Passover Remembrance
As I’m going through some devotionals this afternoon, I have one I saved from October 20. It’s called A Day to Remember and comes from my favorite - Beside the Still Waters. It talks about a church that burned so they were moving services to the pastor’s home. They will never forget the day the church burned, but what ties to things I’ve been discussing is how, “in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover as a day to remember their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.”
This is contrasted with the Passover celebration in the New Testament where we are also told to remember something. Our table at church even says In Remembrance of Me. We hold Communion at church several times a year, and it’s always a time to reflect and, dare I say, rededicate!
The writer includes something I’ve never thought of though. We know that the blood is the wine and the body is the bread. We know that Jesus is our Once and Everlasting Passover Lamb. What I had not thought of is this. “The reference is both to Christ’s physical body and to the church as His spiritual body. Many grains are crushed and many grapes are pressed to make these emblems, and this illustrates how we need to blend together as a brotherhood.”
That is beautiful! No, it’s not ‘thus sayeth the Lord,’ and there is no scripture reference to back it up, but the thought behind it - the UNITY behind it - speaks to what I’ve been talking about as it applies to us today; to us in the sense of unity with other denominations.
Walking in the Spirit
While I’m discussing some things that jumped out at me, October 22 is about gossip. Now listen closely, so I don’t have to repeat this… Paul writes -
Galatians 5:16 NIRV - So I say, live by the Holy Spirit’s power. Then you will not do what your desires controlled by sin want you to do.
Galatians 5:16 KJV - This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
The lust of the flesh. This sounds so dirty, doesn’t it. You know there are more than one type of lust though, right? You can lust for money; for power; etc. Lust is not just for sex or intimacy. Actually one could argue that TRUE intimacy contains no lust whatsoever, but that’s a topic for another day.
Right now, just know that lust means a strong desire for something. And lust is STRONG - like an overwhelming urge to do or have something. Think of a strong craving for chocolate. Is it lust? Or just desire? Can you easily say no? Can an alcoholic easily say no? That should put it in perspective.
Here’s verses 19 through 21 in both the NIrV and King James…
Galatians 5:19-21 NIRV - The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual sins, impure acts and wild living. It includes worshiping statues of gods and worshiping evil powers. It also includes hatred and fighting, jealousy and fits of anger. Sinful desire is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups. It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind. I warn you now as I did before. People who live like this will not receive God’s kingdom.
Galatians 5:19-21 KJV - Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
So as you can see, a lust for power results in more than just adultery or fornication. Lust for ‘fun’ leads to drunkenness and partying. Make sure whatever you desire is in harmony or concert with what God desires for you! When we walk in the spirit, we will do things that are in line with what the Spirit leads us to do!
Gossip
The point in this daily devotion is that gossip is talking; communicating. This is something we all enjoy doing. My blog and podcast are communicating, and I believe that is a gift and calling of God. Talking, writing, singing, etc. are not in and of themselves evil, but they can be used for evil. The writer uses two verses to help illustrate this.
Matthew 12:34 NIRV - You nest of poisonous snakes! How can you who are evil say anything good? Your mouths say everything that is in your hearts.
Does what comes from YOUR mouth and MY mouth reveal what is in our hearts? Yes! You might have control over your tongue around certain people, or you might install a filter so you don’t ‘cuss on Sunday’ or ‘tell a dirty joke in the church,’ but if those things come from your mouth you better believe they started in your heart!
So the writer points out that, “gossip is not merely a mouth problem but rather a heart problem. It starts with what we meditate on.”
Philippians 4:8 NIRV - Finally, my brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.
Remember what we say in the computer world: garbage in - garbage out. If you input things that are incorrect, it doesn’t matter how smart you are or how you manipulate the data, it’s going to be incorrect at the end.
If we dwell on the negative, we are going to produce the negative. If we dwell on the things we do not have we won’t appreciate what we do have. If we think negative things about people we will say negative things about people.
The writer ends with, “profitable conversation should be a daily habit.”
False Teachings
Last night the pastor was teaching on Matthew 24. He got a little bogged down in verses 4-8 talking about false prophets and false teachers. This really was driven home today when I was listening to a podcast and I heard someone say that God spoke to him audibly.
Now this is nothing new; I have felt the tug on the heart or God telling me to do something too. I don’t claim to hear it audibly, but it might as well be audible. “Go to that person. Turn around. I said go to him. Don’t just drive off like you didn’t hear me.”
No, none of that was audible, but I still felt the words, if that makes sense. Well, this person was talking about the rapture of the church and preparing people. He was in church on a Sunday morning. He admitted he was not a committed Christian (his words were “I wasn’t really religious”) and was only there to please his mom. But God said three words out loud to him.
Now what was the first thing he did? He went to prayer? Went to the scripture? No - he asked for a sign. He asked God to send a sign that if it was really Him and not another spirit or ‘lower case gee’ god that was talking to him. He asked that if it was really from God that the pastor would call him that week.
Sure enough - middle of the week - middles of the day - his phone rings and it’s the pastor calling him out of the blue. He said the pastor didn’t know him so it was not something normal. So it must have been God, right? Sorry - I’m not buying it…
Now I’m not saying that God will only ‘speak out’ to someone that is a dedicated Christian and not just at church because their mom wanted them there. Jesus called to some of the disciples before they were believers. And we all ‘got the call’ to salvation while we were still antagonists. My point is that I don’t think God will answer the question for a sign with - well - a sign.
Rapture Timing
There was another lady on the show who said God told her that she would be in her 40’s when the rapture occurs. She is now like 42. The pastor last night keyed in on this specific verse…
Matthew 24:36 NIRV - “But no one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.
Now before I go any further, I want to say that I don’t believe the Bible teaches that the rapture is ‘imminent.’ I believe that it teaches we will be taken before God’s wrath is poured out, but that the entire seven year period is not God’s wrath. Actually, the verses just before this say what I’m talking about… Now I recommend you read the entire passage of Matthew 24 so that you can read it for yourself. I will point out specific verses though.
Before you read this - or listen to this next part - please know that I’m not trying to convince you to believe like I do. I have been asked WHY I don’t believe in the ‘pre trib rapture’ like I’ve been taught for years, and this is the answer to that.
Matthew 24:15 NIRV - “The prophet Daniel spoke about ‘the hated thing that destroys.’ (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) Someday you will see it standing in the holy place. The reader should understand this.
This is known as the ‘abomination of desolation.’ For reference, here are the verses quoted.
Daniel 9:27 NIRV - A covenant will be put into effect with many people for one ‘week.’ In the middle of the ‘week’ sacrifices and offerings will come to an end. And at the temple a hated thing that destroys will be set up. It will remain until that ruler who will come is destroyed. Then he will experience what the Lord has ordered.”
Scholars agree that the ‘week’ is a period of seven years. This person is referred to in modern times as the Antichrist.
Daniel 11:31 NIRV - “His army will come and make the temple area ‘unclean.’ They will put a stop to the daily sacrifices. Then they will set up a hated thing that destroys.
Daniel 12:11 NIRV - “The daily sacrifices will be stopped. And the hated thing that destroys will be set up. After that, there will be 1,290 days.
This 1290 days is the second half of the ‘week.’ A Jewish month is 30 days; 1,290 divided by 30 is 43 months. You may have noticed this is longer than the “3-1/2 years” that make up the second half. There are many ideas why this is the case, but no one knows for sure. It could be that it takes 30 days for these things to progress, so there’s not a specific day that can be calculated when it will happen.
The point is, though, that Jesus references this event and then says to flee. Then Jesus continues…
Matthew 24:21 NIRV - There will be terrible suffering in those days. It will be worse than any other from the beginning of the world until now. And there will never be anything like it again.
Many people say this is referring to the seven year tribulation, but that is not taught in the Bible; that is an interpretation. The “Great Tribulation” is said to begin after the mid-point. Everyone agrees on this. Skipping ahead -
Matthew 24:29 NIRV - “Right after the terrible suffering of those days, “ ‘The sun will be darkened. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. The heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ (Isaiah 13:10; 34:4)
These two verses in Isaiah are basically what Jesus is quoting -
Isaiah 13:10 NIRV - All the stars in the sky will stop giving their light. The sun will be darkened as soon as it rises. The moon will not shine.
Isaiah 34:4 NIRV - All the stars in the sky will vanish. The heavens will be rolled up like a scroll. All the stars in the sky will fall like dried-up leaves from a vine. They will drop like wrinkled figs from a fig tree.
A lot of people want to say this is the second coming of Jesus, and that the rapture is an event that happens earlier. But let’s keep reading…
Matthew 24:30 NIRV - “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. At that time, all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. He will come with power and great glory.
The people of earth will mourn. Worldly people. People following the Antichrist. Jesus will be seen by all in all His glory, not simply calling people away from earth and just disappearing. The next verse actually describes the rapture.
Matthew 24:31 NIRV - He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his chosen people from all four directions. They will bring them from one end of the heavens to the other.
Now I ask you, who is Jesus referring to? If you believe in a pre trib rapture - that is a private going away before the seven year period begins - then you’ll say this is the ‘tribulation saints.’ The verses don’t support this though.
And then the money verse - the one the pastor mentioned…
Matthew 24:36 NIRV - “But no one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.
Note that Jesus says no one knows. As the pastor said last night, if someone tells you they know, then they are saying they know more than Jesus and the angels. That is pretty presumptive.
What About Me and My Pastor?
A question for you. Am I a false teacher for not believing the teaching of a ‘pre trib’ rapture, and for sharing my beliefs here? If I’m reading this correctly, does that make others false teachers for promoting this belief? Personally, I don’t think either makes a false teacher. If someone believes that Jesus Christ died to pay the price of their sins and they have called on His name for salvation, that is key! That is what matters! If someone teaches something other than this, they are a false teacher.
If someone says they have a different revelation than what the Bible says, they are mistaken.
Galatians 1:8 NIRV - But suppose even we should preach a different “good news.” Suppose even an angel from heaven should preach it. Suppose it is different from the good news we gave you. Then let anyone who does that be cursed by God.
I am not saying that Jesus is anything but the Way, the Truth and the Life. My pastor preaches the same thing. The timing of the rapture is a secondary issue at best. But to say that God told you when the rapture was going to occur? Or to teach that the trumpets have already started sounding because God showed you something that He didn’t show anyone else? I’m sorry, but that doesn’t ring true with me. Nor with Paul.
So the question stands. And I’d also like to know YOUR take on this. Am I totally off base? If so, how and why? And not just because you were taught something different or don’t want to be here during the tribulation. There are other thoughts I have on this too and will be happy to share if you’d like to hear it, or if God leads me to.
Until next time - Merry Christmas and God Bless!
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