January 21, 2017
I don’t know what you believe about heaven and hell, but Jesus taught that they were real places of eternal existence. In this parable of Jesus, He compared the kingdom of heaven to a fishing net that caught both good and bad fish. The good fish represented those who truly believed in Christ as Lord. And the bad represented those who were hypocrites.
The kingdom of heaven is to be populated by those who have made Christ king. However, there are those who pay lip service to Jesus outwardly, yet inwardly their hearts remain unchanged. They still have “self” on the throne. They have not made Christ the Lord of their lives. They are hypocrites. As the gospel “dragnet” gathers people into the church, both the saved and the hypocrite are present. Yet, at the “end of the age” (Matt.13:49), they will be separated. The “just” to everlasting life and the “wicked” to a place of everlasting torment called Hell.
This is why we must continually preach the gospel to the church. For we do not know who there is among us that has yet to truly confess Christ as King. And this is why each of us must examine our own hearts to be sure that we have truly submitted our lives to Jesus. Have you confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised Him from the dead? Are you truly among the redeemed? The end of the age is coming. Are you ready?
January 20, 2017
Joseph’s brothers stripped him of his coat of many colors that his father, Jacob, had given him. They threw him naked into a pit and sold him into slavery. But God raised him up. The Lord gave Joseph favor with Pharaoh, who put his own signet ring on his finger (A “signet” ring is like a “signature,” giving Joseph power to “sign” with Pharaoh’s authority). He put fine linen robes on his back and a gold chain around his neck. Joseph’s coat of many colors was now replaced. God exalted Joseph to an even higher place of favor than he had held before.
Again, we see Joseph as a Christological type. His life foreshadows the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus was stripped naked and crucified, but the Lord raised Him up and clothed Him with glory and power, giving Him “all authority in heaven and earth” (Matt. 28:18).
January 19, 2017
Joseph was “taken down to Egypt.” The Lord’s plan to elevate Joseph over his brethren, and one day rescue them from famine, led downward. The dreamer found himself in a nightmare. Down, down, down he went. The once favored son was betrayed by his brethren, stripped of his robes, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and left forsaken in a prison. Yet, Joseph’s character never crumbled, nor did his faith fail. He kept on trusting the Lord. And the Lord lifted him up to save his family. If Genesis 38 revealed the wickedness of humanity, then chapter 39 foreshadowed God’s eternal plan to rescue it.
The story of Joseph points to Jesus. For the beloved Son of God would one day remove His divine robes, and make “Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and come in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7), He would be betrayed by His brethren and become “obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God will highly exalt Him and give Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:8-11).
Just as Joseph’s betraying brothers later bowed before him, so rebellious humanity will one day bow before the Lord Jesus. Reading the Scriptures, we should always look for Jesus. Looking with spiritual eyes, we will see Him on every page.
January 18, 2017
David called the Lord his “portion, inheritance and cup.” This seems a clear allusion to the portion appointed to the Levitical priests who served in the Temple. David declared that he was satisfied not with lands, titles, or riches, but in the Lord Himself. The Lord was his delight and joy. The Lord was the source of any goodness and blessing that he had, therefore he would rather have the Lord than any blessing that the Lord bestowed. David sought the Lord’s face rather than His hand. Might we pray today: “Lord, I am Yours and You are mine. You are the One I long for, You are my inheritance and my great reward.”
January 17, 2017
Jacob, whose name became Israel, had finally found a place to pitch his tent. The place was called the “tower of Eder” (Hebrew: “Migdal Eder),” which literally means “Tower of the Flock.” It described a hill with a tower where the shepherds could watch over their sheep. Migdal Eder was located between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was a area of beautiful pastures and streams where Jacob’s flocks could graze and where he could finally be at rest from his running. Yet, it was also a place of grief and disappointment as he mourned the death of his wife Rachel and heard of the sinful incest of his son, Reuben. Migdal Eder was not mentioned again in the Scriptures until the prophet Micah, who wrote that it would be the place where the Messiah would be announced (Micah 4:8). And so, the gospel writer Luke reported that it was in the fields “nearby” Bethlehem that the angel appeared announcing the Messiah’s birth to the shepherds keeping watch over their “flocks by night” (Luke 2:8). Migdal Eder, the place where Israel found rest, was ultimately the place where the whole world could find rest. The place where Jesus Christ was first revealed.
January 16, 2017
Simeon and Levi were Jacob’s second and third sons. They were born to his wife Leah. When it was reported that their sister Dinah had been sexually violated by Shechem the Hivite, the prince of that country, they were furious. Even though Shechem came to them with his father Hamor, offering to pay a dowry and make things right. They schemed for revenge and ultimately killed every man in the city, taking their wives, children and possessions as plunder. Jacob never forgot the violence of Simeon and Levi. In his last words to his sons from his death bed, he described these two brothers together as “instruments of cruelty” (Gen. 49:5-7), prophesying that they would be scattered in Israel. And so they were, the tribe of Simeon was enveloped by the land of Judah. And the tribe of Levi was given to God as priests and scattered throughout the cities of Israel. In a story like this it is difficult to find the moral or the meaning. It is even more difficult to see God in it. Yet, this was the people that God chose to make His own, the line to which would be born the Messiah, the Son of God.
January 15, 2017
Did God really “forget” David? Was He really hiding his face from him? This was the language of David’s heart. This was how David felt and so he expressed his feelings to God through questions. Psalm 13 is a short prayer. It begins with David’s questions and ends with David’s firm resolve to keep trusting, rejoicing, and singing in and to the Lord. David was going through a season of spiritual dryness. He didn’t sense the Lord’s presence. Yet, he still believed in God’s mercy and salvation, and he knew that God had always “dealt bountifully” with him in the past. David prayed out his doubts by asking questions, but he also prayed out his firm faith. Have you ever gone through a spiritual dry spell? Have you ever prayed like David?
January 14, 2017
It was Jesus who sent out the disciples. The Greek for “I send” is emphatic. It is Christ Himself who is sending them out. It is by His authority and command. In this sending, Jesus used the attributes of four animals to describe the way He was sending them:
1) “As sheep” – Meek and without apparent physical defense.
2) “Amidst wolves” – Wolves harm sheep. They represent those who will persecute and kill the disciples.
3) “As serpents” – Serpents were seen to move with wisdom and subtlety. Move like serpents, but strike as…
4) “As doves” – “Harmless.” Be wise like serpents, but don’t strike as they do. Be harmless as doves.
Jesus is still sending out His disciples with the same authority and in the same manner.
January 13, 2017
When Jesus healed two blind men, he instructed them not to tell anyone. Why He forbade them is not explained, for certainly He later commands His followers to go into all the world preaching the gospel (Mark 16:15). Perhaps He did not want the fame of His miracles to obscure His message. Or perhaps He didn’t want the news to limit His ability to move about freely until the appointed day of His crucifixion. Regardless, the men went throughout the country sharing the news of how Jesus had restored their sight, in spite of His warning. Isn’t it ironic that these men couldn’t be stopped from sharing what Christ had done for them, while many believers today cannot be urged to obey Christ’s clear command to witness.
January 12, 2017
“Rehoboth.” The name means “spacious.” And space to live in peace was really all that Isaac desired. The Philistines had stopped up the wells in the land of Gerar that Abraham had dug. So, Isaac dug again those wells and named them what his father Abraham had named them. Yet, the Philistines were envious of Isaac’s prosperity. The king of the Philistines, Abimelech, told Isaac to “go away” from them because they were too mighty. So Isaac moved. In the valley nearby, his servants found water and dug another well, which the Philistine herdsman claimed. Isaac moved again. Dug another well, but same story… locals quarreled with him and claimed ownership. So, Isaac moved again and dug another well, which he named “Rehoboth.” Finally, no locals quarreled over the well. Isaac gave the Lord thanks that He had given them peace and room to prosper at last.
I suppose Isaac could have fought and defeated the herdsmen in the valley of Gerar, but that would not have brought peace. Those wells were certainly his, he dug them, but he surrendered them to keep the peace. This wasn’t cowardice or weakness. Abimelech acknowledged that Isaac was “mightier” than they were. Isaac sought peace and God gave him that and more. God gave him spaciousness and blessing.