Joshua, a Filthy Priest

Then [the guiding angel] showed me Joshua the high priest (clothed with filthy garments) and was standing before standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to be his adversary and to accuse him (Zech. 3). The position of a priest or High Priest was one of great spiritual responsibility toward the people. He acted as a mediator between God and the people; the High Priest was the only person to enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the nation’s sin. He was the spiritual leader of Israel; he led the worship and maintained as custodian of Law, upheld and taught the Law, making sure that the people followed the commandments. Not everyone took the position of High Priest, for it was a hereditary position, from the tribe of Levi. This tribe was set apart to serve God in the way of the temple and the spiritual wellbeing of the people. It was a unique tribe, for it was set apart to serve God. Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah (Gen.29:34).

In contrast with the position of a High Priest, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the Angel of the Lord. “Is not this [returned captive Joshua] a brand plucked out of the fire?” (Zech. 3). Does the term “filthy garment” imply spiritual as well as physical? If his life style called the attention of Satan himself, it could imply spiritual. Joshua was before God to be accused by the devil, the accuser of our soul. But the Lord spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him. I caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” And I [Zechariah] said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head, so they put a turban on his head and clothed him with rich garments.” And the Angel of the Lord stood by and protested and affirmed to Joshua saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in My ways and keep my charge, then also you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts and I will give you access [to My presence] and places to walk among these who stand here” (Zech. 3).

The Lord is compassionate and gracious and ready to forgive. He did not condemn Joshua, but forgave him and dressed him with a holy garment and warned him. Joshua was warned not to continue in his sinful life, but to return to God and his responsibilities before Him. When yet sinners, YAHSHUA did not stand condemning us, He cleansed us with His blood and imputed in us His righteousness, making us His redeemed children. We however, have a cross to bear in order to follow Him. The prodigal son’s father did the same to him when he returned home. He removed the world’s smell from him as he confessed his sins repenting, his father said to the bond servants, “Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet; and bring out that [wheat-fattened calf and kill it’ and let us revel and feast and be happy and make merry because this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to revel and feast and make merry” (Luke 15:11-24). The prodigal son was reinstated into his family without condemnation. The best garment was offered him; a ring and shoes. Celebration came after to welcome him home. Sealed forever into his family with the ring, symbolic of the Holy Spirit’s ring guaranteeing our salvation when we become His children. The old is gone, the new has come. “Therefore, if any person is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come” (II Co. 5:17). A person can be a pastor or a Sunday School teacher and yet not be part of the family of God; but condemned and lost. A person who professes faith in YAHSHUA and yet continues living a sinful life, has not yet been born again. Joshua, had the position of a priest, responsible for the spiritual life of the nation, and yet lost in sin and at the mercy of Satan’s accusations. But the Lord told those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him. And He said to Joshua, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel; He said, If you will walk in My ways and keep My charge, then also you shall rule My house and have charge of My courts and I will  give you access [to My presence] and places to walk among these who stand here” (Zech. 3).

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Nations in Trouble

“The Lord was grieved in heart” (Gen. 6:6b). That was not the fact that He didn’t know the outcome of His creation; that was not the case of surprise. But it was the case of men’s evil heart and intension continually. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually, and the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in heart.  So, the Lord said,” I will destroy blot out and wipe away mankind, whom I have and created from the face of the earth- not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air- for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6). YAHSHUA declared in His prophetic utterance, saying, “And as it was in the days of Noah, so, will it be in the time of the Son of Man. [People] ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Ao also as it was in the days of Lot, [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17: 26-30).

Nations are in big trouble today.  Men have forgotten God as the Creator and have taken the time to worship their electronic gadgets every minute of the day. They are even marrying robots, AI and whatever pleases them. For certain YAHSHUA confirmed an end to the world’s evil when He comes to judge it. The early pains of the tribulation have begun, but many are too busy with the affairs of the world to notice it. By the time they will notice, it will be too late, when they will be under the control of the surveillance state. What does it mean for all of us? It means that every word, every action, people’s faces, everywhere we are via telephone and business transactions already have been recorded.  As it is now, We are under the control of the surveillance state.

John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law, human rights and popular culture.  He has observed the following:

“The surveillance state reached a new level of sophistication and reach. Government agencies consolidated financial records, biometric identifiers, communications metadata, travel histories, and online behavior into centralized intelligence systems, often facilitated by private contractors. Artificial intelligence tools generated risk scores and predictive profiles, flagging individuals not for crimes committed, but for behaviors, associations, and speech deemed suspicious.”

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The Valley, a Place for Relationship with God

In the silence of a valley of suffering the mind brings circumstances we face with anxiety fear and worries. Long nights, as if there was no day around the corner, we submerge in the solicitude of our thoughts. A prayer is directed to God with questions without answers. Alone we remain in doubt, without faith to alleviate the pain, bringing hope for that moment in the valley. God’s promises sound clearly, but His voice overtaken by anxiety, we cannot hear. God, where are you? I then lift up my eyes and see Him suffering my pains in a horrible cross, body covered with blood disfigured beyond recognition. Then I realized, no, I am not alone, He is suffering with me here in this valley so deep.  He Said, “the reproaches and abuses of those who reproached and abused you fell on Me” (Rom.15:4).  There are many patriarchs that walked the valley of life before their deaths. I think Job, a righteous man, who loved God and walked in His ways, suffered the worst valley one would do. Job, lost everything, family riches, he was left with poor friendships, who served to accuse him. Body filled with sores, still did not curse His God, even when suggested by his wife. At the end of his ordeal, Job, when facing God, repenting, said, “I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You; therefore, I loathe [my words] and abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42: 5-6).

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Come Away to Rest Awhile

And He sent them out to announce the kingdom of God and to bring healing (Luke 9). They were the first missionaries commissioned to announce the Kingdom of God. These Apostles were very privileged missionaries under the authority of God Himself. For them there were no worry of any king. Every need was supplied. They were empowered with God’s Spirit to heal and to exercise power over Satan and all demons. The will of YAHSHUA was going to be accomplished while they were announcing His kingdom. The purpose why they were chosen was for that purpose. Three years YAHSHUA trained them to do what He did, in the same power. It has never been God’s purpose that men should be lost because of ignorance; His purpose was for their salvation. This was the reason why He came down to earth, sacrifice His life through rejection and ultimately His death. A price we could never pay for our humanity and sinful life. So, YAHSHUA called together the twelve disciples and gave them power and authority over all demons and diseases (Luke 9:1). I am sure that the trip was hard and tiring since they did not have the conveniences we do enjoy in our days. Dusty roads for one. YAHSHUA commanded them not to take supplies for the road for they were already supplied with all they needed. There would be plenty of dust for them to shake out of their feet at the rejection of the message, as YAHSHUA told them to do.

Under the authority of God Himself, although He wasn’t there with them humanely speaking, the disciples took His authority and ran with it. Departing, they went about from village to village, preaching the Gospel and restoring the afflicted to health everywhere. Seeing the miracles, they became excited and reported to YAHSHUA all that they had done upon their return. However, YAHSHUA took them (along with Him) and withdrew into privacy near a town called Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). The disciples hadn’t witnessed YAHSHUA’S action behind the scenes of their spiritual warfare, as they confronted the enemies directed, they were not aware that YAHSHUA knew what was happening. His power was with them as well as His authority. Otherwise, they couldn’t have been successful.

As a matter of fact, we live in a world of spiritual warfare. Every day we must face temptations without being aware of it and often falling into it. The Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians, brought to them the awareness of the need to be dressed with the complete armor of God at all times (Eph. 6) in order for us to wrestle against the forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere. The disciples had YAHSHUA Himself, Who is the Word of God to fight with the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God (Eph.6:17). It is good to remember while we are serving the Lord what we have available to us. We have authority, power and the full armor of God. YAHSHUA well knew the extent of the spiritual warfare they had fought and recommended them to take time in a secluded place to rest in His presence. As a good Shepherd, He offers us rest in green pastures: “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Sanctification is available to us in the quiet time in His presence. There, we are blessed with “His goodness and mercy and love; they shall follow all the days of my life, and through the length of my life the house of the Lord shall be my dwelling place” (Ps. 23). YAHSHUA’S presence was promised to be with us all the days of our live. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28). Our Lord offers spiritual rest, free from religious demands. Our Lord offers us a life of love and a life of grace. We will experience Him this way when we take the first step to rest in His presence. His Word becomes reality to our heart and soul, permeating our being with peace. Peace is a restorer and an elevator of our soul to Him.

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Shake the Dust Off Your Feet

YAHSHUA was met with criticism and doubt, when He went to His town of Nazareth to teach in the synagogue. The people were astonished at His teaching, questioning His knowledge and wisdom and where did He come from. They knew Him to be the son of Mary, brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and a carpenter, but nothing else. While He was teaching, the people kept rejecting His knowledge and what He was saying. They didn’t know that there in their midst stood the SON OF GOD, the Author and Creator of all living things, including themselves. Their minds were plugged with doubt unable to see and understand Whom He was through many miracles. They missed all together that theirs was the privilege of having God incarnated living among them. As a result, they remained in their own estate of mind, missing the opportune time when God’s Son had come to bring peace, but that was now hidden from them. Their lack of faith did not allow YAHSHUA to perform one work of power, except laying of hands on a few sick people. Israel didn’t know Whom was that man among them for a while performing miracles. Their eyes were closed and their ears locked to YAHSHUA’S messages. The kingdom of God was near them, but they didn’t want it. So it was that when YAHSHUA sent His disciples to the missionary field, He warning them saying, … “As you going into the house, give you greetings and wish it well; then if indeed that house is deserving, let come upon it your peace. But if it is not deserving, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, you leave that house or town, shake the dust from your feet” (Matt. 10:12-13). Israel’s attitude of rejection toward the Savior continued to the end of His earthly life. The disciples were to shake the dust of their feet in response to the Israel’s rejection of YAHSHUA’S message.

Many years previously, the Prophet Isaiah asked the question, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed?” (Isa. 53) John confirms in John 1:11-12: “He came to that which belonged to Him, and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him. But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in His name.” The disciples were sent out with the Gospel message being instructed to go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. “And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand! Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give; take no gold nor silver nor copper money in your purses and do not take a provision bag or a wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support…And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust from your feet. Truly I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town” (Matt. 10). This is a testimony against those who would not accept the message, with judgment coming against them. This act of shaking the dust from the feet is an expression of finality. Rejecting the truth is a way to perdition. Israel didn’t recognize their favorable time when YAHSHUA was on earth, rejecting His message and He Himself; many missed their salvation. Perls are not to be thrown to pigs, neither that which is holy to the dogs (Matt.7:6).

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt. 10:7) was the message given to the disciples to pass it on. The kingdom of heaven is YAHSHUA Himself, Who came from heaven, bringing salvation; it is the spiritual nature of God, not political or earthly kingdom; it is YAHSHUA fulfilling the law in its completion and given us eternal life with forgiven. A great number of Israelites were left behind in the desert, for not listening to the message of the Law. They were judged and never saw the Promised Land. It is the same idea today as yesterday. If we do not listen to the message of salvation, the dust of someone’s feet will be shaken out of their feet. The opportunity will not return for that person, ending up in hell.

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Israel in the Past, in the Present, and in the Future

The nation of Israel had a very unique history, unlikely that of all the other nations. Created by God, privileged with all the super natural events while taken to the Promised Land, promised to the patriarch Abraham, whom God chose to be their father. He was a man after the heart of God for his zeal for God. Born in the days of Noah, he lived in Noah’s house for a period of time, where he learned the ways of the Lord and served the Lord all the days of his life. He destroyed all his father’s gods out of zeal for God and was put in prison for a time. (The Book of Jasher) No, Abraham was not a worshipper of gods, contrary to what Christians think. He was influenced by Noah and his son to follow the true God. He took a strong stand against his father’s gods and made sure that they were destroyed. While in Haran, the Lord called Abraham to leave his country, his relatives and his father’s house, to the land that He was going to show him and the Lord said to him, And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed. And, Abraham departed, as the Lord had directed him… He was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (Gen.12). From this man of faith and obedience, came the nation of Israel established by God Himself.

Four hundred years the descendants of Abraham lived in Egypt, as God told him. Subjected to the Egyptians’ demands and hard work, Israel suffered much until God called the man Moses to deliver them. It was a time of great deliverance, after God brought judgments upon the Egyptians for not let the people go. They were seventy people in all when they arrived in Egypt; four hundred years later they had multiplied to over a million people. Moses, who was adopted by the daughter of the king, was considered their son, but he chose to leave their life style to save his people. Starting, he killed an Egyptian for mistreating one of his brothers, and then fled to the land of Median, where God called him to save his people from slavery. That was forty years later after he had left Egypt. Afraid, he hesitated to answer to the call for his past hanged over his head. With the help of his brother Aaron, he went and miraculously he delivered the people. This was a new chapter in the lives of the people.

That was the beginning of their journey through the wilderness for forty years.  It was there that God manifested His presence by miracles and wonders. To start with, He parted the Red Sea for them to cross it on dry land. It took all night for those people to arrive to the other side. He brought them out, on eagles’ wings safe and sound as He told them in Exodus 19:4:  You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  All through the forty years they wandered through the desert, God provided a cloud in the day time to protect them from the heat of the sun and a pillar of fire in the night to provided them light. These were years of teaching them to be a nation different of all the rest. They were to be priests unto the Lord and light to the world around them as a testimony of their true God. On the third month of their journey, God descended to Mount Sinai to covenant with them.  The mount was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly (Ex. 19:18). The seriousness of that event took the people by surprise and fear. They were facing the holiness of their God which was to compel them to keep His covenant with Him, so not to be judged.

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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

This was a warning directly from YAHSHUA to Jerusalem, as He saw the spiritual condition of the place. He wept [audibly] over it. Luke says that as YAHSHUA approached, He saw the city, and He wept over it exclaiming, would that you had known personally, even at least in this your day, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For a time is coming upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank [with pointed stakes] about you and surround you and shut you in on every side and they will dash you down to the ground, you, and your children with you; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not come progressively to recognize and know and understand the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:41-44). Years later, in the year 70 A.D. it happened exactly as He told them. His heart burned for that city called the “City of God.” His warning was prophetic with certainty of Jerusalem’s future. His weeping translated the gravity of the judgment coming to the city. Our Lord’s crying over a sinful and rebellious city against Himself and all that He had done for the nation, marks a time, in the space of God’s timing for serious judgment against it. YAHSHUA’S tears washed Jerusalem’s grounds with sorrows for the city, which refused to accept Him; a nation that rejected Him to the point of crucifying Him. He said, I must continue on My way today and tomorrow and the day after that- for it will never do for a prophet to be destroyed away from Jerusalem! (Luke 13:33). Jerusalem is without a doubt, an apostate place. Because of their rejection of God, Jerusalem is morally and spiritually corrupted. Figuratively called Sodom and Egypt for what they represent, as a copy of these nations. Revelation 11:8 says, and their bodies (the witnesses) will lie in the street of the great city (Jerusalem) figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. YAHSHUA’S calling the nation for repentance was ignored, bringing them serious consequences without mercy.

At the healing of a crippled man by Peter and John, (after YAHSHUA’S ascension) the people were amazingly surprised, to whom they responded: You men of Israel, why are you so surprised and wondering at this? Why do you keep staring at us, as through by our power or piety we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified His Servant and Son  YAHSHUA, Whom you indeed delivered up and denied and rejected and disowned  in the presence  of Pilate, when he had determined to let Him go, but you denied and rejected and disowned the Pure and Holy, the Just and Blameless One, and demanded a murderer to be granted to you, but you killed the very Source of life, Whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses (Acts 3:12-15).

The Prophet Isaiah, many years before YAHSHUA came to earth, prophesized saying, who has believed our message [of that which was revealed to us] and to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed? … For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of the dry ground…He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains and acquainted  with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him…He was oppressed, He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment, He was taken away; and as for His generation, who among them considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of (Israel’s), to whom the stroke due? (Isa. 53). John wrote this of Him: He came into the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him; He came for His own, and they who were His own did not receive Him and did not welcome Him (John 1:11-12). As these prophecies were being fulfilled through Him, He uttered another message of warning to the nation, specifically to Jerusalem, saying, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who continue to kill the prophets and to stone those who are sent to You! How often I have desired and yarned to gather your children together as a hen [gathers] her young under her wings, but you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken! And I tell you, you will not see Me again until the time comes when you shall say, Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! (Luke 13: 34-35). YAHSHUA was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as Isaiah prophesized it. YAHSHUA said, whoever hates Me also hates My Father; if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you… (John 15). The hate that the nation had for YAHSHUA passed on to their followers. Hebrews 11: 37 we read: Some heroes and heroines of the faith were killed through hate that the Jews had against YAHSHUA. It says, they were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated.

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The Spirit Is Life to the Body; Faith Is the Sustainer of the Soul

Our spirit communicates with our soul, while the soul communicates with the body. A life of strong faith is the result of the soul applying faith to be an overcomer, while listening to the spirit. The Bible says that “Faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things, [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality” (Heb. 11:1). Our soul is the responder of circumstances arising our way. That’s when, if we are listening to the spirit, we will act in faith and dependance in our Lord. The soul comprising of the intellect, will, and emotion, will dominate circumstances through the emotions. The emotions, the sensitive part of the soul, is the first to react. If we respond in anger, that will turn into bitterness of heart. It is not sin to anger; it is however to hold onto it, causing bitterness. Paul said, “When angry, do not sin, do not ever let your wrath last until the sun does down; leave no room or foothold for the devil” (Eph. 4:26).  Psalms 4:4 says “Be angry and sin not; commune with own heart upon your beds and be silent.” Hebrews 12:14 says “Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Faith is the pillar of the soul; it will never fail us, for faith takes us to the throne of Grace, where our Lord and Savior is ready to honor it. “Without faith it is impossible to please God; for whomever would come near to Him must believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). When we exercise faith, we are honoring the word of God by obedience. As Paul advised us “be constantly renewed in the spirit of the mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]” (Eph. 4:23). That’s the soul he is talking about. The enemies of our soul are in constant battle against it. It interferes with our relationship with God, bringing us down to temptations to doubt Him and His promises.  The battle of the mind is a control center for the devil to destroy us. It is where the flesh and the spirit collide fighting for what they desire (Gal. 5:17). Only when the soul submits to the Spirit and His leadership is that we understand that the weapons of our warfare are not physical, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds. Those purposes and thoughts that are not from God, we must lead them captive into the obedience of Messiah (II Cor. 10:4,5).

When the flesh and the soul are not renewed unto holiness, their desires are always contrary to the Spirit desires, for in our humanity, the normal for us is to disregard the important role that faith has in our decision and life style. So, we often fall into the arms of temptations. But faith is the pillar that holds us secure and close to our Shepherd. Listening to the Spirit, our faith is strengthened, for we are not struggling with flesh, according to Paul to the letter to the Ephesian’s Church. He said, “Put on God’s whole armor, that you may be able successfully to stand up against the strategies and the deceits of the devil, for out struggles are not with flesh and blood, but against the despotisms, against the powers against the world rulers of the present darkness against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere” (Eph. 6:11-12). This armor is without a doubt, complete with faith and the Word of God. When our soul is not in communication with the spirit, we walk in the flesh, satisfying its desires, harboring willful sin, hindering our communication with God. The Bible says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps. 6:18). This is the time when we must direct to the soul instructing it to “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is withing me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits- Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies you mouth with good so that you youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s” (Ps. 103:1-5). Yes, we can speak to our body and soul and demand them to do what’s right; Our spiritual power is exercised when we lead those thoughts that are not from God away from our mind before it constitutes mental, emotional and physical problems.

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When the Cock Crowed

Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked excessively that you be given up to him, that he might sift you like grain; but I have prayed especially for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren. And Peter said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death. But YAHSHUA said, I tell you, Peter, before a cock shall crow this day, you will three times deny that you know Me (Luke 22:31-34).

The hour was approaching, when our Lord was going to face trials and death. He spent his last days and hours with His disciples instructing them on what was about to happen to Him. Those hours were solemn hours for the disciples solely depended on YAHSHUA. The news of His coming death caused fear and uncertainties in their heart with confusion of their understanding. At that time, YAHSHUA had a warning for Peter that caused a change of heart. He said, Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked excessively that you be given up to him, that he might sift you like grain… (vs.31). But YAHSHUA would not allow Satan to do that to weak Peter. Instead, He prayed that Peter’s faith may not fail; and when he had turned again, to strengthen and establish his brethren (vc.31-32). But Peter insisted saying, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death (vs.33). A spiritual warfare was going on for the life of Peter in those hours without him knowing. YAHSHUA was defending and protecting him thorough prayer. But Peter ignorant of what was happening, refuted the Lord implying that he was strong and ready to die with YAHSHUA. A sign then was given to Peter by the Lord to prove to Peter His prophetic utterances to be right. He said to Peter: before a cock shall crow this day, you will three times deny that you know Me (vs.34). A cock is a male bird – rooster. Roosters break the dawn with a wakeup call for the world to get up and go. The rooster is the most reliable alarming clock there is. YAHSHUA used this to tell Peter that nature’s clock will prove him the veracity of YAHSHUA’S words. Wanting to get warm, Peter mingled himself with some others around, not knowing that they were going to test him. Peter’s weak personality couldn’t resist the first simple affirmation from a servant girl, his first encounter: “This man too was with Him.” He was confronted by two more, the third one emphatically insisted saying, It is truth that this man also was with Him, for he is a Galilean! On the third time that he was challenged, Peter began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not even know the man! And at that moment a rooster crowed (Matt.26:74).

While Peter was still speaking, the cock crowed affirming YAHSHUA’S words to Peter and at the same time, The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And he recalled the Lord’s words, Before the cock crows today, You will deny Me thrice. Peter went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:61-62). YAHSHUA’S eyes looked deeply into Peter’s soul and Peter, ashamed of the past few hours, was faced with his own failure, for the reality check caught him in a crucial time, when he rejected YAHSHUA’S warning. When his eyes met the eyes of the Savior, he had nothing to say, but weep for his actions. In life, there is always a rooster who will warn us of our actions. It is called the conscious. Often times, we shut it off, not wanting to admit our wrong doings, for the pleasure of it.

YAHSHUA warned Judas before his betrayal to save him from the terrible consequences, but his heart was fixed in doing it, no matter the cost. However, remorse took hold of his life; he lost it under the control of Satan, ending up in hell. At times we get angry at warnings, when pride controls the situation. We continue dancing around the fire that is about to devour us, until too late.  Ignoring warnings brings consequences we do not want to face. There are no excuses and justification when we know what is right and remain doing wrong, ignoring the voice of reason.  The Word of God says that any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17). Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it! Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, Hear and obey the sound of the trumpet! But they said, We will not listen or obey… Therefore, hear, I am bringing evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened and obeyed My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it (Jer.6:16-17,19). In Peter’s case, he heard the prophetic words from our Lord, but as Israel rejected the warnings, in the desert, so, did Peter. However, the Lord gave him another chance and re-instated him to his position of apostle. His love for the Lord was tried three times, commending him to “Feed My lambs.” This time, Peter’s heart was repented and contrite before the Lord. He followed Him the rest of his life and died as a martyr for the Lord.

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The Tongue, the Spokesman of the Mind

The tongue is the way to communicate to the world and to our friends and have a wonderful time as friendship deepens. It opens the world of happiness and completes the feeling of well being toward others. It is a mental exercise needed to keep our mental health, as we communicate and share our feelings. It expresses the thoughts and the attitude of the mind when necessary to alleviate the burden we carry at the time. It is a useful member of the body, for its many benefits and uses. Small as it is, it performs several functions. However, the tongue is a “weapon of mass destruction.” It constitutes danger to the soul and body. When the tongue is without control, the body suffers. For it causes the body to sin. James describes the tongue as a fire; a world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man’s nature), being itself ignited by hell; the human tongue can not be tamed by man. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison (James 3:5-8). The tongue has caused mental and physical diseases as a result, and even suicide. The power of words can penetrate deeply into our mind, causing depression insecurity, when we believe those flammable words. The mind of a carnal Christian, insensitive and outside of God’s love and the Holy Spirit’s control is capable of destroying a person with one word. Taking seriously the danger of the tongue, David prayed, Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips (Ps. 141:3); You have proved my heart; You have visited me in the night; You have tried me and find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress (Ps. 17:3); I said, I will take heed and guard my ways, that I may sin not with my tongue; I will muzzle my mouth as with a bridle with the wicked are before me. (Ps. 39:1).

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