Of Mount Everest And Mauna Kea

Of Mount Everest and Mauna Kea

It’s quiz time folks! Name the tallest mountain peak in the World. A no brainer really… for some folks (including yours truly, till recently)…pat would come the response from them…Mount Everest! No, that’s not the right answer. Pat yourself on your back, if your answer was Mauna Kea. Boy, Mauna Kea off the Hawaiian coast “towers” over the rest. It’s height is 33,000 feet vis-a-vis its nearest competitor Mount Everest whose height as most of us know is 29,000 feet. The only problem with Mauna Kea is that nearly 54% of it is submerged below the Pacific Ocean and hence not immediately visible to the naked eye.

Action: Display of comparative chart of the heights of Mount Everest and Mauna Kea

What is that about human tendency which at once goes only for THE VISIBLE AND THE OBVIOUS? Did it not all begin with the luscious-looking forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6) in the Garden of Eden for which our Grandparents fell, when far more nourishing, but perhaps in effect “not-so-attractive” fruits were abounding in the “little Heaven on Earth”? The answer is OBVIOUS. Talk of transmission of traits from the parents to their offspring…

In this message, I am inspired to share with my committed readership about our Heavenly Father’s perspective which is not quite as same as ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). There are atleast 4 instances in the Blessed Scripture where we perceive His vision going beyond what meets the eye.

SHEPHERD…

Display of pictures of

a) Jesse of Bethlehem parading His sons' before Prophet Samuel

b) Prophet Samuel anointing Shepherd boy David

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART.”-1 Samuel 16:6-7

Welcome virtually to the men ramp show of 1000 BC, the contestants being the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem and the Prize:Throne of Kingdom of Israel. Lo and behold the winner is NOT the most handsome or strongest or the most intelligent of them all but the boyish, earthy last son of Jesse (1 Sam 16:1-13) who tended his father’s sheep. Now this Shepherd boy in his “incomparable CV” had a heart that was at all times subservient to the Lord’s will (Acts 13:22). No wonder, the Lord saw in shepherd boy David the potential to accomplish a mission for His chosen Nation, which amongst others included control of the Promised Land from “from the desert(southern border) to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.”- Joshua 1:4. Now the conquest that resembled “Mission impossible” during the 400 years reign of 12 Judges turned into “Mission possible” in the mere 40 year reign of one Shepherd boy turned King- David.

Implicit obedience of David was bound to court success, hence it was not all surprising that wherever David went in his crusades, the Lord crowned all his efforts with success (2 Sam 8:14).

Action: Display of maps' of

a) King David's military campaigns

b) His overall Empire, including places from where collected taxes by placing his army garrisons.

His all round success in military campaigns aside, King David barring a blip here or a blip there was to leave a lasting legacy of obedience to the Almighty (II Chronicles 17:3/ 28:1/ 34:2) who graciously gave him the throne when he was a nobody in the Jewish society , more so in his own family. The good Lord spotted “a Mauna Kea of potential” in him which his own family members were not cognizant of.

STAMMER…

Action: Display of the picture of Moses before the burning bush

Talking of mountains, nearly 500 years before the advent of David, we see yet another Biblical hero-again a shepherd at that-in his mountaintop conversation (Mount Horeb to be precise) with the Almighty (who appeared to him in a burning bush) grossly underestimating his own potential and dishing out one excuse after another (Exodus 3-4:13) for not undertaking a Divine responsibility.

Yes, you guessed it right. I am speaking of Moses, who simply did not want to shoulder the onerous responsibility of being the Ambassador of the Lord before the powerful Pharoah (World super power at that time) seeking deliverance of the 2.5 million Jewish slaves from Egyptian bondage, especially in view of his own hasty departure from Egypt 40 years earlier with “bloodied hands” (Exodus 2:11-15). Was the good Lord in a mood to let Moses go, listening to his many excuses which amongst others included a serious speech impediment (Exodus 4:10)? NO WAY!!!

In Moses, the good Lord saw a leader who would shepherd His people all the way from Egypt to the borders of the Promised Land. History bears witness to the fact as to how patiently and perseveringly, this once reluctant leader led the people in an arduous journey which would last for 40 long years. There would be very few great leaders like Moses in entire Biblical history. His speech impediment? Well, the good Lord, who transforms the weaknesses’ of His Chosen ones’ into their strengths (Heb 11:34/2 Cor 12:10) made this “stutterer” give the longest recorded sermon in the Bible. We would see Moses’ farewell message spanning 33 chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy. HALLELUJAH!!!