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Tag: Genesis

Unless the Father draws you – Bread from Heaven
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life…
John 6:35a

A group of hopeful Jews has begun following this Son of Man from place to place looking for signs that He IS the Messiah of the One God. Now we turn to a sign Jesus shows to five thousand followers in a remote place where He provides bread and fish from the lunch packed for one young man.

Miracles & Signs by Jesus
- The Lord once again makes clear His purpose in Jerusalem.
John 5:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. – John 5:39-40

What Scriptures? The Jewish Scriptures, of course. And the proofs religious leaders demand will undermine their own earthly authority if Jesus produces such convincing miracles.

Yet like the Prophets the Jews recognized, including John the Baptist, Jesus also points to our natural disobedience of God from these same scriptures.

45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.

Once again Jesus offers us a choice between obedience and turning away from God, not between signs or disbelief.

46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Exodus 16:

2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־יֹ֣ום בְּיֹומֹ֔ו לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתֹורָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃
Exodus 16:4 WLC

4 Then said the LORD unto Moses,

Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Note the significance of the sign of the bread:

Genesis

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. – Genesis 3:19 KJV on consequence of man’s sin of disobedience to the Lord God

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. – Genesis 14:18 KJV

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:24-26 NKJV

Communion – Bread from Heaven

The Apostles will later understand a communion with Jesus witnessed after they depart from Jerusalem with Jesus a second time.

A mountainside overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, Galilee
- John 6: 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated.

14 When the people saw the sign [the feeding of 5000 with five loaves of barley bread and two fish] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 6:14 CSB

How would we follow the Messiah?

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king…

These disciples of the big crowd of ‘believers’ were no different from us. We prefer to lead the Lord, to have Him follow us our way. Jesus perceives how some would make Him an earthly King of the Jews. (Even the Apostle Judas had hoped for this.)

The Lord walks away from the crowds and the next day miraculously reappears on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Capernaum, Galilee on an opposite shore of the Sea
- John 6: 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
26 Jesus answered [those who crossed the sea and found Him in Capernaum],

“Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled…

“This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”

30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

We have already rejected the signs

Then Jesus said to them,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven,
but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
John 6:32-33 NKJV

It’s nearly the Gospel of John 3:16 restated, but here Jesus clearly states that some of the Jews have rejected the Messiah just as most of the world will reject eternal life.

And Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35 NKJV

“… 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…

57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”

Bread from Heaven – מָן

When we encounter the miracles of God, when our eyes open to see the Son of God come down from heaven we still ask, “What is it?“

58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.

He who eats this bread will live forever.”

59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

60 Therefore many of His disciples… [followers, that is, in addition to some of the Apostles] questioned Jesus and many later turned away.]

More signs to the Apostles

Some of the Apostles witnessed signs privately away from the crowds. One of these had already taken place between His sign of the bread to the five thousand and preaching about it in the synagogue at Capernaum.

On the Sea of Galilee

Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]
- … Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.
Do you fear the Living God?

Do you honor the Son?

20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

What next?

Jesus concludes this current teaching about the Father sending the One Son by asking the Apostles about the Spirit of God.

What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:62-63 NKJV

They will see the ascension of the Son of Man, risen from Sacrifice of crucifixion and death!

The Apostles, some who had witnessed the Voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, will receive the Spirit. They witness Jesus’ words of life.

Will you with ears to hear and a heart open to receiving the life of the Spirit receive the Word – the truth and the life of Jesus?

For He IS the bread which came down from heaven to satisfy forgiveness of our sins and fill us with the Good News of eternal life.
January 7, 2020
Shiloh IS Come
… until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

לֹֽא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִֽיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּֽי־יָבֹא שֶׂילה וְלֹו יִקְּהַת עַמִּֽים׃
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:10 WLC; KJV

Centuries have passed since Jerusalem fell, was rebuilt and recaptured. Not only have we no peace, but live as a captive people in our own land. And no Prophet has spoken since the days of old. Shiloh, come Shiloh; LORD send peace to the people of your covenant.

The LORD has answered our prayer

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Jeremiah 17:13 KJV – 6th c.B.C.

Isaiah tells us:

Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying, “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah…”

and that the Lord will cleanse the land by the ‘strong and abundant waters’ of Judah’s powerful enemy.

If only you had paid attention to my commands.

Then your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. – Isaiah 48:18 CSB

Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David.
Nehemiah 3:15 NIV – 4th c.B.C.

“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. – Daniel 9:17

In the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1-2 NKJV

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26a-27 NASB

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
Genesis 2:10 NKJV

WE Have Been Here Before

In our lead up to Christmas I have pointed to the Trinity and eternity of the Lord God. One way to think of an eternal Jesus is as the Son of Man in a Manger,

A Child is Born

For thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream…
Isaiah 66:12a NKJV

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid… “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” – The Good News of Luke 2:9,12 NKJV

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, toward men of goodwill!
Luke 2:13-14 NKJV *textral translation

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” – The Good News of Matthew 1:21 CSB

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 CSB

Living Water

Give me a drink.
request of Jesus to a woman at Jacob’s well – John 4:7

Jesus asks you one thing, so do you do it?

(This is the same Jesus born in a manger just thirty years earlier and the same Jesus who was ‘with God in the beginning.’)

OR do you question the Lord?

9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
The Gospel of John 4:10 CSB

You encounter a sinless Son of Man – Jesus – in a manger, on a Cross or along the road of life. Will you ask Him for living water?

Jesus walked on water and He calmed the waters of the stormy sea.

The Lord created, gave life to dust and walked Personally alongside the faithful. He IS the source of the spring of Eden, the river of life and the pool of peace in Jerusalem.

Shiloh or Siloam flows from Him and to Him. He IS the way of salvation to the living water.

The Pool of Siloam

John 9

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth…

7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).

The Lord touched you and commands, “Go” (do this or that). Will you obey? OR Do you question Jesus?

The religious elite questioned Him, but the blind man obeyed.

“Do you believe in the Son of God?”

36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

And Jesus said,
“For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
John 9:39 NKJV

Sent to the World – Shiloh in a Manger

“Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. – The Good News of the Gentile Physician Luke 2:11

Thirty some years later He returns to Jerusalem – the Lamb of God in the Person of Jesus.

Luke 19:

Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

Blessed is the King who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven

and glory in the highest heaven!

“Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory? ”
Luke 24:26

Of course it was.

We worship the Christ of the manger of Christmas because of the Lamb of God sent to the Cross for our sins.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
John 14:27 CSB
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May the Lord bless your worship of Jesus, 
our gift of Shiloh this CHRISTmas.
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December 25, 2019
Because the days are evil – Prepared for Judgment

Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD,
for the awesome day of the LORD’s judgment is near.
The LORD has prepared his people for a great slaughter
and has chosen their executioners.
Zephaniah 1:7 NLT

Not so Prepared

Where is my hope now? What will happen to the one who has not anticipated the inevitable and prepared for the day of judgment?

We claimed the Lord; then life proceeded with so many unexpected turns in our narrow path of faith. I was prepared for life, yet never expected death.

“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” says the LORD.

“I will sweep away people and animals alike.
I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble,
and I will wipe humanity from the face of the earth,” says the LORD.
Zephaniah 1:3 NLT

“I will consume man and beast… And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked… says the LORD.” Why did I not believe the word of the Lord? Were my eyes blinded to the scripture before us?

הַרְנִ֤ינוּ גֹויִם֙ עַמֹּ֔ו כִּ֥י דַם־עֲבָדָ֖יו יִקֹּ֑ום וְנָקָם֙ יָשִׁ֣יב לְצָרָ֔יו וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָתֹ֖ו עַמֹּֽו׃ פ
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And render vengeance to His adversaries;
He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
Deuteronomy 32:43 WLC;NKJV

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Romans 12:19, quoting Deuteronomy 32:25

But we knew this.

Why then were we not prepared?

Zephaniah

12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,
either good or bad.’

Of course, the Lord executed judgment against Judah. For his chosen ones, a nation set aside as holy before the gentiles, fell back into their sin of idolatry – the worship of gods who are not the LORD!

14 The great day of the Lord is near—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
15 That day will be a day of wrath—
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness—
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.

17 “I will bring such distress on all people
that they will grope about like those who are blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.

In the fire of his jealousy
the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live on the earth.
Zephaniah 1:18b NIV

That was then — in another land at another time. This is now, here. Yet we flee the inevitable!

Has the Lord not reserved His righteous Judgement on the earth and its idolaters for a Day to come? Will the trumpet not sound?

Ignoring the deep darkness

I knew a brother who sat on a bench in the graveyard, speaking to his departed loved one measureless hours as if this lost soul had never departed. In charred remains of a building nearby roamed restless souls tormenting the faithful, tempting the saints.

I feel your presence, he laments. Why have you not departed this scorched earth for the waterless places where souls are not quenched?

You, blinded flesh who must see the unseen in the darkness of sin – you do not believe. Yet unseen powers would lure you and me into the pit of destruction. For the dreams of the prophets you have never believed.

Psalm 82

Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.

They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are unstable.

I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.

But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”

קוּמָ֣ה אֱ֭לֹהִים שָׁפְטָ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה תִ֝נְחַ֗ל בְּכָל־הַגֹּויִֽם׃
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations.
Psalm 82:8 Masoretic Text; NKJV

Inevitable death, Inevitable Judgment

Isaiah 14: excerpt

9 “Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:12 NKJV

13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

And I ask you:

Is this the one over whom you revel, the unseen spirit of darkness you celebrate this night?

For by his deceit he would pull you easily down to the pit with him.

By the sweat of your brow you have eaten the bread of a difficult life, but remember you are dust… and to dust you will return.

The days are evil and sin clings near to the dying flesh. Have you not prepared for this time, rather than reveling in a brief respite from a quickened failing flesh?

Prepared for Judgment

Have you put on your armor of light? Do you bow down to the Lord God and Christ Jesus, who IS and will return to judge all mankind?

The angel of darkness may deceive you into believing any lie, but God IS and in Christ the Lord’s mercy is offered to sinners.

Perhaps you believe his lie that you will return to dust and then that’s it… nothing more… no accountability before God for what you have done in this brief life in the flesh.

Would a good God not judge those who have wronged the righteous? Shall evil triumph over good?

Not at all. For the Lord is good, full of mercy and love for His created ones. Therefore He sent His only Son to the world and out of His great mercy paid the great price of sin on the Cross so that those who love the Lord could be saved. Justice is served by the grace of Christ Jesus, sacrificed for us.

Hebrews 9:

He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Prepared by faith

Hebrews 11:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible…

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

What is your verdict?

Knowing that your end will come, knowing that the end of the world as we know it will come; have you, like Noah, prepared for these dark days by faith? Do you seek the Lord Jesus who will return on the clouds as promised by scripture?

The LORD has prepared a way of escape from your sin, though Jesus Christ. By his holy sacrifice for our sin God the Father has redeemed the chosen and restored our hope in these last days.

The days are evil – you see it – and ever so brief by comparison to all eternal time beyond the judgment.

Have you prepared to meet your Maker — to bow before the Throne of Judgment of your eternal soul?

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He has prepared a new body for you for a new heaven and earth.

So also has the Lord prepared a place of punishment for Satan – a horrific place of punishment and torment for fallen angels, fallen men and fallen women who chose evil over good. The verdict is the same for all sinners:

GUILTY!

Yet by the grace of Christ Jesus, will you accept God’s love and forgiveness?

Prepare… for the days are evil and you do not know the hour or the day of your death and then … your judgment.

October 31, 2019