November 1, 2009
Scripture:
Scripture:
John 2:13
The Jews’ Passover? The Passover was instituted by God when the Children of Israel were being released from Egypt. They had to kill a lamb, take its blood and put it on the side posts of the door, and then roast the lamb over fire and eat it with unleavened bread. It was God’s Passover. But when Jesus came to earth, it was no longer the Lord’s Passover, but instead the Jews’ Passover.
As we’ve remembered the Lord this morning, we’ve been thinking how Christ was smitten of God as that Stone. We are living stones. And not only is Christ precious to us, but we are also precious to Him! Peter tells us that, “Unto you which believe therefore, He is precious”. Yes indeed. But we are also precious to Jesus. He went through all the suffering of Calvary so that we could be His Bride. When we’re raptured, He’ll give us bodies like to His own and we’ll be revealed to the whole world as His Bride. We need to let these things sink into our hearts, because we need to remember that this is the Lord’s table around which we meet. Not our table, but His table. He is precious to us and we are precious to Him. We shouldn’t meet here as just a routine, but instead we should have a living, vibrant and love-filled desire. May we enjoy this privilege with each other and the Lord, and may we remember how dear He is to us, and how dear we are to Him.
Hymn 281 - We wait for Thee, O Son of God
Prayer
Esther 8
When Haman paraded Mordecai through the streets on the king’s horse, that was a picture of the Moral Appearing of Jesus. In this chapter he represents the Official Appearing of the Lord, which will happen at the beginning of the Millennium.
V3. Before, when Esther went in to see the king, she was afraid; but not now. Vv.4 & 5. The edict that Haman had devised was still in effect, so Esther asks the king to reserve it. Vv. 6 - 8. The king gave Mordecai and Esther authority to write in his name. They couldn’t cancel the edict, because the law of the Medes and Persians couldn’t be changed. However, they could issue another edict. Vv.9-10. Can you imagine the speed of these animals? They had to get the word out rather quickly, because they were supposed to have a feast on a certain day. V11. The Jews were allowed to kill all those that would want to kill them. Also, they were allowed to take of their goods. Vv.12-13. This is a type of what will happen at the beginning of the Millennium; the Jews will be avenged of their enemies. V15. Blue represents heaven, and white represents purity. The pure Man from heaven is Jesus Christ. Vv. 16-17. The Bible tells us that in the future that people will “take hold of the skirt of a Jew”. Revelation 12:1-5. This is Jesus. Vv.6-14 The “time, times and half a time” refer to the 3.5 years of the Tribulation. Vv.15-16. God will not allow the Dragon to destroy these people in a flood. Matthew 24:21-22. The last 3.5 years of the Tribulation are called the Great Tribulation. This passage gives us an idea of the severity of the Tribulation. But finally in the end, Satan will be taken care of.
Chapter eight ends with the Jews happy and joyful, just like they will be in the Millennium. But where are we all this time? At the rapture, we will go up to heaven where we will be given rewards at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Then there will be the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Finally, we will reign with Christ during the Millennium. This should make us think about how we are using our lives. Are we using them in a way that will count for eternity?
This chapter comes in after the wall has been built. We have been reading about the re-establishment of the Word of God. Until now, Nehemiah has been leading, but now Ezra brings out the law.
The phrase “all the people” is used several times in this chapter. We can see that they are in one accord. They wanted to follow the Word of God. As we have said, we have more than they did: we have the entire New Testament. May we reverence it as much as they did.
It’s amazing to think about how we got our Bible, and what God has done to prepare and preserve it for us. Read Revelation 1:1 & 2; God gave this revelation to Jesus, who gave it to His servants. Then the angels passed it on to John, who recorded it on scrolls. So many passings-on! But that was not the end, because we don’t read scrolls today. Through the years, scribes copied scrolls with amazing accuracy. Then God used people like Tyndale to translate the Bible, and those like Gutenberg to print it. God preserved His word for us, and we can believe it and rest in it.
V. 6: Here we see again the incredible reverence they had for the Word of God; and they did not have it themselves. God has given us copies and we are able to read and meditate on it for ourselves.
V. 8: It seems like a good idea to make sure everyone understood what was being read. But maybe there was more to this: many of these Jews grew up in Babylon and it is possible that they didn’t understand the language Ezra was reading in. Ezra and others made sure they understood God’s heart and mind. We should strive to understand God’s mind as well.
So what effect did this have on the people? They wept; some were hearing the law for the first time. Now, they were so far away from its standard. They were taking it to heart. we should do the same.
Hymn 265 – We joy in out God, and we sing of that love
Prayer