Genesis chapter 6
Today we are walking in: The Principles Of Purpose
Job 33:17
That he may withdraw man from his purpose H6213, and hide pride from man.
purpose
Today we look to the word-PURPOSE- H6213 ’asah--to do, work, make, produce; to act, act with effect, effect
The Torah testifies...............
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The prophets proclaim..................
Isaiah 14:26
This is the purpose H6213 that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
The writings bear witness...........................
Ecclesiates 3:1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose H6213 under the heaven:
The Principles of Purpose
Keep your head and your heart going in the right direction, and you will not have to worry about your feet.
Have you ever watched the ocean? The constant ebb and flow of the waves reveals the order with which Yah created the world. With care and precision He established basic laws and principles that would fulfill His plans and purposes for all creation.
A principle, by definition, is “an accepted or professed rule of action or conduct,” “a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived” or “a fundamental doctrine.” Thus, principles are fundamental truth with universal application. They govern and reveal the normal operation or behavior of something.
Principles are like lighthouses. They are laws that cannot be broken. We can only break ourselves against them. Just as the Law or Principle of Universal Gravitation both governs and exhibits the attraction between the earth and the moon, and the Law or Principle of Centrifugal Force controls and reveals the behavior of the earth’s revolution around the sun, so the principles of purpose both rule and make known the function of purpose. There are seven basic principles that characterize purpose as Yah designed it.
Principle #1—Yah is a Yah of purpose.
Every creator or manufacturer begins with purpose. He first establishes his intent before beginning the process of production. Yah is the source of purpose. Nature is filled with evidence that He determines the purpose for a thing before He creates it. In other words, Yah never made anything for the fun of it. He never created something just to see if He could make it. Before the creative act ever takes place, Yah has in His mind the why and the how of what He decides to make. He does everything with and for a purpose. Long before Yah became the Creator, He was planning and designing the many things He would speak into existence.
The intentional nature of Yah is also seen throughout His interaction with mankind. He purposed to save Noah from the flood that would destroy the earth before He told Noah to build a boat (Genesis 6:9-22). He established that Esau, the elder son of Isaac, would serve Jacob, the younger son, before Rebekah had given birth to them (Genesis 25:19-26). He ordained that King David’s son Solomon would build the Lord a temple long before Solomon was born (2 Samuel 7:1-16; 1 Chronicles 22:6-10). He determined that a virgin would have a child before the Holy Spirit came over Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18,20-21). And He appointed Paul to be His messenger to the Gentiles before He sent Ananias to pray for Paul so he could receive his sight again (Acts 9:15).
These and many other examples that have not been cited reveal Yah’s character of acting with purpose. He is a Yah of purpose. He never acts without first setting the end toward which His actions are directed. Yah never creates before He purposes. It was His purpose that generated all He created and forever established the intent for everything that exists.
Principle #2—Everything in life has a purpose.
If Yah is a Yah of purpose and He created everything, then everything in life has a purpose. This amazes me. When I look at a roach before I kill it or a rat caught in a trap, I wonder that Yah has a plan and a purpose for each of these creatures. The lice we detest and the snakes we fear were made by Yah to fulfill a specific purpose, as were mosquitos, birds and trees. Yah took as much time putting together spiders and ants as He did creating butterflies and flowers. Just because we don’t understand a creature’s purpose doesn’t mean that it is purposeless. Our reactions of fear or disgust do not negate their reasons for existence, because everything serves a purpose. In essence, ignorance of purpose does not cancel purpose.
Consequently, everything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, exists for a distinct purpose in the mind of Yah to serve a greater purpose. The hairs in your nostrils were carefully designed by Yah and intentionally placed there for the purpose of trapping bacteria, germs and dust particles, preventing them from contaminating the lungs during inspiration. The wax in your ears has a purpose. Your ear glands were created to produce wax to attract and trap dust particles, bacteria and germs before they can enter the delicate inner ear and cause infection. There is nothing in your body that does not serve a vital purpose, even down to the smallest detail.
This is also true of nature. Mankind has recently discovered that every animal and every plant was created to balance the ecosystem. Any disruption in its purpose affects everything else. The ozone layer of the upper atmosphere has recently been discovered to have a critical purpose to perform. It was designed to help preserve life on our planet by regulating the intensity of the ultraviolet rays from the sun. The plants themselves absorb the ultraviolet rays of the sun and produce chlorophyll for their food, while releasing oxygen for us to breathe. Their purpose involves keeping us alive by providing both food and oxygen. We, in turn, inspire oxygen and expire carbon dioxide, which the plant absorbs to make its food. Therefore, we need their purpose and they need ours.
It should also be noted that Yah created nothing for beauty, even though the things He created are beautiful. Beauty is a by-product of design, not a creature’s intended purpose. Thus, if Yah designed the hairs on a bee’s leg to transfer pollen from one flower to another, and placed the hairs in your nostrils and the wax in your ears for a specific purpose, then you must know that He has a purpose for your life.
Principle #3—Not every purpose is known.
Our world is plagued by the desire to have more and more and more. But having something is not really the most important thing. Knowing the reason for what you have is much more important. There are times, however, when the why is not known. This doesn’t mean that the thing, event or person doesn’t have a purpose; its purpose just isn’t known. The story of a man named Jonah shows what can happen when purpose is unknown.
The Book of Jonah describes the adventures of a prophet who didn’t want to obey Yah’s command. When Yah told him to go to the Assyrian capital of Ninevah and preach against their wickedness, Jonah disobeyed. He tried to run away from Yah by boarding a ship that was sailing in the opposite direction. While they were at sea, a violent storm nearly broke the ship apart. The terrified sailors cried for help and threw the cargo overboard to lessen the danger. Meanwhile, Jonah was sleeping in the hold of the ship.
When the captain found him, he awakened Jonah and told him to pray to his Yah. The storm continued to rage until the sailors finally decided to draw lots to see who was to blame for the danger. The lot fell on Jonah, who then answered their questions saying, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the Yah of heaven, who made the sea and the land” (Jonah 1:9). Then he described how he was running away from Yah and told them to throw him into the sea. Because the sailors were reluctant to follow Jonah’s suggestion, they tried to row to shore. But the storm became worse. Finally, they threw Jonah overboard and the sea became calm.
The sailors’ problem was not the storm, but the unknown purpose of the storm. Had they known earlier that the storm was Yah’s means of talking to Jonah, they wouldn’t have wasted so much time trying to save themselves. Their lack of knowledge didn’t cancel the storm’s purpose. It just meant they didn’t have the same information Jonah had. They didn’t know the storm’s purpose. Unknown purpose always wastes time and gives the possibility of danger.
Principle #4—Wherever purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.
One day I was washing my car with an old bath towel when my daughter came to me and said, “what are you doing?” “I’m washing the car,” I said, to which she replied, “No, you’re using the towel. That’s to bathe with.” Because she obviously was right, I had to come up with something smart as a response. So I said, “Yes, this towel is designed to bathe with, but we’ve bathed with it enough. Now it’s time for the car to get bathed with it.”
Although my daughter accepted my explanation, her concept was good. I was abusing that towel. I wasn’t using it for its intended purpose. Abuse occurs whenever we don’t use something according to its creator’s intentions.
In other words, if you don’t know the purpose for something (or you choose to ignore that purpose), you can’t do anything other than abuse it. No matter how good your intentions may be, they are canceled by your ignorance. You may be sincere and committed toward your husband, your child or your boss, but your sincerity and commitment cannot make up for your lack of knowledge of their purpose. Abuse remains inevitable, and you put them in danger.
Thus, when we run into problems with certain aspects of Yah’s creation, the plant or the animal or the person is not causing the difficulty. It is our use (or abuse) of that plant, animal or person that gets us into a predicament.
The word abuse means “abnormal use.” Or to say it another way, if you don’t know the proper use for something, you will use it in an erratic and disorderly manner. Unknown purpose also leads to misuse, which is a stronger form of abuse. To misuse something means that you miss the intended use. Although the product has a purpose, you miss knowing it and thus use it for something other than what the creator had in mind when he designed and made it.
If you don’t know the purpose for a baby, you will misuse the child. (We call that child abuse.) If you don’t know the purpose for money, you will abuse the money. If you don’t know the purpose for a job, you’ll misuse the job. If you don’t know the purpose for your mate, you’ll abuse your spouse. (We call that wife abuse or husband abuse.)
It is therefore very important that you either discover the purpose for everything you encounter in life or refrain from using that person or thing until you gain that knowledge. If, for example, your friend asks you to marry him, but he doesn’t know the purpose of marriage, you would be wise to refuse to marry him until he discovers the Yah-given purpose for marriage. Otherwise, he will abuse both marriage and, as a result, you.
Many of us have been victims because others have abused the very things that Yah Himself created. That’s why it is very important that we not move into marriage, school, a new job, and so forth until we know Yah’s purpose for giving us that relationship or position. It is the violation of this principle that is the cause for all our social problems today. The drug problem is not a substance problem, but a substance abuse problem. We abuse the Yahly gift of sex and experience the fatal consequences because we don’t seek the purpose for these things.
The New Testament tells the story of a man named Simon who lived in Samaria. Simon was a magician who claimed to have great powers. When Peter and John came to Samaria and preached the gospel, he believed their message and was baptized. He remained envious, however, of Peter and John, who were performing many miracles. When he saw them lay hands on believers so they could receive the Holy Spirit, he offered them money to give him the same powers. Peter rightly rebuked him for trying to buy Yah’s gifts (Acts 8:9-25).
Simon’s wrong was not that he wanted to share in the ministry of laying on of hands, but that he wanted the gift for the wrong motive. The Scriptures are clear that Yah’s gifts are given for the good of the whole body (1 Corinthians 10:24; 12:7). Simon sought to abuse Yah’s gifts by using them selfishly. All abuse is a violation of purpose.
Principle #5—If you want to know the purpose of a thing, never ask the thing.
Have you ever asked a microphone or a chair or a plant why it exists? Of course not, because they can’t possibly tell you what you want to know. The same is true of all things, whether or not they can talk. A created thing can never know what was in the mind of the creator when he planned and built it.
As ridiculous as the thought of asking a piano or a stereo why it exists may be, we have been doing that to each other for years. “Hey, what’s happening? Why are you here?” Although your friend may respond to your question, it’s probably not the right answer because you asked him the wrong question. Asking a friend why you or he exists is like the blind leading the blind. Most men and women don’t know why they are here.
You will never find your purpose as long as you ask a creature who you are because a person or thing apart from its creator cannot know its purpose. You may even come up with a purpose that isn’t Yah’s purpose and think that you are finally on the right track.
The futility of understanding Yah’s purposes apart from Him is graphically portrayed in the encounter between Yah and Job in the latter part of the Book of Job. Job was a faithful worshiper of Yah who lost everything when Yah agreed that satan could test his faithfulness. Job’s friends incessantly speculated, lectured, blamed and argued, trying to decide why Job was experiencing such misfortune. When Job and his friends had ceased talking, Yah spoke to Job out of a storm. Again and again He questioned Job’s understanding of things he could not know because they required knowledge of Yah’s purposes in creation.
Who are you to question My wisdom with your ignorant, empty words? Stand up now like a man and answer the questions I ask you. Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell Me about it. ...What holds up the pillars that support the earth? ... Have you any idea how big the world is? Answer Me if you know. Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is? ... Do you know the laws that govern the skies and can you make them apply to the earth? ... Who is wise enough to count the clouds and tilt them over to pour out the rain ...? Job, you challenged Almighty Yah; will you give up now, or will you answer? (Job 38:2-4,6a,18-19,33,37; 40:1-2 GN)
Obviously, Job could not answer because only Yah could tell him how the world was created to operate and why it was made that way. The rain could not, neither could the light or the darkness. Finally, Job admitted defeat. He would never know the reasons behind his experiences unless Yah explained them to him, because creatures can never know purpose apart from the creator.
Principle #6—Purpose is only found in the mind of the creator.
I was in an oriental antique store one day that had beautiful furniture and trinkets. As I walked into the store, I picked up four or five bowls of different sizes and shapes. I thought, “These are nice dishes to eat from.” So I took them to the attendant and said, “How much are these bowls?”
The attendant, who was Korean, replied adamantly, “These aren’t bowls.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “What are they?”
“These are ceremonial dishes for a Korean wedding,” he replied.
“Excuse me,” I said and replaced the dishes. Then I picked up some sort of thing that flapped and made noise that sounded like music to me and said, “This is a good musical instrument. How much is it?”
Again the attendant replied, “That’s not a musical instrument. This is used for incense when you go to the temple.”
Again I said, “Excuse me,” and continued my search. After I had missed four or five times, I asked him to go with me as I walked through the shop. As we looked at the many interesting items on display, I constantly asked him, “What’s this?” “What’s that?” “How is this used?” The attendant, who had grown up in Korea, knew the purpose for everything that I asked about. What looked like a stool, for example, was really a chest of drawers. Indeed, it would have broken had I sat on it.
Because he was part of the culture, the clerk knew the purpose for everything in the whole store. He did not need to guess at the purpose of each item like I had done (I was wrong eighty percent of the time), because he knew from experience how each piece was to be used.
Had I simply bought the objects I liked without asking what they were and how they were to be used, I would have ruined some beautiful pieces. Since I didn’t know their purpose, abuse was inevitable no matter how sincere I was. My friends and my family would have misused them as well because they wouldn’t have been any more knowledgeable concerning the purpose of the item than I was. Just because we all would have used them the same way wouldn’t have made our use right. In ignorance, we all would have abused them.
The same principle is true for any product. If you want to know the purpose of a product, you must ask the manufacturer or his authorized representative. The product, itself, cannot tell you. That’s why most manufacturers put a label somewhere on their products or they give you similar information in an owner’s manual. They want to teach you about the product and give you the opportunity to contact them if you have any questions about its purpose, use, operation or maintenance. They know they must give you this information if the product is going to fulfill the purpose for which they made it.
This principle of asking the creator for the purpose of a thing is also evident in the story of a blind man healed by Jesus. Yahusha and His disciples were walking along when they saw a man who had been blind from birth. Jesus’ disciples immediately wanted to know why the man had been born blind. Because their tradition said such things were the result of sin, they wanted to know if the man or his parents had sinned. Yahusha went straight to the root of the matter. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned ... but this happened so that the work of Yah might be displayed in his life” (John 9:3).
After Yahusha had healed him, the blind man was questioned by everyone he met, including the authorities: “What happened to you?” “Aren’t you the blind man who used to beg by the gate?” “Where is this man who healed you?” “Don’t you know He’s a sinner?” The man didn’t attempt to explain why he had been healed, he simply told what he knew. If the officials and everyone else wanted to know why he had been healed, they would have to ask Yahusha like His disciples had, because only the originator of an action knows the purpose behind it. Therefore, if you want to know the purpose of a thing, including yourself, you must discover who created it and submit to his knowledge. Only Yah knows the purpose for your life.
Principle #7—Purpose is the key to fulfillment.
Manufacturers always want the consumer to be satisfied with their product. Labels and instruction books are their way of telling you what they had in mind when they created the product so you can compare that to your expectations when you bought it. If the purpose of the manufacturer and the expectations of the purchaser don’t match, the product can’t possibly satisfy both the consumer’s desires and the manufacturer’s objectives. Purpose dictates performance, which influences satisfaction. Thus, purpose is the key to fulfillment.
Likewise, your purpose is the key to your life. It tells you what you are supposed to do and why. It reveals the reasons behind life’s experiences and demands, and supplies a vision for the future. It also provides a perspective that gives life significance and meaning. Apart from purpose, life seems fatalistic and haphazard, and the events of life become more important than the reasons behind them.
In essence, you will never experience true fulfillment and peace until you are executing the purpose for which you were born. Just like a trumpet’s purpose is fulfilled when it is blown, a piano when it is skillfully played, a car when it is safely driven and a seed when it becomes a tree, even so your fulfillment is dependent on your discovering and fulfilling your purpose.
Naaman was a Syrian who had to learn the significance of purpose. One day his wife’s servant girl told her mistress that a prophet in Samaria could heal her master of the dreaded disease of leprosy. Believing the girl’s words, Naaman went to Israel. When the king of Israel sent Naaman to the prophet Elisha, Elisha told his servant to tell Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River and he would be healed. But Naaman became very angry and complained that he could have washed in rivers in Syria if that would have cured him. Finally, Naaman’s servants convinced him to do what the prophet had instructed. Seven times Naaman dipped himself in the Jordan River, and when he came up the seventh time, he was completely cured (2 Kings 5).
Too often we look at life the same way Naaman did. We seek satisfaction in life’s activities without considering the p urp ose behind them. It wasn’t the river that healed Naaman, but his obedience to Yah’s purpose through the words of the prophet Elisha. The river was powerless. Yah’s word is all-powerful. When He determines a purpose for our lives, we will find fulfillment only when we are walking toward the end He has set.
Yah wants us to know His plans and purposes for our lives because He knows that apart from them we cannot know hope, peace and joy. In all things, purpose is the key to fulfillment because it establishes the foundation on which all life must be built.
PRINCIPLES
1. Yah does everything with and for a purpose.
2. Everything Serves A Purpose.
3. Unknown purpose always wastes time and gives the possibility of danger.
4. Abuse and misuse occur when purpose isn’t known.
5. A person or thing apart from its creator cannot know its purpose.
6. If you want to know the purpose of a product, you must ask the manufacturer or his authorized representative.
7. Purpose reveals the reasons behind life’s experiences and demands, supplies a vision for the future and gives life significance and meaning.
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