“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour ...

... in which the Son of Man is coming (Matthew 25:13). At the end of last day's post I quoted ““The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8,9). It is easy to grow cold about the soon coming of the King of Kings.  His second advent, and this morning and yesterdays readings  have put this back on the map for me. As an aside we cannot be sure we are taking in the whole council of God (Acts 20:27) if we don't read the whole of the Scriptures, and even then! This morning's quote comes at the end of the parable of the ten virgins (which as another aside the Scripture expects the unmarried to be virgins,  to which we need to recommit (even when, or especially when, we have utterly failed – see 1 John 1:9). Part of what stands out to me in the parable, is that all ten virgins looked alike from the outside. Jesus comment to the Pharisees comes to mind “You clean the outside of the cup ....” (Matthew 23:25). What was missing was the oil for their lamps.

 

The oil of course, speaks of Holy Spirit who, Jesus told us would not come unless He want away. He further told us that this was better for us (John 16:7). Part of this is that the Holy Spirit would dwell inside our lamps. When He comes, we become the temple of Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 16:9), and we cannot be the light of the World without His indwelling presence. It is not about character, or purity or influence or success, be it inside , or outside the church. If we do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit, which is also the Spirit of Jesus, we are none of His (1 John 5:12). And as the parable clearly shows, if we don't have "oil" on that day when He comes for His saints, He will disown us saying I never knew you (verse 12).

 

In the context of the 2 Peter passage, Peter answers  of those who ask “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” He explains that willingly ignorant (verses 4, 5). Both Peter and Jesus reference the flood “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark" (Matthew 24:38). In other words it all seemed so normal and unchangeable.   But as with the parable, there is coming a time when it will be too late (25:10). And the admonition to us, is to watch (verse 13). And Peter asks seeing as how the heavens and the earth will be burnt up with fervent heat, “What manner of what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (3:10, 11).

Lord Jesus, Your admonition to watch, is not to watch passively, but to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation, and to work while it is still day. Indeed the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and we do not know the hour of Your appearing (Mark 13:33; 14::John 9:4). Since these things are so, help us Lord not to loose our passion and our zeal for You. We ask these things, in Your precious Name Amen

This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place

The disciples had been admiring the beauty of the temple and Jesus had prophesied to them of its destruction (Matthew 24:1, 2). The disciples then asked Him “When will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming” (verse 3)? This chapter and the next, are often called the “little apocalypse.” Apocalyptic literature is a term referring to the end times, and is featured prominently throughout the Bible. This morning's title verse (34) is ceased upon by unbelievers as one of “many” contradictions of the Bible because clearly the end of the World did not happen in that generation. I have to confess that this puzzled me for may years, and was unhappy with the supposed explanations that were given. But if you start by believing it is a contradiction, you will not look for a solution. In fact, the disciples had asked two questions that more than likely were identified together in their minds. The first question was about the destruction of the temple, the second about the second coming of Christ.

To further confuse the issue, apocalyptic literature throughout the Bible has both a here and now aspect to it, as well as an end times aspect. These two aspects are often telescoped together, and it is only looking back can untangle the separate pieces. It is rather like looking at a mountain range from the distance and seeing two peeks together as a single peek, and only as you get closer are the two seen to be separate. A prime example is Jesus' quoting Isaiah 61:1-2a in Luke 4:18. Jesus stops as a comma in the Isaiah passage! He came, He says, to heal broken hearts etc., and He leaves out “And the day of vengeance of our God” in verse 2b. A similar thing happens with Peter quoting Joel 2:28-31 in Acts 2:17-21. The early disciples were in the last days, and so are we. And our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). 

Since “on that day” of verse 34 is clearly identified as the second coming in verse 44, you will, if you are looking for a contradiction identify “that day” of verse 36 with the timing of the destruction of the Temple in verse 34. This would indeed be a contradiction, since the second coming did not happen in that generation. Indeed seemingly to confirm the contradiction,  the phrase “that day” also refers over and over to the end of the age, especially in the apocalyptic literature (i.e Ezekiel 38:14; Zechariah 14:4, 20 etc.). However if we understand “But of that day and hour...” of verse 36 to be Jesus now addressing the disciples' second question, rather than the first, then the supposed contradiction simply disappears, and the potential problem is solved by exegesis!

Again the skeptic is likely to ask “How long are you prepared to wait until it becomes obvious that it's not going to happen. It's been two thousand years!” My answer is a long as it takes, after all a day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day (Psalm 90:4). Quoting this Peter tells us “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8,9). Indeed I have loved ones I want to be there on that day! However

Even so come Lord Jesus Amen (Revelation 22:20)

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand

This quote from Exodus 21:24 is part of the legal code that was given to Moses. The legal code forms the basis of much of our justice system in the West. I am not saying our justice systems follow the Biblical codes exactly, but rather it gave a starting point to discuss civil law. Take this morning's verse for example, and it's relationship to the debate over capital punishment, a topic still hotly discussed. Without taking sides, it is noteworthy that within the code is the injunction to distinguish between what we call premeditated murder and manslaughter (21:14). In fact the code as way ahead of its time! Coming to the specifics of the subject at hand, some have called this barbaric. But as with all interpretations of document thousands of years old, we need to understand the context of the times. In particular, what was happening widely at the time (and even today) is escalation. In other words it was two eyes for one eye, and two teeth for one tooth!

I was saying last day, that the children of Israel had chosen rules over relationship, and if you are going to go with rules what is needed,  is justice. We may not like it, but eye for an eye is just. There are many things in the Old Testament that I do not like, neither do I understand. But I understand this, that God is a God of justice (Isaiah 30:18c), and I am not likely to fully understand until I see Him face to face. The children of Israel choose rules, but the Old Testament is full of invitations to come our of Law into relationship. The full text of the Isaiah reference reads “Yet the LORD longingly waits to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Among other things, the cross shows two things, firstly that God is indeed a God of justice. Justice decrees that wrong doing and sin must be punished. The second thing  is that the cross show is mercy, for “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6c). The Lord knew that there was little point in telling feuding cultures to love their enemies (Matthew 5:44). He had to tell us first that vengeance belongs to Him (Psalm 94:1), in order to get us to disengage. It was only after He had established the principle of Justice, and we had at some level grown up (see Galatians 3:23, 24), that He could reveal the above higher law to those to whom He is showing  mercy. He needed to wait so He could be gracious to us. He also waits today to be gracious. And we get to choose mercy or justice, rules or relationship. What have you, what will you, choose? 

Father justice is getting what we deserve, mercy is not getting what I deserve, and I choose mercy again this morning. Thank You Lord that You waited to be gracious to me.  Thank You that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me, the just for the unjust that I might be brought to God (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18). Thank You Lord that You are both just and merciful. I love You Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Let not God speak with us, lest we die

Moses had gone up the mountain, where the Lord had given the ten commandments among thunderings, lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When they saw it, the people trembled. And they told Moses “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:1-19). Moses had brought the people out to meet with God, and the sound of the trumpet had been very loud, the smoke had gone up like a furnace, and the mountain itself had trembled (19:16-18). All this had, to coin a phrase, put the fear of God into the people, and in a sense who could blame them. But in fact what they were doing was choosing rules over relationship. And the problem, if we do that, is that it is His rules, not ours. And the people were saying not only will we listen, but we will obey, for this is the force of the Hebrew word listen.

We can still choose rules over relationship, but we need to realize it is His rules, and that there needs to be perfect obedience. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend on one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Good luck with that! There is none of this “He will balance my good works with my bad,” or “I'm a good person.” For “there is none good but God,” and “we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Matthew 19:17; Romans 3:23). God does not want to improve us, He wants to kill us “for he who has died to sin, is alive to God” (Romans 6:11, 13). In fact Christ “died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

But was it really necessary to scare the living daylights out of the people? Well, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). And since our propensity is to go astray (Isaiah 63:6), the Lord in His wisdom uses both the carrot and the stick to wake us up and bring us to our senses. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10), and I for one want to be clothed in His righteousness on that day (Isaiah 61:10; Philippians 3:9). But in any case, I will choose relationship over rules I cannot possibly obey any day. I need to fear, but I need to let His perfect love case it out (1 John 4:18).

Father, thank You that You cursed the earth for my sake (Genesis 3:17 NKJV). You twerked reality so that poor choices produce bad consequences (Galatians 6:7). And it was the consequences of my poor choices, and my inability to keep the law that showed me my need of You. Thank You Lord. Thank You that You are no celestial Scrooge, but that at Your right hand are pleasures for ever more. I know Lord that in this world I will have trouble, but I thank You too, that You have overcome the world in Jesus Name Amen

When my father and my mother forsake me ...

... Then the LORD will take care of me. We are continuing this morning with gleanings from Psalm 27. David has just reminded the Lord that he (David) always responds positively to God's invitation to seek His face. Nevertheless David still implores God to not leave him nor forsake him (verses 8,9). But then clearly receiving assurance that He will not, David can declare with this morning verse (10), that even in the midst of what is perhaps the most devastating or rejections (mother and father), there is one who loves him and will take care of him. Probably there is no one reading this blog who has not suffered some level of rejection, and once again the Scriptures point us to the God who is the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3), as the one who will help us to deal with our pain.

There is no indication in Scripture that David's mother and father forsook him, but he certainly received his share of rejection through Saul, for example, or from his son Absalom, who raised an army to overthrow David's throne. But there is one Jesus, whose mother and brothers turned against Him, thinking He was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). The Scripture tell that “We do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmity, but was at all points tested as we are, but without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). In particular, He knows what you are going through this morning and he understands, He really does, and He is able to comfort and strengthen you.

But getting back to David, after choosing to trust God in the midst of his pain he ask the Lord to “Teach me Your way, and lead me in a smooth path” (verse 11). He is asking God to lead him, to show him how to navigate through his trials, and he knows this is often about waiting on God. His hope however is in God “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (verse 13). He then instructs us to wait on the Lord in our trials, knowing that through them He will strengthen our hearts (verse 14).

Father, I want to thank You this morning that it is true that when I was forsaken, You took care of me, and You have promised to never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). I have to confess Lord, that waiting is hard. But every time I have wanted to give up, You have done something to keep me trusting that I will indeed see Your goodness in the here and now. And I thank You in advance Father for the fulfillment of Your promises in Jesus Name Amen

One thing I have desired ... That will I seek - That I may dwell ...

This morning's quote from Psalm 27:4 reveals King David's stance as a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). He desires one thing above all else to be a seeker after God and to dwell in His presence. David did not get there through smooth sailing, but rather by putting his trust in God at all times he experienced God's faithfulness, provision and protection. The Lord, David tells us,  is his light and his deliverer. The Hebrew word translated deliver has the sense of being saved in battle, being victorious.  Indeed David tells us that when his enemies came up against him they stumbled and fell (verse 2). Through this he learned not to not let his heart fear “even though and army encamp against him" (verse 3). It is this experience that leads him to declare that the one thing he desires is to seek and to dwell in His presence.

But what does it mean that seeking and dwelling is the one thing David seeks, and how did he learn not to let his heart fear? The first commandment come to mind to love God with all of our heart soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5). In other words it is all about a passionate relationship with God  that holds no bars, no barrier. When David fails, as we all do, he cries out to God to teach him truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6), and the Word is his meditation day and night (Psalm 1:2). This is surely what he means when he says the Lord is his light (verse 1). Further more David does not display what today is called the rugged North American individualism. He does not do things in his own strength, for the Lord is not only David's light, He is the strength of his life (verse 1 again). Like a little child, David is totally dependent on God!

But how does he teach his heart not to fear? It is about both trust and experience. In particular David learnt to keep his heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23). It starts with looking back on previous deliverance “when the wicked came to “eat his flesh they stumbled and fell" (verse 2). So David refused to allow the negative thought and emotions that dwelling on fear brings. But he also knows that it is not just about stopping those thoughts, but rather replacing them by pressing into God by seeking Him single-mindedly. This is the one thing he desires.

Father, thank You for the example, and challenge of David's life. David tells us he desired to seek and dwell, indicating that he did not always do it. He needed Your help, and so do we Lord. So we come to You again this morning asking You to help us do our part in making You our refuge and our strength, and for You to be the first thing we turn to in difficulties and temptations. And we  will  give You the honour and glory in Jesus Name Amen

Lift up your rod..... over the sea and divide it

The Egyptian army was pursuing the children of Israel and with the Red sea before them and mountains on either side they were trapped. So Moses does as God commands, the sea is divided,  and the children of Israel cross on try land. The Egyptians pursue and are drown as God closed the sea over them (Exodus 13, 14). Secular Biblical scholars, along many others, tend to dispute anything in the Bible that is miraculous, seeking to explain it all away. The Red sea, for example, is said to be the reed sea, a body of water just a few inches deep. Though how the whole of the Egyptian army drown in just a few inches of water,  is not explained. Mount Sinai,  one stop on the journey wilderness wandering,  the place where the ten commandments would later be given (Exodus 19, 20), is said to be in Egypt (and is in fact designates as a tourist attraction). If true this would mean they did not need to cross the Red sea at all. But the Bible tells us that Mount Sinai is in Arabia (Galatians 4:25). Well, you get the point.

The controversial figure Ron Wyatt spent 22 years of his life looking for sites described in the Bible. One of the more convincing ones, is his location of the Red sea crossing. Wyatt found a very large beach (five miles long) at Nuweiba. And it certainly fits the bill as the place where Moses lifted His rod, it being hemmed in by Mountains with a single rout to the beach. There are matching granite columns “of Solomon” on either side of the Red sea at this point. Inscribed on these columns are the words “Mizram (Egypt), death, water, pharaoh, Edom, Yahweh, and Solomon.   Solomon's sea port was at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba at Eilat (I Kings 9:26) and it is no stretch to believe that he was “very familiar with the Red Sea crossing site, as it was in his neighbourhood” (quote from Wyatt). Wyatt locates the name “Nuwayba' al Muzayyinah” at this exact spot,  on an Arabic map, and tells that it means “Waters of Moses Opening." So at the very least, the ancients believed this was the place. But Wyatt has more.

In particular, and I quote ”The crossing path is about a quarter to a half mile wide and is on a gradual slope down to the bottom of the Red Sea,  and then up to the Saudi beach.  On either side of this path are the depths of the Red Sea, the Eilat Deep and the Aragonese Deep, each 3000 and 5000 feet deep respectively.” But most convincing of all are the pictures taken of “coral shaped chariot wheels fixed to axels standing at attention on the seabed.” These were found on both sides of the alleged crossing. He adds  “There are numerous chariot wheels, plus human and horse bones at the crossing site. Crossing” (see https://bible7evidence.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-red-sea-crossing-ron-wyatt.html).

Father, one of the advantages of being old,  is that you get to see multiple supposed explanations of disbelieved Biblical events and sites, being overturned,  and the Bible account verified. But Father if the Jesus rose from the dead,  then as Your Word says “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Thank You Lord that I don't need to throw away my mind in order to believe. Thank You Lord for the evidence of faith (Hebrews 11:1). We believe help our unbelief in Jesus Name Amen