Mrs Zebedee's Request

 

Years back there was a popular song by a popular secular artist of which the lyrics would help set the pace for today’s conversation. The core of the lyrics translated to English is: “Aren’t you a child of Jesus, lift your legs and stomp on satan”. A lot of people danced to it, I also being among them. But recently, when I understood the prophecy that the “seed of the woman (JESUS) will strike the head of satan (Gen 3: 15) it became clear that the lyrics were a taunt. A taunt to Christians that they should fulfil prophecy and stomp the head of satan if they were truly to be called children of Jesus.

But taunts like this are not unfamiliar, satan did the same to Jesus during the temptation at the wilderness when he said

Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

Notice the similarities? I do, and my response to the lyrics of that song is the same as Jesus’, It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

But there is a time when stomping on the head of satan is NOT tempting God. It is fulfilling scripture. That time is when satan attacks the believer, which interestingly is fulfillment of scripture - the seed of satan shall strike the heel of the seed of the woman. This is the reason why Jesus said the Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force. In the previous blog we discussed who the seed of satan are. We discovered that they were called the children of disobedience by the Apostle Paul. But we have learnt that God is our ‘husband’ as well as our ‘parent’… let that boost our trust in God’s willingness to protect us from the enemies -because we already know He has the ability to do so. In all sense of responsibility, I say that God is the most violent one. He does great violence on his enemies on our behalf.

Today’s discussion will focus on using the analogy of the relationship between a servant and his master to explain our covenant relationship with God in Christ. We have previously discussed the analogies of the Godly marriage and the Parent/Child relationships to explain our covenant relationship with God. And a question that may arise in your mind is that what could be more potent than these?

In the new covenant, God is our master and we are His servants, if we choose to be. A servant of God can be one who serves in God’s sanctuary (like the prophet Samuel), or one who serves in the marketplace (like Joseph or even the boy, David) or one who does both (like Apostle Paul). The underlying principle in these different types of service is obedience.

In the Marketplace (secular world) we have learnt from various teachers that Excellence, Integrity and Innovation are the key hallmarks a Christian display. This is the same really for the Christian serving in the sanctuary, or one doing both.

There is nothing like forced labour in the service of God. You are either doing His will because you are willing to do so or you are not at all. There is also the place for the ability to do. One can be willing but unable and another, unable but willing. And yet another both willing and able. Yet in all, serving God means relying on God. This is what is so special about the prayer of young King Solomon when he ascended the throne of His Father David.

1Ki 3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 

1Ki 3:4  And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. 

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 

1Ki 3:6  And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 

1Ki 3:7  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 

1Ki 3:8  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 

1Ki 3:9  Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 

1Ki 3:10  And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 

Solomon understood the assignment. He had a servants’ heart but he realized he needed understanding and discernment (ability) to able to operate as a successful servant. Because whether we are operating in the sanctuary or in the marketplace, we are always transacting with people.

There is the wisdom that is vain, manipulative, and calculative and frankly an ungodly spirit of error which we all have to be wary of. This manifested in the life of King David as well,

1Ch 21:1  Then Satan attacked Israel by inciting David to enumerate a census of Israel. 

1Ch 21:2  David ordered Joab and the commanders of the army, "Go take a census of Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, and bring me a report so I can be aware of the total number." 

1Ch 21:3  But Joab replied, "May the LORD increase the population of his people a hundredfold! Your majesty, all of them are your majesty's servants, aren't they? So why should your majesty demand this? Why should he bring guilt to Israel?" 

1Ch 21:4  But the king's order overruled Joab, so Joab left, traveled throughout all of Israel, and then returned to Jerusalem 

1Ch 21:5  to report the total population count to David. Throughout all of Israel there were 1,100,000 men trained for war. In Judah there were 470,000 men trained for war. 

1Ch 21:6  Levi and Benjamin were not included in the census, because what the king had commanded was unethical to Joab. 

1Ch 21:7  God considered this behavior to be evil, so he attacked Israel. 

1Ch 21:8  David responded to God, "I sinned greatly by behaving this way. But now I am asking you, please remove the guilt of your servant, since I have acted very foolishly." 

It is my opinion that if there is a spirit of wisdom and understanding which comes from God, there is also a spirit of foolishness which comes from satan (one of the attributes of this spirit of foolishness today is the ‘woke’ attitude). Let us humbly ask God to remove this spirit of foolishness from within us and replace it with His Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding.

Isa 11:2  The Spirit of the LORD will rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD. 

Isa 11:3  His delight will be in the fear of the LORD. He won't judge by what his eyes see, nor decide disputes by what his ears hear, 

Isa 11:4  but with righteousness he will judge the needy, and decide with equity for earth's poor.

 To wrap up this discussion in a neat little bow, It is enough to say that "I am a child of God!" and just expect to go out and stomp the devil, because: there is a son that seems to have all the authority of the Father, but cannot wield it, and there is a servant that wields that same authority with ease.

Gal 4:1  Now what I am saying is this: As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything. 

Gal 4:2  Instead, he is placed under the care of guardians and servant managers until the time set by the father. 

For instance, Abraham trusted His Servant with the responsibility of picking a wife for his son, Isaac because even though Isaac was the heir, he was not ready for that assignment - as personal as that was. Let's also look at the Joseph allegory:

Gen 41:41  "Look!" Pharaoh confirmed to Joseph, "I've put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt!" 

Gen 41:42  Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand, placed it on Joseph's hand, had him clothed in fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck. 

Gen 41:43  Then he provided him with a chariot as his second-in-command, outfitted with a group of people who shouted out in front of him, "Bow your knees!" And that's how Pharaoh set Joseph over the entire land of Egypt. 

A servant carrying the signet ring of his master carries the authority of that master, even more than the child of that master. selah.

Let us ask God not just to be servants, but ones with his signet ring. Amen.

We know we are sons, but most are still little children – irrespective of age. You can’t give your car to a minor to drive - for both the love of that child and that vehicle, so the Father wont place certain things in your care, but will protect you. And there is no way of developing into matured sons who can now handle the Father’s treasures / inheritances without having the heart and ability to serve God.

You know I won’t end without talking about the Apostle John now (chuckles)…. He was the son of Zebedee, and from all indications – historical – the Zebedees were rich rich. So one day, His mother, Mrs Zebedee, being a woman with a rich mindset, comes to Jesus and says Master, I want my two boys to seat one at your right and the other at your left… Mothers are awesome aren’t they, she was already trying to place her sons in the best spot available (spiritual nepotism ha ha ha)… but Jesus turned her request into a profound message about service. See:

Mat 20:20  Then Zebedee's wife came to Jesus with her sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor. 

Mat 20:21  He asked her, "What do you want?" She told him, "Promise that in your kingdom these two sons of mine will sit on your right and on your left." 

Mat 20:22  Jesus replied, "You don't realize what you're asking. Can you drink from the cup that I'm going to drink from?" They told him, "We can." 

Mat 20:23  He told them, "You will indeed drink from my cup. But it's not up to me to grant you a seat at my right hand or at my left. These positions have already been prepared for others by my Father." 

Mat 20:24  When the ten heard this, they became furious with the two brothers. 

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called the disciples and said, "You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. 

Mat 20:26  That's not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 

Mat 20:27  and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. 

Mat 20:28  That's the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people." 

Need I say more?

Now, we ask that Jesus gives us our portion of drink from his cup. Amen.

Is there any earthly gains in serving God? Go figure...

We will end with this prophecy concerning Ephraim:

Jer 31:18  "I've certainly heard Ephraim shuddering with grief as they said, 'You have disciplined me, and I'm disciplined like an untrained calf. Restore me, and let me return, for you are the LORD my God. 

Jer 31:19  Indeed, after I turned away, then I repented. And after I came to understand, I slapped my forehead. I was both ashamed and humiliated because I bear the disgrace of my youth.'" 

Jer 31:20  "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? Indeed, as often as I've spoken about him, I surely still remember him. Therefore I deeply yearn for him. I'll surely have great compassion on him," declares the LORD.