PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 280: God Loves Togethering, Part 8
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 280: God Loves Togethering, Part 8
God is the Great Shepherd of the sheep and loves to tend to His flock. We are the sheep of His pasture. Although we can have an individual relationship with the Lord, He looks upon His people as a flock. What does this mean?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello! I’m looking outside the window. The leaves are gradually turning yellow and gold and red. Isn’t fall such a wonderful time?
Now today, we’re continuing “God Loves Togethering.” Remember last time, I talked about the word ya’ad, and how does it not only mean “to assemble,” but “to assemble at an appointed time.” There’s another word also, maybe a couple more, that give that same meaning.
We are encouraged. When it’s time to come and be with the people of God, when it’s our weekly church meeting, or prayer meeting, or some gathering, let’s come on time. When I was looking up these Scriptures and writing them down in my journal, I wrote these words:
“If we can’t be on time for the trumpet blowing of the calling of our local assembly, how will we be ready for the blowing of the last trumpet, when Jesus returns?”
I think we ought to get practice now. Don’t you? I think it’s very important. These may not seem very big things in your eyes, but they are very important to God. God speaks about the appointments, about the times. He wants us to be there, on time, so we all meet together. Amen?
Before I go on to another Hebrew word, there’s another Scripture that uses this same word. It’s not really the word “assembly,” but “bringing everybody together.” They use this word, and it’s in Genesis 18, the chapter where God came in three Persons, well three men came to visit Abraham and to tell both him and Sarah that she would have a son.
We read Genesis 18:10: “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” But remember? Sarah heard this in the tent. She wasn’t out with Abraham, but she heard it and she laughed. It goes on: “Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.” So, she was no longer having her cycle. “Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself.” She didn’t laugh out loud.
“. . . Saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure? . . . And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh?” God saw it, even though she didn’t laugh out loud. He saw her laughing inside. Then He said: “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed . . .” Ya’ad. That same word that’s used for the gathering of God’s people. “I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Have you ever thought much about this, and how it happened? As I thought about it, I believe that the miracle that happened there was that God restored Sarah’s cycle because it says there that the manner of women had ceased to be with her. But God miraculously, in her old age, restored her cycle, so that she was having that time of life. That’s what it talks about here, as “the time of life.”
When we’re cycling, every woman has this time of life every month. It’s that time when she is fertile, that time of ovulation. This is the time when she can conceive. You can’t conceive all through the month. You can only conceive in that little block of time, that time of fertility. That time is a time when God can visit you.
It’s a miraculous time, because conception is a visitation of God. We cannot conceive without God. It’s God Who gives conception. God returned Sarah’s cycle, and He visited her. In fact, that’s exactly what the Bible says about three chapters over (Genesis 21:1-3). It says, And God visited Sarah, and she brought forth her son. She had a visitation of God in that time of life, at the appointed time.
In fact, it also says the same about Hannah. After Hannah had had Samuel and dedicated him to the Lord, and taken him to the temple, God blessed her again, and she had five more children! It says in 1 Samuel 2:21: “And God visited Hannah,” and gave her these other children. That’s another time that that word is used.
Let’s go to another Hebrew word today:
SOD, pronounced sowed.”
This is a word that also means “assembly,” but this is a word that also has an extended meaning. It also means “a secret.” Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it? The full meaning of this word is “an assembly, but also an intimate circle of friends in confidence, confidential discussion among friends, secret counsel revealed from one confidant to another; friendship and intimacy with a person.” It gives a picture of sitting on a cushion, or a pillow, or a divan, intimately talking with someone.
Here are some Scriptures.
Proverbs 3:32: “His secret is with the righteous,” those who do right.
The Amplified version says: “For the perverse are an abomination, extremely disgusting and despicable to the Lord, but His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the uncompromisingly righteous, those who are upright and right, standing with Him.” Isn’t that a wonderful Scripture? That when we’re walking righteously before the Lord, that God will come. He will give us His intimate counsel and communion. I think that is so beautiful.
In Job 29:4, Job was looking back to when everything was going so wonderfully. Now everything’s been taken away from him. His body is covered with boils. He says: “As I was, in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.”
Other translations say: “When he had intimate friendship with God.”
I love the New Living Translation: “When God’s friendship was felt in my home.” Isn’t that beautiful? How would you like to have that testimony, that God’s friendship is in your home. If God is sitting with you as you have your meals, He’s with you in the kitchen. He’s there with you as you’re homeschooling your children. He's there in your bedroom. He’s in every room of the house. He wants to be with you, and He wants to have intimate fellowship with you.
Psalm 25:14: “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant.”
Once again, the Amplified says: “The secret of the sweet satisfying companionship of the Lord have they who fear Him. And He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its deep inner meaning.”
Here’s another one. Psalm 55:14: “We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” I love that picture, a picture of David walking to the house of God in the company of others. Actually, you may just think, “Oh, maybe he’s just walking with a friend and talking.”
But it’s more than that, because the word “company” is the Hebrew word regesh. It means, “a throng, a crowd.” So, yes, maybe David was intimately talking with a dear friend. David did have special friends. We read the names of them in the Bible. Maybe he was talking and fellowshipping, having “sweet counsel.”
But he was also in the company of many, maybe hundreds, coming to the temple. That’s the whole picture that is there. The company. It means “a crowd, a throng.” And they were walking together all to meet God at the appointed time.
We don’t do that today, of course, do we? We all drive in our cars. Maybe I think perhaps, if we were able to walk, sometimes it might be a little better for us. Because often, we are hurrying to get ready. We all pile in the car to drive to church. Sometimes somebody’s mad with one another. I’ve heard many families say to me, “Goodness, they argue all the way to church!” Isn’t that terrible? Help! Goodness me, what kind of an atmosphere can you have at church when people are arguing on the way?
But I remember one time, we were in Ukraine. We were speaking in a number of European countries. We’d just been in Hungary, and then we drove on into Ukraine, although we were still among the Hungarian people because this part of Hungary had been taken over by Ukraine. In this village, there were hundreds of people, but they only had one church. Everybody came to church.
They had three church bells. They started half an hour before and you’d hear the church bell ringing. People would start walking. Those who had to walk a little further would start walking. Then a quarter of an hour later, another church bell would ring. People who were a little closer would start walking.
The whole throng of people were walking up the road toward the church. Then they all got there, and they would all go into the church. When the last bell went, they would all be there inside. It was amazing to see that they did it! They got there at the appointed time. But I think they all loved walking to church together. There’s something about it. They were having “sweet counsel.” That’s a beautiful Scripture. I love that.
Then we go on to some other Scriptures with this same word, sod. But here it’s speaking more about the assembly.
Psalm 89:7: “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints.”
Psalm 101:1: “I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.” That’s another Hebrew word for “assembly.” I love that word. It talks about assembly, and also intimate communion with the Lord. But, of course, that’s what we have, isn’t it, when we come to meet together with God. He comes to meet with us, and to commune with us.
Another Hebrew word MIQRA means “something called out; an assembly; a calling, a reading” Quite a number of the Hebrew words mean “a calling out.” It’s not staying at home. It’s a calling out, where you are called out to meet together. This particular Hebrew word includes the word “reading.” Many times, when they came together, they assembled together, they would read portions of the Torah. They would read the laws. They would read the commandments.
In fact, I talked to you in one podcast, how every seven years, they would read the whole of the Torah. That was usually during the Feast of Tabernacles, and they would take seven days to do that. But they would read the whole of those first five books of the Old Testament.
That’s another thing, of course, when we come to the house of God, when we assemble together. We assemble to hear His Word.
Nehemiah 8:8: “So they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” That’s in the context of that word, miqra, where they had the reading.
I have a little thought here too, of OK, what do you do when you have people in your home, who maybe they’re living with you, or staying with you, and they don’t want to go and come with the assembling of God’s people? Or perhaps you have your time of devotions, your Bible reading, the time you meet together, morning and evening to gather your family together. They’re not really very happy about doing this kind of thing, because they’re not walking with the Lord. What do you do?
I’ve often wondered about these things. I believe I’ve found the answer. I believe that God has an answer for every question we have in His Word. I have found that God talks to His people, but not just to them. He always includes the strangers that are with you. When God gave His commandments, when He wanted to talk to His people, or when He wanted to gather His people to hear what He was going to say to them, He would tell them all to come. The fathers, the mothers, the children, the servants, and “the strangers that are in your gates.” Always the strangers were included No one was ever, ever left out.
Let me read a few Scriptures to you. If you would really like to know more, well, I could most probably put it on the transcript. I’ll read you a few of these Scriptures today, but there are so many. I will do that. When I do this transcript, I’ll put them on the bottom for those who would really want to get them all.
Here we go. Exodus 12:49-50: “One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”
Numbers 15:14-16: “And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations . . . as ye do, so shall he do. One ordinance shall both be for you, of the congregation, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. An ordinance forever, in your generations. As you are, so shall the stranger be, before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.”
Now, that’s very, very explicit, isn’t it? It tells us exactly. If you have someone living with you, OK, there will be the same law. There are laws that you have in your home. Everybody has different laws. Not that we would want to call them “laws,” but you have principles that keep your home in order and that are convictions to you, that you do. When people come and live with you, they become part of that. They are to take on those same laws while they are with you, even if you have people with you and you’re going to church.
OK, well, I’ve had people say, “Oh, I couldn’t come to church today, because we’ve got people staying, and they didn’t really want to come.” Well, I’m sorry. You do what God wants you to do and you invite them to come with you. If they don’t, well, they’ll just have to sit and look at the walls, because you are going! Because you are going to do what God wants you to do.
But in your home, OK, you’re gathering to read the Word. Well, you ask them to gather with you because that is what is meant to happen. That’s how God intends it.
Numbers 15:29: “Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.”
When God gave the Ten Commandments, He didn’t give them just for His people. No. It says in Exodus 20:10, just take this one, for example, where we’re not meant to work on the Sabbath day: “Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.” That principle, that law God gave to every person, even the cattle.
Let’s look at a couple more. Yes, Day of Atonement. They were not meant to work on the Day of Atonement. Leviticus 16:29: “. . . Whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you.”
One of the laws in Leviticus that God told His people was that they must not eat the blood of the animals, because blood was sacred to God. They were not to eat it. In Leviticus 17, when it’s talking about that, it also refers to the stranger. “Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set My face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among the people.” Five times in that passage, God spoke those words, and five times he mentions the strangers that are with you. They were to receive the same judgement as the people of Israel if they did not comply.
When it was blessings, they were to receive the same blessings, as well. So, God included them in everything that He said. There are lots more Scriptures about that if you’re interested to look at more. I have always found that that’s been a blessing to me, so that when people come into our home, well, I expect them to be part of what we are doing in our home. And then, if I’m to come to your home, well, then, I’m meant to be part of what you are doing in your home.
Oh, yes, I said that I was not going to take you into all those 17 Hebrew words. They’re all so amazing. But I wanted to give you another English word that we read so much in the Word, too. It’s the word “flock.”
A FLOCK
Now, a flock is not one person. A flock is not two people. A flock is many. Well, in Middle Eastern flocks, maybe, I’m not sure how many they have; maybe 15 or 20 sheep. From where I come from in New Zealand, our sheep farmers have thousands of sheep in their flocks.
But sheep do not do very well on their own. They are a very social animal, and they rely on one another to survive. In fact, a sheep on its own doesn’t really survive. Well, you can have a pet sheep. Of course, you’ve got to be “all the other sheep” with it and keep it happy. But sheep love to be a flock.
And God looks upon us as His flock. He not only sees us individually; He sees us corporately. He sees us as a flock, and therefore, we should see ourselves as a flock. We’re not meant to say, “OK, I can do it on my own!” No, we’re part of a flock, and we will be stronger, we will grow more in God, and we’ll shine our light brighter as we are in the flock, because that is how God intends us.
He intends us to live in a flock, to be blessed by one another, and for us to bless others, and to have Him as our Shepherd, because sheep cannot even survive without a shepherd. They are the one animal that cannot survive without a shepherd or without being part of a flock. That’s why God chose to call us His sheep. Of all the animals in the whole of the world, He chose to call us His sheep, because sheep need a shepherd. We rely on our Shepherd. We need one another. We are a flock.
Let’s read some verses, shall we?
Psalm 77:20: “Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
Psalm 78:52: “He made His own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.” All through that barren wilderness, He kept them together as a flock.
Psalm 80:1: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.”
Psalm 107:41-43: “He setteth the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.”
Yes, God loves to make our family like a flock. This Scripture says God makes families like a flock. He sees all His people as a flock, but within His flock, there are family flocks. That’s how it was back in Israel. Of course, they were individual people, but they were in their families. Then they were in their tribes. Then they were the whole flock of Israel.
God makes Him families like a flock. Who is He making them for? For Him. For Himself. Do you notice that? He “maketh Him.” God is making these families. He’s making them ultimately for Him. We give the reins of our family life to Him. He’s the one who builds the house; He’s the one who makes the family. He gives us the children He has planned to give us.
Then it goes on to say something very interesting: “The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.” It’s interesting, ladies, that this Scripture says the righteous will see it, and they’ll rejoice.
That’s interesting, isn’t it, because today, I cannot believe it, but even in the church, there are grandparents who are not really interested when they hear that their daughter or daughter-in-law is having a baby! I have many women come to me and say, “Look, I’m scared to tell my mom I’m having another baby! Help! I don’t even know what she’s going to say!” They don’t want them to have another baby!
What? What is wrong? Well, they have been brainwashed by our society’s thinking that is antagonistic to children, because the devil hates children. He hates life. But God is the author of life, and He loves life! And it says here that the wise, the righteous, will see these families growing like a flock, and they will rejoice! Yes: “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”
Isaiah 40:11: “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” This is how God leads us. But it’s also a beautiful Scripture for mothers, especially young moms.
Those of you who are pregnant, you’re carrying a little one in your womb, or you’re nursing a little baby, listen to what God says here. He’s speaking to you. He gathers the lambs in His arms. He carries them in His bosom and gently leads those that with young.
Dear mother, you don’t have to keep up with all the things you were doing before. You don’t have to be involved in everything that’s going on. You don’t have to do this and do that. You are in the greatest, most important work that God has given you to do. And that is to nurture your little ones.
He gently leads you. He doesn’t expect you to be running around here, there, and everywhere, leading this group, and doing this, and leading singing, and being involved in that. No, He gently leads you. Let Him gently lead you, because He understands. He doesn’t expect you to be up in the very front of the flock. Yes, at this time of your life, you can be lagging behind a little bit as you’re needing to sleep more, and as you’ve got the weight of all these darling little ones upon you. Or you’re pregnant. Just know that God gently leads you.
Jeremiah 23:1-4: “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! saith the LORD . . . Ye have scattered My flock, and driven them away . . . But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.” That’s another thing about flocks. Every shepherd wants His flock to increase. God wants His flock to increase! And He wants our little flocks to increase.
Ezekiel 34:31: “And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel 34:15: “I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.”
Ezekiel 36:37-38: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.” Yes, God loves the increasing of flocks. “As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.”
That’s an incredible promise that is being fulfilled, and yet, has to be much more fulfilled. He’s talking about those barren wastes of the West Bank, those hills of Samaria, many of them still barren. Just barren stones and dirt.
But settlers are going out to possess the land, and God has promised in Ezekiel 36 that when His people come back to the land, that He will bless the land, and it will bring forth fruit for His people. They are out there, growing vineyards, and causing the barren hills to become filled with glorious bunches of grapes, and fruitful vineyards, and olive orchards. It also says that He will build up the waste cities, and they will be filled with flocks of men.
Well, that’s a pretty difficult promise to take hold right of, right at this moment as Israel is at war, facing being attacked, day by day. But we’ve got to hang onto God’s promises, because every one of them are true and every one of them will come to pass.
OK, time is going! But just one or two more of these wonderful Scriptures about our being a flock, which is an assembly. It’s not just an individual. I trust, and I’m going to make this my last podcast on this subject, which will be eight different podcasts, just seeking to get to you, lovely ladies, that God loves the assembling of His people. I want you to see how much God loves us, so that you will love it, too, and how He sees you not only as an individual, but as a flock. Over and over again, He calls us His flock.
Micah 2:12: “I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold.” God loves us to be in a fold. You see, “fold” is another synonym that goes with a sheep. It’s a fold. To be folded, and God wants us to be in a fold.
He wants us to be part of an assembly, a fold, where we can” one-another” each other, bless one another, pray for one another, and show hospitality to one another, and care for one another, and do all the over 40 “one-anothers” that we read in the New Testament. It goes on to say: “And they shall make a great noise, by reason of the multitude of men.” My, that’s talking about a great flock!
Zechariah 9:16: “And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people.”
Zechariah 10:3: “. . . The LORD of hosts hath visited His flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as His goodly horse in the day of battle.”
Remember, Jesus said, in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Let’s pray, shall we?
“Father, help us to understand how You see us. You see us as a flock. Lord, we are the sheep of Your pasture. Lord God, we thank You that You have made us a flock, to be part of one another. You want us to be folded as a flock. You want us to come into a fold. Lord, there are many sheepfolds across this nation. Lord, help us all to be faithful in our own particular sheepfold that You put us in.
“Lord God, I pray that You will bless each mother and father, Lord God, each family that is listening today, and that You will bless their little flock, Lord. I pray that they will yield to You, Lord, their lives, as they let You make their family like a flock. Lord, You’re the One Who does it. It’s all You. So, we trust You, Lord, and we bless You, and we praise Your wonderful Name. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
You can check out the 41 One Anothers in the New Testament in the book:
Go to: 100 Days of Blessing, Volume 4 - 100 Selected Devotions by Nancy Campbell (mybigcommerce.com)