Breaking free from the Small
Reading: 2 Kings 6:1-23
When ever you have two people watching the same event, when you come to hear the reports, the basic facts will in all probability be the same, yet the accounts of it will often vary. You only have to look at the reports in the papers of a by-election, in particular the interpretation of the results by the various parties. Look at the sports pages of the different tabloids, the winner by one will reported as annihilating or destroying the opposition, sighting the score or what ever as the evidence of the glorious win. However, another reporter will point to the determined opposition put up by the vanquished, quite possibly that the losers were in fact the “MORAL” winners, as they did not have some many booked or sent off. The same match, different perspectives.
The same is true in Christian circles, how many times have you been to a meeting, listened to the reports of others, and wondered if you were in the same meeting.
“There was a real sense of the presence of God in the prayer meeting, people were struck in awe.” “It was boring, no-one prayed or joined in.” “There was a real sense of excitement and people just exploded into praise, rejoicing and thanksgiving.” “There was a lot of noise and emotionalism.” We really got the meat of the Word in the bible study.” “I didn’t understand a word he said.”
The spies that Moses sent out to view the promised land are a graphic example of just this. The reports and the immediate effect can be seen in Numbers 13 + 14. They all saw the same things, they all saw the richness of the soil, the abundance of water, the valleys, the plains, yet they reported differently. The reports concerning the sons of Anak give us the reason why the possession of their inheritance was put off for a generation. They said;
(Numbers 13:33) “...we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
We are told in Num 14:1+2 when the people heard this; “..all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night....... all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, ’If only we had died in the land of Egypt ! Or... the wilderness.”
In spite of the fact that these people had seen God’s dealings with Egypt, they had seen the ten plagues, they had seen the army of Pharaoh held back by pillar of cloud, they had seen the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, they had walked upon the sea bed, and they had seen the Egyptian army drown in the same place that they had just walked through, they had drank from the waters that were turned from being bitter to sweet, they had eaten of the manna, they had eaten the quails that were provided they had drank the water from the rock, they had had the victory of the Amalekites, when Aaron and Hur supported Moses arms. Yet still they refused to believe that God was able. The tragedy about this story and others like it in the bible, and throughout the history of the church, is that the limiting factor in the moving of God was the small mindedness of the people. To them, the task before them was all too much, it was enormous, the big one, they looked and noted the immensity of it, and it became an all consuming thing. Their focal point was upon themselves, there thinking was that of a slave, yet to our God, it was but a small thing. Their thinking and vision had become en-captivated. We do need to note here though, that in the dealings of our God with His people, there are times of small things. Jesus talked about the seed falling to the ground and there dying. He talked about the mustard seed being a small seed, yet it could spring up and become the largest of the plants of that type. Not just to be a large plant, but a place of shade from the heat of the day, into which many birds and other animals could find rest. Yet there is a process of growth that means that the seed and plant will at some stage be small. That is also a very dangerous time for the plant, a time when it is at its most vulnerable. The tree will need an axe to fell it, a sapling in the other hand often only needs the simple nipping of the fingers.
We all acknowledge the need for growth, we all pray for it. The Lord is not challenging us tonight about our lack of wanting to grow, what is being addressed is the encamping of things which keep us small. There are things which encamp around the people of God, whose sole purpose is to keep us small.
In Zechariah 4:10, the Lord says to Zerubbabel; “For who has despised the day of small things?”
At first glance this might seem like a rhetorical question, making the point that Israel was but a small part of a larger empire, and so was being looked down upon. What this actually is though, is a call for the Almighty to the people being lead by Zerubbabel to despise the cramping, confining influence of their smallness.
The Hebrew word TSOOR, which holds the meaning of “TO CRAMP OR CONFINE.” Is used in Obadiah v2, when the LORD speaks against the nation of Edom and of His coming judgement upon them because of their sins against the nation of Israel. He spoke these words;
“Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You shall be greatly despised.”
God was saying to the nation of Edom, I will cramp you into a confined space from which you will be unable to spread your evil to other nations.
In Amos 7:2 the word is used in the context of poverty brought on by the invading swarms of locusts. Such was the poverty and starvation, the nation was limited in what it could do. There is a brutal attack of the enemy that comes in such a bludgeoning way that like the sweeping down of a swarm of locusts, its shear ferocity causes the setting-in within the minds of those under that attack, a mentality of possessiveness which is smallness. There rise a fear that what we have we need to hold on to, as there is a possibility that we will what little we have. So we clutch to ourselves, we hold on with vigour, sometimes to the point of our knuckles turning white. That is a poverty spirit. It is manifest in a number of different ways, three in particular are:-
(i) Money
(ii) Church buildings
(iii) Rebellion, division.
It has to do with, who is running this show anyway.
What has taken place is that there has come an encampment roundabout us that will keep us small, unless we turn and see the surrounding host of the heavenly army of the Lord. Much like the servant of Elisha who could only see the problem, i.e. the Syrian army. There they were camped around the city of Dothan, his heart was failing within him, such was the besieging army that he could not see any hope for their escape and safety.
This word translated small, is also translated BESIEGE or BESIEGED, in verses 23+24 of our reading is where it is translated just that way, in other places it is translated ADVERSARIES (Exodus 23:22); Assault (Esther 8:11); Beset (Psalm 139:5); Distress (Deuteronomy 2:9+19), Enclose (Song of Solomon 8:90); and Siege (1 Kings 15:27 etc.). They are all transmitting the idea that something is being held captive by the restricting of vision, the inability to see beyond the immediate. A classic tactic of the enemy, a little town called Jabesh-Gilead, due east of Dothan in the Trans-Jordan area given to the tribe of Gad. A place of no great significance, quite mountainous, and not particularly fertile, suddenly found itself encamped against by the Ammonite, Nahash. (1 Samuel 11). The inhabitant of Jabesh-Gilead at first said,
“Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.”
Nahash laid down his terms, they were;
“On this condition, I will make a covenant with you that I may put out all your right eyes, and bring reproach on all Israel.”
The name Nahash means “SERPENT.” This particular servant of the serpent was saying; “I will leave you alone, I will even let you carry on being apart of Israel. You can go and worship your God, you can go as often as you like to the tabernacle. You can offer your sacrifices and take your tithes and offerings. But I want your ability to see beyond the immediate.” He made no bones about why he was doing this, it was to make them a REPROACH ON ALL ISRAEL. He knew that without the ability to focus upon anything in the distance, without the ability for medium and long term vision, the people would perish, and they would live without restraint. The inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead sent of help, Saul came with an army and they were liberated.
Faith conveys the idea that we are stepping out of our own resources, steeping beyond our own power and abilities, moving out of even the limited reasoning of our own minds, and starting to move in His resources, His power, His authority, His ability. Moving outside the bounds of our own narrowness and moving into the stream of His provision. Just because we are unable to see something, or because we can only see the immediate, does not preclude the possibility that what God is actually saying to us, is to step out into the unknown. That step is a step of faith. That step requires many tonight, to see the armies of the Lord, that step requires for us to realise that there does come the encamping of the enemy to keep us small, that step requires for us to move as one in faith in Him.
For some tonight, smallness has been brought on by your own sinfulness, and when ever you have tasted something of the life flow of God, you have risen for a while, only to be pulled back. You have sought to do that in your own strength, Jesus is saying to you, “HE THAT IS IN YOU, IS GREATER THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD.”
