. There were probably others in the
Church with the same view.


We find that Pharaoh would not have given
Moses a trial. The world (Pharaoh) saw Moses
as guilty. Someone might say, " Pharaoh was not
wrong because Moses didn't give the Egyptian
a chance or trial. He judged him and killed him
right away." Well, I don't think that Moses was
unfair to the Egyptian. The Egyptians were
guilty of perpetrating murders against Israel.
Remember how Moses himself had to be
hidden from the sword when he was a baby?
The Egyptians in those days were guilty of
much innocent blood.


Another person may say, " why didn't Moses do
the right thing like we are doing today? Why
didn't he resort to the courts in Egypt for
justice?"


Are you kidding me? What justice? The Hebrews
had no justice for them in the Egyptian courts.
It was high time that someone see the heart
of God and seek for immediate justice for the
crushed and oppressed. Moses saw God's heart.
You will not see God's heart unless you follow
the examples of men like Moses. You will be
stuck with the bad Pharaohs of the world. Now
don't get me wrong. I am not advocating killing
when there are courts and justice is available.


There are those in the Church today who view
Moses as a murderer. Many of them were taught
this view by the Church. Is the Church right or
is it taking a stand with the world?


If you look at Acts chapter seven, from verse
twenty-two to verse twenty-nine you will see
God's account as the Holy Spirit spoke through
Stephen. This should be seen as the view of the
early Church. It should be the view of the Church
now.


In verse twenty-four Moses is shown as a
defender and not as a murderer. He was also
executing vengeance. It was eye for an eye.
Remember that Moses knew the laws of the
Egyptians. He was not without understanding
about justice, and vengeance as part of justice.


In verse twenty-five we get a look at how Moses
saw himself. He saw himself as the chosen
deliverer of the children of Israel. Some in
the Church did not understand that, so Moses
got a bad rap. He was acting as God's
deliverer even then, but he could not make
them see that. So it was then. So it still is now
when Moses is shown by the Church that he
was a murderer.


Wake up Church. Know your enemies. Know
your friends.


This article was prepared by A. Nizamuddin
with guidance from the Holy Spirit. This article
may be published without charge by anyone
who wish to further the cause of Christ and
His Church. Please do not modify the article.
Credit to A. Nizamuddin should be clearly
shown. Showing my URL is optional.


God bless you.


Article by A. Nizamuddin.








posted by Abdool N @ 2:28 p.m.