March 7, 2010
Ministry:
Our Brother read in John 19, and I’d like to refer back to that chapter. I want to focus on two things that the Lord said while on the cross. V28b. It is common in crucifixion for the person to become very thirsty. The Lord lived in a dry and thirsty land. He endured physical thirst, but also spiritual thirst. There was nothing here to refresh him.
V30. We have to understand what finished means. It doesn’t mean partly done, but done 100% according to God’s standards. Every sin was paid for.
John 4:10-14. While here in this dry and thirsty land, our Lord was thirsty. But those that know Him as their Lord and Saviour will never thirst. We have been given a fountain of water that springs up. It’s the Word of God. It cleanses us, and satisfies our thirst. Our Lord went through all that thirst so that we don’t have to. We have the Word of God, but are we using it? If we don’t use it then we can’t get refreshment from it. Our Lord has given us everything that we need, may we use the water He has given us and be refreshed.
Hymn 251
Prayer
We’ll carry on today with animals in the Bible.
1. The Bat.
When we first moved into our house, we had bats. They would fly around the rooms, and I would hit them with a tennis racket. I then changed that to a butterfly net so that I wouldn’t kill the bats. Leviticus 11:13-19. Here we find the bat in the list of unclean animals that the Children of Israel were not supposed to eat. Isaiah 2:20. Here the bat is a symbol or type of darkness and desolation. The Tribulation will be a time of darkness and desolation on earth.
2. The Bear.
Bears are noted for their long, sharp, claws. I’ve seen trees in Algonquin Park that had big scratches on the side, because a bear had scraped them with his claws. II Samuel 17:8. A whelp is a baby bear. A bear that has been robbed of her cubs is very mad and very dangerous. Daniel 7:2. In this passage, the Lion represents the kingdom of Babylon, the Bear represents the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, the Leopard represents the Greek Empire, and the Unnamed Beast represents the Roman Empire. All these kingdoms came to an end, but the Roman Empire will come back after the rapture.
So those are the animals for this time, the bat and the bear.
We saw in chapter 9 that the Jews wanted to get right. Now, they determined to make a covenant, which we see in ch. 10. The first part of the chapter lists the 84 people who signed the covenant. Was this covenant a good thing? Well, we know that they had failed before. But a covenant was the only relationship with God that they knew. Their hearts were in the right place. They wanted to obey God. They could have chosen to do otherwise. Notice that in v. 29, they chose to put themselves under a curse, or an abhorrence, against disobedience. They made an oath to walk in God’s law; it was a commendable commitment.
Read Deuteronomy 30:19. God gave Israel choices right from the beginning. Life is filled with choices, and those choices have consequences. Read Deuteronomy 32:46 & 47 and notice this phrase: “It is your life.” You can only spend it once; will you want to re-live it? In Deuteronomy, Israel was at a turning point: they were about to go into Canaan, and the leadership role was transferring from Moses to Joshua. What were Moses last words to Joshua? Read ch. 31:6. Younger members of the assembly may one day find themselves in shoes similar to Joshua’s: “Be strong and of a good courage.”
Back in Nehemiah, notice v. 28 & 29. Not everyone signed the covenant. Those who didn’t weren’t upset at those who did. They supported them. They “clave to their brethren.” The people were of one mind, they desired to support one another. What a blessing! How true it is that when saints get right with the Lord, they will get right with each other.
Hymn 261 - Lord Jesus, are we one with Thee?
Prayer