When everything around you may be crumbling or the enemy is so close you can feel their breath, and you are told to be still, what is your first response? We live in a do-it-yourself world and being still is not the first response. The first response is to try to fix the problem ourselves. That may work sometimes but when the problem is beyond your own abilities, the next best thing is to turn to someone else with greater abilities and so on and so on. Often the last resort is God. Sure, many will say they have called on God but do not wait for Him to answer and go ahead and keep moving instead of being still and waiting for God’s plan to unfold. Psalm 106:13 “they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.” Picture yourself in a real-life battle as we see so often in the news. The bullets are flying, bombs bursting, and the enemy has you outnumbered and you are told just to be still.
From a world’s perspective, that would be stupid. Of course you need to do something, or else you will be overrun and defeated, captured and even die. But the battle we are in is much worse than a military battle. Our enemy is more powerful and has been destroying the church for centuries. We are in battle with our enemy satan which is a spiritual battle, though he has many servants in the flesh who glorify him instead of God. We are told, Ephesians 6:12 “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This is why we are told to Ephesians 6:10 “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” The problem is the church has decided to battle satan from a human perspective and with human strength. This is very similar to when they were told to go in and take the land of promise. They were told do not fear, though the walls were massive and the armies huge and there were giants, God would give them the land and they would be victorious. After they explored the land, Numbers 13:27 “they gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.” They should have stopped there and said lets go take the land but instead they said 28 “the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” Caleb answered right and said 30 “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” They even went further and turned everyone against the promise of God. Numbers 14:1 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” It was only Caleb and Joshua who glorified God by believing God’s word to them. The rest would die in the desert for their unbelief. Numbers 14:28 “So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census (Numbers 1:46 “The total number was 603,550”) and who has grumbled against me. 30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. 31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.” Even so they all paid the price for their unfaithfulness. Numbers 14:33 “Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’”
When God tells you to be still, He means it, as He will provide protection and defeat our enemies, but not with our strength but His power. David said Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” We are not just being asked to be still, we are being told to be still and know that God is God and there is no other. The church is filled with people who have no idea who God is or what He expects or the power available for the church. They only know what they see and what they have been taught and that is to do things with their own hands. To stand back and wait for God is not something that works in this culture of hurry up. Being told to wait is just as bad as being told to be still. We will talk about waiting on God in a couple of weeks.
It really is amazing that Israel refused to believe that God would give them the land even though there were giants. When they left Egypt, Pharoah changed his mind and went after them and they found themselves trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. They were already told they would take the land so they would have had to be alive to do so, yet they feared the Egyptians more than they trusted God. Exodus 14:4 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” This was all part of God’s plan. Now you have a powerful army coming at them with the intent to destroy them. Exodus 14:6 “So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them.” The Israelites saw their situation and doubted God even though they cried out to Him. 10 “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” The cried out to God in Egypt and He heard them. Exodus 2:23 “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” This is how ridiculous God’s people can be. They cried for God to save them, He does and now they want to go back to the slavery they were crying out about. They were afraid and did not trust God.
But then Exodus 14:13 “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen. 19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. 9 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” Yet over and over they refused to trust God and would continue to cry out.
The amazing part of this was that the nations around heard about this. When the time came for Israel to take the land, Joshua again sent some spies into the land and they ended up at the home of Rahab. Joshua 2:8 “Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof 9 and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” The people before did not trust God even though those they thought were stronger than them, actually were terrified of them. The people stood still, and God was glorified and their enemies were no more.
After being anointed by Samuel as king, Saul was told 1 Samuel 10:6 “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” The first part took place. 9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.” The second part would come later when they found themselves being attacked by the Philistines. 1 Samuel 13:5 “The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.” Even though this army was advancing against them Saul was told to wait for Samuel. They were all in fear, so Saul took matters into his own hands. 7 “Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.” Saul then acted as if all was well but Samuel said, 11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” 13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel did come at the set time, Saul just did not wait long enough. Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
After the Babylonians had taken over Judah, the king placed a governor over them as they commonly would do. Gedaliah was appointed and 2 Kings 25:24 “Gedaliah took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.” But they did not listen and he was assassinated by some other Jews. After this happened the people feared what the king of Babylon was going to do, so they fled to Egypt. On their way, they decide to ask Jeremiah what God would have them do. Notice they were already set on going to Egypt. They came to Jeremiah and said, Jeremiah 42:2 “Please hear our petition and pray to the Lord your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left. 3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” Jeremiah said OK, and the people responded and said, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. 6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.” God then answered and said basically what Gedaliah had said, 10 ‘If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I have relented concerning the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. 12 I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.’ 13 “However, if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the Lord your God, 14 and if you say, ‘No, we will go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be hungry for bread,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to settle there, 16 then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow you into Egypt, and there you will die. 17 Indeed, all who are determined to go to Egypt to settle there will die by the sword, famine and plague; not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’” So basically, God said stay put, be still and do what I say.
