From the Desk of Jeff King

Call upon Me

Few families were more dysfunctional than the ancient Israelites. Married to the Most High God and objects of divine adoration, the 12 tribes chose to play the harlot. They allowed themselves to be seduced by pagan culture and religion and turned their affections away from their faithful Husbandman. They started well but lost their way, although Scripture says ethnic Israel will be restored during the millennial reign of Messiah (Ezekiel 37).

As a jilted lover, YHVH repeatedly called for His people to return to Him. He sent prophets to warn them that punishment would be swift unless they repented. The relationship became so strained that God granted the backsliding house of Israel, the 10 northern tribes, a certificate of divorce (Jeremiah 3:8). The southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin, also was treacherous yet still desired to walk with God (Hosea 11:12).

At the height of the crisis, the Lord reads off a list of offenses in the book of Hosea. One is particularly troubling to Him: "None among them calls upon Me." And later, "They did not cry out to Me with their heart when they wailed upon their beds." The words "call" and "cry" in Hebrew mean to cry out urgently, shriek from anguish or danger, or cry for help in times of distress. In other words, even as their worst fears befell them – death, destruction and exile – the Israelites refused to acknowledge their Maker, the One able and willing to heal them.

I wonder if God has the same complaints about Christians today. We are like the Israelites – we started well but compromised the truth and assimilated paganism. How many professing Christians really trust in Yeshua of Nazareth? When we encounter trouble, serious trouble, who or what do we seek for comfort and direction? Rick Warren? Oprah? The horoscope? God invites us still to cry out to Him. And in Isaiah 58:6-9 He outlines conditions upon which He will respond swiftly:

Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am."

The Hebrew word for "call" here is qara' (kaw-raw), also used in the Hosea passage we looked at. It means to "cry unto." True followers of Yeshua will face tribulation in this world (John 16:33), but we can have confidence that our cries are heard in heaven. Our Champion inclines His ear and answers faithfully – Here I am.

El Elyon

Thinking today about how big God is and how small, weak and flawed I am. And how our Creator, for reasons known only to Him, desires to redeem and restore fallen man. Messianic worship leader Paul Wilbur captures this sense of wonder in the song "El Elyon" off his latest CD The Watchman. El Elyon is Hebrew for God Most High. The lyrics:

You sit enthroned above the circle of the earth
Spreading out the heavens like a veil
You hold the universe so firmly in Your hand
Reaching out in love to all the world

El Elyon Most High God
Holy is Your name
El Elyon Most High God
Holy is Your name

No one can know the secrets hidden in Your heart
Mysteries beyond the reach of man
No one else commands the sun to rise and then to fall
All creation heeds the great I AM

Elohim El Shaddai
Yeshua Adonai
Let the glory of Your name be magnified
Lord Most High