Jehovah Raah- Lesson Three

"You visit the earth and water it,

You greatly enrich it;

The river of God is full of water;

You provide their grain,

For so You have prepared it.

You water its ridges abundantly,

You settle its furrows;

You make it soft with showers,

You bless its growth."

Psalm 65:9-10

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Jehovah-Raah

"He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the quiet waters." Ps. 23:2

As we learn more about the covenant we are in with our holy God, we begin to realize just how merciful and gracious He is to His own. As the Good Shepherd to His flock, he not only provides for us so that we want for nothing, but He leads us to those green pastures and quiet waters where we are fulfilled and rested.

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Please read:

Ez 34:12-13

Here we see that the Lord will be good to His people after their earthly shepherds used and abused them. The Lord will bring them out of bondage and provide for them their own land. There He will feed them throughout the land.

"Pastures of tender grass..."

The phrase "green pastures" is translated as "pastures of tender grass"

When the land is in obedience to God, He blesses it. When the land continually sins against God- He curses it.

Think for a moment how our country has sinned against the Lord God. We have allowed 40 million babies to be aborted while we lived in comfort worrying about our houses, children, jobs, materialism, and pleasures of the flesh and eyes.

We have allowed the gospel message to be twisted and misused to exalt man and not Christ.

We have allowed marriage to be made a mockery, not by the homosexuals, but by Christians who have married and divorced over and over again.

We have put more time into our homes and our material things surrounding us than with God Himself.

Ez 14:12-23

The Lord did not withhold his Hand from His own people and His own land. Who are we to think He won't judge this land?

But for those who repent of their sin, cry out to the Lord, and seek His face: mercy is given.

Ez 16:8

Ps 23:2

It is of the Lord that we live and have provisions at all.

Think of it....He will make us lie down in pastures of tender grass. Ahhh, doesn't that sound nice? After walking, working, striving all day. The Lord promises us that He will make us lie down and rest. I picture fields of green tender grass that feels soft and cool on my feet.

Funny how we have to be "made to" lie down and rest at times! We work and work until finally we have to rest. Here we read that the Lord Himself will make us lie down and rest.

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"He leads me beside the quiet waters."

The phrase "quiet waters" is translated as "waters of rest."

Doesn't that sound lovely? Not only will our Lord make us lie down in pastures of tender grass, but He will lead us beside waters of rest.

Why do sheep need to be led to those waters of rest?

Could it be that they are so dumb that they could enter into rushing waters and be led astray by their desires to quench their thirst? Could be.

We, as the Lord's flock, tend to do things like that. We tend to foolishly walk away from our Shepherd and seek our own comfort without realizing how much danger we are in. That is why we need a Shepherd to lead us. It is God who searches out those quiet still waters for His sheep. The sheep do not have to search on their own, for to do so would bring great danger as there are many predators out there looking for them!

It is the same for us. When we leave the safety and comfort of our Shepherd and our earthly shepherd, we are in grave danger from the predators out there seeking to destroy is.

As wives, the Lord has provided us with earthly shepherds. Pray that yours is honoring to the Lord. Lift him up daily to the Lord that he will lead you appropriately.

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Well, today we learned a little more about how the Lord honors His covenant promises and how He will not tolerate sin in His flock. Sin must be dealt with by a holy God.

And the Lord is dealing with His people even now. These promises found in Ezekiel apply to us this day because of what the Lord did for us on that cross. He brought in those from another flock to call His own...that's us!

John 10:14-16

Satan thought he had won the war. He thought Jesus was conquered forever when he watched Him die. But Satan was wrong! Now the Lord is our Shepherd too and all the promises are made "yes" for us because of Christ. Praise God!

Take time today to truly meditate on what it is the Lord does for you daily. All the provisions He brings and all the rest He grants to us should never be taken for granted. Take time to thank Him today.

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"Little did the serpant realize that almost four thousand years later, as the nails pierced and bruised the heels of Jesus' feet, that his head would be bruised with the same act and that his power over us broken. The ruler of this world was cast out (John 12:31), yet Satan seemed the victor. The demons rejoiced because now they were sure they had been right in choosing to follow Satan! For three days it looked as if the war had been won. Then the stone was rolled away!"

-Kay Arthur (Lord, is It Warfare?, 2000, p.86)

Blessings,

Ruth