Proof of identity

Supernova explosion

Glory. Interesting word. What does it mean?

“Christ in you, the hope of glory,” the apostle Paul said. (Col. 1:27) That’s how he described God’s great mystery, the hope (confident expectation of future success) of glory – Christ in you.

We know that when someone accepts Jesus Christ as savior and Lord, Christ actually begins to live inside that person. He is in Christ and Christ is in him.

But what is glory?

To me, the simplest explanation of glory is “proof of identity.” God’s glory is an attribute only God has. When you see it, you know that’s God.

In the original Bible languages, glory means brilliance, splendor, radiance, magnificence, such as we see in stars shining.  It also means honor, majesty, a good reputation, even fine clothing and jewelry.

There are a number of Old Testament Hebrew words translated glory:

H3519 = kabowd (ka – vode); noun; honour, splendor, reverence, abundance, riches, reputation. From primary root for heaviness, always used figuratively. It occurs 200 times in 189 verses in the O.T., the most used. The idea of brilliance, splendor and radiance is primary in many verses, such as:

2 Chr. 5:14: “So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”

2 Chr. 7:1: “Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house.”

Kepler supernova remnant

H1926 = hadar (ha-dar); noun; ornament, adorning, goodliness, decoration; splendor, excellency, comeliness, beauty, honor, majesty.

H8597 = tipharah (tif-a-ra); noun; beauty, splendor, finery of garments or jewels, renown, fair, bravery, comely, excellent. It is used to describe the Ark of the Covenant in Ps. 78:61.

H1939 = howd (hode); noun; splendor, majesty, vigor; to  become lofty, as in Ps. 3:3: “But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head.”

H3513 – kavad (ka-vad); verb form of kabowd; to be heavy, weighty, grievous, burdensome, to be hard (able to bear up under anything); rich, honourable, glorious, to be honored.

H6286 = paar (pa-ar); verb; to glorify, beautify, adorn. To be proud, vaunt yourself, boast.

H7623 = shabach (sha-vakh); verb; to soothe, still, stroke (as water in swimming); to laud, praise, commend, congratulate, boast, triumph.

New Testament Greek words translated glory are very similar in meaning. The primary one is doxa.

G1391 = doxa (do’-ksä); noun; honor, praise, dignity, worship; a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory; splendor, brightness of the moon, sun, stars; magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace; majesty; a most glorious condition, most exalted state.

Here are several examples where glory means brilliance, radiance or splendor:

Luke 2:9: “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

Luke 9:32: “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.” Matt. 17:2 says that Jesus “was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”

Here’s an example with a different meaning:

John 2:11: “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

Jesus’ face didn’t shine brilliantly in Cana as on the Mount of Transfiguration; he demonstrated his identity by the miracle of turning water into wine for a wedding feast. The result? The disciples believed on him.

Whenever Jesus traveled back and forth across Galillee, Judea, Lebanon, Syria, or Jordan, this is what he did. He demonstrated his identity as God. Creator of the universe, he easily created some things that had not been there and changed the nature of other things.

He appeared and disappeared at will, easily escaping from the hands of the Pharisees when he wanted to. He commanded and changed the weather. He suspended the laws of physics to allow Peter to join Jesus in a walk across the waters of Galilee.

Whatever he did, where and when he did it, was to glorify his father God. (John 17:4) It was to prove his own identity, and the identity of the one who had commissioned him. That was one of his critical assignments.

And then he stated, “The glory which thou gavest me, I have given them…” (John 17:22) What glory had he given them? A brilliant appearance? No.

He gave them the assignment and the ability to carry it out, to do the same things he had been doing, healing, miracles, thereby proving the identity of Jesus as the son of God, as God himself.

He was getting reading to leave them. But he would send the Holy Spirit to the believers to continue that activity – “He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:14)

That is what it means, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Future glory in heaven, certainly, but present glory also. The guarantee, the confident expectation that God’s glory will be demonstrated by believers. Proof of Jesus’ identity, demonstrated by the actions of those the Holy Spirit indwells.

Doing things any ordinary human can do will not prove the identity of Jesus.

Still “Tinkering around the edges”

Once again I asked the Lord “What are you doing?” this morning. I had been reading online news from around the world, focusing on Israel, Iran and the Middle East.

“I’m still tinkering around the edges,” he answered. “But now I’m sealing them.”

“Not with tape, glue, or needle and thread,” he continued. “With fire. With the fire of my Spirit. When I stop this fraying, the edges won’t ravel so easily in the days ahead.”

I had to think about that for a while. I remembered writing a post in 2017 about God’s “tinkering around the edges.” A great deal has changed around the world since then, especially right now in the Middle East. Obviously the Lord’s actions have also changed.

Here’s what he’d told me back then when I asked that question:

I was just wondering what the Lord was up to this evening, wondering if maybe he’d like for me to do something different from what I was doing (reading stuff online), like pray, study, or what… when he said, “I’m tinkering around the edges.” Huh?

“When I see a loose thread, I’m pulling it.” Loose thread? What does that mean? I asked.

Some loose threads lead to knots, he said. Knotty problems. Knotty emotions. Knotty headaches and heartaches. So, I’m carefully pulling the loose threads, untangling the knots.

I suddenly visualized knotted muscles, knotted nerves, knotted relationships, and now a gentle scarred hand, painstakingly and patiently untangling those knots, soothing as he goes.

Do you want to get well?

I watched an Evangelist Nathan Morris (https://shakethenations.com/about/nathan-morris/) revival service on my computer one spring day in 2011, one of many such services, live and recorded, that I watched that year.

I was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, a total of five months’ worth.*

And as is common, chemotherapy had lowered my immune system and thus I’d been told to not go out in public (except for the doctor’s office and hospital, of course). That meant no shopping in stores, no attending church, no going any place where some sick person might cough or sneeze on me, until my immune system recovered from chemotherapy. That could take a while, my doctors informed me. And so, a lot of television, a lot of internet programs, and a lot of reading occupied my day.

In the middle of Nathan’s message, he walked down the steps from the platform into the crowd. He approached a section off to the side where a number of people sat in wheelchairs.

The television cameraman followed him as he approached one lady and asked her an odd question: “Do you want to get well?”

I wondered why he asked such a question. She was there, wasn’t she? At a healing service? Conducted by this evangelist well known for the many miracle healings that took place in his services?

I wondered if he anticipated her answer… Because she said, No.

He gently asked her, Why not? And through some tears she told him it was because she was afraid she’d lose her disability benefits, her only income. Fear. Fear of being unable to support herself if she was well again kept her from truly wanting or seeking to be made well.

Nathan did pray for her, but he prayed that the Lord would minister faith to her, faith that he could not only make her well, he could also provide all her needs, body, soul and spirit. After a hug and a smile, he moved on to pray for several other people in the crowd. There was no follow-up information about that lady, whether she ever got out of her wheelchair or not. I hope she did.

Jesus also asked that odd question.

Most of the time when Jesus healed somebody, he just did it. Different ways, of course. One time he spit on the ground, made mud and slathered a blind man’s eyes with it. Not exactly polite. Another time he just told a crippled man to do something he couldn’t do, like get up off your mat, pick it up and go home… on another occasion he wasn’t even in the same town with the sick person he healed, he just said a few words and it was done.

One thing he usually didn’t do was ask – what do you want? Only on two occasions did he ask such a strange question.

John 5 tells about the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Do you want to get well? Jesus asked him.

What an odd thing to ask. The crowd around the pool was there for one thing only, to get healed. Occasionally an angel would come and “trouble” the water, whatever that means, and whoever got into the pool first would get well. (Seems cruel to me. Only occasionally? And only one?)

The crippled man explained his situation to Jesus, as though this was an obscure, out of the way location and only a few lucky people knew about it.

But this was just outside the Sheep Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem, a prominent building surrounding an upper and lower pool with five colonnaded porches, quite well known to the city. (See http://www.generationword.com/jerusalem101/51-bethesda-pool.html)

The man had been crippled for 38 years, a long, long time. And for a long, long time he had been brought to the pool, hoping today would be his day. But for whatever reason, no-one there would help him get to the pool in time, so day after day he just watched as somebody else got healed.

How discouraging. How depressing. Why bother coming to the pool?

Then Jesus paid a visit to the pool, and asked one particular man a peculiar question. Do you want to get well? From his response, the answer was obviously YES.

So Jesus told the poor man to do something he couldn’t do. Get up, pick up your bed and walk. And he did. He didn’t lay there and wonder — Who is this crazy fellow, doesn’t he know I can’t walk? He just did it. Jesus really didn’t need to ask, he knew the man’s heart. He healed him even before he attempted to rise to his feet.

Jesus didn’t stick around and so the man couldn’t follow him, but his miraculous recovery caused quite a commotion around the Temple. It was the sabbath, after all!

It’s a wonderful story, but I’m curious. Why did Jesus ask him that question?

Here’s the only other person Jesus asked such a strange question… blind Bartimaeus, the beggar. All four gospels recount this event; Mark 10 gives us his name.

Jesus, the disciples and a large number of other people were coming through Jericho. Now, obviously with this crowd there was a lot of commotion. What’s going on? Who is it? Bartimaeus no doubt asked somebody. When he heard it was Jesus, he knew who that was. He knew what that meant. Here’s my chance!

He yelled, Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me! He soon got the attention of the crowd, who tried to shut him up. He kept right on yelling until he got the attention of Jesus, who called for him to come. And he did.

I wonder how long it took him to get through that mass of people… When he finally got there, Jesus asked him that peculiar question:

What do you want me to do for you?

Now, I can think of many things Bartimaeus might have said. A big house, a lot of money, a beautiful wife, nice clothes, lots of things. What he did request was simple — to see again.

Jesus didn’t speak a command, didn’t touch him, didn’t make mud, didn’t tell him to do something impossible. He just said, Go your way, your faith has made you whole. Suddenly Bartimaeus could see again, and he did indeed go his way – Jesus’ way! Joining the noisy crowd, he became a follower of Jesus.

Think what having his vision restored meant to this man. Now he could work for a living. Now he could go to the Temple in Jerusalem and worship! He could do all the usual things men did, meet with friends, help out a neighbor, perhaps have a family. But first he followed Jesus. He could see in more ways than one, now. He did want to get well!

(This article is adapted and enlarged from the original.)

* (Yes, the breast cancer “shrank, shriveled, died and disappeared from my body,” as I prayed, praised God, took authority over my body and commanded the cancer cells attacking it, and followed my doctor’s instructions. There have been no recurrences. By the way – I also prayed for my doctors, privately and in person. I still do. They seem to really appreciate it!)

2024 will be a year of turmoil

On the morning of December 26, 2023 I asked the Lord what 2024 would be like. “Turmoil,” is all he said.

I started thinking about the meaning of that word, turmoil. What came to mind were “confusion, conflict, arguments, fights, disagreements, doubt, fear, agitation, worry, anxiety, even panic.”

Looking it up online, I found the following dictionary definitions:

• Google: A state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorder.
• Merriam-Webster Dictionary: A state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation, or commotion. Synonyms: disquiet, ferment, fermentation, restiveness, restlessness, uneasiness, unquietness, unrest.
• Collins Online Dictionary: In American English, a state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet; mental turmoil caused by difficult decisions. Synonyms: turbulence, disorder, uproar.
• Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English: A state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet. Synonyms: disturbance, turbulence, chaos, disorder, unrest, pandemonium, hubbub, commotion, tumult, hullabaloo, ado, uproar, bustle, ruckus, furor, agitation, trouble.
• Cambridge Dictionary: A state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorder. No synonyms were listed.
• Dictionary.com: A state of great commotion, confusion, or disturbance; tumult; agitation; disquiet. Synonyms: anxiety, confusion, disturbance, riot, strife, trouble, tumult, turbulence, unrest, violence.

Will this turmoil be spiritual, natural, or both?

Will it be political? (2024 is an election year, after all.) Governmental? Economic? Social? Disaster related? It could be all of those. I guess we’ll see.

What then should believers do about it?

• “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thess. 5:16-18 KJV)
• “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance (patience).” (James 1:2-3 NASB)
• “Let endurance (patience) have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4 NASB)
• “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:6 NIV)
• “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:6 NIV)
• “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” (John 14:27-a)
• “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27-b)
• “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace.” (John 16:33-a)
• “In the world you shall have tribulation,” (John 16:33-b) (It doesn’t say you might have.)
• “But take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33-c)

Notice something about those verses? The choice is ours.

We have control over our responses to turmoil. Refuse to be anxious. Refuse to be troubled or afraid. Pray, give thanks and take courage. Consider it all joy! Let the one who saves us, lives in us, leads and directs us, provide the power in us to do it. We’re going to need it in 2024.

Choose to rejoice.

What is actually happening in prayer?

Signal transmission.
Communication.
Exercise of authority.

If we could see the vast quantity of electromagnetic communication signals zooming around our planet, it would look like a tangled web many layers thick covering the earth, reaching out a huge distance.

Around and around, up and down, back and forth, what would their movement look like? Dizzying! Consider these categories:

• Space-based:  Communication satellites orbiting the earth. Transmitting and receiving signals, some sound-based, some light-based. Levels and levels of orbits, each with a multitude of transmitter/receiver devices. Not to mention all the space debris! Layers and layers of signals at different frequencies and wave lengths, some close to the ground, some very far out… (Did you ever wonder who keeps up with it all? Like where what is at any one time? Somebody does.)
• Ground-based:  Radio. Television. Short wave. Telephone. Telegraph. Teletype. Laser. Again, different frequencies, different wave lengths.

Transmission towers large and tall, short and small are scattered all over the globe. Some are built on land, some in the sea. Some host multiple transmission devices from multiple companies or governmental agencies.

Vehicles such as planes, helicopters, drones, automobiles, trucks, trains, subways, construction equipment of all types and sizes, nearly all of them include communication devices these days, 2-way audio and/or video.

And in addition to man-made signals there are natural, earth-made signals transmitted by plants and animals – including birds and fish – discernible with the right equipment and know-how. (Yes, plants do communicate. See https://plantwave.com/pages/science. You can even purchase a device to let you listen to their “music.”)

The universe, sun and planets all emanate signals too. Even black holes! Their signals have been discerned by space scientists: https://bettecox.wordpress.com/2015/08/03/sounds-of-the-universe/ Understanding the meaning of them is another thing, however. See https://www.nasa.gov/universe/new-nasa-black-hole-sonifications-with-a-remix/

Plus, there are spiritual signals in the atmosphere, too — invisible, indiscernible with the natural eye and ear or the most expensive technical equipment, but real nevertheless. What generates those signals? (Here’s a clue: personalities.)

Prayer is one type of those. It can be one way and it can be two-way, as many intercessors know very well. Keeping in mind all the above, do you wonder why prayer seems so hard sometimes?

A better question might be, why wouldn’t prayer seem hard? Consider the crowded interference from all those other signals! And all the static, natural and accidental…

Or perhaps supernatural and deliberate.

A little extra FYI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_wave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

What was in the wilderness?

Matthew 4 and Luke 4 describe the temptation of Jesus in the Judean desert. Most of my life I had a mental image of that desert as being mostly sand dunes, rocks and lizards. One day, out of curiosity I decided to check out that wilderness, where it was, what was in it, what it was like at that time.

I wondered, what was there out there that could tempt Jesus? During the 40 days before Satan showed up, that is. Here’s some of what I learned:

East and south of Jerusalem, it’s one of the smallest deserts in the world, much of it lying adjacent and west of the Dead Sea. Craggy and rough, it’s hilly and mountainous with steep cliffs and deep ravines. It was difficult but not impossible to traverse on the well-used paths and trails that criss-crossed the area.

There are streams and many wadis, some with pools of water in lovely shaded areas. And also there are oases.

The most famous oasis in the Judean Desert is in Ein Gedi near the northern part of the Dead Sea, called David’s Waterfall, pictured here. There are also many fruit trees and other vegetation (see the section on trees below).

Sparsely inhabited but not empty, the desert contained several small villages on its edges. Bethlehem was one, a place where many of Jesus’ relatives lived.

Bedouin encampments the size of small towns (the Bedouin were and still are very hospitable people to visitors) plus camels, sheep, goats, and donkeys.

Leopards and other wild animals also inhabited the area, although leopards are scarce today.

 

The spectacular Herod’s Palace (Herodium) south of Jerusalem may contain his burial site. This palace complex was atop an artificial hill built by Herod the Great, the site of several archeological digs through recent years. After his death this opulent summer “resort” was used by many Roman officials. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodium and http://allaboutjerusalem.com/attraction/herodion-national-park).

Also in the desert is the fortress of Masada which overlooks the Dead Sea, captured and built up by Herod the Great as a military base. Both Herodium and Masada were occupied by Roman officials and solders who regularly traveled to and from those sites. Both are Israeli National Parks and popular tourist attractions today.

Many fruit or nut trees occupy wadis and oases, including date palms, pistachios, wild figs, carob and acacia:

Carob / Locust trees bear fruit that is edible green or dried; the dried fruit is used in candy and other foods as a substitute for chocolate. The sweet, soft flesh of the green fruit is called “honey.”

Carob and acacia (below) are legumes, members of the pea and bean family.

Acacia is a “rain tree,” so-called because its leaves fold together in rain or high humidity. Edible and primarily used as animal fodder, it provides helpful gum and has many medical applications also. The Tabernacle and Ark were made of acacia wood.

Considering everything there was for him to see and do in that wilderness, what was Jesus tempted with?

Food, people, animals, a magnificent natural environment and impressive man-made structures — a better question might be, what wasn’t Jesus tempted with?

Anything and everything that human beings today are tempted with, including distractions, tempted Jesus in that desert. Think he doesn’t understand your situation? He does.

I Cor. 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (NIV)

And Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet he did not sin.”

Consider

Consider.

That word came to me several nights ago as I was praying. I had asked the Lord what else I should pray for, if I hadn’t already mentioned it, and that word just dropped into my mind. Nothing else, just that one word.That command…

I thought about it a bit, but being so sleepy that I was about to “conk out,” I asked the Lord to remind me about it when I woke up the next morning. And of course he did. And of course, I have been considering that word ever since.

Consider. Hmmm, I thought. Synonyms? Might include ponder, think about; maybe meditate on it? Give it some consideration.

That last phrase made me realize that this wouldn’t be just a passing thought, it would be more serious than that. I knew it was in the Bible, maybe in many places, but one from Hebrews 12 kept coming to mind:

“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

• “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
• Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
• For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 KJV)

The English word consider here is translated from the Greek word analogizomai, meaning “to think over, ponder, consider by weighing, comparing.”

That word is made of two parts, first (ana) meaning “apiece, by, each, every, in, through.” In other words, take something apart to examine, in pieces, every part. The second part (logizomai) means “to reckon, take into account, weigh, meditate on, deem, judge, determine, and decide.” Examine all of the evidence, in detail.

The whole word then means to thoroughly think about, ponder over and meditate on every single aspect of something, before deciding what it all means. Wow. Too often that much consideration isn’t given to an issue. It should be, especially to this one.

The word contradiction is from the Greek antilégō, meaning to dispute, deny, speak against, oppose.

Throughout the gospels, certain people contradicted Jesus, particularly the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herodians. They disputed who he was, denied that what he said was true, opposed his work, his plan and purpose, everything about him. (Many people still do.)

• “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” (Mark 3:6 KJV)
• “And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. … 11 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.” (Luke 6:7, 11 KJV)

Note, several other New Testament verses include that word:

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?”… “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Luke 12:24, 27 KJV)

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;” (Hebrews 3:1 KJV)

Those three passages translate the Greek word katanoeō, meaning to perceive, remark, observe, and understand; to consider attentively, fix one’s eyes or mind upon. That is a more usual, more ordinary word, less complex or intense in its meaning than analogizomai, which is used only in Hebrews 12:3.

Those verses are important too, but I think they are preliminary to the one in Hebrews. Hebrews 12:3 is critical, essential, even to long-time believers, especially in the times we’re living in today.

If we truly consider Jesus in the right way, the one who endured such contradiction, we are sure to make the right decision about Jesus, the decision that will change our lives:

He is who he said he is.

 

God’s Timeline is Growing Short, Part 2

Part 1 ended with several questions

• If God’s timeline is growing short, what should believers do about it, if anything?
• What should I myself do about it?
• And specifically — what does it have to do with intercession?

I asked the Lord those questions, and the first thing he answered was, “Think Daniel.” And so I did.

I found an interesting passage in Daniel 9:1-19. Daniel had found the prophecy of Jeremiah about the captivity of Israel and discovered that it would last for only 70 years. Instead of just saying to himself, “Oh, good, time’s up! Good, good, good!” and waiting for it to happen, he began to pray.

“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:” (Daniel 9:3 KJV) The content of his prayer? Confession for the sins of Israel. Repentance. A plea for mercy.

I read David Guzik’s commentary on this passage in The Blue Letter Bible.  (https://www.blueletterbible.org/) He says this:

“The number of years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah: Daniel knew that effective prayer comes out of knowing and praying both God’s word and our present circumstances. His study of prophecy showed him a specific number — the 70 years described in Jeremiah 25:11-13 and Jeremiah 29:10, and his knowledge of the times led him to know those passages applied to his time.”

In the book of Ezra, I found this reference: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” (Ezra1:1-2 KJV)

David Guzik’s commentary about Daniel in this passage:

“It is quite possible that the prophet Daniel was instrumental in this stirring up of Cyrus. He may have showed the king the prophecies of Jeremiah 25:8-13 and Jeremiah 29:10-14, which refer to the punishment of Babylon and the end of Israel’s exile. And if he showed Cyrus such prophecies, he almost certainly would have included Isaiah 44:28-45:5, which mentions Cyrus by name some 150 years before he was born.”

In Daniel’s prayer, I found it interesting that he didn’t ask God to return the people to their land, now that the seventy years were up. Here’s what he did ask:

“O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” (Daniel 9:16-19 KJV)

Daniel asked God for mercy. For forgiveness. And for God’s face to shine upon the sanctuary in Jerusalem.

Did Daniel, and perhaps others, have to pray, to confess, to repent for the sins of his nation, and to intercede for mercy, in order for Jeremiah’s prophecies to be fulfilled? I think so. Here’s why:

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30 KJV)

Also, in Isaiah 59:15-21:

“Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. 16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

“18 According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. 20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

“21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” (Isaiah 59:15-21 KJV)

Because he didn’t find a human intercessor, God provided one: Jesus.

Reminder, the definition of intercessor is one who meets with someone else, to intervene for or against another person. In the Isaiah passage it is from the Hebrew word “paga,” to strike, or to meet. The New Testament Greek word “entunchano” has a similar meaning: “to fall in with, meet with in order to converse; to make petition,especially to plead with a person, either for or against others.”

If an intercessor wasn’t necessary in the situation, why did Father God need to provide one?  Why send Jesus to be our primary intercessor, in conjunction with the Holy Spirit? And why send the Holy Spirit to inhabit Christians, those human beings who believe in Jesus?

There is one critical fact to keep in mind:

When God created planet earth, he gave the management of it and authority over it to human beings. “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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26 KJV)

In Adam’s fall, the enemy took it over, and he has done his best to wreck it and kill all the human beings he can ever since. (John 10:10)

Jesus’s work on the cross and his resurrection restored the management of planet earth and its control back to human beings. Satan’s most useful weapon is deceiving people in general, and especially keeping Christians from ever learning about or exercising that legally restored authority.

For those who do know about it, however, perhaps we should re-read Isaiah 59:15-21 and ask ourselves this: What words is God putting into their mouth? What power is in those words? Or in their behavior, as a result of those words?

Here are several examples:

• • The account of Aaron and Hur holding up Moses’s hand while Joshua led the army to fight and beat Amalek, Exodus 17:1-16. Hand up, Joshua won. Hand down, Joshua lost. Strange way to win a war.
  • The first part of Chapter 17 is great too; another strange solution to a bad problem, no water. What to do?! God says, Strike a rock… huh?
  • Then there’s the day the sun and moon stood still, Joshua 10:12-14. This passage is also pretty strange. Joshua talked to the Lord first, then turned and talked to the sun and the moon. It doesn’t tell us what Joshua said to the Lord; after all, God had already promised them the victory (verse 8). Did he ask God what he should do, exactly? And did God then instruct him to speak to, i.e. take authority over, the sun and moon? Probably.
  • Consider Abraham’s intervention, in Genesis 18:17-33. God himself came in human form bringing along a couple of angels, to meet with Abraham in person. After an initial conversation, he described his plans to destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah where Abraham’s nephew Lot lived.

To me, several verses in this Genesis passage are quite fascinating:

“And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Genesis 17:17-19 KJV)

Abraham was upset at God’s plan, knowing that his nephew Lot and Lot’s family lived there. He had the guts to argue with God!

“That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25 KJV)

And so Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy righteous people with the wicked. Maybe thinking surely with Lot and all of his family, there are ten… and thus he stopped his request at ten righteous people. Unfortunately, there weren’t even ten. The cities were destroyed, although Lot and his two daughters were rescued through Abraham’s intercession.

Back to my questions:

• What should believers do about God’s timeline growing short, if anything?
• What should I do about it?
• And specifically, what does it have to do with intercession?

Well, we already know some things. First, we know it is not God’s desire that any should perish (be destroyed): “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

And we know that God himself provided a way of escape from destruction, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)

But many will perish. Without intervention — including intercession — they will perish.

A word of caution: Without hearing and heeding God’s direction, his leading about even what we should pray in the first place, and then what to speak (command, declare and decree), we may pray “hit and miss prayers,” praying our own will but missing God’s will.

We may be tempted to quit trying, telling ourselves “This doesn’t work.” Don’t quit! Keep praying, keep listening to God’s voice, asking for and listening for his directions. Keep speaking the words he gives you to speak and doing what he tells you to do.

Some of it may seem odd, considering the examples above. Say it anyway. Do it anyway.

With the voice of the Holy Spirit putting his own words in our mouth, we partner with him to accomplish those words, God’s will — the confession of sin and repentance leading to the rescue, deliverance, and salvation of many.

Revival. Awakening! If time is short, how diligent, how determined should we be?

Breaking up… the roof?

Sometimes it takes me a long time to read through a Bible passage…

Luke 5:17-26, for example. (Also see Matthew 9:2-8 and Mark 2:1-12, KJV.)

This story is about an event in Jesus’s early ministry. After being out of town for a while, Jesus had returned to Capernaum. The news got around and before long, a large crowd showed up at the house where he was staying.

“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”

“And, behold, (four) men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch (mat, cot or stretcher) into the midst before Jesus.”

Reading this, I began to visualize the scene. A crowd has come to see Jesus, including sick people. There were Pharisees too, and doctors of the law. People were coming from everywhere! Galilee, Judaea, even Jerusalem.

Noisy? Surely. I can almost hear the shouts, the excitement in their voices, “Jesus is back, Jesus is back!” Can’t you imagine the clatter of their feet running, feel the jostling of their elbows, people edging closer, packing in tight to not miss a single word? To not miss seeing — or experiencing — a single miracle?

Some of those who heard that Jesus was back in town were four men with a paralyzed friend…

Did the four friends suggest he should go to that meeting? Did they have to persuade him to go? After all, he may not have been used to being hauled around town on a stretcher. Or did their sick friend urge them, beg them to carry him to see Jesus?

However it went, they got their act together, helped him onto a stretcher, lifted it up and away they went. How carefully they must have carried him! Maybe through several streets, maybe just next door, we’re not told. And how excited all of them must have been. Jesus can heal you! You can get well!

But then they hit a snag. The crowd wouldn’t make enough room for them to get inside the house. Did the crowd think that if they let those people in, there wouldn’t be enough miracle power left for them, themselves? Or what? Did they think a stretcher and five men would take up too much room?

Think about the five friends’ dilemma and their conversation. What now? I’ve got it! We’ll go through the roof! Whose idea was that? Did they all agree it was a good plan? How about the fellow on the stretcher, did he think it was a good idea?!

No, that’s okay, he might have said, let’s just go on back home. Suppose the homeowner doesn’t like this, he might get really angry, we’ll just be wasting our time and efforts.

No! We got this! Undeterred, his determined friends maneuvered the stretcher up the outside steps to the roof. That must have been fun. (Not!) Don’t drop him! Keep your side up! Hold on!

And once they got up there, there was still the problem of the roofing. Was it planks and straw? Hard clay, or clay tiles? The scripture says tiles, but what was that? Well, according to the Greek word, it was hard clay, possibly thick clay spread over planks and straw and left to dry. Dry hard! Sturdy stuff, no matter what it was.

Side note… some New Testament historians say that there was probably a stairway inside the house that led to a trap door in the roof so people could easily go up to the roof whenever they wanted, without going outside. If that was the case, it would have been like coming in through an attic and just heading downstairs. Easy! Or easier, anyway.

But Mark says, “And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.” [Mark 2:4 KJV]

Broken it up, huh? That had to have been a bit messy. A bit noisy. I can imagine some lookers-on yelling from below, “What are you doing?!” “Who said you could do that?” “This is not your house!” Or possibly, “Do you need some help?”

In the meantime, back inside the house, surely the crowd could hear something happening over their heads. Scratching, scraping sounds… Did strands of straw or chunks of clay begin drifting down from the ceiling? Did they quit listening to Jesus and start listening to the commotion up above?

Wonder how long it took to make a big enough hole? And where did they get cords or ropes to let down the stretcher bed? So many questions!

You can see why it takes me a while to read through a passage of scripture! And we haven’t even gotten to the argument that happened AFTER Jesus started paying attention to the paralyzed man and his faithful friends!

If / Then scriptures; some reminders

Any computer programmers out there?

You understand what “If / Then” statements are, I’m sure. Did you know God uses those too?

“God is sovereign. He has a plan!” I heard someone say recently.  “Don’t worry about politics, government, culture, society, weather, persecution, or the end times, it will all out work out in the end!”

True? Or not true? If it’s completely true, why bother to pray? But that is not what the scriptures teach. While God’s love is unconditional, many of his promises are conditional. Salvation certainly is.

Consider the hundreds — nearly 1,600 — of the “If / Then” statements in the Bible. Listed below are really just a few. Most of these are from the Old Testament but we’ll start with those in the New Testament.

(Reminder: Paul wrote to Timothy, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim 3:15-17)

New Testament:

• Mark 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (KJV)
• John 8:31-32  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and (then) ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
• John 10:9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
• John 15:7  If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, (then) ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
• John 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, (then) ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
• John 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
• Romans 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, (then) ye shall live.
• Romans 10:9  If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, (then) thou shalt be saved.
• 1 Corinthians 3:16-17  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
• Hebrews 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
• Revelation 14:9-10  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, (then) the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

Old Testament:

• Exodus 15:26  If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, (then) I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
• Exodus 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.
• Exodus 23:20-22  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place, which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
• Deuteronomy 4:29-31  But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
• Deuteronomy 7:12-13  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
• Deuteronomy 8:19-20  And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.
• Deuteronomy 19:9  If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three.
• Deuteronomy 28:1-68  The whole chapter… lists of blessings and curses.
• Deuteronomy 30:17-20  But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
• Joshua 24:20  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
• 1 Samuel 7:3  And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
• 1 Samuel 12:14-15  If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.
• 1 Samuel 28:7-9  Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever. And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
• 2 Chronicles 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
• 2 Chronicles 15:2  And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
• Job 36:11-12  If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.
• Psalms 89:30-32  If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
• Isaiah 1:19-20  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
• Jeremiah 7:5-7  For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
• Jeremiah 12:16-17  And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name,The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
• Jeremiah 18:8-10  If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
• Zechariah 3:7  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
• Malachi 2:2  If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

Note (1):  There are Covenants that God makes that have nothing to do with our responses, such as the rainbow in the sky and God’s promise to never again destroy the entire earth with water. That is an unconditional Covenant, and what we do or don’t do will not change what God does about that promise.

However, “If / Then” statements appear in Scripture almost 1,600 times between the opening of the Old Testament Book of Genesis to the last New Testament Book of Revelation. Repeatedly we find these conditional “If and Then” scenarios that lead to optional outcomes; the outcome is our decision.

Note (2):  Only with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit can a believer in Jesus actually fulfill the “If” requirements of these scriptures, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament.