A good title for this book would be, “Operation Desert Storm.” Here is Israel, miraculously redeemed from Egypt by the blood of an innocent lamb, in possession of the law of the Almighty written with the very finger of God on tablets of stone, led by Moses an 80 year old Jewish shepherd, daily looking at their Tabernacle in the very midst of their encampment, supernaturally guided by a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; having their daily bread sent to them from heaven by ‘UPS’ and their meat by ‘Federal Express.’ You would have thought, they would have marched triumphantly right into the ‘Promised Land’ and conquered it! However, they failed and failed miserably, over and over and over, but we never fail, right? We are always triumphant, right, wrong!

We have been looking at one life changing principle for our ‘Prayer Lives’ in the book of Numbers as we journey toward the promised land and that principle is that, “God, Jehovah Elohim, El Shaddai, YHWH, El Gibbor, El Elyon, El Olam, Adonai, desires to dwell, pitch His tent, tabernacle, in the midst, in the very center, of His people and their lives! He desires it and He deserves it! What an astounding thought and principle, “God, the Creator of the universe, desires to dwell in the very midst of the creatures He created.” The Hebrew word (dwell) means to reside, lodge, set up, rest or inhabit. To abide or dwell, sounds a lot like John 15; or I Cor. 6:19-20. Not only that but His people (us) need to pitch their tents in the very center of His will also, Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 5:17; Because if we are not living in the very center of His will and His purpose, then we are living in a very dangerous place! God should always be in the very center of our lives and ministries too, always! We should encamp, pitch our tent around Him and around His ‘Tabernacle of Meeting.’ We need to ask the LORD to help us see this beautiful life changing ‘Prayer Principle’ so we can apply it to our lives. This is not just some Old Testament principle but a New Testament principle as well.

The first six chapters of Numbers, or actually the first ten chapters are concerned with getting ready to move out! Organization! “God is not the Author of confusion but of peace,” I Cor. 14:33. I learned that very early in my walk with the Lord. Every individual had his or her definitely assigned place and task for the welfare of the whole nation. Organization, methodical, orderliness, systematic, these are the words that describe God’s work. In the church body, every member has his or her place of ministry or function, I Cor. 12; Eph. 4: 1-16. In fact in Eph. 4:11-12, God said, “He gave some, to perfect others, to do the work, so the church can be:” (prepared for their journey just like Israel). Just in case you haven’t discovered it yet, God is never in a hurry. He created word patience and invented the concept of time and doesn’t even wear a watch. So, slow down, go easy, take it one step at a time, on your knees if need be. Israel spent 40 years of preparation and wandering but only five years (Joshua 14) of fighting to conquer the promised land. Forty years of preparation for five years of battle. Sounds like our Lord, 5 BC to 33 AD is about 37 years. So, He spent about 33 years preparing, for a little over 3 years of ministry. Or as one evangelist said, “The time a woodsman spends sharpening his axe, is never a waste of time.”

That formula broke down to eight years of preparation for one year of hand to hand combat, a pretty good formula, if you ask me. Only Christ’s was a little better, ten years of preparation for each year of ministry, and we spend three years preparing for thirty years of ministry and we wonder why we have so many problems in the churches today! The old ‘Boy Scouts’ had a motto, “Be Prepared!” That should be our motto for service to God, “Be Prepared!” Too many times we step into the pulpits, into our Sunday school classes, out on visitation, or into a classroom unprepared or not as prepared as we should be. Now the nation of Israel is not going to move out until chapter ten, verse eleven, but before they do, God must first count the people in chapter one; Then He must arrange the camp in chapter two: Then He must organize the priests in chapter three: Then He must designate their ministries in chapter four; Then He must begin to sanctify or separate them, ‘Set apart His people!’

So, in Numbers 5-10 we see the ‘Sanctification, the Setting Apart as Holy,’ the nation of Israel. Four chapters for organization and six chapters for sanctification or separation. That is significant, if you thought God was really into organization, He spends 25% more time instructing on sanctification! A dirty unclean, vessel is of no use to God! If you have a dirty, filthy, scuzzy pot you can’t pour a can of good soup into it, can you? Well maybe you might, but I will not want to eat it! In chapter five we see sanctification through separation, now some folks have gone a little over board with this one; in chapter six you see sanctification through the Nazarite vow, here you may run into some legalists; in chapters seven and eight you see sanctification through worship, here you may run into the charismatics and spirit worship; in chapters nine and ten you see sanctification through ‘Divine Guidance,’ now here is a proper balance. Let me say this, sanctification is the key to moving out for God, the key! It is not good enough to just be organized, you must be sanctified, ‘Set Apart’ to move out for God! Now why did God put all that in about sanctification, six chapters worth? Because that leads us to the second major principle for an ‘Effective Fervent Prayer Life.’ (EFP) The first one was, ‘God desires to dwell in the midst, in the very center, of His people.’ The second principle is, ‘That God can only dwell among a sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, holy people.” He absolutely refuses to fill, use, indwell, or cohabit with a filthy, scuzzy, slimy, dirty, vessel. Why, because He is pure, holy, perfect and sinless and we will pick up right there next time. So until then, we will see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“Prayers In The Desert” – ‘Num. Ch. 1-6’ Part #4 – 4/7/13