Today we are Building the Church, without the straw, that would make it strong.
Pharoah, supplied the straw to the Hebrew slaves who made the bricks for building his Kingdom.
In this post, I am trying to compare the problem of building bricks without straw, to us trying to build GODS Kingdom, without using the tools He supplied for the job.
I have writen on this subject before, I do not wish to repeat myself, but I believe the Lord would have me share what I am continually learning.
In the time of Moses, the Lord sent him to Egypt, to demand from Pharoah.
“The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.” Exodus 3:18
The first request was for three days journey. Not total freedom. Three days, an important number in the Word.
Three days: (The mention of three days, is just to point out the number three, is important in scripture. You may want to search and find out why?)
Jacob went three days ride from Laban, in the life of Joseph, there were, three days till the cup bearer was back to Pharoahs court, serving him.
Three days till the baker lost his head. Three days in Pharoahs dream. Jesus spent three days in the Tomb.
The two witnesses in Revelation, lay dead in the street for three days.
The original message to Pharoah, only three days journey, and the Lord promised to harden Pharaohs heart.
His heart, was hardened, and Pharoah commanded:
“Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.” Exodus 5:7-8 (KJV)
The Pharoah had provided a vital product that caused the bricks to be strong. He had others, not the Hebrews supply the straw.
It was probably a full time job, for those collecting it, now that job is delegated to the Hebrews.
The tale of the bricks, the amount they produced, shall not diminish.
Because they wanted Time to go Worship the Lord, Pharoah decided, they were not working hard enough.
They had to much time on their hands, they were slothful, lazy.
They were not. They were obeying the Lord, and the Lord, had hardened Pharaohs heart.
Now, they had to work harder, it was impossible to keep up production, with the extra burden of finding straw, that was once supplied.
They rebelled. Why?
This was a major problem, making bricks was hard work and time consuming already.
I think I found this at Eastons Bible dictionary, long ago… If from somewhere else, I apologise, for the lack of mention.
Their efforts produced great results, and although time-consuming, their procedures can be followed to create mudbricks of your own:
1. Mix topsoil and water to create a thick mud.
2. Add straw. While the composition of the mud will affect the exact proportions, as a general rule, add a half pound of straw for every cubic foot of mud mixture. If you have access to grain chaff (a byproduct of threshing), you can use that as temper. If not, chop straw into very small pieces—called straw chaff—and use that.
3. Knead the mud mixture with your bare feet for four days
4. Once it has fermented (after four days of kneading), leave the mixture alone for a few days.
5. Knead the mixture again on the day you plan to form your mudbricks.
6. Pour the mud mixture into molds (the shape of your choosing) and let them solidify in the molds for at least 20 minutes.
7. Remove from molds and deposit on a drying floor layered with sand and straw to prevent the bricks from sticking to the floor itself.
8. Let the bricks dry for a week.
After the bricks have dried, they are ready to be used—whether to build something new or to reconstruct ancient walls!
They needed the straw, to build the bricks. Pharoah was unhappy, the people were unhappy. So Moses was unhappy.
“Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.”
We the people should be upset, and unhappy today.
We are trying to build His Church, without the straw, that would make it strong.
Pharoah supplied the straw for bricks, Jesus promised to supply the straw to build His Church.
We just have failed to acquire, to learn how to use these straws. He gave us GIFTS. We need to learn to accept and use them.
The Ministry Gifts, in Ephesians 4:11-13 (KJV)
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:”
What is an Apostle? Eastons Bible Dictionary, has this to say in part:
Apostle
a person sent by another; a messenger; envoy.
We have four lists of the apostles, one by each of the synoptic evangelists (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14), and one in the Acts (1:13). No two of these lists, however, perfectly coincide.
Our Lord gave them the “keys of the kingdom,” and by the gift of his Spirit fitted them to be the founders and governors of his church (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7-15).
It was characteristic of the apostles and necessary (1) that they should have seen the Lord, and been able to testify of him and of his resurrection from personal knowledge (John 15:27; Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor. 9:1; Acts 22:14, 15). (2.) They must have been immediately called to that office by Christ (Luke 6:13; Gal. 1:1). (3.) It was essential that they should be infallibly inspired, and thus secured against all error and mistake in their public teaching, whether by word or by writing (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Thess. 2:13).
(4.) Another qualification was the power of working miracles (Mark 16:20; Acts 2:43; 1 Cor. 12:8-11). The apostles therefore could have had no successors. They are the only authoritative teachers of the Christian doctrines. The office of an apostle ceased with its first holders.
In 2 Cor. 8:23 and Phil. 2:25 the word “messenger” is the rendering of the same Greek word, elsewhere rendered “apostle.”
I believe a good part of this description is wrong. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
The Gifts were given to to build His Church, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
I disagree that this Ministry, (Apostles), ended when the Apostles, passed away.
Infallible? No, we can misunderstand and misuse the Truth, we believe we received, by not searching for the rest of the story.
Today’s Apostles are starting non-denominational churches. They are growing, and becoming new Denominations.
What is the Church missing?
“Our Lord gave them the “keys of the kingdom,” and by the gifts of his Spirit and the power of working miracles (Mark 16:20; Acts 2:43; 1 Cor. 12:8-11).”
Guys like me can teach, preach, and pray.
It takes the Spirit of God to do it with Power, to enjoy the results the original Apostles saw and enjoyed.
I hear people say God preforms miracles all the time, and this is true.
My point is, it should be happening so often, that the heathens, see, consider, understand, and believe God is alive and well.
The signs, wonders and miracles have always been the tools God uses to get our attention,
Recognizing, and accepting that, that growing Church down the street might be the work of God, and it’s leader may be an Apostle, bringing people to the knowledge of the Kingdom.
Would be a great start to building His Kingdom.
Next we will look at Prophets and Prophecy.
theunfetteredpreacher 