Miracle in Nain

                                                                                                                                                                  

Aloha Dearest Family,

                Today we will look at one of the wonderful miracles of Jesus from the book of Luke. I have read it dozens and dozens of times and it has become one of my favorites. Many times we take the miracles of Jesus as common place since he did so many and we have read them so many times. But if we look at the record closely we can get a feel for the grief, joy and raw emotion of this notable miracle. It took place in the city of Nain in the area of Galilee.  Let’s pick up the record in Luke 7:11.

                “And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.”

As Jesus is traveling from city to city preaching and teaching as he goes, Jesus is now about to enter the city of Nain. He is accompanied by a large group of people; not only his 12 apostles but other disciples as well. But before he enters the city, another large group is coming out.                   

                    “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.”

Jesus comes upon a large funeral procession leaving the city in mourning. I can just imagine the sounds of grief among the crowd, especially from the mother who had just lost her son. We also learn that she is a widow and this was her only son. In the ancient East, families were close knit units and were the core of daily life and living. In a Patriarchal society, the father took care of the needs of the family. If the father died, this responsibility would be passed to the eldest son. Now her only son is dead. This widow now would have to find a way to survive in society. Women could not just go out and get a job as in our society. She now had to rely on the charity of others. Her situation was most desperate.

                “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.” 

Jesus saw the cries of the crowd and the emotional state of this widow and His heart went out to this woman who was in such a dire situation. Compassion is being able to empathize with another person and see their circumstance and want to help. This was the heart of Jesus Christ. His compassion caused him to act and help.  Because he knew what he was going to do, he said to the woman, weep not. She would have no clue what was about to happen.

                

                “And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”

In the East, when a person died, they would place the body on a bier, which was a bamboo stretcher where he would be carried by the men of the village. The body would be wrapped in grave clothes with just the face uncovered, and the women would follow the bier loudly weeping and wailing for grief. As soon as Jesus touched to bier the men stopped. Both groups of people had converged for this one important event and the curiosity and anticipation now was very apparent. Some may have seen him heal people before but this was different. The man was dead. Up to this point in his ministry, Jesus had never raised someone from the dead before. What would he do? As he spoke the words ”Young man, I say unto thee, Arise”,  I’m sure there was a stillness among the crowd. All wailing and mourning ceased. And then the impossible happened.

                “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.”

I can just imagine the awe of the crowd at the impossibility of what they had just witnessed. The sound of wailing and mourning instantly became sounds of laughter and joy. The mother’s cries of deep despair were now turned into tears of incredible joy and thankfulness to God.

                “And there came a fear (awe) on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God has visited his people. And this rumor of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the region round about.”

Word of this miracle of compassion and power shook that entire area. It even reached the region of Judea. Most likely, this word got around to the religious leaders in Jerusalem. How would they deal with this man from Nazareth who’s popularity was growing daily? How would they stop him? Well, we know the rest of the story. It ends on a hill just outside of Jerusalem. Nailed to a tree. They thought they had stopped this trouble-maker who was a threat to their religion. But Jesus, displaying the greatest act of compassion that the world had ever seen, gave up his life so that you and I can have a new one. But it wasn't the end. Three days later the impossible happened. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And the religious leaders could not stop it from happening. This was God's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.

                We now have Christ living within and we can also show the same kind of compassion that he did. Let us go on to show Christ to a needy and dying world by our love and actions.

                        Love Always, Ray     

The Reckoning

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                                     

Aloha Dearest Family,

                Today we will cover one of the most puzzling records in the Old Testament. In I Samuel 15:3 God instructs King Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites.

                “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys."

To most people, even Christians, this commandment to Saul seems out of character for God who we know to be all loving and all merciful. What God is instructing Saul to do seems to be most cruel and unusual to a seemingly innocent people. Misunderstanding this section of scripture has caused many to walk away from God (and this is exactly what the devil wants). 

                So why would a God as good as our God call for the total annihilation of an entire group of people? To fully understand this record and others, we must first understand God’s “justice”. It is true that God is good and God is merciful, but he is also just. It is just to reward the upright with blessings and to punish the wrong-doers. This concept is talked about all throughout scripture. But there are many people in today’s society who do not agree with this concept. Many believe that they can live any way they want to and that there shouldn’t be a reckoning for their deeds done; that this is somehow unfair. They are wrong.

                This is what the Amalekites were facing. Their time of reckoning had come. Now you may ask, “What did they do to reap this kind of punishment?” To find out let us go back to the book of Exodus chapter 17. The children of Israel had just crossed the Red Sea into the promised-land and were resting in an area called Rephidim. It was at this time that the Amalekites launched a surprise attack on Israel from behind. Israel at this time had no army for they had all just been slaves in Egypt and had no fighting experience. So Moses instructs Joshua to choose some men to fight the attackers and they miraculously are able to defeat the Amalekite army. Because of this dastardly attack on God’s chosen people, God curses the Amalekites.

                “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven." (Exodus 17:14)

When someone messes with God’s children, God takes this offense very seriously and He does not forget (see Nahum 1:3). Again in Deuteronomy, just before the children of Israel were about to enter the promised-land, they are reminded not to forget the deeds and actions of the Amalekites.

                “Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the LORD your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) 

God makes it clear that He does not want them to forget about the actions of the Amalekites that day. God wanted their bloodline to be totally obliterated from existence. One day their day of reckoning would come. That day came when God instructed Saul to utterly destroy all that belonged to the Amalekites, women, children, infants, cattle and anything else that they possessed. If you keep reading in the story you know that King Saul disobeyed the Lord’s commandment and because of it, God removed Him from being King. God then chose a man that would obey His commands; David.

                Now the record is clear. What appears at first to be God commanding the destruction of an “innocent” people, we now see that the Amalekites had brought this judgment upon themselves. And even though the men and women that died that day had nothing to do with the attack on the children of Israel years earlier, their day of reckoning had come, and that generation had paid the price. (Also see Exodus 20:5, Lamentations 5:7))

                The Amalekites were not the only ones in the Old Testament that had their ‘day of reckoning’. Here are some more examples:

                -Noah and the Ark - Over 900 years after Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, mankind has become so corrupt that every thought was evil continually.  Their destruction was imminent. Mankind’s day of reckoning was fast approaching. But God chooses the only righteous man left, Noah, to build an ark to save him and his family – as well as all the animals on earth.

                -Sodom and Gomorrah – In the days of Abraham, angels are sent to two cities in the Southern plains of Canaan. As the angles had told Abraham, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous.”(Genesis 18:20) Because of God’s love for Abraham, these angels also saved his nephew Lot from destruction who lived in Sodom. Sodom and Gomorra’s day of reckoning had come and all the cities of the plains were destroyed.

                -Ahab and Jehu – For the culmination of the sins of King Ahab and for him marrying the evil Jezebel, God curses the house (all the male bloodline) of Ahab (I Kings 21:21, 22). Years later God anoints Jehu as King of Israel and sends him on a mission to destroy all the males of the house of Ahab (II Kings 9:6-8). They reaped the consequences of Ahab’s actions.

                -Jesus and the Religious Leaders - In Luke 11, Jesus tells the Judean lawyers (teachers of the Law) that they will be held accountable for the blood of the prophets spilled by past generations,

"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all." (Luke 11:47-51) 

All the evil done by their ancestors would have to be recompensed by these leaders. (It is interesting to note that a little over 40 years later, Jerusalem would be destroyed and a million men, women and children would be killed).

                If it were not for Jesus Christ, we would all see our own day of reckoning. All through the Bible God tells of a day that will be unlike any other; the time of God’s wrath upon all mankind. After a seven year tribulation period, every man and woman who have ever lived will be judged according the works that they have done. This will be mankind’s final day of judgement; his day of reckoning. 

    But—for those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, our day of reckoning has ALREADY COME! It came when Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins on the tree. God heaped all of our sins and short-comings upon him, and he died with them. He took our place in death so that we could take his place in life. We now walk in his righteousness!! (What a deal!)

                                   

                              Love Always, Ray 

(To read more about God’s Justice, check out my sharing called Day of God’s Wrath).

God on the Moon

                                                                   

                                                                                                                                

Aloha Dearest Family,

            On July 20^th we will celebrate the anniversary of the moon landing that occurred in 1969. I was only a boy at this time but I remember watching it on TV. This incredible story has been retold several times on TV shows and movies but few know of the spiritual side to the moon landing.

            I recently read a fantastic article entitled “The Spiritual Side of Apollo 11”. I would like to highlight some of the interesting points in this article.

  

It is thrilling to re-examine the events that led up to the landing on the moon. But it is also inspiring to hear how these men of great accomplishment held God in their hearts and how some were changed forever by this experience. 

                                                      Love Always, Ray

 “To look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible”

-John Glenn     

The Standard

                                                                      

                                                                                                                                 

Aloha Dearest Family,

            Many people know that I am a big fan of the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs (yes, this is another Tarzan reference). Many years ago I read my first book called Son of Tarzan, and since then I was hooked. My wife and I then spent the next five years tracking down all the other original Tarzan books (24 in all).

            Now whenever a new Tarzan movie comes out I always have to weigh it against the novels. After this last Tarzan film, for example, my sons and I picked it apart for a week, discussing all of the discrepancies. Our verdict? Not good. They should have read the books.

            I feel the same way about the Bible. Many years ago when someone taught me that the Bible is really God’s revealed Word and Will, I was hooked. I realized that if I wanted to know God’s Will for my life, I would have to study His Word. Go to the source of this knowledge so to speak. I wanted to know what God said rather than what man says about God. Almost forty years later I am still a student of the Bible, and it’s been a joy. God is still showing me cool stuff from His Word and it never ceases to amaze me how inexhaustible God’s Word is. Like a fountain that never runs dry.

            Now after years of biblical study, I’m not easily fooled. But the devil is never ceasing in his efforts to try and draw me away. Man is always coming up with the next “new” thing. Whether it be the next “new” theory or philosophy, or next “new” social trend, it is a constant battle to determine truth from error. The reality is that there is nothing new under the sun. It’s all been seen before.

            “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

But every “new” idea that comes around must always be weighed against what God says in His Word to see if it lines up; if it doesn’t, it’s wrong. The truth of God’s Word is the standard that any other theory or philosophy is measured against. Furthermore, God instructs His children to be wise and not be tricked.

            “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)     

            “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;” (Ephesians 4:14)

If we don’t know God’s Word we could be fooled into believing every new thing that comes along. It’s like someone coming up with the “new and improved Tarzan”, (please).

            Many people today are trying to change the Bible to make it more “politically correct”. They should check with the author first to see what He thinks. God’s Word is not like other books authored by man. It is so much more – infinitely more.

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

I recently saw a man wearing a T-shirt that said, “Only God can judge me”. This shirt was saying that he could do whatever he wanted to do and we didn’t have the right to judge his actions. The Word of God says that he has already been judged. If his actions are not in accordance with God’s Word, he is wrong. 

The Bible NEEDS NO IMPROVEMENT. New ideas are neither required nor desired. So let’s stick with God’s original best seller, His gold standard for truth.

One more consideration . . . Truth stands the test of time. What man devises can be gone with a stiff wind; whether it’s a thought or an action, it can all be removed by something. The things of God are really the only things that will last.

                                    Love Always, Ray

 

“..for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18b)             See I told ya.