Gamaliel And His Wisdom Still Speaks
Gamaliel’s Wisdom Still Speaks To Us
Paul, who wrote a great deal of the New Testament, was educated at the feet of a very wise and venerated Jewish teacher named Gamaliel. Christ’s disciples, Peter and John, stood accused of heresy before the Sanhedrin.
Listen to Gamaliel’s Wisdom
After Peter gave their testimony, the members of the high Jewish counsel had decided to kill them when Gamaliel cautioned them saying this,
“Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to naught.
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
Acts 5:34-39
Thankfully, wisdom prevailed that day and the apostles were let go. It amazes us that men of God could be so wrong as to contemplate killing believers in Jesus. Yet, to those men, according to their traditions, doctrine, and culture, murder seemed a reasonable course of action. A reasonable course, that is, until Gamaliel cautioned them.
Counterfeits only prove there is an original
In any new move of God’s Spirit, the Devil has brought many counterfeits in order to make people fear the truth. Many claimed to be Israel’s deliverer, but until the true son of God came, all proved to be false. Yet, in the course of time, Jesus did come and he was the real son of God. Likewise, in our generation, many have come in Christ’s name and said this or that, predisposing us to fear deception. This is by design though, because Lucifer wants us to reject the authentic move of God. Therefore, when children of God manifest tabernacles, many hesitate, tending to think it must be a deception too.
The truth is, the Tabernacle Movement, if it not be of God, will not succeed. If what I and others say about God’s Divine Love is not what our Lord desires, nothing will come of it. Therefore, why rage at what will naturally end of it’s own accord? However, as strange as this move may seem to our natural minds, it if be of God and you fight it, you may find yourself opposing YHWH Himself. Therefore, it is best to adopt a “wait and see” approach if you are unsure.
Let us not ignore the obvious
When the Toronto Blessing started, many people were unsure as to whether it be of God or not. However, as it grew and gained momentum, it spread worldwide. Obviously, from the amazing changes in peoples lives for the better, it was a true move of God’s Spirit. Those who opposed it early on found themselves opposing God Himself, rather than defending the faith.
The church, by and large, has a form of godliness but denies the power thereof. Moreover, as they retreat into ever more legalistic stances, they become the very opposite of what God desires. The truth is, people don’t want to focus on what’s wrong, they want to embrace what is right in God. Therefore if your message is constantly negative, only focusing on the problems with this and that, it turns people off.
Are you truly on the side of Christ’s love?
Doctrines, when they degenerate into the absurd, do not feed our spirits any longer. When our belief system makes us become heartless people who would turn even on family, something is obviously wrong. Taking the approach that “by their fruits you shall know them” is a very wise and mature approach indeed.
The Tabernacle Blessing is radically different because we have, again, drifted so far from where God is. While we enshrined what people experienced hundreds of years ago, our Lord has moved on. Therefore, in order to be where God is today, we must be willing to change our position.
Wait and see
In conclusion, when something differs radically, it is ok to prove whether it be of God or not. Be like Gamaliel and let those who claim to be of God demonstrate what they speak. In the mean time, though, do not attack what might turn out to be authored by your Father in heaven. Amen.
I disagree with your statement of the Toronto movement. It was totally false! From the very get go!
Hi James,
Thank you for your comment! We appreciate your input.
I believe that anytime we meet God face to face, there will be manifestations. These manifestations, such as people witnessed in Acts on the day of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, are not always understandable to our natural minds, nevertheless, the are a sign that God is doing deep things within the individual.
God bless and thanks for sharing,
Michael
Love this blog!!
It seems to me that if we don’t understand what others claim God is doing; don’t believe in what they claim God is leading them to do, that the more Godly approach is to test the fruits and wait and see what happens.
I believe the pharisees that Gamaliel addressed truly thought in their hearts that they were right and Peter and John and the rest of the Christians were “off” – doctrinally and spiritually. Their anger and resentment against them was rooted in an honest belief that they had a truth that God could not and would not contradict.
But what they didn’t realize was that Jesus didn’t contradict their scriptures – He fulfilled them and demonstrated the reality of God’s word – truths that had become buried by centuries of tradition and natural-minded interpretations of YHWH’s words.
It is a warning to us in the church today too, to not assume we “have the truth” even if we are based on scripture – because the pharisees who wanted to stone Peter and John to death had a truth based on their scripture as well – but they ended up fighting against a move of God.
God is sovereign, and His ways are above ours and His thoughts are above ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). We need to be cautious about assuming we have the whole truth and God would never move beyond our understanding of Him and His ways. His Word is not flawed, but our understanding of it can be, just as the pharisees’ understanding of what God was doing through Jesus was flawed.
Unless we allow Him to be sovereign and do as He desires among His people, we may end up fighting against God Himself, and that’s a very scary place to be.
There is more to what God is doing on this earth than any of us understands or sees clearly, and we would do well to allow Him to work and allow Him to lead us into His truth – being careful not yo stand against Him just because we don’t understand.
Great word! Thanks for sharing!
Big hugs –
Dear Connections,
My sense that many find spiritual manifestations disquieting. I tend to think that some find it difficult to understand why God would do something which looks so out of control and odd.
However, the truth is, that God is not necessarily making people do anything. What I mean is, we are so unused to interfacing with YHWH, we fear to allow ourselves to yield fully to Him when He moves on us. Therefore, the shaking, jerking, rolling and other odd behaviors are just us resisting, in some degree, God’s possession.
Moreover, we need to stop being so concerned with how we look to others. Being selfconscious of how we appear to others, keeps many from being conscious of how we actually are to God. If God moves upon you, like the book of Acts and you appear drunken to natural minded people, who cares?
What is coming in this move of Tabernacles is going to make everyone look silly. If we are so worried about how we look to others, we will in nowise be able to enter into the Tabernacle Blessing.
Big hugs and lots of love,
Michael