PERSONAL SECURITY

Zechariah 4:1-6
1 Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. 2 He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." 4 I asked the angel who talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" 5 He answered, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied. 6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."


Because my work requires regular travel to Israel, people often ask me, "Do you feel safe there with all that's going on?" My typical answer is that I've never traveled to a country where security is such a high priority. If my safety depended on walls, fences, military checkpoints, metal detectors, and armed men and women, I couldn't feel more secure. Even restaurant hostesses are packing pistols in their waistbands!

The irony of this emphasis on weapons for security in Israel is that it stands in stark opposition to the very Scriptures on which the nation bases its claim to the land: the Bible's Old Testament.

In fact, the national emblem for the State of Israel is a gold menorah (lampstand) flanked by two olive branches which are a representation of Zechariah 4:6. This verse says that Israel's strength and security are from the Holy Spirit, not from human effort.

The big picture symbolized in the emblem is that Israel is to be a light to the nations by its dependence on God for its security and its provision, not on its military might. That's what the whole concept of the Promised Land was about: It was theirs because of God's goodness and power, not their own.

Ancient Israel was to demonstrate to the rest of the world what dependence on the Lord looks like. But this truth doesn't apply to Israel alone. It's the same for you and me.

We can easily be deceived into thinking that our security depends mostly on our own wit and strength--a little bit of God and a lot of weapons! The people of Israel were to showcase God's power through their vulnerability--coupled with total dependence on Him.

We need to have that same understanding. --Dean Ohlman

DESTINATION POINTS

* Do I feel insecure because of my vulnerability, or am I driven to faithful dependence on God because of it?
* Do I take more courage in my supposed personal strength than in God's proven power?

LINKS:
Menorah--Emblem of the State of Israel
http://www.science.co.il/Israel-emblem.asp

But What About My Plans?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cl/2003/001/14.64.html

bottom line: Yes, there is security in arms--God's arms!

soul journey