The Red Sea

The Red Sea crossing is a theme throughout the Bible which shows God's provision for and protection of His people. They crossed from death to life, because He made a way. But each of them had to decide to follow.



This is a picture of salvation for each person. You come to the end of what you know. Ahead is the sea, swelling and surging. Behind is the world and everything you have ever known. You are trembling, certain that you need to cross, but afraid. A voice inside you says, "Go on, I will help you." Do you turn away? Ahead is life, do you refuse it?


Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 


Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 


God has made a straight path for you. His name is Jesus. Cross over!

Numbers 9: The Second Passover

Numbers 9:10-11  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD. 

11  The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 

The Passover was to be celebrated in the FIRST month, but Yahweh provided a second time to celebrate it for anyone who was unclean through touching a dead body or on a long journey. All the rules were the same, except it was in the SECOND month. 

All who are Christ's are on a journey. We are not yet at home, but are sojourners in this world, waiting to arrive at the New Jerusalem. (Heb 11:13-16) Further, everyone has touched death by sinning (Rom 3:23 & 6:23). But although we have been far from God, and are unclean through our sin, Jesus has brought us near and cleansed us with His blood. So a time is coming when we will celebrate the Passover in the second month.

Christmas Prayer

Today is Christmas, and although the Bible does not say in what month or on which day our Savior was born, we can all rejoice in the fact of His birth. I wish each of you who reads this a blessed day and year. May you be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and become more like Emmanuel, who is God with Us, each moment of your life.

Hallelujah!

God bless each of you!

Mark 12 Render Unto God

Mar 12:14  And when they were come, they say unto him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not the person of men, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
15)  Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why make ye trial of me? bring me a denarius, that I may see it.
16)  And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
17)  And Jesus said unto them, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. And they marvelled greatly at him.

I'm sure many of you have read or heard this passage before; probably in the context of paying taxes. That is a valid lesson from the passage, but, as is usual with God's word, there is more. I want to point out something relating to "image and superscription" in verse 16.


Jesus asks whose image and superscription are on the coin He has been given, and He is told that they are Caesar's. Then in verse 17 He says, in effect, that the image and the writing on the coin indicate that it belongs to Caesar. (Did you ever think that the money in your pocket belongs to the ruler or government of your country? I suppose not, most people think it belongs to them...)

Going back to our passage, we read that Jesus also says that there are things which belong to God. What could that possibly mean?

The Bible will interpret itself, and the Holy Spirit will teach us correct understanding, so let's find out who or what carries God's image and writing, since that is what shows ownership here.

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27)  And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Ah-ha! MAN (male and female) was created in God's image! But what about writing? The coin had Caesar's image and writing...

In the Old Testament, God's words were written on stone, and there is no OT verse in which God says He has written anything on man. But in the New Testament we learn that the Gentiles, who were not given the written law, had something written on them:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15)  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

This is sometimes called natural law. What it means is that everyone, in every culture, has a knowledge of right and wrong: God's law written on their hearts.

So, going back to the passage in Mark, what are we to give to God? That which is made in His image and bears His writing. Our bodies are made in His image, and our hearts have His law written on them. We are His, and we are to give ourselves to Him.

Exodus 28: Pomegranates, Bells, and the High Priest

Exo 28:33  And beneath upon the hem of it [the robe for the high priest] thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
Exo 28:34  A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.
Exo 28:35  And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.

I was taught that every detail in the Bible is important, and it is true. I was also taught that the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, speaks of Jesus in some way, even if it is not immediately obvious. This also is true.

Used by permission

One time, as I was reading the passage above, I wondered about the pomegranates and the bells. What did they represent? The bells I thought I understood, but why pomegranates? And why were they on the hem of the high priest's robe? Other people have wondered this before me, but I did not try to research my question by reading other people's answers. I asked God. I meditated on this for some time, thinking about the pomegranate fruit: a globe shape with a tough rind which surrounds hundreds of seeds. Each seed is covered with a little red juice, the seeds are in groups, and each group is both held together and separated from other groups by a flexible membrane. One day, God showed me the mystery of the pomegranate: The seeds represent individual Christians, covered by Jesus' blood. They are gathered into local churches, where they cling to and support one another. Each local church is part of the whole body of Christ, and the body is held together by the Holy Spirit.

I was awed by this revelation, and still am. What a wonderful picture God painted for us, and how marvelous that each high priest, as he performed intercession for the people of Israel on the Day of Atonement, was wearing a reminder of the Church which was to come! God is great!

But I dismissed the bells, and didn't ask God about them. I assumed I knew: I thought they must represent giving praise to God. Well, that may be true, but there is another beautiful picture here, which God showed me much later. Let me explain:

Verse 35 above says, "And it [the robe] shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not."

The High Priest [Aaron] was to wear this robe as he went into the Holy Place. Leviticus 16 records the regulations regarding this. If these rules were not correctly followed, he would die. And since he could only go in alone, the bells on his robe told those outside that the priest was alive and performing his duties before God.

How can the golden bells tell us something about Jesus? First, we must realize that gold, in scripture, represents divinity, and that the word translated 'bell' means something struck. So the golden bells represent Jesus, the Son of God, who was stricken for our sins and iniquities. Wow!

But wait, there's more: the bells were also a signal that the high priest was alive. With this thought, we can see that the bells represent the Spirit of God witnessing to Christians and seekers that Jesus, although He is not walking in a body on the earth, is ALIVE in Heaven performing his priestly duty of intercession before God for everyone who will come to Him. Wow!!

But wait, there's more: because we, as believers, are the Temple, and the Holy Spirit resides in us (1 Cor 3:16), the bells also represent each one of us, witnessing to the world that Jesus is ALIVE, and is standing before God making intercession for all who come to Him. Wow!!!

So in these three verses in the Old Testament, we find a picture of the church, and of  Jesus' death and resurrection. I want to say WOW!!!! How about you?

Job 32:2 What's in a Name?

Many names in the Bible are strange to us. They look funny and they sound funny, but they have meaning. In the Old Testament, the names are usually Hebrew; they are transliterated, but not translated into English. That is why they seem strange. But it is worth taking the time to look up what they mean. Here is an example:

Job 32:2  Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

Elihu, Barachel, Buz, Ram-- what do these names mean?
Looking in a Hebrew lexicon, we find that Elihu means "his God," Barachel means "God has blessed," Buz means "disrespect, contempt, despised, shamed," and Ram means "high."
Now we can put these together into one thought: "His God, God, has blessed the despised from on high."
This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:

 1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

So don't be concerned, you who are in Christ, whether you are thought foolish, weak, or common by those in the world. God is using you to bring those things to nothing through Jesus Christ. God is blessing you from on high, with the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption which is only to be had through His Son.