One Year Bible, February 6

EXODUS 23:14-25:40
Here, for the first time, we find out we have three (23:17) specific appointments  with God - (1) Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), (2) Feast of Harvest (Pentecost), and (3) Feast of Ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles). And you had better not come empty-handed (23:15)! These feasts represent salvation, receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit in power, and growth and maturity in His Presence.

The Tabernacle was the provision made for the failures of the redeemed of the Lord.  The Tabernacle is an illustration of heavenly realities. The most important piece of Tabernacle equipment listed is the Ark. It became known as God's throne, and was so full of the Presence of God, that eventually Israel came to use it as a "lucky rabbit's foot" in battle! We know now that the Ark represents each one of us, indwelt by God. My heart is God's throne. The Ark is overlaid inside and outside with gold, which is Christ IN YOU and you IN CHRIST. And in 25:22 God said, "There above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the Ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you...."

RESPONSE:   I can never read about God meeting with me between the wings of the cherubim without weeping. Now that I have become God's throne, God's altar, God's Ark - I can meet with God in His immediate Presence any time I want to! That fact that I don't is my fault, not His. Sometime I can hear Him there waiting for me, calling my name. Oh God! If I am too busy to meet You there, then I am too busy!

MATTHEW 24:29-51
Parts of Matthew 24 have already been fulfilled, and parts of it are still to happen. So what do we do with verse 34? It hangs on who is referred to by "this generation". I have put this with 1 Pet 2:9 where it refers to the "chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation..." as being the church. Psa 22:30 calls us "a seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation."  There is only one generation of spiritual children of God, because He has no grandchildren, He only has sons and daughters. And so, "this generation" obviously doesn't refer to just the people standing in front of Jesus at the time.

And what is "it" that is "at the door" in verse 32? I believe "it" was "the great tribulation", or the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Since Jesus was the last sacrifice,  offerings made in the Temple are an abomination, because now they are idolatrous, a substitute for Jesus. Actually, Acts 14:22 says that the kingdom of God MUST be entered through "much tribulation". Here's the thing: my pastor says that "if it works in the USA, it better work in Uganda. And if it works in Uganda, it should work in the USA." Ask any Believer in Jesus, who lives in a Third World Country, WHEN "the great tribulation" began, and they will tell you that it started the day they entered the Kingdom of God by rebirth. Many have even been martyred because of the Gospel. It is ONLY in the Western world that anyone talks about a specific future tribulation, because there is no Scripture to prove it even exists!

As far as when Jesus shall come again, He says there are no signs. He doesn't know when it will be, neither does anyone else but the Father. It will be like in the days of Noah, without any warning except for the preaching of righteousness.

So what are we waiting for? Christ's return, which will be visible, loud, glorious, accompanied by those who have gone on before us, and everyone will know Who He is, even the Jews. We are awaiting our own resurrection with new bodies, and for the New Heaven and New Earth. In the meantime, we NOW live by faith, not knowing the future (like Abraham before us). We should not be preoccupied with what MIGHT BE, but with GOD and what pleases HIM.

Matthew 24:45-62 and on into Matthew chapter 25, Jesus explained that His people were tested through DELAY. Delay caused Israel to cast off restraint and those "faithful and wise servants ... over God's household" who finally "lost it", will share the portion of the hypocrites, who at least PRETENDED to be religious. This parable is a reminder that the time of Israel's destruction was likened to the days of Noah, when, without warning, the people were judged and destroyed. 

Lest we think we are off the hook, remember that ALL Scripture is given for OUR edification and learning.  Jesus likened "the elder brother" (Luke 15:11) to the Jews first, then to the "older brother in the Church" - the one who has been saved for a long time now, waiting for his inheritance, trusted with His Father's goods.  So don't allow yourself to grow weary of expecting God to manifest Himself in your life.  You don't want to miss out on the Kingdom!

RESPONSE:    I am intended to live a rich, abundant spiritual life of faith NOW. There are no "bailouts", but lots of "going-through" with Jesus. He has walked through fire with me again and again, and Rev 3:18 calls that kind of faith, "gold tried in the fire." I know He is enough, and I know He redeems my life from destruction. He is "the lifter of my head" and His joy makes me strong. His Gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.." (Romans 1:16)

PSALM 30:1-12
What David Learned by Going Through a Life-Threatening Situation: Has God ever lifted you "out of the depths"? or "healed" you, or brought you "up from the grave"? or kept you from "going down into the pit"? These aren't just life-threatening situations, but they also represent the depths of despair, the worst that circumstances can do to a person. Most of us, when we were saved (born again), can testify of being brought from being "dead in sin" to being "alive to God".  It is exhilarating to be truly alive! It is such a contrast to our old life, to our old patterns.

But then what happened? He felt "secure" and said, "I will never be shaken". When David got sure of himself, and thought his mountain stood so strong, then he was shown how insecure and uncertain was everything he had relied on, and how absolutely he was dependent on God for safety. He though he was immovable, but found he must trust God fully.

When God brings correction, it is for our advantage, that we may be partakers of his holiness and not be condemned with the world. If he is angry with us, it is but for a moment. And when we cry to God for mercy, He "turns our mourning into dancing."  He only hides Himself so that we are pressed into seeking Him out. 

PROVERBS 7:24-27
Listen to your dad, not the flatterer or the harlot. Better men than you have fallen! These were men not only of great physical strength, but of wisdom and courage, and yet their fleshly demands overcame them. Now their bodies are strewn over the battle field. Sin cannot be indulged with impunity; its wages is death. The deceitfulness of sin is an old story and the cure to its deceit is wisdom.

RESPONSE:   You mean the CURE to being deceived by sin is WISDOM? That must be why James made the connection and said, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials (temptations) of many kinds, ..... If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." I need all the wisdom I can get. It appears to be my ticket out of my messes. Or to not having the mess in the first place.