Ⅱ
Like Moses, Samuel, and Paul, Elisha, a man of God, behaved as God’s representative, as the acting God, on the earth—2 Kings 4:9:
A
Jehovah told Moses that He had made him God to Pharaoh—Exo. 7:1a:
１
In Moses God had one to represent Him and to execute His will; Moses never spoke to Pharaoh on his own but always spoke what the Lord had told him to say—3:16-18; 5:1.
２
Actually, Pharaoh was not listening to Moses, God’s ambassador, and dealing with him; he was listening to God and dealing with God.
B
Samuel was the representative of God to rule over His people on earth; as such, Samuel was the acting God—1 Sam. 1:11; 2:35; 7:3; 8:22:
１
Samuel could be the acting God because his being and God’s heart were one—2:35:
ａ
He was a man according to God’s heart; that is, he was a copy, a duplicate, of God’s heart.
ｂ
Samuel’s living and working were for the carrying out of whatever was in God’s heart.
２
Samuel was God’s oracle and God’s administration, and thus, he was the acting God.
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 7:1 And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made you God to Pharaoh...1 Sam. 2:35 And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he will go before My anointed continually.
Jer. 15:1 ...Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not turn toward this people...
In the conflicts between God and Pharaoh we also can learn the proper way to work for God. The proper way is not to labor or to endeavor, but to represent Him. Just as Moses was sent by God, so we also must be sent by Him.
Exodus 11:3 says, “The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.” Moses did not fight or even work hard. As God’s representative, he simply came to see Pharaoh again and again. Moses did not come on his own. Every time he came, he came as one sent by God. Furthermore, he did not speak to Pharaoh on his own. He always spoke what the Lord had told him to say, letting Pharaoh know what God required of him. Therefore, Pharaoh was actually not listening to Moses and dealing with him; he was listening to God and dealing with God. Moses was God’s ambassador, God’s sent one. The way to work for God is to be such a representative of God. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 245)
Today’s Reading
I would remind the co-workers that there is no need for us to endeavor so much. This does not mean that we should be idle or lazy. It means that we should spend more time to contact the Lord. In our prayer, we should not pray so much for our work. Instead, we should pray to touch the Lord, to know His heart, and to sense His feeling. We need to stay in His presence until He saturates our being. Then we shall represent Him, and He will send us forth. Remember, it is not of him who runs nor of him who wills, but of God, the One who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). There is no need for us to run or to will. Our need is to represent God and to be His sent ones.An apostle is a sent one. He is sent by the person he represents. As God’s sent ones, we need to have the assurance that wherever we may be, we are there as God’s representatives. We are insignificant and very weak. Actually, we are nothing. But we represent God. As God’s representatives, we do not speak our own words or carry out our own work. We are the bush, and the Lord is the fire burning in the midst of the bush. The fire and the bush are one. When we are in this reality, it is difficult to distinguish the bush from the fire. This reminds us of Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 6:17: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” The proper way to work for God is to have the assurance that we represent the One whom we love and serve. Wherever we go, we go not by ourselves, but with Him and in Him.
In Exodus we see both the stubborn Pharaoh and Moses, God’s representative. By Pharaoh God made Himself manifest as the sovereign God, but in Moses God had one to represent Him and to execute His will. Praise the Lord that none of us are Pharaoh but we all are Moses, those who are one with the Lord! In His sovereignty and mercy, wherever we go, we go with the Lord, we represent Him, and we execute His will. May we all worship the Lord for His sovereignty and thank Him for His mercy! (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 245-246)
At the end of his ministry, by the time that Saul was raised up to be the king in Israel (1 Sam. 9:3—10:27), Samuel had reached the highest position. We may say that in the whole universe, there was only one who was above him, and that one was God. We may even say that, as God’s representative, Samuel was the acting God. God intended to move, to act, yet He needed a representative. Samuel thus became a prophet, a priest, and a judge. He was God’s oracle and God’s administration. As such, he was the acting God on earth. (Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, p. 43)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 & 2 Kings, msg. 14; Life-study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 7