That day, was a very busy day for YAHSHUA. When He came down from the mountain, great throngs followed him (Matt.8:1). The people’s physical needs were many. On that day, He healed a leper, who worshipping Him said, Lord, If You are willing, You are able to cleanse me by curing me. YAHSHUA, with great compassion, reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed (vs2-3). When going to Capernaum, He was met by a centurion, begging YAHSHUA to heal his servant. So, YAHSHUA healed the centurion’s servant. At Peter’s house, He found Peter’s mother-in-law lying ill with a fever; He touched her hand and the fever left her; she got up and began waiting on Him (vs.14-15). And thus, He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, He Himself took our weaknesses and infirmities and bore away our diseases (Isa.53:4). YAHSHUA’S life was the Word of God; He lived the Word, He preached the word. All prophecies coming from Him were fulfilled or will be fulfilled. Even before His trials, He fulfilled the Isaiah’s prophecy. People ran after Him to be healed and to hear Him teach. He was the most popular man on earth in His days. Perfect in all He said and done, yet, He was hatred by the Jewish authorities, even today many of them continue hating Him for no cause.
Our Ways Are Not God’s Ways – God’s Thoughts Are Not Our Thoughts
(Isaiah 55: 8- 11)
Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him to leave his country, relatives and his father’s house to a land He was going to show him. He promised to make a great nation from him and bless him with riches. Seventy-five in those days was still a young age, relatively speaking, for his father had died at the age of 205. He had no children at that time, for his wife was barren. When the Lord appeared to Abraham in a vision a second time, he said to the Lord God, What can You give me, since I am going on childless and he who shall be the owner and heir of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Look, You have given me no child; and born in my house is my heir. Abraham in his human nature is puzzled, not understanding God’s time line for the fulfillment of His promise. Sixteen years later, God came to Abraham again and this time he made a covenant between Him and Abraham. This covenant was that Abraham shall be the father of many nations; he probably wondered when, since sixteen years had passed since God had called him out of his land to a new land He was going to give him but his wife still was barren.
When God came to Abraham the last time before his wife conceived, he was at the age one hundred and his wife at ninety years old. God’s promise of a son became a matter of laughter to both of them. But God assured them that time that He was going surely to return to them when the season had come round, and behold, Sarah his wife was going to have a son. The reality to them was that they were now old, well advanced in years; it had ceased to be with Sarah as with women. Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have become aged shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord being old? The Lord saw and heard Sarah and said, Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son (Gen.17,18:10-14). God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways!
The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised (Gen. 21:1). Abraham was one hundred and Sarah ninety years old; but what is it to the Lord, since He is the Creator of life, and He is not in a frame of human time? He opened the womb of Sarah and what seemed impossible to them and their family, and a matter of laughter, became an expression of God’s power and faithfulness, for there is nothing hard for Him. His thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not His ways. He could have called someone younger according to our thoughts and reasoning; or He could have given Abraham a son earlier, but how would they have known the depth of God’s power and wisdom in the fulfilling of His promise to them? In our weakness God’s strength is manifested. Abraham had to go through a few experiences in life before he would see the reality of the promises. First he had to believe in the only true God, since he had come from a family of idol worshippers; second, he had to have faith to take the first step in obedience to God. Faith and obedience were then credited to him, for doing the impossible as far as to obey God in sacrificing his only son as God had asked of him to do. He had waited for that son twenty-five years. Now the Lord wanted to take him back. The depth of his faith went beyond the visible reality; in his faith he obeyed, believing God was going to give him his son back after he had killed him, as we read in Hebrews 11:17-18: By faith Abraham, when he was put to the test, had already brought Isaac for an offering; he who had gladly received all welcomed [God’s] promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom it was said, through Isaac shall your descendant be reckoned, for he reasoned that God was able to raise [him] up even from among the dead. Indeed in the sense that Isaac was figuratively dead, he did receive him back from the dead. “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; our ways are not God’s ways”!
A Journey through the Desert of Life
For you did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are You works, and that my inner self knows right well; My frame was not hidden from You when I was bring formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them… (Ps. 139: 14-16).
The beautiful creation of man expresses the depth of the wisdom of our God! Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable are His judgments! And how untraceable are His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood is thoughts, or who has been His counselor? … For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever! Amen. (Rom. 11:33- 34,36).
When God created man, He created him in His image, like no other creature he had created. Some special to consider and feel honored by. He gave man a beautiful garden to take care and live in. The earth was filled with beauty, as life was sinless and perfect. “It was good!” So, God said. Emerged in the wisdom of God in everything created, the world made its turns, bringing new days with the brightness of the sun which nourished and beautified all. A smile confirmed peace and joy all enjoyed. The Garden of Edem was the ornament of all lands and still is, because it is the Lord’s land. The fragrances the garden sent out were the fragrances of purity. Man needed nothing more to have his life complete and fulfilled, as God visited him and fellowshipped with him in the cool of the day.
The world enjoyed that period of time, short or long, I do not know, although, we wished that time would have lasted forever, as the pages of history would have had a different story to tell. We do not have understanding of what happened in that garden, but we have the promise that all will be changed someday. Meanwhile, life portrays that of Adam and Eve in their disobedience to God. The journey through this world became filled with challenges. We are born to die; the future is dark and uncertain in many ways, as dark as that day when Adam and Eve opened the door to sin, then sin entered into the world, bringing man the reality of his consequential destiny. The everyday choices we make in our journey will certainly dictate our day. Adam’s new journey started on cursed ground, on roads of thorns and with the sweat of his face he labored to provide food for the family and of course, life was not the same; death was now part of his life. Out of the dust he was formed, to that end he will return. It is rather depressing when we reason life this way: a beautiful beginning with a tragic end. New lives are sprouted every moment into the world, bringing happiness, a smile that will take a long time to fade. The future of everyone is written in the book of God. His Words determine the destiny of all lives. A journey is seen from the distance, with clear choices to make. Choices of all kinds, good or bad. As an example, Adam and Eve’s fall to sin changed the world, for sin continued spreading to all generations. When Cain, their first son, was born, he already had in his DNA the root of iniquity; His life was unique and strange. Becoming a vagabond, his life’s journey was rough and unpleasant, for he lived under God’s judgment.
Wells, A Place to Meet
(Genesis 24:10-27; 29:1-11; Exodus 2:15-19; John 4)
After the death of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, he concentrated on the future of his son Isaac. He sent away his trusted servant, Eliezer of Damascus, who ruled over all that he had, to look for a wife for his son. He gave him specifics where to go to find him a wife. Eliezer in agreement, as was their custom, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham and swore to him concerning the matter (Gen. 24:9). He departed with ten camels, some treasures and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor (Abraham’s brother) (Gen. 24:10).
Eliezer made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water and there he prayed: “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray You, cause me to meet with good success today and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming to draw water. And let it so be that the girls to whom I say, I pray you, let down your jar that I may drink, and she replies, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also – let her be the one whom You have selected and appointed and indicated for Your servant Isaac; and by it I shall know that You have shown kindness and faithfulness to my master” (Gen. 24:11-13). One thing to note here is that Eliezer directed his prayer to Abraham’s God for the sake of His promise given to Abraham. The success Eliezer was after had nothing to do with him. He was serving only as a middle man; he was very much out of the picture in God’s fulfilling His promise to Abraham. In other words, with or without Eliezer, God was going to do what He had promised. Eliezer needed a well, as it was the custom for a sojourner to wait at a well for a drink. But he was waiting for the right woman to appear through whom God would answer his prayer.
Rebekah came into the picture and did according to Eliezer’s prayer. Not only did she serve water to his men, but she volunteered to water the animals also. Rebekah was the perfect fit for all the requirements Abraham set before Eliezer: She was also Abraham’s brother descendant and she was willing to go along with Eliezer when she was asked if she were willing to go with him. (Gen. 24:4,8, 58). So we see that Rebekah fulfilled all three requirements and confirmed that she was to be the bride of Isaac. No doubt that the meeting at that particular well brought success to Eliezer in finding a wife for his master’s son, because he started his journey depending on God’s guidance to the right place at the right time. His visit to the well was perfectly timed in God’s calendar and He blessed Isaac through Eliezer’s faithfulness.
Twenty years later God blessed Isaac and Rebekah with twin boys after Isaac prayed much to the Lord for a child. Esau was the first born; he was red all over like a hairy garment. His name means hairy. Jacob came out grasping Esau’s heels. His name means supplanter. Esau however, under the pressure of hunger, sold his birthright to his brother, who would not let him have some of his food, unless he sold his birthright to him. So for a bowl of lentil soup he lost his birthright. Jacob, in another occasion, by pretending to be Esau, stole his birthright and received Esau’s birthright’s blessings. At the anger of his brother he was encouraged by his parents to flee to Haran, where his mother’s brother lived. Isaac blessed him and sent him away.
Haran was a city in Mesopotamia, today part of Syria. Jacob’s trip from Beersheba to Haran was approximately 450 miles. In that long journey Jacob had a lot of time to ponder over his deceiving actions in relationship to his brother’s birthright, starting with the trade of his lentil soup, when his brother was very hungry. The Bible registers that even when in the womb of their mother they struggled together. Discomforted, Rebekah went to inquire of the Lord and He answered her saying, “Two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:22-23).
That was a long and lonely road for Jacob to travel. But he too was going to find a well that would change the course of his life. On his journey, the Lord God appeared to him several times assuring him of His blessings, for it was through him that God was going to fulfill the promise to Abraham. “As he looked, he saw a well in the field and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well the flock were watered” (Gen. 29:2). The refreshing time came to him when he saw Rachel, daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his uncle. . . He kissed Rachel and he wept aloud; he told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father. Laban ran to meet Jacob, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house (Gen. 29:10,11-13). There was quite a celebration at that well! The future sparked in their lives and God was pleased. Jacob spent twenty years living with his uncle Laban in Syria. All his sons were born in Syria, with the exception of Benjamin and daughter, Dinah. From his sons the nation of Israel was born.
Moses, an adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, found himself running away for his life, after having killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers. He fled from Pharaoh’s hand and found refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well (Exodus 2:15). The Midianites descended from Midian, one of Abraham’s sons through his wife Keturah (Gen. 25: 1-2). The distance between Egypt and Midian was about 200 miles. The Midianites dwelt in the Sinai Peninsula (Exodus 3:1). As Moses sat at the well waiting for someone to come, the seven daughters of Midian priest came to draw water for their father’s flock. Meanwhile the shepherds drove them away, but Moses noticing it, stood up to help them to water their flock (Exodus 2:15-17). He was invited to eat bread with the family as a reward and was given the oldest daughter for a wife. He remained in Midian forty years before the Lord called him out. The well in Midian, served as a connection place for Moses. He had been a fugitive and disconnected with his world, but through the well he became connected with a family, who blessed him with a family of his own. God had never forgotten Moses; instead He was preparing him for a task he never expected. Those forty years of his life in that desert were years of lessons how to be a leader in the school of life.
The Revelation Concerning the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ
It is a most solemn fact that Religious Christendom, by accepting that the Savior’s resurrection took place early on the Sunday morning after His death at 3 P.M. on the Friday, makes each of the Three specific statements on the subject uttered by our Lord Himself appear grossly inaccurate. It is, therefore, a singular joy and a cause for much thanksgiving to be able to dispel the cloud of suspicion which has gathered around these Three statements by virtue of Christendom’s willingness to accept and act upon a theory which does despite to each one of them. Every true Christian knows that our Lord could not err in any statement He made; but for eighteen centuries no one has been able to prove to the world from the Scriptures that each of His Three predictions was literally fulfilled. Rather have His statements been explained away than explained, and this often by those to whom the process must have caused much misgiving.
Statement 1: Matthew 16: 21…
“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day.”
The expression “raised again the third day” appears no less than ten times, in one form or another, as follows: Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46; I Corinth. 15:4. This is by far the most frequent term used in reference to the time the Lord would be raised from the dead.
Statement 2: Mark 8:31
“And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
This statement “after three days” occurs only once in the Authorized Version but the Revised Version renders Mark 9:31 and 10:34 as “after three days”. It is also quoted in this form by the Jews to Pilate when the asked for a guard for the sepulchre. (See Matt. 27:63 and Luke 24:21.)
Statement 3: Matt. 12:40
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The statement is only recorded once in the Gospels.
Statement 3 is the most important of all because our Lord prefaced it with the words, “There shall no sign be given … but the sign of the prophet Jonas”. If, therefore, our Lord was not in the literal sense “three days and three nights” in death, then His one sign to this “evil and adulterous generation” failed. To declare such a thing would be blasphemy. To evade the issue by accepting the notion that the expression used by our Lord was a Jewish idiom that need not be treated literally is a most dangerous slight upon Him which, if taken to its final analysis, would allow His critics all the leeway they wish when belittling His statements on other subjects. To be a true prediction, our Lord’s session in death must have covered all or part of “three days” and all or part of “three nights”; and exactly the same terms would have applied to Jonah’s session in “the whale’s belly”.
Obviously, our Lord intended these three statements covering the time of His resurrection to be complementary one to the other. They are not purposeless and each one accomplishes a different object. We will take them in turn.
Jacob and His Stone Pillow
(Gen. 28:10-19)
Isaac had reached the age of when his eyes were dimmed and the thought of death approaching. He favored Esau, his older son, for his hunting skills and his know how to cook an appetizing meat to satisfy him. He was partial to Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob. So he called Esau and ordered him to go hunt game for him, so that he would bless him as his firstborn before his death. But other ears were listening to Isaac’s order and things did not happen as Isaac planed. At the command of his mother, Jacob got involved in a scheme she planned, to make him the heir of the blessings instead of Esau. This is not a story with a beautiful picture. When Rebekah was expecting the twins, she was told by God that two nations were in her womb, and the separation of two peoples had begun in her body; the one people were going to be stronger than the other, and that the elder was going to serve the younger (Gen. 25: 23). So Rebekah felt that then was time for Jacob to fulfill the prophecy through her deceits. As a result, Jacob had to flee home to escape death from his brother for having stolen all the blessings from him. He was sent to his parent’s family far away in the land of Haram, approximately five hundred miles from Beersheba, where he lived.
Jacob left home to the destination suggested to save his life. His life was not going to be the same ever again; neither would he see his mother. He had a lot of time to think through what he had done to bring his life on a line of a fugitive. Although it was not his idea, he had the choice not to follow his mother’s suggestion, since he was of age (seventy-seven) and smart enough to understand that his decision would bring him consequences. But Jacob was an opportunist and crafty to get what he wanted. One thing he always wanted was Esau’s blessings of firstborn. He then stole it with a bowl of soup when Esau was faint with hunger. Here now, a feud started that cost many lives throughout the centuries to this day. We have a woman to thank her for.
It was a long journey. But when Jacob thought it to be over for him, God came to rescue him. Jacob’s first stop, just before the sun set was in a place where there were several stones. He took one and used it as a pillow. That must have been a very special stone. When he laid his head on it, he soon fell asleep. It was as if it was the most comfortable pillow Jacob had laid his head on. And a dream came to him of a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood over and beside him and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying. And your offspring shall be as the dust or sand of the ground, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and by you your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed and bless themselves (Gen. 28:11-14). God had come to Jacob in a dream with great spiritual and prophetic significances. He saw a ladder that reached heaven; in it the angels or messengers of God ascended and descended. The ladder is the means of unifying heaven and earth through the Son of God; He is the Way the Truth, and the life (John 14:6). Angels were carrying the message of the covenant made to Abraham and Isaac and was ratified to Jacob, as the beneficiary. Through him as well as Abraham all the nations would be blessed in YAHSHUA’S life, Who was going to come from the line of Jacob. Jacob understood one thing from that dream: surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it; this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven (Gen. 28:16-17).
Our Lord Jesus Christ Brought Before Pilate
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. (Matt. 27: 24-26)
The “tumult” made by inciting the mob to demand that our Lord be crucified and Barabbas released was what caused the breakdown of Pilate’s morale. It may have been vain for Pilate to wash his hands but the Jews perfectly understood the symbolism of this act by which he claimed to establish his own innocency in what was to become the greatest crime in human history. The Jews’ response, “His blood be on us, and on our children”, has proved to be the costliest statement that ever fell from human lips; and the history of the Jews ever since has been one of ceaseless blood-flowing and suffering – a historical fact which it is impossible to dissociate from the terrible events we are tracing in the Scriptures.
After the release of Barabbas the scourging of our Lord Jesus Christ by the soldiers of Pilate, as the customary preliminary to crucifixion, took place. This scourging of our Lord, which was done in public after He had been stripped and tied to a stake, is so terrible to contemplate that one is bowed with shame to think that human beings could so act towards One Who had come down from Heaven and taken a body of flesh and blood in order that He might as Man – sinless Man – redeem us from all iniquity. How deep the mystery that man’s sin must reach its greatest height in his hatred and violence toward the One Who was now about to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. How important, therefore, for all who own allegiance to Him to remember that our Lord’s scourging was a part of His redemptive Sacrifice. Isaiah foresaw this and declared:
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:5)
Though Pilate had released Barabbas and had now allowed Jesus to be cruelly scourged, he had not yet handed Him over to be crucified. It is from John’s Gospel that we learn the precise details of what transpired and the scourging – though Matthew and Mark add certain details. It is quite clear that Pilate yet hoped to turn the Jewish rulers away from their determination to kill Jesus, and this fact the following passage from John’s Gospel establishes:
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote Him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find on fault in Him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye Him, and crucify Him: for I find no fault in Him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God (Jonh 19: 2-7)
Elijah, a Prophet for All times
Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? Asked His disciples. YAHSHUA then answered them saying, But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know or recognize him, but did to him as they liked. So, also the Son of Man is going to be treated and suffer at their hands (Matt.17:12). YAHSHUA answering the question, confined to the disciples that He, like John, will be rejected and be killed by those who killed John. That was a solemn moment for the disciples to ponder about the words of YAHSHUA, as they had just experienced the most supernatural event, when YAHSHUA underwent a change in their presence at the Mount of Transfiguration; His face shone clear and bright like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light; and there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him, and then, they were overshadowed by a shinning cloud and God’s voice sounded warning them saying, This is My Son, in Whom I am delighted; listen to Him (Matt. 17: 2-3,5). The subject of the conversation between them was of great importance, for those were YAHSHUA’S last forty days on earth before His death. The Gospel of Luke is the only one that mentions the subject of the conversation (Luke 9:30). Moses, representing the Law and Elijah, the prophets, constituted time frames when all that which had been prophesized about YAHSHUA was going to be fulfilled through Him. YAHSHUA, through His death, was going to fulfill the Law in its entirety. Moses and Elijah came to Him with the purpose to be witnesses and to confirm the coming event. As a matter of fact, A.E Ware, the author of the book, The Restored Vision, suggested that the two men seen at the tomb of YAHSHUA at His resurrection, were Moses and Elijah.
Elijah became the subject of the conversation, when they were coming down from the mount. Based on what had been prophesized by Malachiah 4:5-6: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction. The disciples’ question was, Why must Elijah come first? That is, before the end of all things or the great tribulation. “But I tell you that Elijah has already come.” Was the answer presented to them by YAHSHUA. How so? In the spirit and power of Elijah. He was not Elijah in his physical body, for that, Elijah will come in person to fulfill the prophecy of Malachi 4:5. John went into all the country round about the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sin, as it was written in the book of Isaiah the prophet (Luke 2). This same John’s garments were made of camel’s hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4). His message to the nation of Israel was hard and direct without compromises. To the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he called them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation that is coming? Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance and do not presume to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our forefather; for I tell you, God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones; and already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt.3:7-10). So, with many other appeals and admonitions he preached the good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been told about his fault and reproved with rebuke producing conviction by [John] for [having] Herodias, his brother’s wife and for all the wicked things that Herod had done, added this to them all- that he shut up John in prison (Luke 2:18-20).
Activating God’s Full Armor for the Days Are Evil
What comprise evil days? We can understand the meaning of evil days better now, because they are right in front of our eyes everywhere we go. They are called the latter days or the last days. Paul refers to them as perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear] (II Tim.3:1). Under our God’s control, the world is marching on for its destruction, as it has been kept for judgment and destruction of the ungodly people (II Peter 3:7b). These are the days when we must seek strength from the Lord. Paul wrote this in the letter to the Ephesians: In conclusion, be strong in the Lord; draw your strength from Him. It is done by putting on God’s whole armor, in order to stand up successfully against the strategies and the deceits of the devil (Eph. 6: 10-11). We are constantly in a spiritual battle field. Our enemies are many, under the power of Satan. His purpose is to rage war against us, in order to destroy and to discourage in some way or other. The armor of God must stay on at all times, as a soldier’s, ready to go to war. Our spiritual life comprises of spiritual battles as long as Satan, our enemy is alive. Paul said, No soldier, when in service, gets entangled in the enterprises of life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him… [ So,] constantly keep in mind YAHSHUA the Messiah risen from the dead, descended from David, according to the good news (II Tim. 2:4,8).
We are soldiers for the sake of the Gospel. Our Lord YAHSHUA entrusted us the responsibility to keep His Gospel in our heart and to proclaim it with our mouth, to defend it with His full armor available to us. He gave us all that we need to fight the fight and to win against the strategies and the deceits of the devil, the father of lies. Often times he presents himself to us as angel of light, when in fact, he is an angel of darkness. When YAHSHUA sent the seventy disciples out on the mission to spread the good news of salvation, He equipped them with authority and power to trample upon serpents, scorpions and over all the power that the enemy possesses (Luke 10:19). When the disciples returned, they gave YAHSHUA a powerful report with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name! YAHSHUA then said to them, I saw Satan falling like a lightning from heaven (vs.17-18). Authority and power given to the disciples then is also available to us today to fight the enemy. Let’s think that when we activate the armor of God, we are exercising the authority and power given us against all demons and Satan himself. The armor was given us to put on and keep it on. Satan can rage war against us at any time. One never knows when. It happens suddenly sometimes, but if we are prepared with the whole activated armor on, there will be no surprises. For that, we do need spiritual discernment. We must know when the attack is from Satan, or it is a result of our sinful life-style. Satan will not go after you, if you are walking in disobedience and unprepared. He knows those who are God’s faithful servants. So, it is good to stop blaming on him and point the finger at ourselves.
Who Will Stand with Me for Righteousness?
The world goes around in circles in relationship to its spiritual estate. The air is filled with unrighteousness and no one takes notice of it, so it seems. There is no noticeable distinction between Christians and non-Christians in the way one chooses music, in the way they dress, in the life-style one chooses to live. Christians support businesses that practice profanities, and immorality. Stores openly let them know where they stand in matters that should concern their faith, but their eyes are closed and ears deafened by choice in order not to sacrifice their worldly pleasure. We elect officials who stand against our beliefs in order to support political parties. Meanwhile, where children disappear from the womb of their mothers, for the sake of women’s choice. The world has become morally filthy and hard to live in it. We ask the question, “How long, O Lord before You take vengeance on this world?” However, we forget that He is looking for intercessors who will stand in the gap for righteousness. We are depressed, carrying the load of grief, but without focus to fight the evil taking over our lives. Our land is polluted beyond remedy. Only our Lord can do something about it, if we, the minority of His people, would stand for Him in this warfare against unrighteousness. Iniquities abound, separating us from God. Prayers are not answered because of it; we live a mediocre life of faith; “we do not call-in righteousness,” while unrighteousness multiplies.
Light from the Word 