God Wants to be Our God

• Numbers 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue:
• 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:
• 40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.
• 41 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God.

God wanted to be their God. God desired to be with them and allow them to have His presence with them continually. He wanted to care for them, feed them and give them His salvation. How it must have grieved Him to see them turn away from Him and allow unbelief to set in so many times.

The children of Israel were chosen by God out from among many nations. This was His chosen people. He chose this people to bring salvation to the whole world. All God wanted in return was for them to have respect unto His commandments and not take them lightly. The commandments were to be obeyed and followed. They were the holy word of God. To ignore them was to despise them.

At first this fellowship with God and the written word was given only to Israel. Perhaps that may be because the only one who had faith in God at one time was Abraham. The Gentile nations had no hope and were without God. Yet we do see occasions when God cared for other nations and allowed them to come to Him through faith. God Wanted to be their God also.

An example of this is Rahab:

Rahab heard that God was moving among the Israelites. She heard of the crossing of the Red Sea and how the Egyptians were defeated. When the spies were sent into the land where Rahab lived, she hid the spies from her fellow countrymen. In doing this she hoped to save her family and herself from the wrath of God.

Rahab was actually a harlot. Yet God gave her a chance to be saved just because she believed and feared God. In verse 11 below, she states that their God was God in heaven and the earth beneath. Her faith in God delivered both her and her family. Isn’t God wonderful. His plan of salvation from the beginning was meant for all nations.

Here is the story in Joshua:

• Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there.
• 2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
• 3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.
• 4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
• 5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.
• 6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
• 7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.
• 8 And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;
• 9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
• 10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
• 11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.
• 12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have showed you kindness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:
• 13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.
• 14 And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.
• 15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.
• 16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.
• 17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.
• 18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee.
• 19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
• 20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.
• 21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

This story is an example of how God did not leave the Gentile or unbelieving nations in the dark.  Somehow through traders, travelers and messengers, His word got out. Rahab knew that God had given the land she lived on to Israel.  She recognized this by faith. She was actually saved by faith. One thing I noticed when proofreading this article I wrote years ago was that I use to assume that there were only small number of people saved by Rahab's faith but actually it seems there were many. Father, mother, brothers, sisters and all that they have is mentioned in verse 13. That would most likely mean all the children of the above mentioned relatives with the words, "All that they have." 

Rahab became one that married Salmon who was in the line of which God would send His Son Jesus into the world to later die for our sins. Salmon and Rahab had a son named Booz. Booz married Ruth that we read about next who also was a woman to left her own homeland and chose God to be her God. Another example of being saved by faith. Ruth had a son called Obed. Obed beget Jesse who was the father of King David.

Another Example: Ruth:

• Ruth 1:15 And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.
• 16 And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

The book of Ruth tells the story of a man named Elimelech was lived in Bethlehem-judah. A famine in that land caused him to take his wife, Naomi and two sons, Mahlon and Chilion to go into the land of Moab to survive. Both sons married. One married Orpah and the other married Ruth. The Moabites did not serve the true God but had gone into idolatry many years previously. The Moabs descended from the family of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. So at one time they knew better.

After a time, Naomi’s husband died. Later the two sons died also. It was then that Naomi decided to return to her own homeland. She heard that the Lord had brought her homeland out of famine. She instructed her daughters-in-law to return to their own families. After much weeping and tarrying, Orpah returned home but Ruth clave to Naomi refusing to go back.

Ruth chose to go with her mother in law and chose her God rather than the false gods of her own people. Ruth became part of the direct line from which would come Jesus Christ, the savior of the whole world as I mentioned before. So we see that even though the law and promises were given to Israel, through faith and determination, those outside of Israel could enter into a relationship with the true and living God by faith.

After the coming of Jesus Christ, salvation came unto the whole world, not just Israel. Now all who believed upon the Son of God, Jesus Christ could be adopted into the family of God. God becomes our God too. God wants this so much that He thought of a way to reconcile us to Him.

Sin separates us from God and keeps us from having fellowship with Him. When Jesus willingly died on the cross, He actually was paying the penalty of sin in our place. This became the way of salvation for all. Like any gift though, it can be accepted or refused. We can refuse this way of salvation and be lost forever or we can accept this salvation and become a child of God with the promise of eternal life.

• 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We see God’s desire for us in the above verse. He is unwilling that any should perish. He wants to save. He wants to be our God.

• 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

To those who love God, God has prepared a wonderful place.

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God wants to be our God.