Molly belongs to me. I bought her from the breeder when she was 46 days old. The moment I paid for her, she became mine. I took over the responsibility to love her, care for her, provide for her, and protect her. I do everything for her that she needs, as a little dog, to flourish.
Molly knows she is mine. When I need to go away for a short while, I hand my responsibility for her over to a trusted friend who cares for her as lovingly as I do, but… she is not me. Molly is sad and restless until I return, and ecstatic beyond words when she sees me. Every muscle in her body is mobilised to express her joy. Her tail would fly off if it were not securely fastened to her rear end. Even when I leave her for an hour or two, she responds to my homecoming as though I have been gone for days!
This bond is so strong that Molly even trusts me when I turn her upside down to treat her for any ailment. She submits to the indignity of cream on her chest and tummy for itchy skin and even on her paws which she guards tenaciously as a specially personal part of her anatomy.
So it is with God and me.
I remember the story of a young boy who carved a sailboat out of wood, dressed it up with paint and sails and took it to the water to try it’s performance. He was excited to see how the wind filled the little sails and pushed it through the water.
Unfortunately, the little boat did so well that it sailed out of reach. The water was too deep for him to rescue it, and soon it was also out of sight.
The little boy returned home in tears, his prized possession gone.
A few months passed. One day, as he was passing the toyshop in town, he was overjoyed to see his little boat in the shop window. Somehow his craft had been found and offered to the shop owner for sale.
He rushed inside to claim his possession. The shop owner refused to return his boat and he was forced to buy it back at the shop keeper’s price. After months of saving his pocket money, he finally walked out of the shop with the liitle boat in his hands.
“You are twice mine,” he whispered as he walked home. “I made you, and I bought you!”
Twice God’s! He made us…
Psalms 139:13-14 NIV
[13] “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
… and He bought us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
[19] “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
This belongingness has a double meaning. I belong to God, therefore, He takes full responsibility for me. I belong to God, therefore I am accountable to Him. He has the right and responsibility to train and discipline me so that I learn to conform to His ways just as Molly is accountable to me. When she is naughty, I scold her. Somehow she understands and seeks my forgiveness by licking my hands.
Molly and I live in harmony with each other as much as we can as human and dog. With God as my perfect heavenly Father, it is up to me to treasure this belongingness by living in harmony with Him, trusting His goodness and responding to His discipline. Nothing is more precious than belonging to God.
1 Peter 2:9 NIV
[9] “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Let
me tell you what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me through His Word…
Some
time ago I asked the Lord why He has not stopped the war in Ukraine, since many
people around the world are praying. His response surprised me as much as His
reply to Habakkuk’s question stunned him.
He
took me to a verse in Genesis 15.
“In
the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the
Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Genesis
15:16 NIV
God
told Abraham that his descendants would be enslaved in a foreign land for 400
years. After that, they would return to the Promised Land (and conquer it –
understood) because God was giving the Amorites time to repent or to fill up
His cup of wrath against them.
In
a process of unfolding revelation, He told me that Russia’s cup of wrath is not
yet full. He took me to the prophecy of Habakkuk and showed me the parallels
between the prophet’s dilemma and the dilemma of the church in our day.
South
Africa is not a nation in covenant with God but the church in South Africa, as
part of His church through the ages, is a covenant “nation”
spiritually.
“But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.”
1
Peter 2:9 NIV
The
church is God’s representative to the world in the New Covenant era as Israel
was to the surrounding nations in their day. God’s attention is always on His
covenant people since they are part of His plan for showing the world who
He is.
“You
show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not
with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of human hearts.”
2
Corinthians 3:3 NIV
When
the church fails to live as citizens of God’s kingdom in this evil world, the
Lord disciplines and trains us through hardship and suffering so that we might
be a holy people, set apart for God. As, with Israel, He uses circumstances…
including people and nations, to do His work of sanctifying us for His glory.
“Moreover,
we have all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it.
How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They
disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us
for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of
righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
Hebrews
12:9-11 NIV
A
short while after this encounter with Scripture, I had a mental picture, out of
the blue, of a huge ship ploughing through stormy seas, then slowing down and
turning around. The words came to me, “The juggernaut is turning around.”
Juggernaut? I looked up the meaning of juggernaut – an unstoppable force.
I
had no clue what this picture meant until I was riveted by a statement in a
weekly newspaper called “The Daily Friend” which I receive by email.
The articles are written by knowledgeable people who view current affairs with
insight and discernment.
The
article I was reading examined the reason for President Ramaphosa’s agreement
with Minister Gwede Mantashe that an “Eskom 2” was a “good
idea” and should be built to stimulate competition with Eskom1 as one
option to deal with the energy crisis in South Africa.
What
was underlying this ridiculous proposal to solve the problem of an already
failing state enterprise? The writer’s conclusion, (that Gwede Mantashe is a
“died-in-the-wool” communist whose sole purpose is to turn South
Africa into a socialist state, to which President Ramaphosa agreed at this
point), set alarm bells ringing.
This
was not the president merely giving nodding approval to the suggestion,
according to the writer, but a deep-seated conviction that this is the way to
go for this country, underpinned by the SACP’s partnership with the ANC in
government.
Imagine
my surprise when I read this statement near the conclusion of this article…
“The
ANC, which has always been under the tutelage of the SACP, is intent on turning
the ship of state around (!!!!!!) and leaving this embarrassing period of state
failure behind them….”
Shortly
after reading this, I learned that South Africa has become the headquarters of
the news channel, “Russia Today” after other countries had refused
them.
With
South Africa’s sympathetic attitude and close links with Russia, is there
every possibility that the “ship of state” is intent on leading South
Africa towards becoming a socialist state? We have only to examine the new
policies the government is proposing (e.g., EWC, NHI, BIG, etc.), and new
legislation being inflicted on the people in South Africa to recognise that the
ANC is moving us ever closer to absolute control over our nation.
How
does this tie in with Habakkuk’s interaction with God?
God
claimed responsibility for raising up the Babylonians. His purpose was to
punish His people for their disobedience to His covenant, and to bring them
back, through their suffering, to faith in Him.
He
also had to deal with Babylon. Their wickedness, cruelty, and oppression of
God’s people may have been the final drops in God’s cup of wrath which they
would drink when the Medes and Persians overthrew Babylon in one night (see
Dani 5).
I
present my conclusions in the form of questions since I have no right to put
words in God’s mouth or claim to speak for God. I can only conclude, on the
strength and authority of God’s Word, that He might be using similar tactics as
He did in Habakkuk’s day to bring His church back to Himself or, at least, to
refine the remnant of His faithful ones who will survive the troubled times we
are living in.
Since
God is sovereign in all human affairs, can it be that He has raised up the ANC
to purify His church and restore the simplicity of faith in and obedience to
Jesus as Lord?
What
if the ‘ship of state’ is turning us back to communism – the scourge that
Russia let loose on the world – with its avowed intent to rid the world of
faith in God and in Jesus as Lord, and to control the world and its wealth by
oppressing the poor. Is that not Putin’s intention – to restore Russia’s rule
over its once vast empire by bringing its former member-states to their knees?
Russian
and Chinese communism’s attempt to destroy the church failed. It produced,
instead, a purer and more powerful witness to Jesus. Perhaps this shaking may
just be what the church in South Africa needs to sift out the counterfeit
church and refine the bride in preparation for the Bridegroom’s return.
I
claim no prophetic gift or office. I ask only that you consider what I have
offered you and heed the message that faithfulness to Jesus and His ‘law’ of
faith in Him and love for one another (1 John 3:23) is our only hope of
survival despite all attempts to nullify our faith and drive us to deny our
allegiance to Jesus as Lord.
How
did Habakkuk respond to God’s startling and terrifying revelation of His ways?
Did
he “pray against” the invasion by the Babylonians? Did he “take
authority” over the devil and his attack on God’s people? Did he
“identify” and “pull down” altars and strongholds? Did he
organise “prayer walks” and mass prayer meetings to deal with the
situation he was enduring?
“No!”
to these reactions which are so often typical of the current “prayer”
movements.
Habakkuk
reflected on the coming destruction of those who harmed God’s people. He
remembered God’s great deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He
remembered how God’s power over nature destroyed the enemy and opened the way
for His people to escape. If God did that for His people, then He could do it
again. His prayer, in response to all that God had revealed to him, was simple.
“I
have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In
this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in
your anger, remember your mercy.”
Habakkuk
3:2 NLT
Armed
with a renewed confidence in the sovereignty, power, and wisdom of God, Habakkuk
ends his encounter with the Lord in a song expressing his profound faith in God
despite absolute disaster. The Babylonian army may come and destroy everything
but… accompanied by wild music and dizzy dancing, the prophet expresses his
confidence in God’s grace to see him through the test.
“The
Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to
tread upon the heights.” (For the choir director: This prayer is to be
accompanied by stringed instruments).
Habakkuk
3:19 NLT
Is
it possible, then, that God’s message to Habakkuk is His message to us today?
It is not our mandate or role to try to direct the political affairs of state
by interference or prayer. Our role as members of Jesus’s church is to be
faithful to Him, to live in obedience to His word and the leading of His
Spirit, and to trust Him that He is working, in all things, for our good, to
conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:28-29).
All
the signs of South Africa becoming a socialist state under the present
government are there. Communism’s ultimate goal, as demonstrated in the history
of Chinese and Russian communism, is to destroy the church and annihilate God’s
people.
Unless
God rescues us from the present regime with its hidden and not-so-hidden agendas,
the church in South Africa will be shaken as never before. Whether we stand or
not will depend on our commitment to be faithful to Jesus, no matter what.
Communism
or not, God is sovereign. He will use whatever is necessary to transform us
into true children of God. His perfect family is His goal.