Gad in the City, Gad in the Country, Gad at War From Creation Gospel Workbook Five Volume Five: Devarim (available late 2014) HaShem wants your family and income to be secure, but if you are a member of the Commonwealth of Israel, it is the well-being of the congregation that you must see to, most especially in times of conflict and battle. If you don’t think this is a key generation at war for the restoration of all things, you’ve been asleep since 1947. Are you a shepherd of this flock, or are you a hireling? Do you satisfy your own needs and desires within your congregation, or are you here to fill others’? Are you walking “before the Lord” like Nimrod? Devorah was a judge, but she was called to war before she could merit a reign of peace in Israel. You may judge angels, but you are first called to war for Israel. At a critical time for Israel, Gad would not go up to war with Dvorah; and they were one of the first tribes to be dispersed from the Holy Land. The things that seem to make us most secure are often the very things that make us the first target when the enemy begins to march. If you want to identify true shepherds of the sheep, look only to the last or next major congregational battle. The hireling will run away when the wolves of conflict attack. The shepherd will stand with the sheep, even lay down his life if necessary. If the hireling can see no personal gain or opportunity, if he can see no fortune or luck, he will run back to the security of his own possessions and what he feels like he can control. Listen to this wisdom from Job 7:1: Truly man has a term of (military) service on earth; his days are like those of a hireling -- like a slave who longs for evenings shadows, like a hireling who waits for his wage. So have I been allotted months of futility; nights of misery have been apportioned to me. When I lie down I say, When shall I rise? But the night is long, and I am full of tossing until dawn. A hireling’s heart watches the clock like a wage-earner who hates his job. He simply endures being with the flock instead of taking responsibility for it. The portion, then, is nights of misery with discontented thoughts consumed with its own kingdom. The shepherd not only fights the wolf, he builds sheepfolds of the Torah to protect the sheep through the darkness of chaos. He will lead the sheep out to green pastures and clean waters of right teaching and gives them rest on Shabbat, and no matter how large the flock, it is always His (not his) “little flock,” for he is a poor man who understands the cost of Yeshua’s sacrifice and wishes not to crucify his Messiah afresh through sin. Every lamb is precious to a poor man. This is a lesson in lay leadership. Like Gad, every believer can be a good shepherd or a sinful one. So choose today to feed the flock. Make the inheritance of the congregation as dear to you as your own. Make your dwelling place a Holy Space. Moses and Yeshua taught you how. Go before Adonai with His congregation, for Yeshua said that if you are not willing to leave mother and father behind for His Kingdom, you are not fit. A true shepherd is not out gadding when he should be encouraging the Camp with his support. Build protective walls of Torah around your families and career, but if you love Yeshua, feed his lambs in the country, feed his little ones in the city, and when it’s time, be among the troops at the fore of the battle.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 13:30:26 +0000
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