Bibledoorajar: Seismic Changes

     With the Passover came changes in perception of the chosen lambs. First God told the households to single out a lamb. Then the word of God said the lamb was to be without blemish. Then the lamb was referred to as your lamb, a male of the first year.  These changes are earthshaking in purport or the progressive meaning conveyed. A fully virile male lamb was to die for the household. There was to be salvation and peace through no other lamb and the truth of it being God's but also theirs had to be embraced. The truth of it. The truth of it was that God was going to look upon the shed blood of "their" singled out lamb and spare the household. They needed faith to lay hold of such a great truth.

     Many years later, John the Baptist said to the Jews, "Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world".  Jesus was singled out.  The truth that He was the One who pleased God to carry out the act of salvation had to be believed and received in faith. Jesus was described by Peter as "a lamb without blemish or spot". Jews hearing these words would immediately hearken back to the Passover which they had been celebrating for years and to the prophecies of the Old Testament about the coming Redeemer. But the truth had to be believed and their faith had to lay hold of such a great truth.

     As a sign, the world which had been marking time in various ways such as "in the reign of or in the time of such and such Pharoah, etc., whould now mark time BC and AD. The truth of the Lamb of Jesus being able to become our Lamb would be forever established in how civilizations marked time. A man named Lew Wallace did not believe it and set about to research and write a book denying it. While in the midst of writing the first chapters, the Holy Spirit overcame him and broke through his disillusionment. He fell to his knees at the foot of the cross and embraced the unblemished Lamb. He later wrote Ben Hur: A tale of Christ, a film that is still being viewed and that is still impacting the lives of people everywhere. Seismic changes wrought by God. Praise Him.

Bibledoorajar: Angel Types

God told Moses to have the people place the blood of His lambs on their doorposts and when He passed through He would not allow death to strike their firstborn. Later the Word says He said He would prevent the destroying from being able to come into their homes. I personally am not sure if this"destroying" was an angel or not, even though I have heard that all my life. Whatever its' force, God was going to keep it from killing the firstborn of all the Israelis. The Bible does not say that some of the Jews did not anoint their doorposts. That is a very good thing. It reflects that even though they surely did not understand everything that was happening, they believed God's words and acted on it.

At this season of the year, we think of another type of angelic visitor. When Gabriel appeared to the scared young virgin, Mary,  he assured her with "Greetings". He was not a part of any destructive process. He was there to bring reassurance to her. To her credit, she believed and her future actions reflected her belief. He was there to let her know that she was about to spread a light in the world that would retreat our most extraordinary Christmas light displays into nothingness. If we believe and act, He will block the destroying and greet us calling us His friends. Wow!

Thank God for all the other worldly beings that do His bidding. I am reminded that we should be alert in our comings and goings for at any time we could be entertaining an angel unaware. I wonder what his or her duty(ies) would be? How customized to your needs does your God get? Well, anyway. best to believe and to be nicer to all we encounter during this Season and New Year. Right?

Bibledoorajar: Trusting in God's Lamb

It would be wrong to conclude that things were so much better for the Israelites even though their freedom process had begun. Actually, many of them still worshipped the gods of Egypt. And, when Pharoah learned that Moses did indeed plan to lead them out of his land, he increased their work burdens. They were a miserable lot, many of them, complaining about their misery. God, of course, heard all their miserableness. The Word does not say they cried out to Him for help, but nevertheless, He heard. And He remembered an important thing. He remembered the covenant He had made with Abraham. His covenant would be honored no matter the poor response of the sinners in Egypt, both Israelites and Egyptians. Justice and mercy would be served in and at the same time. Thus, we are introduced again to the unblemished lamb (first to Abraham) that was to be selected unto God. The lamb was unto God first and then to the people who put their trust forward and obeyed God's command of process. The unblemished lamb was to be killed and its' blood placed on the doorposts of every Israelite household. This unblemished lamb would provide a difference between those people and the Egyptians and thus God would extend mercy and justice at the same time. Thank God He had a plan for the lamb because the sinful Israelites had certainly done nothing to demonstrate moral superiority over the Egyptians!

Today, some men and women cannot understand how God can be merciful and carry out justice of a severe nature at the same time. They do not grasp the role of the Lamb that God said was chosen first unto Him and then to those who believe. They refuse to believe that God has established a difference. But He has. He did it before the foundation of the world when He established that His own Son would be the Lamb unto God given for all who believe.  God chose the Lamb and He chose us (See Ephesians 1: 4). We owe everything we have if we are believers to God who regarded our sinful state.

We are in that season of the year, when we acknowledge the first earthly step that Lamb made for us. He left His heavenly estate and was born a human being of a virgin unto God. And He grew up in the wisdom and stature of the Lord unto us. He is the perfect Teacher and example. He is the Lamb provided for us. When you look on that nativity scene this year, think---provided by my God first for Himself and then for me. From God's point of view--a perfect process for total freedom.

Bibledoorajar: Aspects of Deliverance

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

                                                                   Martin Luther King

When Martin Luther King made that statement it was a significant part of a dream of deliverance that he had for his people. Many aspects of freedom had occurred for his people but they were determined to advance toward the goal of total freedom. Such was the case with the Israelites. External bondage would end for them because how can anyone or any people be truly free if enslaved in bondage? However, they were still in the country of Egypt and it was still ruled by the sovereign control of the Pharoah. His sovereignty and control would have to be left behind to be truly liberated. Throughout the plagues God had been reorienting his people to His sovereignty and freedom in Him. They are not long away from joining Him at Mt. Sinai. They were instructed to go to their Egyptian neighbors and other Egyptian citizens and ask to borrow items of value. These borrowed items would be freely given by the power of God and would become the basis of necessary items to furnish their place of worship. Israelites were now not only assuming responsibility for themselves, but taking action on behalf of their community. Surely these efforts helped make the Jews feel freer and more human as they took action for themselves and others. Moses was given special abilities by the Spirit of God to act on behalf of His authority to lead the people through all the steps of deliverance.

When Jesus matured and began to preach He declared that He had been given similar authority. He declared that the Spirit of God was on Him to set the captives free and allow the blind to see their newly found freedom in His Sovereignty. The sovereignty of the ruler of this world could indeed be left behind. We can "borrow" from the world to gain necessary items to furnish our places of worship. We can feel freer as we move in community with each other. Praise God for the special abilities of Christ the King. He is able. Thank God for sending Him during this special Christmas season.