Message in a bottle

I love the idea of sending a message in a bottle. I have always wanted to write something on a piece of plain white paper, roll it up, slip it into a bottle and let the ocean’s currents take it away to a far away land. Safe inside the confines of the glass bottle, the words would travel through time and vast oceanic expanses.  After many months or years, the bottle would wash up onto the shore and eventually into someone’s hands.

How exciting it would be to find that bottle and read the contents of the note contained inside. Now suppose the writer of the note was a President, a King or what if the message came from outside of our world, beyond time and space, wouldn’t you be interested in reading it?

 The fact is that we have a message just like that. The bible is a love letter from our Creator. What a treasure we have at our fingertips and what a tragedy if we never discover the wisdom contained inside. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16.

I talk to people who say they don’t believe in God. They give me all sorts of reasons for their lack of faith but basically it comes down to the absence of solid evidence. Although misguided, they are in good company. Even one of Jesus’ disciples, Thomas, said “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” John 20:25.

There are many infallible proofs for God’s existence, all of which are found inside the pages of the bible. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. But unless we open and hear the word, the seeds of faith can’t be planted in our hearts. All faith takes is a seed, some water and some warm light from the Son.

Found near the end of the New Testament, is the book of Hebrews. Chapter eleven is called the “Hall of faith”. There in verse 1 we find the definition of faith “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It’s also said that without faith it’s impossible to please God. 

 We’re told Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by offering up a lamb from the flock. God had instructed that our sin can only be covered up with blood. “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”.  Hebrews 9:22.

Noah who had never seen one drop of rain, by faith built an ark to God’s specifications and saved his household of eight. The only people who did not perish in the world wide deluge were the people who were safely on the ark. Once they were inside, it was God who shut the door and condemned the entire lost world outside.

On faith Abraham left his homeland and journeyed to a land he had never seen before. Even when God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, Abraham obeys and witnesses grace and mercy as God delivers Isaac from certain death by providing a ram caught in the thicket. Later on, it would happen that on that very same mountain, Moriah, God would provide His one and only son to become our sacrifice.

So God did send us a message but it was not hidden inside of a bottle. Instead, He carefully inspired men to record ahead of time foretelling what was going to happen in the future. Then through the blood of many martyrs, the books were canonized, published and distributed worldwide.

One day Jesus will return as the King of kings and the Lord of lords to shepherd His people and put an end to sin. At that time all of us who have put our trust in Him, will rejoice as the Lamb of God takes the scroll and breaks its seals, redeeming the earth.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The decree of King Cyrus

The word apologetics means “to speak in defense of” and is found in the New Testament eight times. The word omnipresence means “all that is before one” and, when applied to God, is the idea that He is wholly present in all places at any given time. So, it follows that if God was going to speak in defense of His existence, He would tell us detailed descriptions of events before they happen. The word prophet is used to describe someone who speaks for God. The prophet had several roles; he could be sent to teach God’s message concerning a certain situation, he could be sent to warn the people to change direction or he could be sent to describe a future event, often calamity, before it happens.

One of the greatest apologetics that affirms the Bible is where God spoke through His prophets about future events with interesting details. As we begin the book of Ezra, we are treated to a decree made by Cyrus, king of Persia which ends up being one of those. 

 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:2-4.

The date of this decree is given in Ezra 1:1 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put in writing,”. We know as a matter of historical record from the discovery of the cylinder of Cyrus that the year was around 538 BC.

Seventy years before, the prophet Jeremiah warned Israel of their impending doom and in Jeremiah 25:11-14 he predicts that the nation will go into captivity, serving the king of Babylon for 70 years. The nation of Israel had been warned by the prophets that they needed to follow God’s instructions. They had been instructed in the books of Moses (Lev 25:1-7) that every seventh year they were to let the land lay fallow-rest and not cultivate it.

For 490 years Israel neglected that law forcing God to hold them captive in Babylon for 70 years thus giving the land her Sabbaths. The prophet Jeremiah was an eye witness to the destruction of Jerusalem beginning around 598 BC. As the prophet Daniel is taken away to Babylon, with him go the scrolls of Jeremiah, the scroll of Isaiah and the books of Moses.  (Daniel 9:2).

Go back to the beginning of this article and read the decree of King Cyrus. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, when Cyrus conquered Babylon the Jews presented him with the scroll of Isaiah where he was astounded  to read “Who says of Cyrus, ’He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” and to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ Isaiah 44:28.

Now keep in mind that the prophet Isaiah wrote these words 180-200 years before Cyrus entered Babylon and wrote his decree. Can you imagine how Cyrus must have felt as he continues reading the scroll of Isaiah “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held- To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: “Isaiah 45:1.

 Cyrus’ spirit must have been stirred up as he reads the 200 year old text naming him by name! “That you may know that I, the Lord, who called you by name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me,” Isaiah 45:3-5

So my prayer is that there will be someone reading this who will believe for the first time that there is a God in heaven who loves them and will ask to receive His salvation putting their trust in Jesus Christ for the very first time.     

The story (part 3)

Before going to bed, Zacharias lit the oil lamp and searched the scroll of the prophet Micah. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Zacharias knew that it was his relative Mary that was carrying the Messiah, the Christ child, inside her and by now would already be on the road headed south to Bethlehem to register for the worldwide census.

Just outside the town of Scythopolis, the clickity-clack sound that was coming from the wagon’s rear wheel bearing was getting louder. Joseph stacked up some flat stones and squeezed them under the axle of the wagon raising it up off the ground just enough to get the wheel off. Stowed in the back of the buckboard he found the clay pot that held the bee’s wax and packed the wooden wheel bearing with wax. Mary went down to the edge of the Jordan River, knelt down and washed her hands and face with the cool water from the river. The baby immediately calmed down and ceased kicking Mary as she sang a psalm while watching the water pass slowly through a calmer section of the river “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, You are My Son, today I have begotten You.”

   

The road was getting very crowded with travelers from all over Judea as the donkey pulled the wagon up into the city limits of Jerusalem. There were many travelers going to the city and surrounding suburbs to register for the census. Many street vendors had set up shops wherever there was a turn-out in the road where they sold skins of wine, water, bread, woven cloth and trinkets of every kind. Mary couldn’t help but notice a beautiful red home spun cloth as the donkey waited for cross traffic to clear out. Joseph asked the merchant the price and after a bit of bargaining, Mary wrapped the lovely cloth around her shoulders.

Once out of the congestion of Jerusalem, Joseph prayed that Bethlehem would be quieter. Just outside of town the road cleared out a little for the last five miles. Joseph didn’t think Mary could endure the extra mileage to Zacharias and Elizabeth’s house in the Judean hills so he remembered an inexpensive but comfortable inn in Bethlehem where they could spend the night.

“Now there were in the same country shepherds, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men!’”

Meanwhile, back in Bethlehem, Joseph pleaded with the inn keeper for a room where his wife could deliver the baby. The inn keeper wished he had a place for them to rest but there was no vacancy due to the festival and census traffic. But being a decent man, the inn keeper allowed Joseph and Mary to stay with his animals in a hollowed out limestone cave adjacent to the inn.

Mary made a bed out of a pile of fresh straw the inn keeper put out for them. She labored for many hours until finally a head began to emerge. Soon the baby Jesus was born. Joseph helped by tying off the umbilical cord and placing the baby on Mary’s chest. Mary, exhausted, swaddled the baby in the new red cloth Joseph had purchased and laid the baby Jesus in the animal’s feeding trough. She wondered what sort of man Jesus would eventually grow up into. 

Soon several shepherds were kneeling at the opening of the cave gazing in amazement at the baby that the angel announced would be there. Who would have believed that the Savior of the world, this King of kings would have such humble beginnings? None realized that the gift of this child would ultimately be His death and resurrection some thirty two years later. Jesus offers forgiveness to all who choose to trust and believe in Him. Through His death we are forgiven and through His resurrection we have life everlasting.