Devotions

The Old Testament tells us of Jacob, a deceiving, conniving, cheating man — whom God loved dearly! His life is filled with marvelous lessons for us about God’s dealings with human nature.

Let’s pick up Jacob’s story just as he is fleeing from his older twin brother, Esau. Jacob had tricked Esau out of his birthright and obtained the “double blessing” from his father Isaac that was due the firstborn male. This blessing included all the father’s possessions but, most importantly, it meant that Jacob was the progenitor of the patriarchal seed through which Christ would come: “In you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 28:14). He was a direct ancestor of the Messiah.

Obviously, this particular birthright was of very great spiritual significance and its importance exposes the awfulness of what Esau did in giving up the right of the firstborn for a mere pot of stew. When Esau learned that Jacob had stolen his blessing, he was determined to kill his brother (see Genesis 27:36, 41).

It was against this backdrop that Jacob set off and while he was on his way, God gave him an incredible vision of a ladder with angels on it going to and from the throne of God, doing his bidding (28:12). These same angels are still working and ministering on our behalf today. After God blessed Jacob (verse 14), he added these wonderful promises: “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you” (28:15).

God was giving Jacob an oath, saying, “I’ll never leave you, Jacob. I’ll be with you every step of the way. My purpose will be accomplished in your life no matter what!” It is hard to find any faith, goodness or grace in Jacob and yet God saw something in his heart that brought forth his great love and a desire to bless him. God saw beyond his greed and manipulation and knew that something in Jacob’s heart was willing to be changed.

We know that humans consider the outward appearance but God always looks at the heart. And that is exactly what God is looking for in us — a broken, contrite heart he can work on.

As the time of Christ’s return draws near, the devil is going to open up the floodgates of hell against God’s people. We see this happening already within the walls of the church, as Satan has infiltrated God’s house with subtle lies and false doctrines. Multitudes of deceptions and heresies are swirling through the church, and undiscerning Christians are swallowing it all.

How will believers be able to stand in such times? The Lord answers this question by promising to take on the problems himself. “You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). Our Father assures us, “Don’t be afraid! I’m going to take this matter into my own hands and I will empower you against every onslaught of the enemy.”

We can learn how to do battle with the enemy by going to the Old Testament and witnessing the lessons of godliness recorded there. One of the first lessons we draw from the Old Testament is just how safe a child of God is when he trusts in the blood. On the night of Passover, not a single Israelite was in danger from the death angel who swept through Egypt. Every man, woman and child of God rested safely and securely under the blood covering that was spread on the doorposts of their homes. “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13).

This picture of safety in the Old Testament represents the protective power of our Lord’s blood over his children today. As Christians, we are to be a believing, trusting people who have the blood of Christ sprinkled on the doorposts of our hearts.

Even though we have been saved and secured by Christ’s blood, we are still engaged in a battle with overwhelming principalities, satanic powers and demonic strongholds. We are to claim the power that is available to us through God’s New Covenant — but that power comes only by faith!

Some believers — even ministers — believe the Old Testament is not relevant to our times so there’s no need to study it anymore. How wrong they are! The Old Testament explains the New Testament in clear, simple terms. Its stories are full of types and shadows of eternal truths, played out in the practical lives of real people.

A perfect example can be found in Israel, a type of Christian, while Egypt represents the world. Israel’s journey through the wilderness represents our spiritual walk as Christians. The tree that healed the bitter waters at Marah is a type of the cross of Christ (see Exodus 15:23-25) and the rock that produced water in the desert (see Numbers 20:11) is a type of our Savior, who was smitten on the cross.

Indeed, Scripture makes it clear that all of Israel’s physical battles mirror our spiritual battles today: “All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Even the tabernacle and its furniture are examples of heavenly things: “Who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain’” (Hebrews 8:5). 

Whenever you don’t understand a truth in the New Testament, you can turn to the Old Testament to find it illustrated in some way. For example, let’s say you wanted to learn how to bring down any spiritual walls the devil may have built up in your life. You could turn to the story of Joshua to see how the walls of Jericho were brought down (read the account in Joshua 6). Likewise, if you wanted to learn more about prevailing in prayer, read the story of Jacob wrestling with the the Lord in Genesis 32:24-29.

All these Old Testament examples are meant to keep us from falling into unbelief, as Israel did. The author of Hebrews writes, “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (4:11). In other words, “Study the Old Testament and learn from Israel’s example. Don’t make the same mistakes they did!”

The apostle Paul accomplished incredible things for the cause of Christ. He oversaw churches throughout Asia and some parts of Europe while also serving as an evangelist and apologist. A true scholar, he made the case for Christ before courts and kings.

Paul was determined to take the gospel of Christ to the very epicenter of the world — Rome — and in Acts 27 we read about his journey to Italy. In this journey, he and his shipmates met severe resistance: “The winds were against us” (Acts 27:4). This was an obstacle of nature, but Paul might easily have seen it as a spiritual roadblock.

Paul’s ship eventually crashed onto the rocks, shattering into pieces, but he barely blinked when disaster came. He encouraged his men, “There will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul’ … Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me’” (Acts 27:22-24).

Paul had endured many tribulations to that point, and he was able to endure it all because his mind was always set on his mission: living, preaching and serving Christ. Every Christian is called to proclaim the grace of God to a fallen, sinful world. We are to minister to the poor, to love one another, and to worship together in true gospel community. In short, we are called to deliver God’s love to others through our words and actions so that the world might be changed. In doing all these things we bring the light of Christ to a world in darkness.  

Christians who choose to sit on the sidelines of faith — going to church for comfort only — won’t get much resistance from the enemy. But if you are a believer who is determined to live for Jesus and you have a gospel vision for the lost and hurting, you will have Satan’s arsenal unleashed on you.

Paul never took his eyes off his calling, which was Christ. That’s why he was so calm throughout the storm. Be encouraged to follow the voice of the Master! He is in control and will never steer you in the wrong direction.

Jesus once said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

A conflict is raging, a war in the heavenlies, and people who live in godlessness unwittingly become pawns of it. Their hearts are opened to darkness and they begin to move their hand against what they know is dearest to the heart of God.

In the book of Esther, a man called Haman worked his way up in government to second in authority. He wanted everybody to bow to his view of what society should look like. However, a certain people group refused to bend to ungodliness. This group was represented by one man at the gate named Mordecai, a devout follower of God. Haman became inflamed against Mordecai and all the Jews he represented, and he persuaded the king to pass laws with the ultimate goal of eradicating these people from the society. 

In other words, Haman did what leaders right back to the devil himself have always tried to do — pass laws to threaten, harm, and marginalize the people of God in their day; to say, “We as a society with our new order are better off without these people.”

So what is God’s response to this? The apostle Paul said in the book of Corinthians that God takes the weak, and the foolish, and the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that stand in their own wisdom and strength (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-28).

In this case, God providentially placed a young Jewish girl named Esther in the king’s palace. When God called her to go in and make intercession for her people, Esther was unsure of her position with the king since he had not called her into his presence for thirty days. But despite her misgivings, she knew that she was still the bride of the king! She determined that no matter what it cost her, she would use whatever influence she had in order to save her people. God gave her favor and what the enemy meant for harm, God turned around for good.

Just as Esther, you have more power than you realize. You are not just a sideline player in a society that is plunging into darkness. You are the Bride of the King — the ultimate authority. Hallelujah!

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.}