Neville
Did Jesus Reveal the Day of His Return? – Pastor Mike Taylor
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father”. Mark 13:32
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”. Matthew 24:36
For the last 2000 years, there has been much theological interpretations of what Jesus was saying in these verses recorded by the men who sat at Jesus feet when they asked Him,
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3
As you read either chapter found in the Gospels, Jesus explains to His disciples what the signs will be of the end of the age and His return. Note one thing, as you read this chapter, Jesus was living as a mortal man, God in the flesh, a Jewish man that was speaking to other Jewish men who had customs and idioms that modern men must come to understand, in context, to what Jesus was teaching to His followers. His disciples were going to have to teach these very things to the rest of the world, so they would have to be able to grasp what these signs were. So Jesus used familiar speech patterns or “idioms” that each were easy to understand and convey their meaning to the Jewish brethren of Jesus’ day.
I want you to focus on one passage that Jesus spoke of, and it starts the sermon off with what can only be described as this idiom (speech patterns of expression) that any Jewish man of those times would have understood immediately because it was part of their culture, their very life and unless we understand these idioms of speech, then the meaning gets lost in translation. What was Jesus referring to when He made the statement “no man knoweth the day or the hour”? Could our Lord have been saying that He was going to return on a certain day of the Jewish calendar that was celebrated each year? It was a phrase that was used to illustrate what the event held to each of them listening. It was a most Holy Day and a special Sabbath of worship that was celebrated in the fall of the year and was signified by the blowing of trumpets, which was to symbolize the “Return of the King.” Let us examine this, which I believe, Jesus is giving reference to when all of His church should be watching for as the end grows ever closer.
God’s Plan for Mankind
God has given us a plan (signs) to show how He wishes to draw men unto Himself. Many have discarded this knowledge as being Jewish (to their great error) and having no relevance to the modern church, although I see some in the Evangelical movements that are beginning to understand and preach the same thing. But what if I told you that God has used each of these signs to reveal the timing of the first coming of His Son into the world, to die and to be resurrected and will use these signs again to announce the second advent of His Son coming back into this world , leading up to and including Him ruling and reigning for 1000 years? Would you stand up and take notice?
I urge you to take due diligence and study the scriptures and these words I give you. The old saying, “Don’t believe me, believe your bible” is what I want you to do. Put this information next to the text. Look in the Strong’s Concordance and find the original Greek and Hebrew words and how they are expressed. In other words, do your homework and your own study. These commandments coming from the Voice of Almighty God gave us God’s appointments with the salvation of mankind. They were a typology and a shadow of things to come that ancient Israel did not understand fully, and do not, even to this day. What these appointed days show are exactly what has happened in the past, and will most likely fulfill His plan in the near future. Let us dive right into what God gave us nearly 4000 years ago to reveal His plan for the salvation of mankind.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are MY feasts.”
“‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times”: Leviticus chapter 23:2,4
Note that God says that these are the “LORD’s” feast, not belonging any one people, not the Gentile nations, not the Jews, not the Hebrew children, not any other people, but that they belonged to Him. In another scripture it emphasizes, “These are MY feast”…Now some think that the word “feast” denotes something with food. It has nothing to do with food, but denotes a commandment for a gathering of His children, His people to acknowledge and worship Him, as a “Holy Convocation” or commanded meeting time/gathering.
To the people of the time of Ancient Israel these “feasts” meant one thing, which was descriptive of their national relationship with Jehovah post Exodus leading into their agricultural life and had specific date of events that were connected to each day or set of days. But to the modern day Church of the Living God, it means something entirely different because our Lord has been sacrificed for the sins of the world. We are not Israel, but each of these days pointed to one thing and One Person, Jesus Christ. To His church, it points to the historically completed events that God has already accomplished or one-half of His plan for the salvation of man. He waits to complete His work and fulfill His plan to redeem His creation to live with Him for all eternity. Note that everything that God wrote down in His Word has a specific meaning, and was not just exclusive for one group of people. God proclaimed them for a purpose as He looked down the annals of time and saw us, His Church. God always has a purpose for everything He does. These are prophetic rehearsals of God’s Son coming into the world the first time as a suffering servant and ultimately, our Savior and High Priest, but the 2nd time or noted by the last half of these commanded days, as conquering King and Lord of Lords. He came first as a lamb, but the next time He sets foot on this earth, He will come as a conquering warrior….a roaring Lion of Judah full of wrath of Almighty God.
To describe His plan in language that we can understand, God chose to bring His Son to come into the world to complete the first part of His plan on the exact days of His appointed times the Bible calls “His Feast” that were given to Moses. They were divided up into observances. Four in the spring of the year, and in the fall of the year the remaining three. The spring appointed days were Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost. What happened on these days that were completed on the exact date that these times of worship were given by God in the Old Testament and completed in the New Testament that effects the Church?
Passover- Jesus offered Himself as the sinless lamb of God. His shedding of His blood was for the salvation of the world and the payment for our sins.
Feast of Unleavened Bread- His death and burial removed our sins outside of the camp. Jesus took our sins to the grave and buried them there. Three days later, He arose victorious over death, hell and the grave.
Feast of First Fruits-on the first day after the Sabbath on this Passover week, the priest waved a sheaf of barley in the temple as an offering of first fruits of the harvest, and simultaneously, Jesus was offering Himself to the Father in heaven as the First Fruits of those born of the dead in resurrection and full payment for the sins of the world.
Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks- 50 days from First Fruits, The Holy Spirit came in power exactly on time! 3000 were saved and the Church was born!
Note that Jesus completed His act of salvation by His death and burial on the exact days of these original God given appointed times. He sent God’s Holy Spirit, as our comforter, counselor and advocate on the exact day that was given in the Old Testament and the church and the Age of Grace began.
These are called God’s Spring Holy Days and they have significant impact on the Christian’s life and his understanding of what has happened in the past and what is coming in the near future. Believe one thing, my reader, God is always right on time. He does nothing by chance, but gives His Word in power, to inform us of His plans and to all those He has called in these last days to proclaim His truths. Does it not stand to reason and totally logical and bible based correct, that if He fulfilled His plan of salvation for all men on the appointed times of God’s Plan for Man on THE day in these springs observances, that He will most likely fulfill His plan beginning at His return to gather His church to Himself, and then to set up His Kingdom to rule and reign for 1000 years on these EXACT days appointed?
As He completed His redemptive act on the very day appointed, He will be right on time with His second entrance into the affairs of men in the chosen day appointed as noted by the coming fall feast, known as Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles, as God has had a plan. It is a wise man that seeks to understand His ways and His plans by making preparations to be ready when they are “right at the door”.
LET ME EXPLAIN SOMETHING
Returning to the phrase “no man knoweth the day or the hour”. We still need to answer that question, what was Jesus saying that the apostles were completely familiar with? By the explanation above, I think you can see how these days mean something totally different to the Church, than it did to Israel when they were given on Mt. Sinai. What significance does the remaining Holy Days of God affect you and me?
In the age that we live in, since the ascension of Jesus Christ to the right hand of the Father God in Heaven, and the beginning of the church at Pentecost, we have been living in the Age of Grace, that the harvest of lost souls has been going on for the last 2000 years, approximately. You should be able to see (I least I hope you see and understand) that the time between the spring and the fall observances I have just listed, is the time that we are living in right now. These are the spring and summer months of the growing harvest of the wheat and the tares that Jesus spoke of in parable. (Matthew 13:25-30)
If you are a believer that we are at the very end, the very last moments of the Age of Grace and the imminent return of Jesus Christ, know our Lord is close, even at the door, then we approach a series of events that could be played out in the coming days, and sooner than anyone would anticipate or expect. It is what I believe is what Jesus was alluding to in His “expressions of speech” Idioms that He spoke to His disciples….what are they?
THE FALL FEAST OF OUR GOD
The 3 Fall Festivals start on the first day signified by the new moon in the 7th month:
“Month of Tishrei”
This is the only Holy Day marked by the New Moon and is set apart for that reason as special. All other festivals are set or counted by the full moon as Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and even Pentecost are counted from the full moon of Nissan which is in the early spring. So the Spirit of GOD is pointing to this festival as a certain day! . This is separated by months from the last feast and must be carefully witnessed by men of great authority in the land of Israel and even by Christians of our modern era. It was a very involved process that must be guaranteed by two witnesses to it’s beginning reported to the Sanhedrin during the time of Ancient Israel. Since it must be authorized, as they called it, “sanctified” before the month’s activities could begin, the appointed time is stretched into two days, as “No man knoweth the day or the hour.” (emphasis mine). It is the only Feast Day that is named as such, because they just didn’t know which day was the correct day. Hence the quote is connected to this day. Why two days? It is because that with the days counted of 29.5 from new moon to the next, no one is sure if it’s the 29th or the 30th day of the month, so to be sure, the Jewish people count both. To further explain the reasoning why two days, I went to the internet and looked up further reasons. What follows is an explanation:
“Yom Teruah is the only festival that no man knows when exactly it will occur. This is due to the fact that it begins on the new moon. The new moon was sanctified when two witnesses see the new moon and attest to it before the Sanhedrin in the Temple.
This sanctification could happen during either of two days, depending on when the witnesses come. Since no one knew when the witnesses would come, no one knew when the Feast of Trumpets would start.” (Watch Unto Prayer)!
A new moon is called “rosh chodesh” in Hebrew. As mentioned, new moons must be validated in Israel by 2 witnesses who will watch the dark black sky at the end of the moon cycle for the first glimmer of the moon to reappear. This is the beginning of the 30 day cycle which determines Israel’s months. (Moon is the word from which we get months). As soon as the new moon is sighted and verified (2 witnesses) then the Sanhedrin, or the High Priest will send runners from the east to the west with signal lights to be lit on high mountains to inform the people that the day has been sanctified and they can begin their counting for the month and the Feast of Trumpets can begin and worship God. They are said to run “like lightning” This highlighted and bold statement “like lightning” is another Jewish idiom that any Jewish person of the time would instantly recognize and it is connected to the fall observance of the Feast of Trumpets.
Matthew 24:7 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. “…again, was Jesus making reference to the observance of the Feast of Trumpets?
Psalm 18:11-14 “He made darkness (the new moon on Feast of Trumpets) His secret place (the day no man knows the hour); His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies (describing the Day of the Lord). At the brightness that was before Him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave His voice (the sound of the trumpet – God’s voice as Jesus voice sounds like the sound of a Trumpet–Revelation 1:10); hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; and He shot out lightning and discomfited them.”
There are numerous passages that use the same Greek word in Strong’s, #796 “astrape, or astropo #797 meaning a bright shining light, a glare, lightning, bright, shining. Other scriptures where the word is used are :
Jesus said:
Luke 17:24 “For as the lightning (astrape), that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines unto the other part under heaven (the east to the west); so shall also the Son of man be in his day.”
Lightning, as seen from earth in the sky in Israel, usually is seen as going downward/upward, or from east to west. This is in agreement with Luke 10:18, in which Jesus may have used astrape to describe lightning as falling from the sky in the land of Israel, although more than likely Jesus was referring to Satan figuratively as what we often call a “falling star” which falls from the sky. Here Jesus was speaking of Satan being cast out of heaven during the Tribulation.
He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning [astrape] from heaven.” Luke 10:18
All could be describing the use of the term “astrape” could be describing how the Son of Man would come as a flash of lightening that comes quickly and is gone when the term is applied to Jesus Christ and is associated with this Feast of Trumpet’s observance.
WHICH TRUMPET ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?
There is a direct connection with this God ordained observance that Paul alluded to in 1st Corinthians and many people do not understand that Paul is talking about the Feast of Trumpets when during this time it is historically noted that 100 trumpets were blown and then a long, louder blast of the shafor and a silver trumpet called the “last trump” then the “Great Trump” respectively.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) and again in 1st Thessalonians,
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)
We cannot go to the Book of Revelation and say that the trumpet of the seventh angel is what Paul is referring to (Revelation 11:15) as John had not even wrote his testimony yet when Paul wrote his in these two passages. This is the last trump (of the 7th angel) that many people try and make this connection in error, because they don’t understand the context. One they labor to connect the two, as they believe that the church will experience the same horrors that the rebellious nations will be subjected to right along with everyone else. I speak it again as in past messages posted , and to further drum home this truth, since the tribulation is designed to purge and refine Israel as silver is in the fire because of their centuries of unbelief, and the nations are destroyed because of their rebellion and unrepentant lawlessness, what is the point of refining the Church during the same period? Was the blood of Jesus not good enough? Did He not do what God intended His perfect sacrifice to accomplish? Then why the conflict? Answer is there is no conflict, only a lack of understanding on our part. The concept of a post Tribulation return of Jesus to save what is left of mankind, is akin to Catholic purgatory, that the church must be refined as she just needed a good whuppin’ before Jesus marries her. Right, and what lady in waiting would marry a groom who allowed that to happen to her?
No, Paul is speaking of a trumpet that will herald an emotion of joy unspeakable and full of glory for His church redeemed and starting the judgment upon the nations left upon earth, but the seventh angel who blows his trumpet signifies the fulfillment of unspeakable horror and untold death and destruction. They are two separate references to a trumpet and not the same one. Some call the doctrine of the Pre-tribulation return of Jesus an escape route, but I prefer to think of it as “VICTORY IN JESUS” and our Blessed Hope. Where is the hope, if you knew that you were going to be tortured and eventually killed because “you must be refined”…does it make sense to you? Titus 2:13,
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Jesus is our blessed hope of coming glory and being protected from the coming wrath of Almighty God.
WHAT WAS PAUL ACTUALLY REFERRING TO?
In further explanation of Jewish history, in the first century when Paul wrote these words, the last trump (shofar) meant a specific day in the year, as he was describing. In Judaism, there are three trumpets that have a name. They are the first trump, the last trump, and then the great trump which is a silver trumpet blown. Each one of these trumpets indicates a specific day in the Jewish year. The first trump is blown on the Feast of Pentecost (Exodus 19:19).
It proclaimed that God had betrothed Himself to Israel. The last trump is synonymous with Rosh HaShanah, according to Theodore Gaster in his book, “Festivals of the Jewish Year”, in his chapter on Rosh HaShanah. Herman Kieval also states the same thing in his book, “The High Holy Days” in the chapter on the shofar. The great trumpet is blown on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), which will herald the return of Jesus back to the earth to rule and reign and put down all rebellion (Matthew 24:31). In between these two events of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are the 10 days of awe, which in Jewish tradition are the days God judges mankind. These would correlate possibly to the tribulation period and a time of intense judgment on the earth. Got that? First and last trump on Pentecost, then Rosh HaShanah or Feast of Trumpets respectively, followed by a period of 10 days of judgment, and then the great trumpet blown on the Day of Atonement, or AT-ONE-MENT with God or the return of Jesus Christ with His saints to reign and rule.
The first and last trump relate to the two horns of the ram, which according to God’s Word, was caught in the thicket on Mount Moriah when Abraham was ready to slay Isaac and offer him up as a burnt offering. This ram became the substitute for Isaac even as Jesus became the substitute for us and provided life for us through His death. These two horns blown bookend the time we are living right now and the plan of salvation given to all who will believe by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The right horn was prophetically blown at Pentecost at approximately 33 AD, and we await the blowing of the left horn or the last trump that ends this age we are living.
The last Feast day to be completed is the Feast of Tabernacles, which God has said in His Word, Zechariah chapter 14, that all men would come to the Jerusalem to worship Him at HIS Feast of Tabernacles.
“And it shall come to pass, that all who are left of the nations who came up against Jerusalem, shall go up year to year to worship the LORD of host , to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. ”
It is the only Feast observance left, as all have been completed and fulfilled by our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
WE ARE CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT
Paul makes a reference that we are not in darkness, in 1st Thessalonians,
“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”
We are not in darkness, so as we see the day approaching, we will not be surprised as the rest of the world is, being in the dark. We are in the light, as God has shined His Light on our hearts through His Holy Spirit. God gave us signs in His Word and signs in the heavens that will alert us, that the time is at hand.
Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 24?
37 “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”
Only Noah knew of the appointed time. He didn’t know the day, but he knew the season, so he worked on the ark as God commanded. God says that they were all surprised and swept away by the flood, but Noah was not surprised. Also, in this passage as the good man of the house, we are to watch. We may not know the hour, but we know the season. But note one thing concerning Noah and his family…when he and his sons began to build the ark, some 100+ years prior to the beginning of the flood, they had no idea what day the rains would come, but as the time grew closer and closer and they were a week out from the rains starting…what did God say to Noah?
Genesis7:4 “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.”
God made it known to His servant when the time was right for him to know…He would know even the day.
Now Noah had not known for all those years what day it would be that God would fulfill His judgment on the earth but he believed. But when it was only 7 days hence, God told Noah straight out the exact day He would bring it to pass, just not the hour. What is my point in this reference? Some 2000 years ago, when Jesus our Lord and Savior made these statement “no man knoweth the day or the hour” identifying that He would return on a future Feast of Trumpets that all these men surely recognized, they had no idea what year it would be…just a day in the season of a future year. Now 2000 years down the annals of time, we are as Noah, children of the light who see the day approaching, and God is telling us to expect Him to even narrow it down to a small window of time. How will He do that? He told us that there would be signs in the heavens…in the moon, in the sun and in the stars.
Revelation chapter 3:
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. ”
As the day approaches, the gathering of God’s people to keep them from the hour of temptation as John wrote above, will trigger the Day of the Lord preceded by the church’s removal from planet earth. Some feel that it begins latter in the chapters of Revelation when Jesus is physically present, but God will bring judgment upon this earth and rebellious mankind beginning with the opening of the 1st Seal loosed in Chapter 6. God will begin the process of preparing the earth and the heavens for the reign of His Son, Jesus Christ and removing the defiling rebellion of wicked men and the polluting of His creation. As God in His grace attempts to bring man to repentance, the destruction will grow worse and more intense Joel described it as such chapter 2,
1″Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.”
On down in verse 30,
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”
Could it be that God is trying to get our attention with the signs in the heavens that we saw this last year?…And not to mention all the volcanoes that spew ash and clouds of smoke into the heavens. We’ve always had erupting volcanoes in our history, but not to the extent that has been happening in the last few years. Earthquakes are everywhere all over the planet, and the loss of life and property keep rising as the earth shakes from earthquake after earthquake. America has been waiting for the big ONE that will either be catastrophic for the west coast or in the middle of the country with the New Madrid fault…we’re long over due for another horrific quake that will change the land mass of California, or the Mid-Western states topography. Let us not forget the super volcano that lurks under Yellowstone National Park that if it erupts, life in America will be destroyed due to blocking out the sun and destroying all plant life. At least that is what I’ve read scientist are predicting will happen someday in the near future.
When this finally happens, this will be only the beginning of the sorrows of unrepentant man and his wickedness, not the end. It will continue until the full measure of His wrath is poured out by the seventh angel and the bowl judgments.
God has given us clear examples and words that point to a time in the near future when He will begin fulfilling His past prophetic rehearsals of God’s plan for man, and beginning the Trumpet call to announce the coming of the King. Each year when the Feast of Trumpets comes to pass, especially in the last several years, I am keenly aware and listening for the sound of a trumpet and the shout of our God Jesus Christ proclaiming victory for His Church. Will it be this year, next year or some year after that? God knows, because He has not told me, but I know He is close and I will be ready…Will you be ready?
Patterns and Prophecies – Wendy Wippel
“Hermeneutics” is the stuffy theological term for the lens through which we see Scripture. Western evangelicals, for example, see the Bible as a self-help book, with every verse a promise to claim. The Bible, however, was not written by Joel Osteen (Can I get an amen?), but by Middle Eastern men, who wrote out what God breathed. Their hermeneutics? Similitudes.
Jesus Himself told us that: “’These things in similitudes I have spoken to you, but there cometh an hour when no more in similitudes will I speak to you, but freely of the Father will tell you.” (John 16:25 Youngs Literal Translation)
Similitudes being the translation of the Greek word paroimia, A word also translated symbol or allegories. God speaks to us in allegories.
Scripture, thankfully, defines some of these specific allegories for us.
Adam was an allegory of the Savior promised after the fall. (Romans 5:12-21)
Abraham offering up Isaac was an allegory of the crucifixion of Christ. (Hebrews 11:17-19)
Moses striking the rock in the wilderness was an allegory of God in the form of man being smitten for our sins. (II Corinthians 10:4)
To name a few.
In fact, Jesus tells two of His disciples –on the Emmaus road –a rather astounding thing, namely, that all of the Old Testament scriptures speak of Him. And He followed that up with an impromptu Bible study in which He explained to them, again, that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25)
In other words, He explained to them that all of the Old Testament was about Him.
In context, obviously, meaning foreshadowings. Patterns that become prophecies, also known as “types” (short for prototypes).
Essentially meaning that the type is a foreshadowing that will eventually be fulfilled by the antitype — Christ Himself.
Essentially a prophecy by analogy.
Exhibit A: probably one of the most widely recognized foreshadowings in Scripture, Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah.
We all know this story:
“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ladand I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”
And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide;[b] as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which isbut on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. (Genesis 22:1-19 NKJV)
It’s pretty hard to miss, in this passage, that Isaac is a type; a prophecy by analogy of Christ. It’s a whole lot easier to miss the details that confirm and validate the type unless you’re paying real attention.
For example:
- Isaac carries his own wood to the place of sacrifice.
- Isaac as a child specifically promised by God, just like Jesus. (Jn 15:4)
- Isaac was born to a women who physiologically couldn’t have children, just like Jesus.
- The moment that Abraham purposed to obey God’s command to sacrifice Isaac, the young man was essentially dead to him. Isaac was therefore “resurrected” and reunited with his father on the third day (Genesis 22:4) just like Jesus.
- Isaac was accompanied by two witnesses, just like Jesus. Isaac went on to have many many spiritual descendants, just like Jesus.
- Isaac cried out to his father (Gen 22:7), just like Jesus.
- God provided a ram for the sacrifice by ensnaring the ram’s horns in thorns. Just like Jesus, who wore a crown of thorns to His sacrifice. Still skeptical?
Notice that God specifically tells Abraham to “go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” And that God is going to show them an exact place to stop. (Gen 22:2)
Notice also that, after they travel a ways, Abraham sees the place far off. And that he had to look up to see it. (Verse 4)
Finally (verse 9) they arrive at the specific place Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his son, Mt. Moriah. Specifically, up high on Mt. Moriah. Where thousands of years later a temple would be built-a temple in which other rams would be sacrificed for the sins of Abraham’s descendants.
Still not convinced?
You may have missed a very interesting omission in Abrahams’s happy ending:
…18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Here’s my question. What the heck happened to Isaac?
Remember, this is a prophecy by analogy. So isn’t it interesting that the next time Isaac appears in the narrative is when he shows up to claim his bride Rebecca at the well.
Just like Jesus. Who will next appear to claim us as His bride.
10 Reasons I Kissed Halloween Goodbye by Michelle Blake
I used to have a love affair with Halloween. In fact, you might have called it an obsession. Even several years after I gave my heart to Jesus, I still harbored a pretty decent crush on costume shops, individually wrapped miniature candies, and “good” spookiness, all in the name of fun.
Even when I started to feel a little uncomfortable with it, I purposed that I would simply tone it down a little and not let it consume too big a part of my heart. Just a little flirting once a year, because surely my one true Love knew my heart belonged to Him. Just like my husband wouldn’t mind at all if I spent a little time with old boyfriends once a year — you know, just for old times’ sake. After all, he wants me to be happy and would never want me to miss out on any fun.
You know I’m kidding, of course. My husband would have nothing to do with that sort of thinking. And neither did the Holy Spirit. After a few years of ignoring His gentle tugging on my heart, I finally decided to prayerfully consider giving up Halloween.
The more I learned, the more I became convinced that this “holiday” (a word that means “holy day,” by the way) was not honoring to God in any way. I began to see that my refusal to give up Halloween was evidence of a divided heart — but Jesus wants my whole heart.
Ever since deciding to “just say no” to Halloween, I can honestly tell you that the blessings and joy of obedience are far greater than any fun I ever had “celebrating.”
And since many people, even Christians, think my decision is odd or even legalistic, I finally decided to put together a list of the top ten reasons I kissed Halloween goodbye.
1. Halloween glorifies evil, not God.
It’s no secret that Halloween is all about witches and ghosts and fear and death. Haunted houses, Hollywood movies, even neighborhood patios are graced with blood and dead bodies and axe murderers … giant replicas of poisonous spider and cobwebs … scary organ music, skeletons, and gravestones. Can anyone deny that this holiday glorifies Satan and every evil thing?
“Oh, but our family only dresses in good costumes,” we are quick to point out, as if somehow sugarcoating the evil with smiling pumpkins and sparkly Disney princess costumes somehow changes the meaning of the celebration.
I too continued to dress up for several years, but no matter what creative spin I put on it, eventually I could no longer justify that anything I was doing in respect to this holiday was honoring to God. Sure, my costumes were cute. Sometimes they were even sophisticated, clever, funny, or smart. But none of those things changed the fact that the holiday itself glorified evil, and I could no longer lend my talents and attention to remain part of it.
Most of us know that Halloween is one of the highest, most holy days for witches and Satanists. Even though we ourselves may not be involved in the practice of witchcraft, we give credence to the holiday by celebrating it. If we abhor evil, should we not also abhor any day designated to celebrate it? The Bible says to avoid even the appearance of evil.
“Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” —1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
It also doesn’t take a rocket scientist to discern that the Halloween is all about fear. Scary costumes, haunted houses, and horror movies are designed for no other purpose than to frighten us. Seeking out opportunities to be scared is, on this day at least, the highest form of entertainment. If we do not have a spirit of fear, should we even acknowledge a day whose purpose is to invoke a spirit of fear in us?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind.” —2 Timothy 1:7
2. If the seed is bad, the fruit will be bad.
Halloween has never been a Christian holiday. The foundations of Halloween are occultic, and the symbols and traditions we continue today all have roots in pagan practices. God tells His people over and over again to avoid all pagan rituals and traditions.
Halloween derives in part from the occult traditions of the Druids, the pagan priests of the Celts, whose fall festival was the precursor to Halloween as we know it. “To ancient Druids, the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the fields. Samhain … was celebrated with human sacrifice, augury and prayers; for at this season spirits walked, and evil had power over souls of men.”1
When the first Christians came to America, they knew of Halloween’s occult beginnings and banned its celebration.2
“[B]ecause of Christianity among so many of the settlers, Halloween celebrations were not celebrated until the 1800’s when several immigrants from Ireland and Scotland introduced their Halloween customs. They brought various beliefs about ghosts and witches with them. Other groups added their own cultural influences to Halloween customs. German immigrants brought a vivid witchcraft lore, and Haitian and African peoples brought their native voodoo beliefs about black cats, fire, and witchcraft.”3
Today, we have become so accustomed to the traditions of men that we refuse to question them. Even Christian families have been honoring this holiday for generations. But doing so ignores the fact that this festival in no way honors God, and in fact celebrates the very practices God abhors:
“When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer [pharmakeia], or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.” —Deuteronomy 18:9-11
Putting a Christian label over the top of a pagan practice does not make it pleasing to God. In fact, we are to get rid of all pagan practices and have no part of them:
“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.” —Deuteronomy 12:1-4
God doesn’t want us to keep the ways of the world and sprinkle Christianity on top. He wants us to elevate Him alone: His ways, His philosophies, His deliverance, His celebrations. Any other practice is sin and eventually bears bad fruit.
3. Don’t dine with demons.
Samhain was the one day of the year when the dead were allowed to come back into the world and commune with the living. People traditionally set a spot for the dead at their table, inviting them in. Since there was also the possibility that evil spirits would come looking for them, people took to “guising” themselves for protection. In other words, it’s okay to dine with demons — as long as you wear a costume to protect yourself.
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” —1 Corinthians 10:21
So are we really supping with demons? Sharing food with someone represents a sacred connection. Adam and Eve first ate with God in the garden, but then chose to share an apple without God in the presence of Satan. Jesus spent much of his time on earth dining with sinners, because that is who He came to save. The last thing Jesus did before He was crucified was to share a meal with His disciples, and He commands us to continue remembering Him in that way until He comes again. When we see Him in heaven, it will be at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” — Revelation 3:20
Satan is the world’s greatest counterfeiter, so he tempts us to sit at his table and join his feast (festival, festivity) by making it as attractive as he can. He knows we won’t say no if his festival looks like pure evil, so he’s let us create our own G-rated version that we aren’t as likely to resist.
But God says, “For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? … And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.” —2 Corinthians 6:14-16
4. Halloween is an excuse to flaunt sexuality.
It’s true. Halloween is becoming more risqué every year. In fact, sometimes I think its real name is “Dress Like a Porn Star” Day. Girls dress more provocatively, and at much younger ages, on this day than any other. There seems to be an unwritten competition to have the raciest costume. For those passing on ghoul or gore, the only other worthy goals seem to be shock and immodesty.
“But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” —Ephesians 5:3-8
I can vouch from personal experience that when we put on a costume, we often detach ourselves, sometimes ever so slightly, from our inhibitions. After all, it is much easier to act a tad bit naughty when our real identity is hidden. It’s almost as if bad behavior is somehow excused when we are in costume — and it’s much easier to explain in the morning: “I wasn’t actually sinning; I was just staying in character.”
Even though we are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, we prefer to emulate them and parade them on our Facebook pages as if they are somehow deserving of honor.
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” —Ephesians 5:11-12
5. We play how we practice.
This is one of my husband’s favorite sayings. He is usually referring to table manners with our sons: If you use a knife and fork correctly at the kitchen table, then you won’t have any problems when it counts — when you’re at a nice restaurant with your employer or meeting your future wife’s parents for the first time. How we practice spills over into real life.
The same applies to Halloween. We think we can entertain the macabre, erect gravestones in our front yards, and prop dead “bodies” on our front porches. “Oh, but they’re not real,” we demur. Then we are appalled when a 17-year-old has a fascination with dead bodies and decides to act on his morbid desires.
Do we really have any right to be shocked or even surprised when some among us decide to act out in real life the fascination with evil we insist on holding dear? We can’t have it both ways: if we choose to be entertained by evil, we should be prepared for the time when it becomes reality.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this work, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” —Ephesians 6:12
Let us not drop our guard for a moment, or even camp out one night a year “for fun” on the side of the enemy.
6. Are we causing others to stumble?
Even if we don’t believe it’s dangerous to dabble in the ancient pagan practices of Druid priests, have we given any thought to the impact our actions might have on others?
The Bible tells us just how important it is that we not lead His children astray (Matthew 18:6) or cause them to stumble (Mark 9:42). If we present witchcraft, promiscuity, and the occult in a fun and seductive manner now, are we opening the door to involvement in those practices in the future?
Will our children learn values we want them to learn by participating in this “holy day,” or would they learn better values, perhaps even courage, from seeing us stand up against evil even when our culture says it’s fine? It probably goes without saying, but what values are we impressing on our children when we send them trick-or-treating? Is the lie “give me your candy or I’ll play a trick” really becoming of anyone?
If we forego Halloween but give our children a substitute celebration instead, are we sending the message that “I am trying to compensate because I think you’re missing out on something really amazing”? I want my children to believe what I myself believe: that we have been given something so much better than this! No more bobbing for apples in the church basement (a pagan fertility ritual, by the way) when I have true joy in knowing God’s true Son!
7. Be faithful in the small things.
For many Christians, the thought of whether to celebrate Halloween is a small issue, maybe even a non-issue. After all, it’s only one day a year. And what harm is there really in a handful of Snickers miniatures and a pillowy pumpkin costume?
Let me answer that this way:
First, our character, integrity, and devotion to God is evident in the small things. If we can’t be faithful in the small things, how will our hearts be faithful in the big things?
“He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.” —Luke 16:10
So, yes, even something as seemingly small as how we handle Halloween is important.
Second, God has told us to focus on what is pure, noble, right, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8). Is Halloween any of these things? No, and therefore it is unworthy of any of our time or thoughts.
Third, “the Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” —1 John 3:8
If God came for the purpose of destroying the works of Satan, why do we then try remember, imitate, and even elevate those very things?
How do we expect we will be able to keep ourselves faithful when the big temptations come alone when we can’t even say no to glorifying evil in what we do for fun?
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” —James 1:27
But we’ve joined forces with the world. In fact, instead of keeping ourselves unspotted, we have become one giant spot with it — we are so much alike no one can tell where the world ends and the Church begins.
We need to start keeping ourselves pure in the small things, so that we will be able to stay pure and undefiled in the big things.
8. God wants to bless us — but not in the way the world blesses.
For those of us who love Jesus, why is it so important to entertain the macabre and flirt with the dark side for one day, one week, or one month out of the year, instead of delighting in the joy the Lord Himself has set before us?
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the peoples are futile….’” —Jeremiah 10:2
We often say we don’t want to deprive our children of candy, of dressing up, of the “fun” they have by participating in this holiday. But God has already told us the customs of the world are futile!
Is this is the kind of happiness we want for our children, we are clearly setting our standards too low. Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and He will provide all of the other things we need.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” —Psalm 37:3-4
God in His divine sovereignty did not give us Halloween for our entertainment. Instead, we thought we were missing something and we hijacked it! Just like Eve in the garden, we believed Satan’s lie that God was withholding something good from us. God, however, has far better things in store for us than candy corn and parlor games. Why do we continue to grovel in the plastic sandbox when God has given us the entire beach?4
We continue pouring time and money into what is overall something that has no lasting fruit and does not in any way glorify God. Would our time be better spent in prayer, teaching our children about the real dangers their friends face by dabbling in the occult? As a Christian, I don’t want to spend even a penny of my money on a $7-billion-a-year event that is so dishonoring to God. As a nation, it is painfully evident where our hearts are.
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Luke 12:34
9. There is sin in the camp.
Even if we think our costumes are not sinful (as if it’s the costume that’s the problem and not the fact that we are still giving reverence to the holiday itself), what about others who have decided that there is nothing wrong with their costumes either? After all, they aren’t really practicing witchcraft, just dressing up as witches. So do we excuse the dressing up but draw the line at Ouija boards? What about pretending to cast spells? We have made ourselves the judges of what is good and evil instead of following God’s command to avoid even the spoils of the enemy.
I have two words to say to that kind of thinking: Remember Achan.
In Joshua 7, Israel was accursed and could not even stand before its enemies because just one man, Achan, had taken the spoils of Jericho, when God had said no one was to touch them. By the sin of one man, the entire nation was judged.
“Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.” —Joshua 7:8-12
It’s just a holiday — what’s the big deal? The darkness of Halloween is devoted to destruction and is in no way honoring to our Father of lights (James 1:17) — and no orange and black sugar coating will make it so. God is a jealous God, and all pagan beliefs are sinful in God’s eyes. We can’t choose how much or even how nicely we want to celebrate.
And we need to help hold each other accountable because we may all bear the judgment for sin in the camp.
At this time in history more than ever, we are in great need of God’s mercy on our land:
“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” —2 Chronicles 7:14
Yet how many of us are truly humbling ourselves and turning from wickedness? We say we are followers of Christ, but we refuse to surrender in complete obedience to His Word in even the simple act of turning from a holiday that glorifies evil.
If still we refuse to repent and seek God’s wisdom in every aspect of our lives, we should not be surprised when God further removes His hand of blessing and protection from this great land.
10. Come out from them and be separate.
Perhaps the reason I finally let go of Halloween was precisely because I didn’t want to.
If that sounds like a contradiction, let me explain. You see, the very fact that I kept coming up with reasons and excuses so I could continue celebrating eventually led me to question my motives. Why was I hanging on so tightly? Was it possible that my celebration of Halloween had become an idol to me? Certainly it appeared so, because still I embraced the traditions of men even when I knew God’s heart on the matter.
“Therefore come out from them and be separate from them, says the Lord.” —2 Corinthians 6:17
God wants His people to be holy, which means to be set apart. If everyone else is doing something, and I’m doing it too, that is a good time to examine myself to see if I’m really in the faith. If people don’t look at me and think I am peculiar (1 Peter 2:9) — if I fit right in with our culture and no one can tell I am any different — then I am probably doing something wrong.
The Bible doesn’t say that we should have less up do with darkness than other people do; it says have nothing to do with evil. By even acknowledging and associating with the holiday, I was giving credence to it in my life and opening myself to deception.
It is my prayer that everyone who follows Christ will be open to prayerfully seeking God’s wisdom about the traditions of man.
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” —Ephesians 5:6-10
Here are additional Bible verses you can review as you prayerfully seek God’s wisdom regarding whether your family should continue to celebrate Halloween:
http://www.openbible.info/topics/celebrating_halloween
Effective Leadership – OS Hillman
“And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.” Exodus 14:31
What makes an effective Christian leader today?
Is it charisma? Is it ability? Is it communication and oratory skills?
God’s view of an effective leader has nothing to do with these qualities. They may be a part of an effective leader.
However, the core attribute of a Christian leader is his integrity with God and his obedience to follow Him. When this happens, God manifests His power in and through that leader.
Moses was effective because he was willing to obey the commands God gave him. When Moses did this, God manifested His presence in him. The result was that people followed. They followed because they saw God working in and through the man. They saw that this man was worthy of following because God’s anointing was on him.
When people see the Lord’s power manifested in your life, they will have a healthy fear of the Lord.
They will look at you and say, “This person has something I don’t have that is worthy of more investigation.”
Your challenge is to seek the Lord with a whole heart, resulting in God’s power being manifested in the daily activities of your life. When this happens, you can expect others to be drawn to what they see in you.
The problem with many Christians today is that non-Christians see nothing different about the way they live to motivate the unsaved to desire their faith.
What makes you different from your neighbor?
Is your experience with God noticeably different from that of the man next door?
If you’re not experiencing regular encounters with God, it’s time to ask why not.
We don’t live day-to-day for the next spiritual experience, but we should see by-products of a life centered in God that is reflected in fruit from His presence in our lives.
Sign of Jonah, 3 days, 3 nights – By Pastor Mike Taylor –
1st Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”
This spring season, most of world celebrates the risen Lord. It is something we must all celebrate and give thanks to God our Father for sending His Only Begotten Son to die for the sins of you, and for me. We give Him well deserved praise and glory for the plan of redemption and the single most important aspect of that redemption, His own resurrection. His resurrection will be the first fruits of our own resurrection when Jesus breaks forth from the clouds with power and great glory to redeem what is His, already paid for in full. Christians view this as a most sacred time, and in their hearts and minds, they are giving our Lord and Savior honor and glory for what He did for us, almost 2000 years ago.
BUT………………there’s that word…….
Would it bother any of us to know that we are celebrating the Lords death and resurrection in a way that is contrary to scripture? After reading this, it should. I know, we are just doing what is traditionally been the way of the masses of Christians for years of our present lives, but to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, requires knowing the truth, does it not? What if I told you that Jesus did not rise from the dead on Sunday morning or traditionally called Easter? What if I told you that the tradition is nothing but the traditions of men and is in direct conflict with God’s Holy Word and steeped in pagan idolatry. I think you would say prove it! Let us go to scripture and do just that…prove all things by the Word of God. Let us start by the very words of our Lord and Savior when the Pharisees came to Him asking for a sign that He was the Messiah. Matthew chapter 12,
12:39 “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Just from taking the underlined words of Jesus and thinking on that only, I have been amazed that our Catholic friends found in the Lord, believe that Jesus was buried on “Good Friday” and was raised on Sunday morning. How do they get 3 days and three nights out of the time of Friday evening until Sunday morning? My brother, who is a “converted” Catholic hypothesized that Jesus was talking about half days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Really? Let us examine scripture starting here and then let us dive right into the season based on historical accounts and the way the Passover season is observed by the Jewish community, even today and would have been so done in the time of Jesus being delivered to be crucified as prophesied in your bible.
THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS!
This was the only symbol that Jesus gave to the disbelieving Jewish authorities of the sign of Him being the Messiah. He plainly told them that as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the fish, so He would also be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth. Any less than 3 days and 3 nights would make Jesus an outright fraud and an imposter. In others words, He would be a lunatic and a liar! We know that He was God’s foreordained sacrifice for the sins of the world and not a fraud. So we need to examine this question, “what is three day and three nights, being the only sign our Lord gave”?
In the beginning of your bible, found in Genesis, the creator gives the definition of what is a day, consisting of the evening and the morning. Genesis 1:3,
“And the evening and the morning were the first day. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 1:8 and so on till God rested on the seventh day from all His labors…”
This reveals that God made a literal 24 hour day, half being in the evening, and the other half being in the morning. So when Jesus said 3 days and 3 nights, he literally meant three 24 hour period or a total of 72 hours or He was a fraud. Additionally, Jesus’ understanding of a day’s length in John 11:9: “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” From this we can safely assume that night is also twelve hours long, and day and night together equal 24 hours. It is no stretch of intellect to figure that three days and three nights total 72 hours.
Now let’s take the traditional and popular stance of a Good Friday crucifixion believed by the major religions and plug in 72 hours. Notice the problem? It doesn’t fit. You only come up with 36 hours or half the required time to make what Jesus said was the “ONLY” sign He gave that He WAS their Messiah. If you take that amount of time that God stated in the beginning and Jesus plainly stated about His resurrection, then you come away with a Monday evening resurrection. So it’s not even close to Sunday morning. So what’s the problem with the tradition? Problem is that men have failed to understand, or chose to ignore what really happened during this time of the historical account, not just the biblical account of the way the nation of Israel kept this season differently than traditions of modern Christianity which is the only barometer we have, because Jesus lived in a Jewish society with all its customs and following Biblical Torah Law. Look at John 19:31,
“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”
Many of the traditional Christian community mistakenly think that the Sabbath this verse refers to is the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. But historically, on this week, there are TWO Sabbaths…one is after Preparation Day, and one is the weekly Sabbath. So logically, but in gross error, they think that they are referring to Friday, but is that so? Historically we find that the Jewish people started calling this the week of Unleavened Bread beginning with Passover. In your Bible that word Easter is mentioned, but in Greek the word is Pascha, or Passover. Acts chapter 12, and it is mentioned only one time and no where else, why?
12:4 ” And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.”
It may be accounted for bias of the King James translators to not translating it correctly as Passover, not to discredit the KJV, but it is men’s bias that we must look past and look to the original text for the proper translation in Greek. Now let’s move on to the historical account of this season.
THE LORDS SUPPER and EVENTS OF THE CROSS
Jesus knew that His time had come, and if He was going to have a Passover meal with His disciples, He must do it the night before, as He Himself was being delivered as our Passover, which was the next night. On Nisan 14, Jesus gathered His followers to institute the New Covenant of the bread and the wine as symbols of His broken body and shed blood. Luke,
22:14 “And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you”.
When Jesus was arrested, it was early morning before daylight and He was judged in a kangaroo court apart from the people in secret for fear of the masses gathered for the Passover season. History shows us from just other secular writings that this was a Wednesday morning Jesus was judged as a heretic and sentenced to death by the cross. Note that by Jewish method of biblical time keeping is from sundown to sundown, not like we do today, which is confusing to the everyday Christian.
Jesus was put on the cross before noon or the sixth hour of this Wednesday , which was counted from 6am our time. Note that Jesus hung on the cross by scripture from the 6th hour and died about the 9th hour, or 3pm and the heavens were black as night, during the strength of the daylight.
Matthew chapter 27,
27:45 “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
27:47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
27:48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
27:49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.”
So Jesus died about 3PM on Wednesday afternoon, when the Priest came to Pilate to have the legs of the victims crucified broken and have them quickly die and taken off the crosses since the next day was a High Day. John chapter 19,
19:31 “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”
From scripture, Jesus legs were not broken, as He was already dead. Jesus was quickly taken off the cross (by His cousin), Joseph of Arimathaea, a follower also of Jesus,
John 19:38 “And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.”
So summarizing up to this point, Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14 about noon in the daytime until being taken off the cross before sundown and laid in a tomb of a rich man before the High Day of Passover was to begin at sundown. So begins our time clock of the time of our Lord being in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights according to His Word of being the Messiah. The time clock starts BEFORE 6pm or sundown on a Wednesday night….a side note that I find most compelling and emotional to my heart strings is this. In the temple at that very hour that our Lord was crucified and died from torture and the loss of blood, the priest in the temple were in the middle of the task of slaughtering all the lambs for the Passover sacrifices the next day. Our Savior Jesus Christ was slain at the very same hour. He WAS the Passover Lamb of God.
72 HOUR BEGINS
Beginning from this hour of our Lord’s entombment before sundown on a Wednesday evening, we begin our count of 3 twenty four hour days….let’s begin. Wednesday evening until Thursday evening is 1 day or 24 hours. Thursday evening until Friday evening at sundown, 2ndday of 24 hours, and finally Friday evening until sundown Saturday evening or near the end of the weekly Sabbath. From the time of His entombment, the end of the sign of Jonah of 72 hours, Jesus opened His eyes in a transformed spiritual body and rose from the dead, not a second later, or a second earlier. Some say the covering was rolled back at this time, but scripture shows that the angels rolled it back for the living to enter. Jesus went right through the walls. Thus, Jesus fulfilled His sign of being the Messiah, by being resurrected exactly 72 hours later from the time of being put in the tomb before sundown the previous Wednesday evening. Some will say, well what about the verse that says He was raised on the first day of the week? Let’s look at those verses.
16:1 ” And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun.
16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him…….
16:8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.”
What verse 9 is saying is that Jesus revealed Himself to Mary, before anyone else on the first day of the week. By following scripture and historical accounts we have established that Jesus was raised near the end of the weekly Sabbath, then was in the Garden when Mary was crying. This would have been on a Saturday, not Sunday, as Jesus proclaimed Himself, Lord of the Sabbath.
Why did the women wait until this morning to anoint the body of Jesus. It’s easy if you follow the timeline. Jesus was laid in a tomb on Wednesday night at sundown. The next day was a High Day or the First Day of Unleavened Bread week which includes Passover, or Seder. The next day, they gathered all the implements to do the anointing of Jesus body, then they rested on the weekly Sabbath which was Saturday, and made the trip to the tomb on the first full day with the preparations on Sunday morning. Jesus there met Mary in the garden and said these words: John 20,
20:13 “And they said to her, Woman, why are you sobbing? She told them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.
20:14 On saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing [there], but she did not know (recognize) that it was Jesus.
20:15 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you crying [so]? For Whom are you looking? Supposing that it was the gardener, she replied, Sir, if you carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him and I will take Him away.
20:16 Jesus said to her, Mary! Turning around she said to Him in Hebrew, Rabboni!–which means Teacher {or} Master.
20:17 Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me [do not hold Me], for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brethren and tell them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”
Precisely at this very hour, the priest were in the temple performing the Feast of First Fruits. The evening before they had laid sickle to the first gathering of the spring harvest of barley and were waving it before God to bless the harvest, as a offering of the best of their harvest, a offering of first fruits from the earth. Jesus also ascended to the Father in heaven and offered Himself, the First Fruits of those borne of the dead as payment in full for the sins of the world, past, present, and future for all mankind that believes on His name. Historically and biblically , it is the scenario that fully satisfies biblical accounts and historical accounts apart from men’s traditions. At this time, Jesus was the first fruits of the FIRST resurrection that will end after the Tribulation and the last of the those raised in the first resurrection will be raised to life, just as He was.
There is another reason why the women waiting for the fourth day to anoint the body of Jesus and it is the same reason Jesus waiting four days to raise Lazarus from the dead. In this time, nobody had a “stethoscope” to listen for the sounds of a heart beat. It was custom to wait four days to pronounce the deceased as dead…not just dead (as many were raised because of being in a coma), but dead, dead…with all the signs of decomposition of smell and rigor of the body. To be any earlier and be a witness of Jesus resurrection would have given critics another reason to believe that Jesus was never dead, but only in a coma and not really dead, so the women waited, as was custom for the fourth day at sunrise to approach the tomb of Jesus with the spices to complete His burial service.
SO WHY KEEP SUNDAY AS RESURRECTION DAY?
Good question and one that must be also answered on historical grounds. If anyone would take the time and research the meaning of the word “Easter” by even going to their encyclopedia or doing a word search and looking at even Wikipedia, they would find the historical meaning and why the tradition was moved to Sunday as Jesus being raised from the dead and is in total error. Why the change? Because men love tradition more than they love the truth. I myself did a word search and find that the word Easter is derived from pagan influence. It’s not a comfortable ride when you find out your favorite holiday is nothing but a smorgasbord of pagan and perverted Christian symbols mixed with cute little items, such as bunnies and eggs. Wikipedia will give you many origins that have been incorporated into mainstream Christianity, but I take this definition from online source at religioustolerance.org,
“Origins of the name ‘Easter’: The name ‘Easter’ originated with the names of an ancient false goddess and god. The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE.) a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the “Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos.” 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: “eastre.” Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:
Aphrodite, named Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus) after the two places which claimed her birth; 8
Ashtoreth from ancient Israel;
Astarte from ancient Greece;
Emeter from Mycenae;
Hathor from ancient Egypt;
Ishtar from Assyria;
Kali, from India; and
Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility.
An alternative explanation has been suggested. The name given by the Frankish church to Jesus’ resurrection festival included the Latin word “alba” which means “white.” (This was a reference to the white robes that were worn during the festival.) “Alba” also has a second meaning: “sunrise.” When the name of the festival was translated into German, the “sunrise” meaning was selected in error. This became “ostern” in German. Ostern has been proposed as the origin of the word ‘Easter’.2″”
So how was this pagan origin found to be included into modern Christianity? This is pure history and attempts are not made to lay blame on any one denomination, but you know who you are. From the Catholic Encyclopedia, the New Advent, we find these words:
“However it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this point, as they observed the practice, which from Apostolic tradition has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the resurrection of our Savior. Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all with one consent through mutual correspondence drew up an ecclesiastical decree that the mystery of the resurrection of our Lord should be celebrated on no other day but the Sunday and that we should observe the close of the paschal fast on that day only.”
The text of the decree of the Council of Nicaea which settled, or at least indicated a final settlement of, the difficulty has not been preserved to us, but we have an important document inserted in Eusebius’s “Life of Constantine” (III, xviii sq.). The emperor himself, writing to the Churches after the Council of Nicaea, exhorts them to adopt its conclusions and says among other things: “At this meeting the question concerning the most holy day of Easter was discussed, and it was resolved by the united judgment of all present that this feast ought to be kept by all and in every place on one and the same day. . . And first of all it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin. . . for we have received from our Saviour a different way. (where? Not in my bible!). . And I myself have undertaken that this decision should meet with the approval of your Scarcities in the hope that your Wisdoms will gladly admit that practice which is observed at once in the city of Rome and in Africa, throughout Italy and in Egypt. . . with entire unity of judgment.” Comment BOLD added emphasis mine.
So the Catholic Church fully admits that they changed the time of the observance of the resurrection and moved it to Sunday as a sign of the power of the Church. Can you say Anti-Semite? The ruling religious class of the Roman Catholic Church has a sordid history of being just that, Jew haters. Not that the Jews are innocent, but are any one of us innocent? We all crucified our Lord by our sins that could not be forgiven any other way. I crucified my Lord, you crucified the Lord Jesus and we are all guilty as charged. But it was God’s plan all along to redeem His creation from the sin nature begun so long ago in the Garden of Eden and the first man and woman sinned against God and fell under the power of Satan.
WHAT DO WE DO?
First each of us have to decide in all good conscience to either submit to the traditions of men who have changed the timing of the Lord’s resurrection by filling it with pagan practices and cute little symbols to make the kids happy, or do we follow the clear teachings of the Bible? Do we honor God with our lips, or with our hearts? It’s a personal decision that each of us have to make and it’s not an easy one to make. I do not fault anyone who in all good conscience (and ignorance of the facts) continues to follow the traditions of men and feel they are giving our Lord proper worship and praise, but to the uneducated in Biblical accounts of this most sacred of Christian beliefs, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the truth must be revealed to all who wish to serve God with an obedient heart. To observe a tradition that we come to know as being steeped in pagan practices and is in direct conflict with the ways of God and His written Word, is an opening for Satan to blind you to the rest of the truths of the Word of God and it’s message. If they got this wrong, then what else did this “Catholic religion” get wrong. Much, you say and you would be right. We must stay true to His message and His sacrifice made in blood.
For my house, we observe the Lord’s Supper yearly, as He did with His disciples by taking the wine and the bread as symbols of the New Covenant made in his blood and His broken body. It is the Lord’s Passover for the remission of sins. By submitting myself unto the Lord and examining myself, much as Paul admonished to early Christians in : 1st Corinthians,
11:23 “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
We must all praise and give God glory and worship for the sacrifice of His only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior. We must worship our Lord God in Spirit and in Truth and not confuse the traditions of men, for the truth found in your open bible. We must praise Him during this season for His Resurrection to Life, that if Jesus be not raised we are a people most miserable: 1st Corinthians,
15:12 “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
I could on and on about what the pagan symbols mean that most men and women don’t even realize what they are doing,
This message is designed to account of the why the Easter season is dripping in pagan influence and YOU have decide whether you will honor God or follow men and their perversion of the Truth…note one thing my friend, as many of today’s Christians find no fault in continuing the practice of worshiping God on this day out of tradition and “it’s how we have always done it”, but remember one thing, “GOD HAS A MEMORY”…He never forgets how men have substituted pagan practices to somehow “worship” Him…can you say, the Golden Calf of Exodus and what God thought of using pagan symbols to worship Him? Was God amused? Was Moses amused? How many people wer e slain because of using pagan idolatry and dare think that it worshiped God? Jesus railed at the Pharisees for doing just the same thing that their forefather did in the wilderness: Mark chapter 7,
7:7 “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”
Does the Word of God support what is written here? Search your heart and scripture and make that pledge to follow our Lord as He intended by clear commands of the Messiah, and God our Father. Do not think you can appease God for doing what you know now, is a gross error on how He wishes to be worshiped. For the true Christian, it will mean loss of reward at the Bema Judgment seat of Christ, and for the so called “Christian” who follows the edicts of their church, it could mean worshiping God as the children of Israel did when they worshiped a Golden Calf and you know what happened to them. Search your heart and get rid of anything that stinks of this world. The world is quickly passing away, but God’s Word will NOT pass away.
SECRETS YOUR PASTOR’S WIFE WISHED YOU KNEW
She’s always there, in the background, sometimes with a welcoming smile up front, sometimes noticed and appreciated, sometimes being silently judged.
Have you ever considered asking her to share some of her burdens candidly, honestly, even anonymously? Asking her; “If you could tell the church a few things about your role as a pastor’s wife, what would you say?” This is also relevant for any other leader’s wife. Ask the Lord to show you how you can perhaps reach out to Christian leaders’ wives in your congregation. Here are a few pointers to pray for them.
I wish people knew that we struggle to have family time. This was one common response received from every pastor’s wife when interviewed. Over and over again, they shared numerous occasions where planned vacations had been cut short because of urgent matters. Family evenings often have to be rearranged due to a church member who is in crisis, and often there are middle-of-the-night emergencies and regular interruptions. A true day off is rare. Even on scheduled days off, their husbands are on call 24-7. Pray for your spiritual leaders and their families today. Pray for God’s hand to be upon their family time and marriages, and for them to be able to attend their children’s school and other events, as normal families do. Ask for them to have peace that surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:7).
I’m afraid of making mistakes. Our spiritual leaders’ wives battle the same issues that every woman battles: marriage issues, extended family difficulties, sickness, finance, children who make poor choices, fear and insecurity. Some seasons of life are obviously harder than others. Therefore, watch out for such seasons in your leaders’ wives’ lives. Pray for the wives to have enough time to spend with the Lord. Ask for them to have inner strength and mercy, and for church members to be sensitive to their emotional needs and extend them grace. Pray for them to have wisdom and revelation regarding how to handle difficult situations. (Ephesians 1:17).
Being a pastor’s wife is the loneliest experience! The difficulty of finding friendships that are safe tops this list. Often you are seen as the one who must reach out to others. People often assume the pastor’s wife is always invited. In reality, for whatever reason, many ladies fear befriending leaders’ wives or do not think to include them for an event, or an occasional ladies night out. One woman shared, “Invite us to something just to get to know us. We like being known.” Ask the Lord to help you to reach out to leader’s wives in your church in a genuine and simple way. Pray for those reaching out to them not to share their secrets with others, to cover them and not expose their personal secrets shared for prayer.
I welcome having conversations that are about things that do not pertain to church, or even Jesus. Believe it or not, many pastor’s wives went to college and had full-time careers before becoming “Mrs. Pastor’s/Leader’s wife.” They have interests, dreams, hobbies, likes and dislikes, and though they often serve beside their husband, they are individuals with their own unique gifts. Do not assume she has the same personality as her husband. Pray for the Lord to raise up true, loyal friends for leaders’ wives in your church. Ask for leader’s wives to be open and responsive to those wanting to bless them with their friendship, prayers and perhaps even physical blessings.
Sundays are sometimes my least favourite day. One lady said, “Sundays are hard, and long, and there is no rest.” To a pastor’s wife, Sunday means an early morning of rushing around to have the family ready in their “Sunday Best.” Although you may not see your pastor’s wife on the platform, Sunday’s are equally tiring for the whole family. Set a reminder on your mobile phone every Sunday morning to pray for peace in the homes of your leaders, for them to be strengthened for the day ahead and to enjoy their responsibilities.
It’s hard not to resent or lash out at members who openly criticize the ministry. “The hardest thing to face is church criticism: It’s hurtful, offensive, and very hard not to take it personally. You feel guilty, responsible and angry for not being able to have prevented certain things. Emotional emails, social media or gossip are like fiery darts”. Please pray for the protection of leaders and their families. Ask for grace in the hearts of church members, and for them to take criticism to the Lord in prayer, instead of just dumping emotional non-factual (or factual) weight upon their leaders. Ask for God to heal past wounds and hurts in the hearts and lives of your spiritual leaders.
Please don’t look down on me or assume I don’t support my husband just because you don’t see me every time the church’s doors are open. They are wives and/or mothers and are often responsible for running the whole household in the absence of their spouse due to his leadership responsibilities at church. Please pray for churches to consider remunerating leader’s wives in instances where they give lots of their time at church. Also, pray for critics in your church to be filled with God’s compassion for their leader’s family and to pray for them on a regular basis. Ask for leaders’ wives to do what they feel called to do in church and not only what has to be done.
I wish people knew that we taught our children to make good choices, but sometimes they don’t. Jokes about pastor’s kids should be avoided at all costs. The risk of rebellion in a “preacher’s kid” is no secret. They aren’t perfect, and never will be, as are our own children also are not perfect. Pray for critics in church to realize the reality of their spiritual leader’s children being merely normal and to pray for them as they do for their own children. Ask that leaders’ children learn to walk in their faith, and just like other children, they need your encouragement and love to do so. Remember that every kind deed you show towards leaders’ wives is really appreciated by them most of the time, when it is done in a sincere way. Give thanks to the Lord for leaders’ wives who are loyal to the responsibilities they have at church, their husbands and their families. Pray for them to hear God’s voice regarding His desire and call on their lives, which is much more than just being the wife of a leader.
(Reprinted, with permission, from Shattered Magazine. Christina Stolaas.
https://shatteredmagazine.net/nine-secrets-your-pastors-wife-wishes-you-knew
Jewish Wedding Ceremony
By Joy Wriston
I was brought up in a church that believed in the Pre-Trib Rapture but in college encountered other views. I noticed that they mostly used the same verses but interpreted them differently so wondered if my interpretation could be the one that was wrong. Then I discovered Zola Levitt and his explanation of the Jewish roots of the Rapture confirmed for me that the Pre-Trib view is the accurate one.
This is my synopsis of his teaching gleaned from his book, An Israeli Love Story ( a fictional story which explains the Jewish wedding ceremony). Anyone who wants to research this further can do so as there are many articles from different sources on the Internet.
The First Century Jewish Wedding Ceremony
In the first century, when a young man saw a young lady he liked, he consulted with his father. Sometimes the father picked the girl and no consultations were necessary. But when the father approved of the choice of a bride, the young man would go to her house and speak with her father. (p.105)
At the bride’s house three very important things would occur: The groom would make a covenant with the bride, an actual contract; he would drink a cup of wine with her which sealed the covenant and he would pay the bridal price for her to the father. The bridal price was to make sure the groom was serious about the covenant—he had to pay a price. After the covenant was made, the cup had been drunk and the price paid, the groom would make a speech to the bride telling her that he was going to leave her and return to his father’s house to prepare a bridal chamber for her, sort of a honeymoon suite.
The words he would say were “I go to prepare a place for you.” He would be gone for a long time. He would have to build and finish the bridal chamber and have it approved by his father. It would have to be stocked for enough provisions to last for the prescribed seven days for a honeymoon of that time period. He would want it to be beautiful for her.
It had to be done right to win the approval of the groom’s father. During that year or so that the groom was building the bridal chamber, if anyone asked him when the wedding would be, he would say. “I don’t know. Only my father knows. ”And that was true. He couldn’t go back to get his bride until his father approved the chamber and told him to go get her.(pp.106-108)
Meanwhile, the bride was waiting with dignity. She wore her veil whenever she went out so that other young men would know that she wasn’t available. Now she was called “set apart,” “consecrate.” And “bought with a price.” She was no longer her own person but an individual contracted to another and she conducted herself in a way that respected that agreement. She didn’t seek after other young men. She prepared herself for marriage by gathering her trousseau and waiting for her groom. She was at home every night, especially as time went on and she knew he could be coming.
The tradition was for him to come at night, especially midnight, to try to take her by surprise. It was to be “an abduction.” The bride would be waiting with her “bridesmaids,” her sisters or whomever she wanted in her wedding party. They would all have oil in their lamps just in case the groom did come at night. As time went on they were sure to be ready every night. (pp.109-110)
One night the groom did finally come. It was customary for the groom’s party to shout as they neared the bride’s house. When the bride heard that shout, she knew her groom had come to get her. The groom and his friends would rush in and grab every girl in sight, being sure to get the one with the veil (the bride). He needed her veil as the party would be going through the streets and she was not yet married. The bride’s father and brothers looked the other way as long as it was the young man with the contract. (p.110)
The entire wedding party would head towards the groom’s house, traveling through the streets and laughing. People would know there was a wedding going on but couldn’t tell who the bride was because the bride was covered by the veil. The bride and groom would enter the bridal chamber while the wedding party waited outside along with the wedding guests (friends of the groom’s father). Everyone waited outside the wedding chamber until the groom told his trusted friend through the door that the marriage was consummated.
Then the guests began celebrating an accomplished marriage. The guests would spend the next seven days there celebrating until the bride emerged with her veil off. Now the couple were husband and wife. Then there would be the marriage supper where everyone would joyfully congratulate the new couple. Afterwards, the young couple would leave the father’s house and go to a permanent home the husband had prepared for them. (p.111-113)
Jesus as the Bridegroom
The New Covenant
Hebrew 8:8 quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 which states:
“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah; not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. ‘But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquities and their sin I will remember no more.”
The New Covenant had to do with the Messiah’s coming and had to be signed in blood. Abraham had to divide animals when the Abrahamic Covenant made the Jews the chosen people (Genesis 15:10). In Moses’ day, the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the doorposts saved the firstborn of the Jewish believers (Exodus 12:7). Then later on Mount Sinai, the Mosaic Covenant was established. It required repeated blood (animal) sacrifices specified in the Law for the forgiveness of sins/offenses against God (Exodus 20:24).
The Davidic Covenant included burnt and peace offerings which required the shedding of animal blood (2 Samuel 6:17-18, 1 Chronicles 16:1-3). It’s the blood that makes the Covenant go into effect. When the Messiah (Jesus) came, John the Baptist called Him ,“The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Isaiah 53:7 says the Messiah “would be led as a lamb to the slaughter.” When Jesus died on the cross, it was as a sacrifice for us; dying in our place with our sins placed on Him.
That the relationship of God and Israel has always been a marriage is made clear in the book of Hosea. In Jeremiah 31:32 God says He has been a “husband” to Israel. Paul compared marriage to being like the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-33). The church is referred to as the bride of Christ or betrothed of Christ (Revelation 17:9; Ephesians 5:25-28; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
Jesus said that He only came for the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” When Gentiles came to faith in the Jewish Messiah they were grafted into the Jewish tree, and were called the spiritual seed of Abraham (Matthew 15:24; Romans 11:17).
The Cup
At the Passover supper Jesus drank the cup with his disciples and stated “This is My blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28) God promises, “I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34) In the Jewish faith, the cup at the Passover supper is called the “Cup of Redemption.”
The Price
Jesus paid the bride price. He even asked His Father if it was worth it. (Luke 22:42-44) In the Garden of Eden Jesus prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but yours be done. And His sweat fell like great drops of blood while He was contemplating the cross. God sent an angel to strengthen His Son. That was His answer. Jesus paid the price for us.
“I Go to Prepare a Place for You”
In John 14:2-3 Jesus tells His disciples, “ In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” His ascension into heaven is recorded in Mark 16:19-20 and Luke 24:50-51.
The Bride Awaits
Jesus is still at his Father’s house preparing a place for us. And we are awaiting His return in a consecrated way—bought with a price; set apart (1 Corinthians 6:20; John 17:14-26, Romans 12:2;1 Peter 1:15-16.) “We are to act like the covenanted bride and be waiting at all times for our Bridegroom to come. We are to have oil in our lamps and be ready to travel, even at night (Matthew 25:1-46). Our oil is the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity who came to the Jews at Pentecost after the Messiah ascended. We are each to be filled with the Holy Spirit and always ready to go (Acts 2).
Jesus performed a vast Jewish courtship with His believers. “The Lord will return for His bride. There will be a bridal chamber in heaven where Jesus and the church will spend seven years – like the ancient seven days, and there will be a marriage supper like the Jews used to have. Every detail of Jesus’ great wedding will be accomplished and it will be carried out in the exact traditions of the Jewish people, because Jesus is Jewish!”
The Return of the Bridegroom
In the Jewish holy days, “Shuvuot (Pentecost) – that’s the harvest holiday. All summer following Pentecost the people plant and till the ground. But when the trumpet sounds, on what we now call Rosh Hashanah, the old Feast of Trumpets, the crops are in and the harvest is finished. Jeremiah, just to mention one prophet, could see that we wouldn’t be ready—not all of us.
“The summer is ended and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).Paul gave us a wonderful picture of that moment when the groom will return for His bride.” For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). (pp. 149-151)
That fulfills everything. You have the shout of the bridegroom to notify the bride of his coming; you have the trumpet to finish the harvest and to proclaim liberty for God’s people. We (Jews) used to blow the trumpet on each Jubilee to proclaim liberty…well, this is real liberty (Leviticus 25:10).
Just as a Jewish bridegroom called for his bride unexpectedly, and took her to his father’s house, Jesus will take His Bride (believers) away quickly, changed in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52). The Bride is to be ready and waiting with her veil on so that anyone who sees her pass will not know who she is.
People in today’s world also don’t recognize the bride of Christ. They see people going to church but don’t recognize them as the Bride. It’s as if true believers are wearing a spiritual veil making them unrecognizable to the world. After the Bride has gone on to her wedding, the world still won’t recognize who she was.
The House of the Father of the Groom
When the bride and groom arrive at the groom’s father’s house they will find a large gathering of wedding guests who are friends of the father. When the Bridegroom brings us to His Father’s house we will also find the Father’s friends there as wedding guests. These are the Old Testament saints, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the prophets, and the faithful chosen people who lived prior to the coming of the Messiah.
But first the bride and groom must go into the bridal chamber for seven days. And the groom’s friend waits outside the chamber until he hears the groom’s voice. Then he tells the guests when the marriage is consummated. In John 3:29 the Pharisees were questioning John the Baptist if he was the Messiah. John told them: “He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom who stands nearby and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full.” The marriage is accomplished when the bridegroom’s voice is heard.
The “honeymoon” in heaven is the judgment seat of Christ. We will go before the Messiah and He will look at our works done for Him while we were in the flesh. We (believers) are all His servants and we do both good works and bad. In 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 Paul wrote:
“No man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it for it is to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on remains, he will receive a reward (crowns). If any man’s work is burned up he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
This has nothing to do with sins. They were all covered at the cross. God isn’t going to charge us for what is already paid for. If you accept Jesus as Messiah (Savior) all your sins are forgiven. The “honeymoon” is where the groom removes the bride’s veil and knows her secrets. Even with our “bad” works, love is the healing factor. If you want a “good honeymoon” follow the Lord and do your good works for him. Either way, keep in mind that Jesus loves you and will be very glad to see you.
The Marriage Supper
The announcement has been made that the marriage is consummated. The Lord has examined everyone’s works and the crowns have been awarded. Now there is great rejoicing and celebration. The marriage is official and the great marriage supper (what we would call the reception) will commence. The Bride will be greatly honored:
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give glory to Him for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His wife has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8).
Notice that the Bible now says “wife” instead of “bride.” The honeymoon is finished and we are now married to the Lord. After the supper is over, we’ll leave to live and reign with our Husband in His millennial kingdom.