Faithfully Yours

I’ve heard hunters say that Canadian snow geese pair up for life. Whether flying next to each other in a chevron formation or just following each other wing to wing they never separate until death do they part. Hunters have reported after downing one of a pair of geese that their mate will fly back over and circle around their dead partner. These Canadian “honkers” partner for life in much the same way God designed our lives as well. It’s really a blueprint for our eternal relationship with God and becomes a model for the relationship between Christ and His bride, the church.

In chapter 5 of the book of Numbers we get to glance at the faithfulness between a husband and his bride. In chapter 6 God explains how a man or a woman can separate themselves from the world living only for God by taking the “Nazirite Vow”. There is something to be said about people who live their entire lives devoted to their spouse. That level of commitment between two people is really quite unique in today’s society. But back in the desert wandering days of Israel it was really the standard by which they the nation lived.

If you take the time to get acquainted with ancient Israelis wedding ceremonies you will discover how many of the things that Jesus did on His last night on earth become brightly illuminated by that knowledge.  One similarity is when the groom came to the bride’s home and asked her to marry him. If she was in agreement with his proposal, then the groom would ask her father and if all were in agreement they would all seal the arrangement by taking a drink of wine from the same cup. Jesus did this very same thing by coming to the earth, our home, and paying the bride price for us. Then at the last supper He offered the cup of wine to us, sealing his proposal of marriage.

Immediately after the bride’s acceptance the groom returned to his father’s house. Once there, he would begin a focused building project where he would add onto the family’s ancestral home providing a new space for the new couple to dwell. Once the room was completed the Father would tell the son to return to get his bride and bring her home. This process could take anywhere from months to years but when the father deemed the wedding chamber was ready then he would tell his son to go and get his bride!

This is what many of us are now waiting for, Jesus Christ to return to earth for His bride. Yes, that is why the church is called the bride of Christ. Now, the bride’s responsibility was to cleanse herself inside and out, always being ready for the groom’s unannounced return. She was to be found faithful upon the groom’s return.  In Ephesians 5:22  we find this “Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

OK men, before you drop Maxwell’s silver hammer on your pretty little wife’s head, let’s read the next section. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”  Men, go back and read this again and again and again until it penetrates the thick fog that usually hangs around our understanding.

As men, if we are honest with ourselves there probably is not too much washing by the word going on in our homes. Probably some grumpy, reluctant Sunday morning trips to church followed by an afternoon full of car washing, golfing and fishing trips.  I’m willing to bet the ranch that there is not much foot washing, dish washing or clothes washing going on in our homes. The whole point to this section of scripture is the great value that God puts on women and their need for our constant love, care and affection. So don’t let anything get between your relationship with God, your wife and children. There is no higher or more precious cause then nurturing and cherishing our family relationships. Jesus loved His bride so much that He gave up His life for us.  So next time you take the cup remember what you are agreeing to do; believe in Him and live for Him.

Setting up camp

What you believe is important. Many throughout history have put their trust in the wrong place. Some have believed the world to be flat, the sun revolved around the earth or even that human beings evolved from pond scum. However, many believe in an almighty Creator who carefully and skillfully designed not only human beings, but all the cosmos we see around us.

Many believe the bible to be the inspired word of a holy, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent Creator/ Designer who is the “I Am”. The entire bible speaks of Jesus Christ; every book, chapter and verse somehow points to God’s One and Only Son whom became our salvation at the cross. Jesus became the Lamb of the final Passover and paid a debt no man could ever begin to pay. So, when I study the Old Testament, I’m amazed over and over again at how God inspired the writers of the bible to describe details about the coming future Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Numbers begins with a detailed numeric list of all able bodied men, twenty years and above, who could be counted as part of Israel’s army. These family clans are known as “The twelve tribes of Israel”, direct descendants of Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. Jacob’s first wife, Leah, had six sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. Jacob’s second wife, Rachel, had Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel’s maidservant, Bilhah, had Dan and Naphtali. Leah’s maidservant, Zilpah, had Gad and Asher. In chapter one, we are given the exact number of fighting men to be 603,550. Extrapolating for both older and younger men, women and children there could have been as many as two million people.

The tribe of Levi was an exception and would not be numbered or go to war, but be set apart to serve God at the tabernacle. In chapter two, we read about how these two million plus people were to set up and take down camp. The Tabernacle was to be set up first at the very center of camp. God always wants to be at the center of our lives. By setting up the Tabernacle at the center of camp, God’s presence would dwell in and be the central focal point of all Israel. God instructed the nation to camp beside the standard of their father’s house. These banners flown as flags held an image that was representative of each family clan.

Immediately, around the four compass points of the rectangular shaped Tabernacle, were camped the sons of Levi. Then in Numbers 2:3 it states “On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, those of the standard of the forces of Judah shall camp according to their armies.” What is interesting is that Israel’s future kings, and especially Jesus Christ, would come from the tribe of Judah which faced the rising sun. The word picture of a rising sun is the closest object in our immediate universe that even comes close to describing the glory of our Lord. Three family clans camped together and were located per each compass point of east, south, west and north. God choose one clan’s standard to represent the entire group of three that were camped on each side of the Tabernacle. To the east was Judah’s emblem of a Lion; to the south was Ruben’s emblem of a Man; to the west was Ephraim’s emblem of an Ox and to the north Dan’s emblem of an Eagle.

It’s interesting to note that the directions of southeast, southwest, northeast and northwest were not to be camped in and set apart for common use. If you take the time to draw everything to scale using the numbers provided in chapter one then what you discover is that the nation of Israel was camping in the shape of a cross. The four emblems of a lion, a man, an ox and an eagle are also found in the book of Ezekiel 1:10-12 describing the four living creatures’ four faces. Some scholars suggest that the four gospels represent Jesus as the Messiah or Lion in the gospel of Matthew, the servant or ox in the gospel of Mark, a man in the Gospel of Luke and as a God or an eagle in the gospel of John.

The book of Revelation 5:4-5 depicts a future scene “So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals’”. One day we will all rejoice and witness Jesus Christ coming back for us, in all His glory, as The Lion from the tribe of Judah!

 

 

 

 

Signs in the sky

Well, here we go! The bible foretold us that when we were getting close to the end of time that the sky would light up with signs. Last night several large meteorites fell and hit the ground, buildings and people in Russia. Some believe that these meteorites were fragments that might have come loose from a larger asteroid that is scheduled to pass between the moon and the earth later today.

The meteorite triggered earthquakes some as large as 6.0. The area of Chelyabinsk, Russia southeast of Moscow received a massive meteorite impact caught on tape during the daylight hours. At least 500 people have been injured. We were told in the bible that there would be signs in the heavens as we got closer to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The story is just now breaking so check the Internet for video and news feeds. Just a heads up for all you who don't know what is coming. The earth is groaning as it awaits redemption. Jesus Christ promised at the last supper (last passover) to come back for "his bride" the church, that is all who put their trust, faith in Him!

Rejoice, it was recorded last night that people all over the earth were hearing and recorded strange sounds that were coming from the atmosphere, the heavens. Theses weird sounds resembled groaning and were heard from San Diego to Singapore. The entire globe is awakening to signs and wonders in the sky as our Lord prepares to return for us!

Will it happen today? Nobody knows for certain the day of the hour but It could! When is not important but the fact that we are seeing signs in the heavens is a direct warning from the bible. Please everyone, everywhere take some time to tell God you love Him and want to receive the forgiveness that His Son Jesus Christ offers all men of all color and race.

God loves you all! Rejoice for our redemption draws near! Maranatha!

Promise Land

As we leave the book of Leviticus and enter into Israel’s desert wanderings, we need to stop and take one final look back at the miracles and provisions God provided them at the very edge of the Promised Land. We find a reoccurring theme throughout the bible that God purposefully allows to resurface: mankind’s wavering doubts and unbelief in the power and existence of an almighty God. It is our tendency to trust in our own abilities, forgetting entirely about God and His answered prayers and provisions in our lives. In the book of Numbers, we will watch as Israel is given a great opportunity to trust God and enter into their promised rest. But, instead of trusting and living a faith-filled life, they turn away from God, giving into their fears. Because of their unbelief, the young nation of over two million people will wander aimlessly in circles for forty years in a piece of desert barely larger than the County of San Diego.

“Unbelief” is what God wants us all to expel from our lives and “faith” is what He wants us to replace it with. He has tried over and over again to establish laws to teach us, feasts to celebrate and memorial stones to visually remind us that He is the One and Only, True and Living God still on the throne and in total control. The psalmist states in psalm 139:5-10 “You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.”

Many times in my own life I have doubted in God’s existence. It does not take much to shake my faith and take my eyes off of God’s omniscience, omnipotence or omnipresence. In the gospels, God gives us many examples where men and women of faith stumble and lose their focus on God. The Apostle Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, then as he takes his eyes off Jesus, his fears and doubts take over and he begins sinking into the sea. Sometimes all it takes is a trial or some tribulation to strain my faith, but usually it’s my own unbelief that causes me to falter, stumble and fall into despair and doubt.

So how do we continue to live in a faithful way through any circumstance we might find ourselves in?  The bible is absolutely overflowing with examples of this where men and women have overcome insurmountable obstacles by putting complete trust and faith in God. Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” In other words, whether or not God answers our prayers or whether or not He grants us a long, bountiful life, we are still instructed by our Master to put our complete faith and trust in Him. He promises us that there is a glorious future coming and to run the race all the way to the finish line where, as winners, we enjoy an eternity in the presence of the Father.

Keeping our eyes on Jesus is paramount to faithful and successful living. In the story of Peter it means that if we never doubt, if we never take our eyes off the Lord then we will pass safely through the storms of life into safe harbor. It means that if we trust God completely, if we put our complete faith in Him then we can enter into His promised rest. One simple way to achieve this is by spending time reading, studying and meditating on the word of God. Remember Jesus said in this world we will have tribulation but we should be of “good cheer” because He has overcome the world. Just as the nation of Israel stood at the edge of the Promised Land, we also now stand at the edge looking forward to our eternal rest in Christ. Walking out from the valley of the shadow of death and into God’s warm love and the bright light of His love and Omnipresence! Or if you prefer, you can still get lost and wander around out in the desert where you will still eventually arrive at the Promised Land. It’s just a matter of how much aggravation you want to endure.

 

 

Feasts

Here we go again; for the second straight week, I started writing my column only to have the Holy Spirit nudge me in a different direction. As the book of Leviticus nears its end, we come to chapter 23 where God declares seven feasts for Israel to keep. These feasts are grouped three in the spring, three in the fall and one standing alone in a month spaced between the others. Picture a menorah with seven lights on one lamp stand. Three lights on the right, three lights on the left with one light in the middle of the lamp stand. Basically, what some scholars believe is that the first three feasts were prophetic of the Messiah’s first appearance; the last three were prophetic of His second coming and the middle light of the menorah represents the Feast of “Weeks” or “Pentecost” symbolizing the church age.

Read what Dr. Chuck Missler wrote: “The seven feasts instituted in the Torah are not only historically comemmorative, they also have a prophetic role.¹ The first three are in the first month, Nisan, and speak of Jesus' first coming; the last three are in the seventh month, Tishri, and point to His second coming; and the one in between, the Feast of Shavout (Pentecost), anticipates the Church.”

It’s really easy to look back at Exodus chapter 12 and see the parallel between the Passover lamb and Jesus Christ as He becomes the world’s final sacrifice. But what is not so obvious, is the fact that just as the Passover lamb was to be taken into the home on the 10^th of the month and kept until the 14^th of the month, Jesus also presented Himself as the Passover Lamb as He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. It was the 10^th of Nisan and He would be sacrificed on the 14^th when He went to the cross. God arranged this to take place on the very same days as the Passover Feast as outlined in the book of Exodus.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a reminder to Israel of the haste at which they left Egypt. They left in such a hurry they didn’t let their bread rise. Yeast has always been used by God to describe sin in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Leaven is a word picture for sin because it corrupts by puffing up. It’s the idea that a little leaven, when introduced into a small amount of dough, leavens the whole lump. Pride  is an incredibly destructive sin which leaves behind a wake of destruction. 

When you study Leviticus 23:9-14, Deuteronomy 26:1-11, and Joshua 4:19, you can extrapolate that God planned for the Feast of Firstfruits to be celebrated 3 days after the Passover lamb was sacrificed, as Israel crossed over the Jordan River into The Promised Land. The parallel here is that Jesus Christ died on Passover, and rose from the dead three days later on the exact day of the Feast of Firstfruits. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 it states that Christ has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The last three feasts represent the second coming of the Messiah. The Feast of Trumpets starts off the month of Tishri, followed by the Day of Atonement and ending with The Feast of Tabernacles. The Day of Atonement is where the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the Lord’s goat on the Mercy Seat and the scapegoat is freed out into the wilderness. The last feast in the month of Tishri is Succoth, or The Feast of Tabernacles. This is where Israel makes makeshift dwellings outside to stay in for 8 days. Many scholars look at these feasts as representing the gathering together of the saints to live with Jesus for a thousand years in the Millennial Kingdom here on earth.

In the middle of each group of three feasts was one that stands alone, The Feast of Pentecost. It was to begin fifty days after The Feast of Firstfruits, which we discovered is also when Jesus rose from the grave. In the book of Acts 2:1 The Holy Spirit was given to all believers on the Feast of Pentecost, which is when the church was born. In the feast of Pentecost, yeast is not excluded but specified by God to be included. If yeast or leaven is a symbol for sin, what does it have to do with the church?

Yeast is a reminder that sin would be present in the church. Jesus told His disciples that the wheat and the tares would grow together until the harvest. The tares weren’t really believers but were just masquerading as parts of the body of Christ. So we have three feasts predicting the first coming, the church age in the middle with the last three feasts predicting the Messiahs return and order restored to the earth. All in the first five books of the bible.