God's Faithfulness Is Revealed In Testing
Illustrating why it is that our Lord said more than once in the Gospels,
MAT 12:39 "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign;"
Remember that in the last days, Satan will use signs and wonders to deceive the inhabitants of the world, REV 13:13 And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
REV 13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
Satan is an M & M - a Master Magician.
My whole point is that signs and wonders never really accomplish what we have been created for --- Rev 4:1.1
They were shallow and superficial and totally dependent on entertainment, dependent on signs and wonders, although the signs and wonders accomplished absolutely nothing!
As we have noted, they flunked the "too much water test", at the Red Sea, now they are going to flunk the "Wrong kind of Water" test, where they had plenty of water but the wrong kind.
The verb translated to cry is the Hebrew verb tsa'aq which means that Moses interceded and offered up prayer to the Lord.
This is what we call standing in the gap and interceding for others by picking up the shield of faith in prayer while under pressure.
This is what our Marahs or our "bitter situations" are designed to do which is to drive us to the Lord like Deu 23:5 says the curse is turned into a blessing.
You see, as in the natural realm so in the spiritual, bitter pills may have blessed effects.
Therefore, we must all realize to take the bitter with the sweet and not allow ourselves to become filled with bitterness.
The body is a magnificent vessel and a manifestation of the omniscience (knowledge) and the omnipotence (power) of God.
In other words, God does work in the building of the physical body and then when the physical body or the fetus is ready it comes forth from the womb and God breathes into it "Neshumah" the breath of life and it is now a person.
PSA 22:10 Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother's womb.
Life begins when the fetus emerges from the womb and God gives to that fetus, neshamah, "the spark of life," not developed in the womb, but is given by God at birth.
I say drive because the tragic thing is that most of the time we take the Lord for granted and we forget where we came from and what we are really like without Him.
Or as Rev 2:5 says Remember therefore from where you have fallen.
JOH 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.
It was Moses obedience to the Lord's commands.
The tree or the wood represents then the divine solution.
The wood depicts the doctrines and the promises of God, but the wood itself is meaningless.
The point however is that Moses was a one man pivot who could pick up the shield of faith under pressure.
So the tree represents to us promises from God, doctrinal rationales, and it represents a divine command.
And, by the way, a divine command that seemed to have nothing to do with the solution, but it had everything to do with the solution.
The tree is also a picture of the branch, Jesus Christ.
Just as the tree was cast into the bitter water, making it sweet, so TLJC heals the bitterness in those who invite His presence.
PSA 78:38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger, And did not arouse all His wrath.
PSA 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.
Point 1 definition. Faithfulness is the consistency and stability of God.
Faithfulness is the perfection of God's essence and the fact that He cannot be inconsistent or compromise His essence.
God is consistent with Himself; therefore, He is faithful and consistent with us.
Now, God can be faithful to you because of propitiation which means that God the Father is satisfied with the sacrificial ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross on behalf of you.
Divine faithfulness also manifests itself in divine discipline to the carnal and reversionistic believer and in blessing to the mature believer.
Faithfulness is an attitude to something in life which you love, respect, admire, or recognize its authority.
Point 2, God is faithful to us in rebound.
1Jo 1:9 "If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and righteous, with the result that he forgives us our sins [known sins] and cleanses us from all unrighteousness [unknown sins]."
This same principle is taught in 1Co 11:31; Jer 3:13; Psa 32:5, 38:18.
Jer 3:13 says 'Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against the Lord your God And you have not obeyed My voice,' declares the Lord.
In HOS 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
HOS 14:2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity, And receive {us} graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.
However, as we noted in the doctrine of grace, grace forgiveness is never a license to sin but is the motivation to press on to spiritual maturity.
Point 3, God's faithfulness is manifested in His perfect plan,
Knowing every sin, every human good deed, and every evil thing we would ever do, God still selected us to have human life at birth, and elected us to equal privilege and opportunity at the new birth.
Point 4, God's faithfulness is manifest in logistical grace provision and supergrace blessing, 1TH 5:24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
If He could do the most for us at salvation, it follows, a fortiori, that He can provide the lesser blessing of logistical grace support in time.
ROM 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Point 5, God's faithfulness is revealed in testing, 1Co 10:13;
1Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.
2CO 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,
ROM 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
We are even tested in the area of logistical grace support from God to see if we are going to trust in His faithfulness.
We are also tested regarding our love of doctrine versus social life, loved ones, our failures, other distractions, and our families.
And as a part of God's faithfulness, He always provides the doctrine or the opportunity to get the doctrine necessary to pass each test before it comes.
Point 6, God is faithful to the Royal family of God, Heb 10:23-25.
And the more doctrine you have in your soul, the more you see God's perfect character, and the faster you will advance to spiritual maturity.
Point 7, God is faithful to the apostate believer, 2TI 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.
In fact, God is faithful in keeping the degenerate believer alive for discipline.
Point 8, God is faithful to the believer in the realm of the angelic conflict.
2TH 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Point 9, God's faithfulness becomes a reality as you advance to and reach spiritual maturity.
DEU 7:9 "Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God,"
God is faithful to us and He is not only faithful to tell us the best but He is also faithful to tell us the worst.
For instance God is faithful in keeping His promises, 2CO 1:20 For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes;
NUM 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Because in HEB 10:23 He who promised is faithful;
In 1Pe 4:19 to those who are going through undeserved suffering Peter says 1Pe 4:19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
PSA 119:75 I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me.
PSA 89:33 "But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.
God the Father is faithful in Jam 1:17.