It’s a Set-Up!!!

January 27, 2015 By

Ever been surrounded by job loss on one side, a wayward child on another, and medical issues on yet another side? At that point you wonder:

  • Where is God???
  • Why am I in this situation??
  • Did He bring me out to destroy me?

What I realize from my experience with God is that “It’s a Set-up!”

When the Children of Israel left Egypt, they left with great rejoicing! After over 400 years of slavery they were free. That is . . . until God intentionally leads them into what appears to be a trap. This is what he tells Moses: “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon” (Exodus 14:1).

Apparently, the Children of Israel were hemmed in with mountains on all sides and the Red Sea in front of them. You have to wonder: A Trap? Or a Set-up? The Children of Israel saw it as a Trap! God saw it differently. This is what He says to Moses: “When Pharaoh sees their location, he will think ” . . .

  • ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ (NIV)
  • ‘The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!’ (NLT)
  • ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ (NASB)
  • ‘They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. (JPS)

God intentionally sent His children into what seemed to be a trap . . . and here is the reason:  “I will get Me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” (Exodus 14:4 JPS). IT WAS A SET-UP!

Consider this New Testament scenario: Yeshua has just worked miracles among the crowd in Matthew 14:22: “Immediately Yeshua made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side.” Consider the word “made.” He coerced them! He told them! He gave them an order. As I read this passage, here is my dialogue with Yeshua:

  • ME: But Yeshua, there is going to be a storm at sea and the disciples will be in the midst of it.
  • YESHUA: I know.
  • ME: Then why are you sending them out into the very midst of it?

Say it with me: IT’S A SET UP!

YESHUA: I’m trying to show you My glory! I want you to see a glimpse of Who I really am! I’m trying to bring you deeper into My presence!

Say it with me again: IT’S A SET-UP!!!

Whatever you’re facing today, you are not in it alone! It is true that some things we bring upon ourselves, but God can use even those things to set us up for a blessing! Between a rock & a hard place!??? Between Migdol, Baal-Zephon, Pi-hahiroth and the sea??  IT’S A SET-UP!!! Out on a boat in the midst of the storm!!!  IT’S A SET-UP!!! Stop seeing things as Pharaoh did or as the Children of Israel did. It’s not a trap! IT’S A SET-UP!

Let Him get what He wants: Honor & Glory!!  He’s worthy of ALL of it!!

Shalom Oveerecha,
(Peace & Blessings)

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An Excerpt from My Upcoming Book GOD STILL USES VESSELS

October 26, 2010 By

Ever asked God to see His Glory? Consider this . . .

“Show me your glory,” Moses pleads to the Omnipotent God. And God obliges.

I will cause all of my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. … But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. … When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen. (Exodus 33:19, 20, 22,23)

And Moses saw it – the glory of God, pure energy swirling in a fathomless abyss. The ineffable sounds emanating from his being were unlike anything he had heard; even the backside of God was too incredible to imagine. God called it his “goodness” and with His “goodness” came His Name!  Wow!

And I pleaded to God, “Show me your glory.”  Which one of God’s lovers has not requested the same? And I heard him say, ever so indelibly, “I want to see my glory in you! Then the world will see my glory, and you will reflect it!”

God has a much greater plan for his glory than we do. It would have been wonderful to have seen what Moses saw, but whom would it bless other than me?  What kind of glory could anyone have gotten from that experience that was for my eyes alone?

When we seek to see his glory, we seek it in the wrong places. We must seek to see it in each other, since that is the reason we were created.

When Isaiah (Isaiah 6) sees the glory of God bursting the seams of the heavenly tabernacle, it was the chorus of angels who declared in verse 3, “The whole earth is full of his glory.” Even the seraphs knew that as they beheld the impressive weightiness of God eternally, God had so sprinkled that same glory in every aspect of the earth – the sky, the trees, the animals, the mighty oceans, and yes, man. As our eyes are turned heavenward for a glimpse of his glory, the angels redirect our attention back to earth, lest we become consumed with a spectacle (seeing) and not with the indwelling (being).

According to John Piper, “God’s righteous passion and delight is to display and uphold his infinitely valuable glory.”  And in his great humility, he desires that we be the vessels to showcase his glory.

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