PASSION WEEK SERIES: RESTING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the Kingdom of God.

Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day and the Sabbath was about to begin.

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Luke 23:50-56

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was the day after Jesus’ crucifixion and the Jewish Sabbath, a holy day commanded by God to be set aside for worship, family time, and rest.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were resting after receiving Jesus’ body from Pontius Pilate, preparing it for burial in accordance with Jewish customs, placing it in a tomb, and rolling a large stone to cover the tomb entrance.

Some of the women who had followed Jesus through much of His ministry work were also resting, awaiting the opportunity at daybreak to go to the tomb and anoint Jesus’ body with spices and perfumes that they had prepared the day He was crucified after watching Joseph and Nicodemus place Jesus’ body in the tomb.

And of course, Jesus’ was very much at rest in the tomb before He came back to life, emerging from the grave to make many appearances before ascending to Heaven.

How can we be sure Jesus was resting?

We can rewind to two separate incidents when He displayed the power to resurrect others.

The first one involved the daughter of Jairus, a Jewish synagogue leader. Look at this passage from the Gospel of  Matthew:

While He was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put Your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did His disciples.

When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, He said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.”

But they laughed at Him.

After the crowd had been put outside, He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.  Matthew 9:18-19, 23-25

Did you catch the words of Jesus?

“The girl is not dead but asleep.”

The crowd who had gathered at Jairus’ house laughed at Jesus, thinking He was crazy because He said this…that is until He went into the room where the girl laid, took her by the hand, and she woke up, very much alive.

And then there was the miracle resurrection act Jesus performed involving His good friend, Lazarus. John shared this account in His Gospel:

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair.)

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

When He heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days, and then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone You, and yet You are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” After He had said this, He went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but His disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” John 11:1-15

Here, we read where Jesus had received word from Lazarus’ daughters, Martha and Mary, that his beloved friend was sick but instead of going to Bethany immediately, He chose to wait two days at which time He informed His disciples that they were going to “go back to Judea” because Lazarus had “fallen asleep” and He was going to “wake him up”. In other words, Lazarus was resting and the waking up was code for resurrecting him, just as had been the case with Jairus' daughter. 

So where does this leave us today? What can we glean from this message, the seventh of this Passion Week series?

I believe there are two takeaways:

First, this matter of being at rest after death until resurrection is something all those who place their faith and trust in Jesus will experience. God’s word makes this clear in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians:

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The events that will surround Jesus’ return will be nothing short of spectacular and note that those Christians who are still alive when He returns will not precede those who have passed away and “fallen asleep in Him”. In other words, believers in Christ who have died from a worldly perspective are really just resting and awaiting Jesus' second coming when He will awaken them from their slumber, resurrect them, and then usher them into the eternal life only found through believing in Him.

It’s this first takeaway that leads us to the second.

For as we are reading this on the day before we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we can rest easy in hope and peace, knowing everything is going to be fine no matter what life brings. We have this blessed assurance because of Jesus, our Savior who made sure that death is not the end but rather the entry point into life forever in the place He has prepared for us in the Kingdom.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION SERIES: THE YARDSTICK FOR FORGIVENESS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Matthew 23:34

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is Good Friday and as we come to our sixth devotion in the Passion Week series, I want to touch on an important aspect of the cross, one I believe that gets lost sometimes in all our thinking about Jesus and His suffering as He paid the penalty for our sins.

You see, we need only look to the cross of Calvary and the outstretched arms of Jesus that were nailed to it to find the yardstick with which we should use to measure the forgiveness we are to extend to others.

With this, a question…

Who do you know in your life that needs your forgiveness?

I think we all may have someone, perhaps a family member or a friend or a co-worker. Maybe it’s even a stranger who has done harm to you or someone you know. The undeniable truth is that everyone will have to face the matter of forgiving another at some time in life and it’s not always easy. For sometimes, we refuse to forgive and continue harboring ill will against the one who has wronged us. And in the midst of refusing to pardon the wrongs someone has done to us or someone we know, we lose sight of one very important truth:

We, as sinners, all have wronged the Lord…and we’ve done it over and over and over again.

If we're really honest with ourselves, we would see that the Lord blesses us so very much but then we too often show our gratitude by disobeying and disregarding Him in the way we live. In other words, our response to His goodness and call to righteousness is too often wickedness. With this, it’s amazing that all of us haven’t just been wiped off the face of the earth for surely it is something we would fully deserve.

But that’s not what happens, does it?

The Lord doesn’t strike us down when we wrong Him. Instead, He grants us His forgiveness and grace and love…and I don’t know about you but I would have trouble counting the number of times He has pardoned me and accepted my cries for mercy born out of prayers of repentance.

So if our Lord can be so gracious and compassionate and merciful, then what’s our problem? Why aren’t we willing to release a grudge we are holding against another and instead show the same forgiveness that He has shown us? After all, didn’t the very words of Jesus command us to do so?

Look at the direction He gave Peter (and us) on the matter of forgiving:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.”

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.”

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'”

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.”

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.”

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."  Matthew 18:21-35

Jesus is clear here in His teaching. We are to forgive as the Master forgives unless we want to invite God to begin holding our sin debt against us.

Now, this would have been enough on its own but we need to look to Calvary where we find one more forgiveness standard to seal this message. This standard is found at the cross where Jesus, the Savior of the world, was dying from crucifixion when He spoke these words:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Matthew 23:34

It’s incredible, right? For in the midst of more suffering than any of us will experience while in the presence of the mocking and ridicule from the Roman soldiers and the crowds who gathered to watch Him die, Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, chose to not condemn and instead asked for His enemies to be pardoned pardon by His Father.

Indeed, as His life slowly dwindled away, God's only Son, the Savior who did nothing but love and teach and heal during his short life on earth, didn't harbor a grudge against those who wronged Him but instead showed mercy. He, the crucified Jesus who knew He was soon to die while bearing the sin of all mankind, did not pass blame onto those who were killing Him but forgave them instead.

And this man Jesus, who could have commanded a legion of angels to come and kill His opponents, instead chose to exonerate them because anyone who would crucify and kill Him surely could not possibly know what they were doing or who He truly was.

Friends, I hope you can hear the Lord speaking loudly to us on this holy Good Friday. For if Jesus could forgive in the midst of His circumstances, then so can we in any situations we have faced, are facing, and are yet to face. My prayer today is that we will all commit ourselves forgive as Jesus did from the cross and let go of any ill will we may be carrying against another, an ill will that does nothing but poison us from the inside out, an ill will that pulls us away from living and loving and showing the mercy of Jesus to others, a grudge that we have no right to carry.

In the end translation, God’s word is crystal clear.

We are to forgive as Jesus forgave us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PASSION WEEK SERIES: A CALL TO REMEMBRANCE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When the hour came, Jesus and HHis apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”

Luke 22:7-20

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was the last full day Jesus would have on earth, the fifth day in what is known as Passion Week. This day on the Christian calendar is also typically referred to as Maundy Thursday, the day Jesus shared the His final Passover meal with His disciples, which is why we find Communion often referred to as "The Last Supper".

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that it was the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, a seven day period to commemorate the deliverance of the Israelites from their enslavement in Egypt (Matthew 26:17). And because the Israelites departed Egypt in haste, they had no time to make bread as they usually would. The bread was without yeast, which was also called leaven, and therefore the why we find “unleavened bread” in the festival title.

So given all this, we have the framework for the events taking place in our scripture passage today. It is Thursday, the fifth day of Passion Week, the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and the day that the Passover meal would be partaken. Let’s look again at our scripture passage from Luke’s Gospel to see what transpired and the call of Jesus to remember Him:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles reclined at the table. And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, He gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.” Luke 22:7-20

Since it was the day the Passover meal was to be eaten, we find two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, asking their Lord where preparations for the meal were to be made, preparations that would require the sacrifice of a Passover Lamb. Ironically the next day, Jesus, the One John the Baptist proclaimed as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29), would be sacrificed Himself on Calvary’s cross so anyone who would believe in Him would have the opportunity for death to pass over them, not perishing but rather living on for all eternity in Heaven (John 3:16). In fact, when we look at Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, we find him sharing this:

“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

In response to His disciples’ question, we find Jesus giving very specific instructions to Peter and John, two of His most trusted followers who perfectly carried out the direction they were given. Indeed, things happened just as Jesus said they would as they met the owner of the house where the meal would occur and were led to a furnished upper room where all Passover preparations could be made.

Later that day in the evening, Jesus arrived with the rest of the disciples and they sat down to eat the Passover meal together. We should keep in mind that the disciples had no idea of what was going to transpire across the next 24 hours but Jesus well knew what was ahead. For before evening would fall the following day, He would be dead and catalyst that would propel Him down the road to crucifixion would be the betrayal He would suffer at the hands of one of the twelve who were dining with Him.

The scriptures show us that this wasn’t something that Jesus kept secret because when we study the other Gospels we find that He clearly identified Judas Iscariot as His betrayer (John 13:26). Despite this, Judas still went ahead and sold out his Master for a mere thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16), the amount required to be paid to a master if their slave was accidentally killed (Exodus 21:32). It’s a sad testimony as to just how far he (Judas) had fallen into sin, taken there by none other than Satan himself (John 13:27).

Back to the Passover meal for with the disclosure of His coming betrayal out of the way, Jesus got down to what The Last Supper has been known best for, Jesus sharing the bread and the cup with His disciples while giving them a call to remember Him.

First, we read where Jesus took the bread and, after He gave thanks, broke it while telling His disciples that it symbolized His body which would be given up for them. The next day, this would literally happen as He would endure severe beating at the hands of Roman soldiers before being nailed by His hands and feet to a wooden cross and hoisted up to die in public humiliation. We need to always remember that Jesus suffered greatly to save His people, bearing all the judgment for sin upon Himself while paying the penalty that every sinner really deserved.

It was this suffering and brokenness that Jesus didn’t want His disciples to forget. Every time they would break bread together in Communion, present and future, they were to remember Him and the great substitutionary sacrifice He willingly carried out, purchasing the pardon of anyone who would simply place their trust and belief in Him as Savior. In the end translation, He died to a multitude of His disciples could gain eternal life.

After breaking the bread, we see Jesus take the cup, telling His disciples of its significance. For every time they would drink from it, they were to remember the crimson blood that poured out of His body at the cross, a shed blood that would wash them white as snow from their sins, a shed blood that would usher in God’s new covenant, not just for the Jews but the Gentiles (non-Jews) as well. Jesus’ sacrifice was the final one ever needed for the atonement of sins and anyone placing their trust and hope in Him would become a legitimate child of the God Most High and co-heir to His blessed Kingdom (Romans 8:9-17).

Friends, as the classic hymn reminds us, “Jesus Paid It All” and all to Him we owe. He allowed His body to be broken in place of ours and shed His blood, not ours, to bring atonement for our sins. So whenever we participate in the Lord’s Supper (or Communion or the Holy Eucharist…other names for this sacrament), we need to answer the call of Jesus to do it in remembrance of Him. It’s the least we can do to honor Him for all that He pain and suffering He endured to save us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOODBYE TO AN EYE FOR AN EYE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the closing verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 19, we find the Lord continuing to speak through Moses on the theme of justice as it applies to witnesses who might come forward and report crimes. The scriptures tell us that “one witness (was) not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed”. Instead, the “matter (was to) be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”.

In other words, one person could not come forward and make a false claim against another with the malicious intent of them being harmed.

So what happened if there was a conspiracy against someone? Couldn’t a person get others to say they witnessed the same thing he or she did in order to still get their way?

Well, that could have happened but we see where the Lord puts in a provision that would hopefully deter anyone from bearing false witness.

“The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother.”

The hope here was that the “rest of the people (would) hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you”.

In the end, Israel was to “purge the evil from among (them)” and “show no pity…life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”. The penalty was to match the crime. Nothing more, nothing less.

This mindset would last in the scriptures until Jesus came on the scene. During His first formal teachings during the Sermon on the Mount, He said this:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48

Why were these teachings important?

Imagine if the “eye for an eye” principle had remained in place after Jesus was crucified. Anyone who falsely accused Him would have been subject to the same fate He went through. In other words, there would have been a lot of crucifying going on.

But Jesus didn’t come to destroy or avenge. Rather, He came to forgive and He did so out of love, even love for His enemies. In His life, Jesus didn’t just preach these words from the Sermon on the Mount and then not back them up. He modeled them perfectly just as He did everything else in life, and in doing so, taught His disciples, past and present, how to deal with the same matters ourselves.

Given all this, a few questions:

1. Have you been ever been wronged by someone in life to the point where you felt (or maybe still feel) the need to get even?

2. Do you find yourself looking for ways to make someone feel the same level of pain, hurt, and suffering that they brought on you?

3. Has someone made you angry to the point where you feel consumed and blinded by it?

If your answer to one or more of these questions is “yes”, I encourage you to go to the scriptures and see how Jesus handled what was the greatest injustice in the history of mankind. For after being wrongly accused, convicted, and sentenced; beaten and then nailed to a cross before being lifted up to die, Jesus didn’t strike out at those who were mocking Him. He didn’t ask His Father to send legions of angels from Heaven to kill everyone who had something to do with His crucifixion.

No, Jesus simply said these words:

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

Friends, if Jesus, the One through which we owe our identity as Christians, could do forgive in those circumstances, then we can follow His lead and do likewise. We need to forgive as He did just as much as we do everything in life as He did.

Today and every day, let us honor our Savior by giving thanks for the example He set and then commit ourselves to replicate His every thought, Word, and deed…and that includes forgiving our greatest enemies.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

OUR HOLY CITY OF REFUGE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses, then set aside for yourselves three cities centrally located in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there.”

“This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life - one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.”

“If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land He promised them, because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today - to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways - then you are to set aside three more cities. Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”

“But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.”

“Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

One thing that we see God make clear in the scriptures is that He commands and expects justice. He sets the standard for this and does so in a perfectly just way, and as we see in our scripture passage for today, this included protection for the innocent which is the chief premise behind establishing “cities of refuge”. Look again at the opening fourteen verses of Deuteronomy, chapter 19:

“When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses, then set aside for yourselves three cities centrally located in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Build roads to them and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that anyone who kills a man may flee there.”

“This is the rule concerning the man who kills another and flees there to save his life - one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.”

“If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He promised on oath to your forefathers, and gives you the whole land He promised them, because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today - to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways - then you are to set aside three more cities. Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.”

“But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.”

“Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.”

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

Here we find God commanding the Israelites to “set aside…three cities centrally located in the land” after entering Canaan. They were to “build roads to them and divide (the land) into three parts…so that anyone who kills a man may flee there”.

The reason this was important was that not all killings were intentional. Just as we see in present times, tragic accidents could and did happen but in biblical times, this unintentional killing of another would put a person at risk. They would face death themselves at the hands of an avenging family member of the deceased and this is the chief reason why God ordered for cities of refuge to be put in place for an innocent person who took a life by accident could there and be protected.

In our passage, we see an example given as to how someone might kill another unintentionally. We read a scenario where “a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him”. This man had no intent to murder his neighbor; the death happened by accident. Still, the scriptures tell us that danger loomed as an “avenger of blood might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death”. This is why the city of refuge was needed…so “innocent blood (would) not be shed in (Israel’s) land”.

So what would happen if someone fled into the city of refuge even though they had killed with intent?

God’s Word tells us “…if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die”. The Lord makes it clear here that the cities of refuge were reserved for the innocent.

As I thought about the innocent and a place of refuge, I couldn’t help but think about our Savior, Jesus. We know He was innocent and yet was crucified on Calvary’s cross and on the surface, it would appear as if evil had won. But Christ’s death was necessary so God’s greatest miracle could be performed, raising His Son from the tomb, delivering Him from death to eternal life and back into the heavenly city of refuge from which He had come. From that point on, no one could ever pass a deadly judgment upon Him again for He ascended and was placed in honor at His father’s right hand, safe there until His glorious triumphant return when He would set creation straight and restore God’s order and justice to earth.

The good news for us is that Jesus opened the gates to God’s heavenly “city of refuge” for anyone who would believe and trust in Him as Savior. Christ’s victory over death was extended to us as well, not because we’re innocent like He was and deserve it, but because He has paid the penalty for us and purchased our pardon. He covered our sin debt with His shed blood, a blood that washed us clean and redeemed us while bringing the sure promise of abiding with our Savior and Father God forever. Further, in the holy city of refuge, the New Jerusalem, no enemy will ever be able to come after us ever again. We will be perfectly at peace because we are perfectly protected.

As we rejoice in this truth, let us give thanks to God for the gift of His Son Jesus, our precious Redeemer and Friend.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU LISTEN TO

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’"

“The Lord said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name, I Myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.’"

“You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have continued to read about God’s guidance to the Israelites in advance of their entry into the Promised Land, we have most recently seen Him instructing His people on what not to worship in Canaan as well as to who they should and shouldn’t associate with. As we love further into chapter 18, we see the Lord cautioning them on who they were and weren’t supposed to listen to. Look again at those words here:

"The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.’"

“The Lord said to me: ‘What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to My words that the prophet speaks in My name, I Myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.’"

“You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Here, we find God telling the Israelites that they would be dispossessing nations who listened “to those who practice sorcery or divination”, two practices that He didn’t permit Israel to be a part of. The Lord didn’t want His people listening to them and so we see Moses letting his brothers and sisters know who they were give their ears to. For it had been the voice of God that the people had heard ever since leaving their Egyptian enslavement and it was that voice (and that voice only) that they were to listen to in the future. That voice could be heard directly or as we see in these words, through an appointed messenger:

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”

Indeed, the Lord had told Moses, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” and He always does what He says He will do. In the past, He had spoken through Moses and would soon do the same through Joshua who would lead the Israelites into Canaan but many other spokespeople were to follow. Some would be legitimate while others would be counterfeit (i.e. false prophets).

So how would Israel know if they were dealing with a prophet who was truly speaking a message from the Lord?

The final portion of our passage answers that question.

For scripture tells us that if what a “prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken”. This was the litmus test that served as an assurance for Israel, a way to know who they should and shouldn’t believe.

There would always be a potential danger that someone could come forward and lead Israel astray, falsely speaking on behalf of the Lord and so we find Him showing His people, past and present, how they could check the reliability, validity, and believability of the prophet. If what he or she (there were prophetesses in the Bible) said came true or took place, then the message was from the Lord. Otherwise, the message was false and fabricated.

Today, there are plenty of people who claim to be sharing messages from the Lord. Some even choose to label themselves as prophets or prophetesses. Unfortunately, as in biblical times, not all of them are legit and so we need to apply the same principles that we read here in Deuteronomy and test everything before we believe it or trust the messenger. The only difference is that we have the Bible which is the complete and inerrant Word of our Lord. Everything He says to us is found within the sixty-six books between Genesis and Revelation.

Given this, there is no need for anyone claiming they have some additional word from God that isn’t contained or supported by the Word He has already given. If someone does share something, stating that the Lord provided them the words they speak or write, we should pray over what we read or hear, asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, we should be getting into God’s word to validate what we’ve been told. Using these two things in tandem will expose falsehood and assure that we won’t possibly be led astray.

In the end translation, God’s cautionary warning stands true. As believers, we need to be careful about who we listen to.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.