High in the San Bernadino Mountains their sits a 120'-high Ponderosa Pine. From the top of the tree is a commanding view of the river below and the tree-covered hills that surround it. In the crook of the large branches there sits a huge eagle’s nest that is about 5'6" across and 6' deep. A twelve-year old female, who the locals have named Jackie, has been laying eggs and tending to them with her partner, Shadow, since 2018. Yearly they return to their nest to do some renovations before it is egg-laying time. This year the couple is sitting on three eggs: one laid on January 25, one on January 28, and one on January 31. Scientists tell us that the first egg may hatch on February 29, Leap Day.
Early in the month, the snowstorm that hit the San Bernadino area presented quite a challenge to Jackie. Those who constantly watch the Cam pointed to the nest show us that she rose to the occasion. For 62 hours, Jackie never left the nest. Periodically, Shadow brought her a fish from the river below. We are told that an eagle has about 7,000 outer feathers plus down under them. This combination is what keeps Jackie's body and the eggs she sits on warm and protected. After the eggs hatch, the babies will remain in the nest for about three months. At this point, the mother will nudge the babies out of the nest and teach them how to soar on the wind currents and catch food. The mother is instrumental in teaching the eagles how to fly and hunt. She will hover over the nest to show them what they were created to do. The mother eagles' demonstration is meant to encourage her young ones in their God-given abilities. We, like the eaglets, have also been made by God for a specific role in life. In addition, for us to fulfill our potential while we are on the earth, we must know our identity in Christ. One of the most well-known Scriptures about eagles comes from Isaiah 40. Verses 29 through 31 in the Passion Translation says, "He empowers the feeble and infuses the powerless with increasing strength. Even young people faint and get exhausted; athletic ones may stumble and fall. But those who entwine their hearts with Yahweh (wait on Yahweh), will experience divine strength. They will rise up on soaring wings, and fly like eagles, run their race without growing weary, and walk through life without giving up.” Just as the eagle was created by God to soar in the heavens, so are we. Think about the fact that eagles were created to soar above the storms. Likewise, God wants us to have a heavenly perspective on the storms of life. He wants us to draw near to Him to look at the events of life through His eyes. Psalm 103 talks about the benefits God gives to us so that our "youth is renewed like the eagles." (Verse 5) Renewed means to make new or restore. John 10:10b nails it down for us. "...I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." God is always directing us to go higher with Him. That is where the waiting comes in. As we wait upon Him, He comes to be closer to us. Like the mother eagle, Jackie, God will go do extraordinary lengths to protect us and grow us up in His image. We must see every situation in our lives through His perspective. As we mount up to draw closer to the Lord, He will impart fresh vision and strength. Shevat, the eleventh month on the Hebrew religious calendar, usually occurs during January and February on our calendar. Its name has an interesting origin in the Akkadian language. The Jews became familiar with it while they were in captivity in Babylon. Its meaning, to strike, refers to the heavy rains that pour down during the month. The constellation in the sky during Shevat corresponds well with the meaning of the month's name. It is Aquarius, the water bearer. The first time Shevat is mentioned by name in the Bible is in the book of Zechariah, Chapter 1, Verse 7: "On the 24th day of the eleventh month, the month of Shevat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah..."
Occurring in the middle of this month is what the Jews call Tu B'Shevat or The New Year of Trees. Thus, Shevat is known as a month of renewal, rebirth, revival, and regeneration. The New Year of Trees occurs on the fifteenth day of this month and is considered a minor holiday in Israel. Dried fruits are always on the menu for this celebration. Also, placed on a plate would be the fruit of the seven species mentioned in the Torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. Jews that celebrate Tu B'Shevat are reminded of their duty to care for the natural world. Shevat 15 was the original date when tithes from fruit trees were to be given to the priests. Rabbis determined that fruit which blossomed before the 15th of Shevat would be called produce of the previous year. The fruit that blossomed before this date was produce of the rains from the previous year and should be tithed along with the crops of the previous year. The New Year for Trees date is also used for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. According to Leviticus 19:23-25, the fruit from trees may not be eaten during the first three years. On the fourth year, the fruit must be given to God. By the fifth year, one may eat the fruit of their trees. It is significant that the Bible talks about the way humankind should be rooted and grounded and that through the cultivation of strong roots of faith, we can produce fruit for the Kingdom of God. Both Jeremiah 17:7-8 and Psalm 1:3 instruct us to be like trees "planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither..." The purpose of a tree is to provide fruit to bring life to others. We also have been blessed to be able to give our spiritual fruit to others so that they can grow in Christlikeness. Hope is given to the people of Israel and all of us who are grafted into the family of God through the words of the prophet Jeremiah. "In those days and at that time, I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; He will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it is called: ‘The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’” (Jeremiah 33:15,16) How exciting it is that we have been grafted into the olive tree to share in the nourishing sap from the root! (Romans 11:17) We are called to be trees "planted by the water that never fail to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:8) In addition, we are called to be "...oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." (Isaiah 61:3) Let's celebrate this month of Shevat by rooting deeply into the soil of the Lord's truth so that we bring forth fruit and display His righteousness. What an amazing display of God's glory I saw early on Friday morning! Three of His heavenly creations appeared at the same time. The crescent moon was still shining in the southern sky. To the left of it was the morning star, brightly flickering. Below both celestial bodies was the horizon, splashed with the vibrant pink-orange colors of the sunrise. This spectacular array drew me in and brought me into a moment of contemplating the Lord's majesty and power and glory.
A writer's technique called "personification" is used in the Bible, especially by the writers of Psalms and Isaiah. Psalm 148:1-6 gives us a wonderful example of this: "Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights above. Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His heavenly hosts. Praise Him sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; He gave a decree that will never pass away." The Friday morning sky seemed to be giving the Lord praise just as this Psalm describes. It is interesting to note that the Lord refers to Himself as the Morning Star. "...I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." (Revelation 22:16) The morning star announces the beginning of a new day and signals the end of the night. Think about how God introduced the Gentile population to The Morning Star, the Light of the World. He led the Magi by a star to visit the One who would be a light to those in darkness. Psalm 74:16 declares, "The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon." God separated the day from the night with the sun and moon, and the canvas for the celestial bodies is the sky that He paints uniquely every single day. The prophet Isaiah compares the sun and moon to the Lord, "The moon will be abashed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, and before its elders, gloriously." (Isaiah 24:23) I have decided that my favorite verses to contemplate come from Psalm 8. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:1-4) This is an amazing truth! When we compare God's majesty and power to our humanity, it is astonishing how important we are to Him in His great scheme of the world. The heavenly delights we see are a reminder of God's great love for us. The moon and sun herald the day and night and tell us that seasons change, while the Morning Star reminds us that the season of darkness will come to light. The Lord will prevail. He will guide and direct us. We must join the heavenly hosts in praise to the God of the universe. Parables are stories used to illustrate a truth or principle. Jesus spoke in parables to illustrate the Kingdom of God. Hence, the listener must carefully consider the story through spiritual eyes. In Matthew 13:11-15, Jesus explained that He spoke in parables so that the secrets of His Kingdom could be understood only by His disciples. Those with a genuine hunger for God are given the gift of discernment to be able to comprehend the deeper truths of the stories of Jesus.
Let us consider the parable of the wheat and tares. The story in Matthew 13:24-30 tells of a "farmer" who sowed good seed into his field. Later, an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. When the farmer's helpers asked if they should uproot the tares/weeds, he responded, "No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until harvest." (Verses 29-30) It is my understanding that the weeds that were sown by the enemy are called darnel, a noxious weed of ryegrass that is bitter to the taste and may make someone who eats it sick. Farmers find it difficult to distinguish between wheat and darnel until harvest time. When we consider that the wheat represents Kingdom individuals and the tares people who belong to the evil one, we may ask, "Why would God allow them to grow side by side?" God's greatest desire is for us to mature into Christlike beings. As it says in Romans 8:29, "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." The truth is that God uses the "tares" to perfect the character of the wheat. This is called "sharing in the sufferings of Christ." (Romans 8:17) If we are to mature into the image of Christ, we must experience what He experienced and learn to respond the way He did. Harvest time will reveal those who are Christlike. The wheat bows its head because it is full of mature grain, while the tares remain stiff. Please note that the wheat and tares grow in the same conditions such as storms, droughts, and blights, but only one produces grain. Thus, it is premature to judge or uproot the tares before harvest time. What circumstances contribute to the wheat (followers of Christ) growing in Christlike character? It is what Christ followers learn. We are taught to forgive when wounded or offended, to stop judging others, and to pray for them. The ultimate mercy prayer was prayed by Christ on the Cross. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34) We are to do likewise. The tares (those who do not know Jesus), however, mature into those who criticize and carry offenses against others. At harvest time, the tares will be gathered to be burned. Francis Frangipane, founding pastor of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has rich teachings on the parable of the wheat and tares. He concludes that "The difference between the wheat and tares is the measure of love functioning in each; the wheat is able to truly bow to its Creator." My prayer for all of us is that we will be able to do likewise. A recent visit to a salmon hatchery in Alaska gave me a new-found respect for the way these fish were designed. There are several varieties of salmon (King or Chinook, Sockeye, Coho, and Pink), each unique in their appearance. However, all of them have the same characteristic of being able to orient themselves toward their original home when it is time for them to spawn. God has built into them their own global positioning system. Scientists believe that salmon navigate through the earth's magnetic field similar to the way a compass operates. It takes a salmon about one year to imprint by learning the smells and chemical nature of their surroundings during the first year of their lives.
As young fish, salmon migrate to the ocean where they gain the majority of their body mass. In their feeding grounds they consume foods that are high in carotenoids, which is the pigment that is stored in their flesh and gives them the pink-orange color. After spending two to five years in the ocean, their homing instinct becomes strong, and they begin their journey back to the place where they were born. It is believed that in addition to using the earth's magnetic field, salmon are conscious of the day length, the sun's position, water salinity, and temperature gradients. They travel from June through August in order to spawn between August and November. Salmon return to the stream where they were born because they know it is a good place to spawn. They have the ability to swim against the current, and it is reported that they can jump as high as twelve feet. Their homing instinct is so strong that if they get off track, they die. If God designed salmon with such a homing instinct, can you imagine how He designed us as His children? Each of us has a God-given destiny that is meant to draw us into intimacy with Him. Acts 17:26-28 confirms the Lord's intentions for us. "From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are His offspring.'" Coming to know the Lord personally is like finding our way home. The salmon come home to spawn so that the life of their species continues, and then they die. We come home to have everlasting life with the Lord and to join all creation in worshiping Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) The prophet Jeremiah describes the "GPS system" that is a part of God's people: "In those days, at that time...the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten." (Jeremiah 50:4-5) Romans 1:19-20 describes the way God designed us. "In reality, the truth of God is known instinctively, for God has embedded this knowledge inside every human heart. Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance, because from the creation of the world the invisible qualities of God's nature have been made visible, such as His eternal power and transcendence. He has made His wonderful attributes easily perceived for seeing the visible makes you understand the invisible. So, then, this leaves everyone without excuses." (TPT) May I encourage you to use your internal "GPS System" to increase your intimacy with the Lord? All of us have an amazing blessing to be able to have a personal relationship with The Creator and Sustainer of all life. The Lord wants to spend eternity with us and calls us to stay on track as we make our way on His path of life. "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) I can testify to the truth of this Scripture. God knows what is in our hearts, and He cares about what we carry there. For years I have carried the desire to visit Alaska in my heart. He knew it and put together a plan that would allow me to realize this desire. Along with my husband, I spent the middle two weeks of July in an environment that stunned us. Author of the book Alaska - Saga of a Bold Land, Walter Boreman, describes the landscape this way: "What you notice first, and what remains with you long afterward, is the scale. Here is a land where superlatives abound, and comparisons are few. Here is a land that dwarfs almost any wilderness you have known...Alaska is 615,230 square miles of rugged mountains, grinding glaciers, seemingly endless tundra, broad rivers, and rushing streams--larger than all but 17 of the world's countries..."
When I look back, it is hard for me to select a favorite location in this land of "Wows!" Our first stop in Fairbanks, Alaska, contained several treasures, my favorite being Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. Here we found a huge field covered in the yellow flowers of the mustard plant. The majestic scene was framed in the back by mountains. We were entertained by a flock of Sandhill Cranes as we took in the landscape before us. From Fairbanks we made our way southwest to Denali National Park that holds the crown jewel of mountains, Mt. Denali (or McKinley) with a height of 20,320 feet. The snowcapped peaks remain that way year-round, and on a clear day you can see them from miles away. We were told that only five percent of the visitors to Alaska get to view the top of the mountain as it is usually shrouded in clouds. On our day in Denali Park we started with clouds, but by mid-day they were lifting, and we had a glorious view of the snow-capped mountain. Another treasure of the Alaskan wilderness is its many glaciers. We were able to see three of them in Glacier Bay National Park that can only be accessed via boat or plane. As we slipped into the Bay, mountains came down to meet the tropical-colored water. Since we came so close to the glaciers, we could feel the cool breezes from the ice. Over the years, these glaciers have advanced and then retreated again. Margerie Glacier calved (released a wall of ice into the water) as we were there. My favorite glacier, however, is Mendenhall Glacier, part of the Juneau Icefield. It sits at the back of Mendenhall Lake in Tongass National Forest. The blue spectrum of the rainbow appears in all the cracks of the glacier. That, against the white snow, makes for a magnificent landscape. I have shared only a portion of our trip that has given us memories for a lifetime. But one cannot take all of this in without giving glory to the One who created it. I know from Scripture that God created the heavens and the earth with His spoken Word. I am overwhelmed with the scale and majesty of it! I want to leave you with verses from Psalm 65. "Praise awaits You...You who answers prayer, to You all people will come...God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth...who formed the mountains by Your power...The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders...The grassland of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing..." Our hearts are full of awe as we have experienced such an awesome part of God's creation. It causes us to bow in worship, because not only has He made this, but has given us a new-found respect for Him that compels us to worship Him forever. As I walked down the driveway to my boss's office, I saw something that looked impossible. In a small crack between the foundation of the building, the driveway, and the sidewalk there was a stunning, deep pink petunia blooming as though it was living in perfect surroundings. Apparently, a small seed from the pot of flowers that sat on the front stoop of the house the year before had blown into the crack and lodged itself there for the winter. Its perseverance paid off, and when the warm weather began, the seed shell broke open, and roots grew. Those roots produced the petunia plant and the beautiful flower.
This amazing picture gave me great hope as I began to think about other seeds that have been planted. In Scripture, the word seed has different definitions. If we go back to the days of Abram in Genesis, we see that the Lord referred to Abraham's descendants as seed. "Yahweh brought him (Abram) outside his tent and said, 'Gaze into the night sky. Go ahead and try to count the stars.' He continued, 'Your seed will be as numerous as the stars!'" (Genesis 15:5 - TPT) Not only can seed refer to descendants, but it can also refer to the Word of God. The seed is planted in the "ground" of our hearts. God designed all of us to produce fruit when His Word is planted and germinates. He also expects us to partner with Him in seed sowing. "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening, let your hands not be idle." (Ecclesiastes 11:6a) The apostle Paul explains to the church at Corinth that we are servants of God, each with a task. "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow." (1 Corinthians 3:6) May I encourage those of you who are praying for prodigals to come home? When I think of them, I think of the seeds that they carry. I am well aware that parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends intentionally plant seeds in their loved ones who have left the faith or who never fully embraced it. Let us remember that once a seed is planted, it does not go away! In the natural world, the shell of a seed must be broken before it begins to root. When I think of the petunia seed that brought forth the beauty held within it in an almost impossible situation, it reminds me that the seeds planted in hard hearts of God's children will also beak forth and produce fruit. Jesus, when he told those He ministered to not to worry, He pointed to the flowers. "...See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." (Matthew 6:28-29) Perhaps our prayers for the prodigals in our lives should include asking the Lord to break open the shells surrounding the seeds that are already in their hearts. Then, let us pray that those seeds planted by our prayers are used to soften our loved ones' hearts. When the ground around a seed is soft, we have optimum conditions for growth. As the seeds begin to break and root, God will help them to grow. Be encouraged! God is a gardener. The first family was placed in the Garden of Eden. God continues to place each of us in ideal growing conditions for the fruit that He desires to harvest. He is all about collaborating with us to break up the hard ground so that the fruit of righteousness is forthcoming. "Timing is everything!" This phrase has been spoken to me multiple times by the Holy Spirit. The truth of this statement was played out for us last week. We visited a peony farm in Long Valley, New Jersey that is only open two to three weeks a year. The owner of the farm has this short span of time to harvest his flowers and prepare them for shipment to florists in the New York City area. How delightful it was for us to walk through the rows of plants and feast our eyes on the various shapes and shades of red, pink, white, coral, and yellow peonies! Many were still in bud, but even these golf-ball size buds attracted our attention. Workers in the fields were carefully cutting stems to be taken to the refrigerator.
We learned that the ants attracted to the peony buds actually assist in their opening. The stems are cut when the bud feels like a marshmallow or when it is just beginning to show a small amount of color. After being cut, the flower buds are dunked in buckets of water to remove the ants. Then the stems are bundled together, wrapped, and placed in the refrigerator. They can stay there for as long as a month. Our visit to the farm was not complete until we purchased a bundle of peonies in white, pink, and rosy red. What amazed us the most about our peony excursion was the dramatic transformation of the stems after they were plunged into water. I recut the bottom of each of them at an angle so that the stems could absorb a maximum amount of water. Three hours after the peonies were placed in the water, the flowers were open. The next day these gorgeous heads were fully open, and we were enjoying their sweet scent. Life was quickened in these peonies as their cells were filled with water. We, like the peony stems, will also come to life and reflect the beauty of God as we take in what Jesus calls "living water." In John 4 Jesus is having a conversation with a Samaritan woman who came to collect water from Jacob's well. He told her that He would give her living water. (Verse 10) He further explained, "If anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never thirst again and will be forever satisfied. For when you drink the water I give you it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, springing up and flooding you with endless life." (Verse 14 - TPT) Again, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit is like water. He said, "'All you thirsty ones, come to me! Come to me and drink! Believe in me so that river of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like Scripture says!' Jesus was prophesying about the Holy Spirit that Believers were being prepared to receive." (John 7:37-39 - TPT) The Lord has made the Living Water/Holy Spirit available to all who believe in Him. His desire is for us to grow and blossom and spread His fragrance wherever we go. Micah 3:8 makes a declaration that we should confess: "But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord." We can expect that we will grow in the strength and beauty of the Lord as we remember that we are filled with His Spirit—that Living Water that continuously flows within us. Never do I cease to be amazed at the variety and detail of God's creation. Recently, my curiosity about seaweed was peaked when I saw piles of it on the South Florida beaches. Seaweed is made up of thousands of macroscopic, multi-cellular marine algae. It comes in colors of red, green, gold, and brown and is found in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Each specie has a specific purpose in the oceans of the world. However, when their environment is adjusted, they may damage the life around it. Such is the case for a type of seaweed called sargassum, a free-floating brown seaweed. Since 2011 this specie has inundated the Caribbean and Florida coastlines in such a mass that it has a negative effect on the coastal environments. In large quantities, this particular seaweed strips oxygen from the water and kills fish and seagrasses that offer habitat for many species. It also smothers shallow coral reefs and reduces the amount of sunlight that shines on the plants that need it.
You may ask what causes this phenomenon. Scientists have discovered three likely causes: (1) Saharan dust clouds that land on the surface of the water whose content is rich in iron, nitrogen, and phosphorus encourage large bloom and subsequent growth in the algae. (2) Warming temperatures also create an environment for growth. (3) Rising nitrogen levels caused by the human footprint is a growth enhancer. Scientists have discovered that large amounts of fertilizer flows from the Amazon River and then to the oceans. Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University discovered this problem area and one along the Mississippi River that dumps into the Gulf of Mexico. At the present time, there seems to be no good way to dispose of the great volumes of seaweed being deposited on the shore lines. Some of it can be plowed under the sand to help stabilize the beaches. In Ft. Lauderdale it is collected, washed to remove the salt, and converted into fertilizer or mulch. When we look at other species of seaweed we should keep in mind that it is beneficial as habitats for fish and other marine life. In some countries, seaweed is used for food and even produced on farms. In addition, it can be used in the production of medicines, fertilizers, cosmetics and paint. Many varieties, especially kelp, have life-giving qualities in that they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. I know that God created every creature and its habitat with a plan and a purpose. All creation is to work together for the good of humankind and for the glory of the Lord. We see, however, that humans have not done a good job of caring for creation. Psalm 24:1-2 says, "The earth is the Lord's and all of its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." (NKJV) Seaweed is meant to be a blessing to the creatures who live in and around it. It stands as an example of a small part of creation that can have a major impact in the world for good or evil. We too can impact the world around us for good or evil. Let us be declarers of truth and agree with the Psalmist when he says, "Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and all that move in them." (Psalm 69:34) When God was ready to deliver His people from the bondage of Egypt, He introduced a new calendar order for the months. "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 'This month (Nissan) is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.'" (Exodus 12:1-2) I believe God wanted the Israelites to associate their deliverance and the Passover they would experience just before leaving Egypt with new beginnings. Spring is a time of new beginnings and a reminder of how all creation has recovered from a death process in order to rise to new life.
In this year (2023), the first month on the Hebrew calendar begins on Wednesday at sunset. It is called Nissan or Abib and is a Hebraic term for when the seeds of the grain have reached their full size. This was demonstrated as the children of Israel entered the Promised Land. God told them, "...When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain of your harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath." (Leviticus 23:10-11) Isn't it amazing that the Promised Land was ripe for harvest when God's people were given it? The details of God's timing and coordination of the events of each month are amazing! When Nissan began, the children of Israel were told that each Jewish family was to bring a spotless, year-old lamb into the household on the tenth of the month. The lamb was to be cared for until the fourteenth of the month when it would be slaughtered. The blood of that lamb was to be placed on the sides and top of the doorframes of their homes. As the angel of death passed through Egypt to kill their firstborn sons and animals, the children of Israel were protected by the blood of the lamb, and their homes were "passed over." The plague that struck Egypt did not touch the Israelites. In memory of this event, the Israelite families killed a Passover lamb yearly until God stopped the lamb sacrifices by bringing His Son, Jesus, to earth to die once and for all time. He became the true Passover Lamb that redeems us from our sins. As we receive Jesus into our hearts, His blood is applied to the doorframe of our hearts. We become "born again." 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!" And, as a sign that heaven was touching earth, the Lord placed a reminder of our Passover Lamb in the heavens during Nissan. The constellation Aries, the lamb, is prominent in the night sky during this month. With God, nothing is left to chance. He even assigned a marching order to the children of Israel when they began their journey to the Promised Land. The tribe of Judah was to go out first. The Lord knew that HIs people would face battles on the way to their destination. What better way to overcome the enemy than with praise to the Lord? Judah comes from the Hebrew word Yadah, which means "to praise, to give thanks, and to glorify God." We find two interesting verses in Psalm 114: "When Israel came out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue, Judah became God's sanctuary, Israel His dominion." (Verses 1-2) This means that God lived among them. He chose to dwell in their presence, and they became His dominion on the earth. Let us rejoice in the reminders that we see of God's redemption and praise Him for what He has done. As spring erupts around us, He is calling each of us to join Him in a journey to our own Promised Land. If we walk in the will of God, He will empower us to live there and partake of the fullness of HIs provisions. |
Joan E. MathiasCategories
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