June 6, 2010
Scripture:
John 20:1–7
I was reading recently that, back in Jesus’ time, if you were at a meal and left leaving your napkin on the table it was a sign that you were done. However, if you folded the napkin neatly, it meant that you were coming back. Jesus, when he left, took the time to fold the napkin as a sign to say, “I’m not done. I’m coming back.”
John 14:2-3
Our brother read to us that verse in Isaiah 53, “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.” And not only shall He see, but He shall also possess. He says, “If I go, I will come again.” In the story of Isaac and Rebekah, Isaac took Rebekah into his mother’s tent, and she became his wife. They were in the wilderness as we are; so when Jesus comes, he won’t receive us into a tent (which is a temporal dwelling of the desert) but into the Father’s house. He will be comforted by His Bride, and we will be comforted as well. He won’t be alone anymore.
Jesus has folded the napkin; He’s coming back. We’ll be with Him for all eternity. Comfort yourselves with these words.
Hymn 191 – Saviour through the desert lead us
Prayer
Today, I’d like to talk about two animals. The first is a bird called the Bittern.
Isaiah 14:23 - This passage is speaking of the destruction of Babylon. The bittern is a type of heron that likes lonely places, places of destruction. It reminds us of the raven, which lives on dead things. “Starve the raven and feed the dove” is a saying that means we should starve our old flesh which makes us do bad things; and feed on, or think about and learn from, things that are alive and good, like the word of God.
The second animal that I want to talk to you about is the Boar. There is only one reference to it in the Bible.
Psalm 80:12-13.
The Boar, or wild pig, is quite common in Palestine. Farmers don’t like them because they eat a lot of the crop, and are very destructive. In the law, they are an unclean animal. These creatures are like our flesh. Our flesh, the thing inside of us that makes us do wrong things, is unclean and destructive. There is nothing good in it. We need to reckon it dead, and not do what it tells us; but instead do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do.
We can learn these interesting lessons from these creatures, but it won’t do us any good if we don’t take them to heart and be doers of the word. May we apply these lessons for eternal value.
We noticed that the Jews in this chapter are facing many problems. Last week, we saw the disorder in the house of God; we discussed how that applies to us today. In what we’ve just read, we can see that they are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a very interesting topic in scripture; the concept is first introduced in Genesis 2, when God rested on the seventh day. It’s interesting that this formed our seven-day week, the only unit of time we use that isn’t based on the movement of the sun, earth, or moon. Read Exodus 16:23. In this chapter, we see God’s earthly people, just redeemed from Egypt. God gave them manna; they were only to collect enough for one day. However, on the sixth day, they were to collect enough for two days, because God did not want them working on the seventh day, the Sabbath. It was a special day, a day of rest.
Then, in Exodus 20:8-11, we find that keeping the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments. It’s given four verses; and interestingly, this is the only commandment that was not moral. It’s also interesting to realize that the uncomfortableness of labour was one of the consequences of man’s sin (Genesis 3:18 & 19); however, God then said that man only had to work six days.
In Hebrews 4:9, we read about a rest of the people of God; the New Translation says, “There remains then a sabbatism to the people of God.” This is the Sabbath, or rest, of God’s people: our Heavenly portion.
So, in our chapter, they were profaning the Sabbath; they were labouring on the day of rest. Nehemiah was required to correct this evil. What were they doing? They were using God’s day for business and pleasure. Today, the Lord’s day is used for all manner of secular activities. What does God think of this? Read Exodus 31:12 - 15.
Hymn 78 - Come, ye that fear the Lord
Prayer