This was one of those Bible studies where one question led to another, led to another. I tried to share what was spoken, but these notes may seem to jump around quite a bit – that is because we moved very quickly from topic to topic.

Right now I am doing the Beth Moore Bible study on Daniel, and in my reading I have wondered just how much the words of the prophets were known by the general populace. I asked Pastor Don if it was common knowledge what the various prophets shared about the future of Israel, or if it was reserved for the temple elite. Was there a gossip circle, did word spread like wildfire. I was wondering how much Daniel knew about the prophecies about Israel. Of course, I forgot that Daniel knew that the captivity was to be for 70 years because of prophesies that he knew about.

Pastor Don answered saying that God loves all of Israel. When He sent a prophet to the Northern Kingdom, he also sent one to the Southern Kingdom. Pastor Don pointed out that the great prophets had scribes who followed them and wrote down the prophesies so that they would not be lost. The people would have had knowledge of the prophesies.

He pointed out that the Israelites would have known the prophesies about the dispersion as much as we are aware of the prophesies of Revelation and the End Times. We can trust that, since God has kept His word in previous prophesies, that it is certain that His Word will be kept in the End Times. Then Pastor Don pointed out that we have had a prophet in our day and age that most have not paid much attention to, Hal Lindsey, who wrote in the 60′s The Late Great Planet Earth and that much of what was said in that book has come true today.

Then someone asked what was implied by Matthew 5:38-42 (Jesus speaking) You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Pastor Don pointed out that what Jesus was talking about was the spirit of offense and he gave examples in the context of things the Israelites would understand. The walking an extra mile referred to a Roman Law that a citizen was required, if asked by a Roman soldier, to carry their stuff for a mile. After a mile they could drop the stuff. Jesus told them to go the extra distance. When everyone comes at you, be overboard in your expression of love and kindness. Embrace them.

When the church today focuses on a particular sin in a category, such as homosexuality they are not addressing the real issue which is sexual immorality. It is just as much a sin to commit adultery, or to fornicate. When one particular type of sin is emphasized it sends a wrong message. The real message is that fornication of any kind is not acceptable to God. We need to love the sinner, but hate the sin. We need to love the sinner so that they can come to understand a love of God, and then God will help clean them up.

In these last days we are seeing a spirit of lawlessness abounding. Things are going to get worse, so we need to occupy with purpose. To be joyful that there is a point where Jesus will come again. We want to live our lives with purpose. We will all mess up, but mess or no mess Jesus is coming.

Then someone asked about when Jesus would come, is there a way to hurry up His coming. Pastor Don pointed out that He will come when all the souls are saved who are written  in the Lamb’s book of Life, and that our task is to reach as many as possible with the Love of Christ, to help bring in the harvest.

2 Peter 3:7-10 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

The Holy Spirit is with us, which is the promise that Jesus gave us. And one day the Messiah will come to straighten out stuff. Evil will be judged and good rewarded. God would love all to come to repentance, both the righteous and the unrighteous. We need to remember that He is God and we are not.

God knows us, and knows that we will sin, but what we need to do is come to a  place where we confess our sins as soon as possible, not wait until a later time. He wants us to stay repentant. To assess ourselves and bring judgement on ourselves, and come back in line with God’s Word.

We can ask the Holy Spirit to let us know when we have missed the mark, and have the Holy Spirit bring it to our attention. If we have unforgiveness in us that needs resolving, we need to BE QUICK TO REPENT so that the gates of heaven open. In the above passage, the Day of the Lord is the day of judgment, and when the judgment of God comes, the only thing that is not lost is the spirit of man. Anything that is not of God will be burnt up.

2 Peter 3:14-15 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation–as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him has written to you.

Peter is saying that you can do all the good works you can possible do, organize great events, serve hours and hours in church, food drives, orphan feeding, etc. and those good works are not as important as our relationship with Jesus. That only Jesus can give us salvation. We can do no end of good and it will not fix our sins, only the shed blood of Jesus.

Even science is backing up what God is saying about the end times. The planets are slowing down, the universe does have an expiration date. As Isaiah says, the garment is wearing out. The one thing that is not perishing is souls.

Most Christians are TROUBLE CHRISTIANS, they come to Christ when they are troubled, when they need help from Him. He wants us to have a continual relationship with Him. Then we have churches who, once a person sins they are banished from the church, yet, we need to accept those who sin into our midst so that they can repent. God still can change us.

Then Pastor Don went and did a bit more with 2 Kings 3

If you recall Jehoshaphat asked Elisha to prophesy regarding the situation with the kings. He wasn’t going to do it if only Jehoram (Ahab’s son) had asked, but because of Jehoshaphat, Elisha did prophesy regarding the situation. A grain offering was given, and the people were told to dig ditches in the desert land. Suddenly water came and the land was filled with water. The Moabites saw the water and God made the water look like blood, so they were tricked into thinking that the Israelites and Edomites had turned against each other, and came to the spoil shouting, “Moab, to the spoil.” To their surprise, the Moabites fled, and the Israelites did what God, through Elisha, told them to do, to stop up the wells, throw stones on all good ground, and cut down all good trees. Then we picked up,

2 Kings 3:26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.

The King of Edom was the weakest link, but because He had allied himself with Israel, God protected Him. When we have areas of weakness, we need to be aware of who we associate with, for they can help to strengthen us in our area of weakness.

2 Kings 3:27  Then he (King of Moab)  took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So they departed from him and returned to their own land.

This just goes to show how evil the king of Moab is. So often people say that God is cruel when he tells Israel to destroy all the enemy, men, women, and children. But if there is evil in the land, it will reemerge. Pastor Don said that if a little five year old boy is left alive, and the nation has a problem, he may recall that when he was little they did human sacrifice when there was a problem. Sometimes the entire root of evil must be eradicated.

Pastor Don pointed out that we need to list our friends and figure out where they are in our lives. Are they Christians, mature, immature, are they part of our personal harvest field of souls, are they fellow saints, are they beyond our ability to reach, are they our worst nightmare (those who tempt us to sin). Are they sinners who we can keep loving on until they can be moved to our harvest field? Some saints are saved 15 years and are still a harvest field for us because they haven’t resolved some of their sinful behavior with God.

We are all under construction. Sometimes those in our circle of friends are weak in an area that we are weak in, and it may be necessary to avoid that person for awhile until we are not going to be tempted in that area of weakness.

This covers the first phase of Elisha’s ministry. As we continue to study Elisha we will see that he does achieve a double portion of Elijah’s glory, and that the people will come to respect him as a prophet in his own right. In fact when he dies, even his bones had the power to raise the dead.

Hoping you have a blessed Saturday.

Heather

The Mantle of the Holy Spirit could not come to reside within us until Jesus ascended to Heaven. Then they were sent out.

John 20: 21-23 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Luke 24:46-49 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Until the Mantle of the Holy Spirit rests within. When we look at the book of Acts we see that it was not just the 11 disciples who received the Holy Spirit

We all have the Holy Spirit within. Does that mean we can do anything we want? No, what we have been given is Authority in Jesus’ name, which means that what we are able to do is what Jesus would do. If we are doing in our own understanding, and it is not in Jesus’ will, He is not required to do what we are wanting Him to do.

If we have a bank account and someone gives us a check, it is no good unless there is money in the account. Jesus gave the Holy Spirit into our account. The Father gave authority to the Son, who then by the Holy Spirit, gave authority to us. We have received the mantle of the Holy Spirit.

I have no authority to heal in my flesh, it is the Authority and Power of the Holy Spirit that heals a person, and we are obedient to the Authority and Power of the Holy Spirit. God promised that by His (Jesus’) stripes we are healed. While Jesus was with the apostles, they operated with the authority given to them by Jesus, when they hit a problem they couldn’t solve, they practiced the Jethro principle, and brought the difficult cases to Jesus.

When the father of the demon possessed child came to Jesus, he asked why the disciples were not able to heal his son. Jesus ascertained how long the child was possessed, and then told the father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to Him who believes.”

The father answered Jesus honestly.

Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.”

The disciples did good with what they had faith to believe for, but when the boy manifested symptoms again, they did not have a sustaining faith. They believed the circumstances. Jesus, when he healed the boy and the boy convulsed and appeared dead, did not believe the symptoms. When the crowd came, Jesus grabbed the boy by the hand and he rose, healed. Satan loves a crowd, and would have loved to have doubters there watching the show, but Jesus circumvented that.

The disciples asked him why they couldn’t heal the boy and Jesus told them, Mark 9:29 “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

The problem with us is that our eyes get in the way, the disciples prayed, and then said, “oops, it didn’t work.” Do not be fooled by circumstances.

When the mantle is upon a ministry we can judge that it is really on the ministry by the fruit that the ministry produces. Does the leader really believe that Jesus is Christ and that He is really our Savior.

John 14-17 speaks to us about the Holy Ghost, the promise of the father, and the mantle. But this promise is no longer a Mantle UPON, but a Mantle WITHIN. The Word of God will not come back void. When we pray to God with thanksgiving, and take steps in faith. We need to act on the unction of the Holy Spirit. If we feel a prompting of the Spirit, we need to listen.

One day Pastor Don was going to visit someone in room 302 at the hospital, and felt the need to enter room 301. He was able to minister to someone who really needed to hear the gospel. Had Pastor Don not listened to the unction he might have passed up that room and missed an important opportunity to serve God. God sends promptings in our Spirit, he doesn’t flash neon signs saying 301, 301, 301.

Most believers are waiting for the Mantle UPON, not realizing that we now have the Mantle WITHIN. Jesus has implied that when we feel the unction of the Spirit, go do something, and God will show up. But we need discernment to make sure that what we have the unction to do, is what God wants us to do. We have to be willing to go and see, and then assess whether what we did was of God or not. As we refine the tools of our bodies, then we will act more and more in line with God’s Word.

Pastor Don said that he marvels that God loves us enough to use us. I can second that, it amazes me when God uses me, knowing what He has saved me from.

Luke 10:22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

all is delivered, not some, not a little bit, not most, but ALL.

Luke 10:23 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see.

What Jesus taught was not for everybody, and we need to be careful what we tell the masses that God is going to do, not everything is for everybody’s ears. We need to spend time with people, sharing the Word until they are grown enough to eat the meat of the Word. As the people get more and more Word of God into them, then they will grow closer and closer to God, and God will reveal more and more to them.

Luke 10:24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.

What we as Christians know about God is far more than the ancient prophets knew, for they only had the mantle upon them for a period of time and then it was removed. We have the Mantle Within, and the Holy Spirit reveals so much to us. There is so much to learn about God that we will never run out of things to learn about Him.

John 14:12 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Jesus dropped a bomb on the disciples with this revelation. First of all, they did not realize that He was going away, and that He was going to put the mantle on them. After Jesus goes to the cross the disciples hide, they have no idea what He had in mind.

John 14:17 the Spirit of  truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells within you, and will be in you.

IN YOU. What we can do only with the mantle on us, now we can do with the mantle within us. The world cannot receive it, but Jesus told us that the world could not receive Him. And today so much of the church is worldly, you have to be careful to make sure that your church is not teaching the doctrine of the world.

The Barna polls show surprising results about what pastors believe and don’t believe. So many do not believe all that the Bible says about Jesus. The world wants spirituality, but they don’t want to believe. People need to keep reading the Word, coming to a solid church and being fed. Then they can model faith. Elisha modeled Elijah’s faith. By spending time with Elijah, Elisha’s discernment increased and he was able to see what the other prophets did not see when Elijah was taken up to heaven.

Disciples of Christ have to come to the Lord and believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Every man, woman and child is fully capable of doing miracles. Your faith will work for you, for good or for bad. We want to do what the Word says, not what satan says.

When we ask in Jesus’ name, we also give Him the authority to say “no”. We do not want what is not His best for us. If we abide in Him, we will begin to know His will, and when we ask what is His will, then it will be done.

The church is not perfect, but we can preach a perfect Word. the gates of hell cannot prevail against God or the church. We need a discerning spirit. God will remove His mantle from the church if they are not preaching His word.

Pastor Don gave us an acronym that mirrors what is going on today in the world: CAPS

C – complacency
A – apathy
P – pessimism
S – sarcasm

God does His best work NOW. Not everyone wants to receive the truth of God, but we are to embrace everyone, and share the truth. Share the whole council of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will reach those God has destined to reach.

Hoping your day is blessed. We had a wonderful spring day and I discovered that underneath the melting snow is a driveway!!!! Praise God!

Heather

I will put up the rest of Pastor Don’s Bible study later today, but this morning was one full of teenage drama and angst. I needed a laugh and my sister-in-law provided one this morning.

I do think that this computer desk has some interesting prospects.

Have a blessed day!

Heather

I love our Bible studies! The people in our group have wonderful inquiring minds. One of our members was thinking about the 2 Kings 2-3 study and the mantle that was passed from Elijah to Elisha, and tried to find a parallel in the New Testament regarding it. She had a question for Pastor Don, and as usual He knew exactly where to go in the Word to answer her question. We are so blessed to have a pastor who loves to answer our questions, and knows the Word well enough to do so biblically.

Pastor Don explained that the mantle was a robe, a piece of nature that represented the glory of God. Of itself, the mantle had no power, it just was a touch point to link into the glory of God. We do it at times today. If a coach wins the first game, he is likely to wear the sweater or shirt that he wore for the win at subsequent games. People have their favorite lucky bowling shirt, or women have a particular outfit that they think they look the best in. Baseball players have handkerchiefs that they carry with them. Paul gave out handkerchiefs and aprons that people used as a touch point for their healing. Again, of themselves, the objects do not have power. We are not to make idols of them, but they can be a tool to help us build our faith. YOUR FAITH CAUSES IT TO BE SO, not the object that is the touch point.

If something is holy, treat it as such. Your faith operates in that category. Idol worship in God’s eyes is UGLY. The demons will inhabit the idol in the physical, so that they can do satan’s work. Pastor Don talked about a missionary family who had a baby born and someone gave them a “blessed” dreamcatcher. When they hung it over the baby’s cradle the baby would scream. Finally someone who knew what the dreamcatcher was took it away and the baby stopped crying, when they burnt the dreamcatcher it screamed.

God told His people not to make carved images, not to worship idols. He wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. We do not need material things to worship God. Satan is always trying to get spiritual people to do things that seem spiritual, but aren’t,  to pull people away from the truth of God, things that God does not ordain.

The Word of God is holy. The Bible is  a book that contains the Word of God. How we treat our Bibles is a reflection of our hearts.

Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.

This was Jesus’ advance force. It shows that Jesus had a purpose and a plan. Jonathan Edwards used to send a pastor to a town before he came to the town. The pastor was a prayer warrior and his intercessory prayers prepared the town for revival.

Luke 10:2-3 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few, therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

Pastor Don asked, “Who sent them out?” Jesus. And they would be like lambs among wolves.
First Jesus sent them out.

Luke 10:4-8 Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. But whatever house you enter; first say, “Peace to this house.” And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it, if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.

Then He gave them their instructions.

Luke 10:9-12 Jesus speaking ”And heal the sick there, and say to them,  ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.”

That Day is the Day of Judgment at the end times.

Luke 10:13  “Woe to you. Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Repented.

Luke 10:14-15 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.

The burning place, hell.

Luke 10:16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.

In today’s day and age many do not want to accept the truth of Jesus. There are many voices out there that feel good, that feel righteous. People say that Christians are too judgmental. If we say what God says, we are on safe ground. But not everyone embraces you when you speak the things that are written in the Word. Anything God calls an abomination, if you continue in it, it will go bad for you. Do NOT HAVE FAITH IN SINS. In our culture we have our favorite sins, but for God all sin is bad.

We need to love one another. An effective church will have people who have been guilty of every sin. We need to love one another, and through that love, people will grow closer to God, and God will help them to cease sinning in the areas that they are weak. People need to get close to God to get free from their sins. Many of our churches today are homogenous. untouched by the people who really need God’s forgiveness. Even Paul pointed out that we are all sinners, liars, cheaters, etc. We are sick and need a Physician (Jesus). As we spend more time with Jesus, we get cleaner and cleaner.

Now we are going to see the Mantle Upon.

Luke 10:17-19 Then the seventy returned with joy; saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Notice, the demons are subject to people in JESUS’ NAME, and Jesus gave them authority over ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY. Not some of the power, not occasionally, but all. This authority was given by Jesus at this time to the disciples. They did not have the Holy Spirit in them, so they had the mantle UPON them. It won’t be until the Holy Spirit comes WITHIN them that they will have the mantle within.

Luke 10:20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.

Keep the focus on what is important. The Glory belongs to Jesus and our names are written in heaven.

Luke 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “”I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

Notice that Jesus rejoiced IN THE SPIRIT.

Pastor Don talked about how God revealed to him through the Word that God does not like drunkenness and alcoholism. When he received that revelation from God he came to a point where he had to decide to obey God’s Word, or to keep doing what he was doing. He decided not to continue drinking to drunkenness, something that he used to do when performing as a musician.

Pastor Don pointed out that all sin has an edge of feeling good to it. Gambling, addictions, adultery, fornication, at the start feel good, then it turns against you.

When we realize what THE WORD SAID then we have to take responsibility for our actions. Outside we may regret not being able to, for example, drink, but inside we find a joy that we have overcome a bondage in our lives.

God does not reveal His power to the wise and prudent, but to those who obey. God has great power for you but it comes with responsibility. We can’t even be permitted the sin of pride. the devil rejoices when you are lifted up in pride.

Pastor Don asked, “Is the house more important than its foundation?” The answer is no, without a foundation of faith in God the house cannot stand.

Luke 10:22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

This verse shows the trinity, The Me is Jesus, the Father is God, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him is the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that we come to relationship with Jesus, that God reveals to us Jesus. 

Pastor Don then talked about father wounds, and how bad fathers make it hard for some to come to Jesus, to crawl in Jesus’ lap, to accept the Pastors or elders’ authority in the church. If fathers are neglectful or abusive, they color a person’s perception of God. And the child grows up with a piece missing inside that can only be filled by God, but they are rejecting God. Our problems with God stem from our woundedness. We want God to fix stuff for us, but we don’t give Him permission to fix it.

People ask, if God is God, why is there so much pain in the world? Jesus is telling the heavenly Father about you. He sent the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you. God is wanting to reach to you.

Jesus gives us power over ALL. What if we don’t believe that we have the power, do we still have it? Yes, but unless we use the power, believe we have it, there will be little that we can do with it.

When the Mantle is UPON us, as sent ones, we are doing what He wants us to do. The mantle comes upon us for a situation, and may be removed later. Pastor Don talked about the healing anointing (mantle), and how it is not always present, but when it is, he knows that God wants him to lay hands on people for healing. If it is not present, he can still pray for a healing or pray for the healing anointing to come upon him, but the anointing is God’s to lay on a person when God wants to use the person for healing.

Tomorrow we will look at the Mantle WITHIN.

Praying you have a blessed Sunday!

Heather

I got to Bible study late, something I don’t like to do, but I also had to fulfill my responsibility as a Girl Scout cookie chairperson, and had to meet with the troops to get the cookie money. So, I came in late, and in the middle of Pastor Don fielding a question about how different places got their names. He pointed out that the name came from an experience that occurred there, like Bethel is House of God, a place where many of the Patriarchs met with God.

Then Pastor Don stated, “The pressure to mature is rejected by the immature.”

He gave as an example a person coming for prayer for healing, being told that the reason for the sickness was because something was out of order in their lives. They just want to have hands laid on them and receive a healing, not wanting to hear what they need to change about their lives. It is possible that even if they don’t hear what they need to do, the healing could happen with the laying on of hands. But if the underlying issue of the problem is not addressed, the sickness could return and the person could blame the healer or they could blame God, but the problem was not God or the healer, but the fact that they haven’t dealt with the real cause of the sickness. Remember, often Jesus told people that they should go their way and SIN NO MORE. Another time he talked about how if a spirit was cast out of the person, it would wait around, and if an opening was present, it would come back with seven other spirits. That the person needs to fill themselves with God, and leave no room for a spirit to return. If an illness is cast away, and the underlying condition is not taken care of, it could come back far worse than before.

Pastor Don also mentioned the woman with the issue of blood, and how Jesus told her to “Go your way and be made whole of your illness.” The verb used is “be being healed” it is an ongoing process. Sometimes you have to keep doing work to maintain your healing. If a person is cured of diabetes, and they keep gorging on sugar, the diabetes will come back. You can receive your healing, but you also have to watch what you put in your mouth.

We had newcomers to the Bible study, so Pastor Don reviewed some things to catch people up. I am going to share anything that wasn’t previously taught, figuring that you can go back and review from the earlier study and continued here.

We reviewed how Jehoram (son of Ahab and Jezebel) became king over Israel, that Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. Jehoram did better than his parents, but did not completely rid Israel of their idols. Jehoshaphat was a more godly king. Jehoram persisted in the sins of Jeroboam and did not depart from them.  After Ahab died, Mesha king of Moab, who used to pay a tribute to Ahab, rebeled against Jehoram, king of Israel.

Jehoram mustered the troops of Israel, and then made a VERY SMART move, and asked for help from Jehoshaphat to go against Moab. They decided to go up by way of the wilderness of Edom.

2 Kings 3:9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them.

The Edomites were descendants of Esau, remember he was the one who gave up his birthright for a bowl of pottage. He was the one who was denied inheritance from Abraham, being tricked by Jacob/Israel so that his father gave the blessing to Abraham. The Edomites stayed in the land when the Israelites were in Egypt, and when the Israelites returned they did not help them. The land in reference we now call Jordan, and it is where Petra is.

2 Kings 3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

Pastor Don pointed out that Jehoram was an idiot, but he was smart enough to find a Godly alliance in Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was smart enough to know that if you are going to do anything, first consult God. Pastor Don talked about that in detail in the previous post on 2 Kings (see links above). He told of a story Kenneth Hagin spoke about a family who made a move to a different city for a better job. When things did not pan out, they came back and asked Pastor Hagin about what went wrong. Kenneth Hagin told them that they had not considered all the aspects of the move, such as Godly schools for their kids. Their only decision for the move revolved around money, and if you go to Egyptland, you will only find slavery.

Pastor Don pointed out that pastoral guidance helps you fill in all the dots.

2 Kings 3:13  Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father (Ahab) and the prophets of your mother (Jezebel).….” Ouch, Ahab and Jezebel had sought to kill Elisha, and Elisha would not have talked to Jehoram, but because of Jehoshaphat, Elisha would help. Then Pastor Don pointed out that our associates and who we hang out with is very important. It is not WHO you are but WHOSE you are. WHO do you belong to?

2 Kings 3:15 Elisha then said, “But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

Pastor Don spoke about this in detail in the previous Bible study, but reminded us that we need to know how we hear from God? Is it being plugged in to praise and worship, reading the Bible, dancing, walking, prayer and meditation. How do you get into the right Spirit to hear from God? We need to know the way to get to our Jericho so that we can get a quick answer from God.

Pastor Don said that God wants to speak to us. The problem is not God not speaking, it is our ability to hear Him that is impaired. He pointed out that often when we are very upset, we can’t hear what others are telling us. We aren’t listening. And often in that same kind of upset state, we don’t hear God speaking either. That is one reason why we have church, to help us learn to have the ability to hear from God. Sometimes during a church service a particular song sung, a sermon spoken, a word from a fellow member will be the Word from God that we need to hear.

Pastor Don touched in depth on these verses in the previous teaching.

2 Kings 3:16 And he (Elisha) said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’”

Here is the Word of Wisdom from God, Elisha listened to God and relayed the message to the kings.

2 Kings 3:17-23 “For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink. And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”

The kings of Moab were tricked, thinking that the kings had turned against each other and that the spoils would be easy to gather.

2 Kings 3:24-26 So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.

The reason for the stones was to make the land difficult to cultivate, the destruction of the good trees also prevented repopulating the land, as did the stopping of the springs of water. Pastor Don pointed out that the King of Moab then turned to try and attack the king of Edom. Why Edom? Because Edom was the weakest link, and the enemy always goes for the weakest spot in our defenses.

Someone asked about the grain offering, and Pastor Don spent some time talking about tithes and offerings. One thing that he pointed out is that we cannot get legalistic about tithes and offerings, that they need to be freely given from a heart of love. Pastor Don pointed out that in America money controls us, and for us the issue over money is good stewardship. That we would be shocked to realize that Muslims give on average 4 1/2 – 7% in tithes, whereas Christians in our country give on average 3%. Now some give more, some less but it averages out to be about 3%.

The grain and fruits and produce offerings were free will offerings. We can’t make it legalistic or it isn’t an OFFERING. Jesus taught that it was more blessed to give than to receive. His lesson was that if you are a giver you will be blessed. (Not as the TV evangelists sometimes state, for the blessing does not have to be money, it can be relationships, family, security, deliverance, there are many ways that the blessing can manifest.)

Malachi 3:8-10 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse. For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, ” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.”

This is one situation that God tells us to TEST Him. Then Pastor Don mentioned when Jesus told the disciples that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He described the needle, pointing out that after the gates were closed, the camel drivers had to unload their camels of merchandise, the camels would crawl on their knees through a tiny hole in the gate, and then the goods were searched and brought in and replaced on the camel. That Jesus was telling the disciples that they had to humble themselves before God, and realize that it was to God that their riches belonged. The rich young ruler was told to sell all he had and give to the poor. Jesus knew that the rich young ruler needed to do this because he loved money more than God. It is not saying that God wants us poor, that isn’t the case. God wants us to rule our money, not our money to rule us.

Malachi 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field.” says the LORD of hosts.

The devil wants to steal our future. Satan doesn’t want to keep us from having stuff, he will give us all the money, and things we want, as long as it keeps our focus from God. God wants us to have the stuff, but He doesn’t want us to be slave to our stuff.

Someone asked about the 10% tithe, and Pastor Don again said not to be legalistic. He then pointed out that tithes were made by Cain and Abel. Abel gave the perfect tithe to God, and Cain gave God the leftovers and when God wasn’t pleased, Cain killed Abel. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Peace). Noah, Enoch, David, the Israelites all tithed.

In fact the Jews tithed 23 1/2% of their income. 10% went to the temple, and the other 13 1/2% was given to the poor and used for VACATION. They twice a year, were instructed by God to come to Jerusalem for the feasts, which entailed sacrifices and a big party. Part of their tithe was used for traveling expenses.

In the New Testament, for those who say that the tithe isn’t in the New Testament might want to remember that Jesus came to FULFILL the law (including the tithe). The early Christians realized that EVERYTHING belonged to God, so they sold all their stuff and shared in common all things for the service of God. Acts 4 points out that deeds of houses and property were turned over to the church, or 100% tithe.

Pastor Don pointed out that he never asks the treasurer of the church who tithes or doesn’t tithe, unless that person is being considered for a church office, in which case he would want to know that they are on the same page regarding what is God’s.

Then we went back to 2 Kings 3, and Pastor Don emphasized how important it is to maintain Godly associates. That we need the Jehosephats of this world to stand in agreement with us, when we are weak in an area. Godly people help us to do what is right before God, to destroy the land of the enemy so that there is no chance for the enemy to return. There is no compromise. We don’t want to leave any area in our lives that satan can come back in.

Hoping this blessed you. We really will get further along in this study. I am so grateful that Pastor Don takes the time to answer our questions, even if it pulls us off track somewhat. I am glad he cares about our concerns, not his own agenda. I count myself so blessed to learn from such a godly man.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Well, there was a two hour delay today, but I was still able to get the the Woman’s Bible study group, a few minutes late, but better late than never.

We have left the Children of Israel receiving the Bread from Heaven. God gave them specific instructions about how to gather it, how much to gather, when to gather, and we have seen the people test if God really meant what He said. They gathered too much, kept it overnight so it spoiled, and some did not collect enough for the Sabbath. God asked Moses in verse 28 “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?”

This will be a pattern of the children of Israel over all of history, keeping God’s commandments at times, and at other times flagrantly disobeying God. We do that today. If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that we, too, do not always obey God. And yet God has told us that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.

I have people in my circle of friends who feel that they can pick and choose what parts of the Bible are relevant and which aren’t, not realizing that God is not going to change the rules. What He says IS. He will not say to us, “well it depends on what the meaning of is is.” And today people are thinking that God’s lack of response in a situation is His approval of a situation that He had pronounced an abomination. It isn’t. As we continue on through the Bible we will see that God is patient with us, waiting hundreds of years for the people to repent, but at some point there will be a judgment.

Exodus 16:31 And the house of Israel called it’s name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

I think of baklava as a pastry with honey. It is sweet, but then again the Word of God which is our bread is sweet. And at times, it is sweet on the lips, but bitter in the stomach. Remember God calls this special bread “bread”, the people call it “Manna” (what is it? is the literal translation of the word Manna).

Exodus 16:32 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

This omer of Manna will be placed with other items into the ark of the covenant. And this omer will not rot and stink. It goes to show who really is in charge. I think that God wanted them to have that reminder because over time our memory grows dim – we forget the great ways God has moved in our lives. We begin to rationalize what has happened, but God wants us to remember His provision. That is so important because it is by remembering how God has moved in our lives helps us to have faith when new circumstances cross our path.

One other thought crossed my mind. Remember when God first appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses said that he couldn’t talk, could Aaron be his spokesperson. Well, it sure seems that Moses has found his voice, and does not speak to the people only through Aaron. It is a good reminder to us that when God wants to do something through us, even if we feel we are inadequate for the job, God will make it possible for us to do what He needs us to do.

Exodus 16:33-34 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD to be kept for your generations.” As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

I had to stop and look up the word Testimony here. For up to now there is no Ark of the Testimony, God hasn’t given instructions for His tabernacle, so where did Moses come up with the idea of the Testimony? Is this God speaking this into existence before it’s time. I wonder how they kept the Manna, where they carried it, who carried it, how was it kept safe, etc.? So I checked out the word, it is Strong’s 5715 – Baker & Carpenter’s The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old Testament  says regarding 5715 regarding testimony, “precept, warning sign. It is always used in connection with the testimony of God and most frequently in association with the Tabernacle. The stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments are identified as God’s testimony. Because the Ten Commandments represent the covenant that God made with Israel, they are also called the “tables of the covenant” and they were preeminent in the Tabernacle. As a result, the Tabernacle is sometimes called the Tabernacle of the testimony and the ark is sometimes called the ark of the testimony…. In time the term came to stand for the laws or precepts that God had delivered to humanity.”

Curious if any of you have any more information on the Testimony mentioned in this verse. But it also points out that the Manna (Bread) was sacred to God, and when the people gave it that disrespectful name, “what is it?” and then later complained about only eating Manna, it was rejecting God’s precious gift to them. And again, as we saw before Manna was a symbol of Jesus.

Exodus 16:35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.

It is true, they will eat Manna until Joshua brings the people into the Promised Land, and then the Manna stops. After the children of the original Israelites cross over the Jordan, after they are circumcised and brought back into Abraham’s covenant, then Joshua 5:11-12 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

God provided for His people until they were able to return to the Land God had promised them 400 years previously. He provided food and water in the wilderness. God was faithful to His people. We do serve an awesome God.

Hoping your day is great!

Heather

Can you believe it? We got three more inches of snow, maybe rain later. My oldest went to bed with visions of two hour delay or school closed dancing in his head. I am hoping that the weather is better tomorrow, for tomorrow is to be our first Beth Moore Daniel Bible study. If there is a delay then we push back the start time by a week. I am lucky, I get to study ahead a bit. It is an incredibly impacting study. Wish this snow was Manna. I would love to have a meal of Manna.

Now we are going to listen to God’s instructions for the people.

Exodus 16:16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.

An omer is six pints, if Manna was as small as coriander seeds then that is a lot of picking that they did. If there were two million Israelites in the wilderness that would be 12 million pints A DAY! Every single day for forty years. 4,500 tons daily. If we were supplying troops with that much Manna it would take ten trains with 30 boxcars to bring that much food.

We are now going to see human nature (fleshly nature) at work. God instructed the people how much to take, and we will see some will not get up to collect, some will take too much, etc. God wants obedience, complete obedience. Pastor Don was telling us that partial obedience is disobedience to God. And when we realize that we are disobeying God, we need to get back to where we were last in obedience, and continue forward in obedience. We need to repent of our disobedience. If we are not faithful in little things, how can God trust us with greater things? I also love how God let people gather ACCORDING TO THEIR NEED. It reminds me that God knows us by name, knows us so well that He knows the number of hairs on our head, and has our name inscribed in His palm. We do serve an awesome God.

Exodus 16:17-18 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

Ah, perfect provision. God supplies all our NEEDS. There is no lack.

Exodus 16:19-20 And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it til morning.” Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

As God will say, they are a stiff-necked people. Moses, who has successfully led them to freedom, through whom God has provided water, and now food, gives them instructions from God. Yet NOTWITHSTANDING – Not With Standing – They certainly are not standing with God in obedience. They did not heed Moses, and in this case, not heeding the Prophet, their leader, they are not heeding God. And what happens when we disobey, there is the stench of sin, and it becomes wormy. What was once attractive and good, becomes ruined by disobedience.

Exodus 16:21 So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

Obviously God does not want people lounging around in their tents. Those who decided to sleep in lost their chance at Manna, for it melted. There was a limited amount of time to pick up the bread – Isn’t that also like Jesus. We have a limited amount of time (our lifespan) to accept Jesus into our lives, once our lives are over, the chance is over. I pray that those who do not know Jesus as LORD, come to know of His incredible love for them. That they will not be swayed by false doctrines and teachings, that they will not think that the do not need a savior.

Notice, that overnight the bread (that they called Manna) became wormy and stank, but look what happens on the sixth day, the day before the Sabbath.

Exodus 16:22-24 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD has said: “Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all the remains to be kept until morning. So they laid it up til morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.

This goes to show you how much God values the Sabbath rest, and how much He wants to fellowship with the people. Also it shows how He is the one in charge of the Bread (Manna), and it is not logical that six days it would rot if kept longer, but not on the seventh. What a miracle.

Exodus 16:25-27 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.” Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.

I wish I could say that I am not ever like the Israelites, but there have been times when God has placed a check in my Spirit, and when I go ahead and do what I know He told me not to do, that I have come up empty. I don’t know why some went out, did they forget to gather twice the amount? Were they just greedy? Did they not believe God? The disobedience will not please God.

I have been reminded of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes. God is able to amply provide, but He has his rules – the people were to sit in order, the food passed out, and the scraps collected. God wants none wasted.  Jesus is the Bread of the world. Because God provided bread, to not follow His rules, to not obey is not treating what is sacred as holy. It is a defilement to God. Just the same way that we can defile our temples (our bodies) by disobedience. I am studying Daniel 5 and how Belshazzar used the temple vessels for partying. God’s finger wrote on the wall and pointed out that he was weighed in the balance and found lacking. I am always amazed at God’s remarkable patience with the people. He gives them chance after chance to obey, and they repeatedly choose disobedience. I pray that as I grow more in God, He has fewer times to be disappointed in my disobedience.

Exodus 16:28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and my laws?

Remember that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Disobedience is not loving God.

Exodus 16:29-30 “See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” So the people rested on the seventh day.

Do you realize how radical a day of rest is? In that time people did not take a day to rest. This is a wonderful gift that God gives us, and most of us do not take the opportunity to fellowship with God. In fact, in this day and age we have made ourselves so busy that many choose not to spend time with God on the Sabbath. How we need that time with Him, that refreshing. People forget that that period of rest and refreshment, will cause them to work more effectively during the six days.

I am going to stop here for the night because I want to savor this chapter. It is so rich. Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Ah, a few moments in Exodus. Seems that there have been so many Bible studies lately that I have had little time to devote to Moses and the Tribe in the wilderness. Perhaps I should have an Exodus day each week, or at this point they may spend more than forty years in the wilderness (she says smiling). Here was my last Exodus entry.

We left the tribe at Elim – which means palms, a place that has abundant water. Remember how we talked about how much water would have had to have been provided by God for the over a million Israelites, and their wives and children. It still surprises me how the Israelites kept complaining about their lack when God had done so much for them. I guess that is typical of us, taking what God has done for us for granted, and not giving Him the praise and honor due to Him. I suspect in retrospect the Israelites would have been able to reason that God would not have taken them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, that God would have supplied their needs. Sometimes I think God holds back a bit so that we can see what words come out of our mouths when we are faced with a challenge, will they be words of thanks and praise to God, or will they be murmuring words? It is a good thing to know what negativity still needs to be rooted out of us.

God rains bread down that the people call, “MANNA” which translated means, what is it? God will feed the people Manna every morning for 40 years, that is over one million tons of manna a year! That is some provision!!! It is also a good example of how faithful God is. And we will see that God will use the Manna to test the obedience of the people. Why is it that we, as humans, seem destined to always test our limits and easily disobey God? I keep praying that I will come more and more into alignment with God’s Word as time goes by.

Exodus 16:4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

I find it interesting that Moses knew that God was going to test the people. I think Moses honored God very much in this. I could see myself being tempted to say to the people, “Hey, listen up, God told me that He was going to test your obedience, so make sure to do exactly as God says.” But Moses let the people learn for themselves how disobedience leads to decay and how much of a stink disobedience causes. Then again, as Pastor Don has taught us, there are times when God shows us things that are not for general sharing. And this must have been one of those, for Moses only relayed what God told Him to speak.

Exodus 16:5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.

God is making sure here that the people have their Sabbath rest. And it is a miracle that what would rot if gathered on a non-Sabbath eve, does not rot the day before a Sabbath.

Exodus 16:6-8 Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel “At evening you shall know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD; for He hears your complaints against the LORD. But what are we, that you complain against us?” Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full, for the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.”

We, as Pastor Ted taught, are responsible for every idle word/idol word. When we grouse about our circumstances God hears. I am learning that even what seems to be adverse circumstances can be things that God has permitted for my spiritual growth. Sometimes I read this account of the Israelites and shake my head and say, “How can they not trust God, after all He has done for them.” But if I am brutally honest with myself, I too have fallen to murmuring in some of my circumstances. When we complain about our spiritual leaders or our brethren, the same thing is true. The very people who are in our life are permitted by God because He knows that it will help us to grow to become people He has destined us to be. If we grumble, if we move on, God will keep putting similar situations into our lives until we finally get what He is trying to teach us.

Exodus 16:9-12 Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, “Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your complaints.” Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying ‘At twilight you shall eat meat and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

Oh how I would love to see the Glory of the LORD appear in a cloud. I tell myself that if I ever saw that, how could I ever doubt God, but we will see that even though the people saw the Glory of the LORD, saw all the signs and wonders that God produced, and saw all the blessings that God bestowed on them, they still were not satisfied. They just wanted more signs and wonders, when things were tough they did not remember what He did for them, they just grumbled. It seems that wanting signs and wonders just leads to wanting more signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are good, but what is most important is a relationship with God, and we will see that the people will refuse even that, wanting Moses to be their go between. God will provide abundant meat, imagine how many birds it would take to feed so many people! And notice that God tells the people that they will be filled with BREAD. God does not call the BREAD, Manna – the people call it Manna (what is it?). God mostly refers to BREAD. For God BREAD is the bread of life, again a representation of Jesus, in fact, as we look at the description of Manna, we will see that it is another picture of Jesus.

Exodus 16:13-15 So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given to you to eat.”

Let’s take a look at a further description of Manna. Numbers 11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat?”

Oh my does this show us something. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they brought along others who were not the children of Israel, the mixed multitude. And obviously those people had an intense craving for what they had left behind, for meat, and spoke about it. The children of Israel listened to the conversation and that rose up a craving in them, and they too started grumbling. Perhaps if they had not listened to the voices of the others who were not God’s spiritual children, they would have requested food differently. It shows that we can be impacted by those around us. God wants us to be in the world, not of the world. He wants us to be set apart. When our fleshly friends have their cravings, if it is not a godly craving, we are to not give in, to not get pulled into the same cravings.

Numbers 11:5-6 “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up, there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes.”

Whoa, wait a moment, a bit of a reality check here. First of all, in Egypt the people were slaves, they did not FREELY eat. In fact, the people were being systematically killed, I do not imagine Pharaoh or the Egyptians being so caring about feeding the Israelites enough food. God just gave them liberty and they feel they are being dried up. And what do they do, complain about the heavenly food God gave. They are demeaning the gift of God, “there is NOTHING AT ALL EXCEPT this manna before our eyes.” I cringe when I think of the marvelous gifts of God that I turned my nose up for against the pleasures of the world. The liberty that God provides for our obedience to him, the spiritual bread that He supplies. And to think that they would think more of onions, garlic, melons, cucumbers and fish than spiritual food, the Manna that God provided. Satan will do that to us so often, make us think that the things of the flesh are far more attractive than the things of the Spirit. And yet there is a lie in that, for it is only the things of the Spirit that can give life eternal.

Numbers 11:7 Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium.

Coriander seeds

 And below is a picture of bdellium

Numbers 11:8 The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil. And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

We will soon see that the people did not obey God in the gathering of the Manna, but lets consider from the description above just how Manna is a symbol of Jesus. Much of this I gleaned from a teaching from Chuck Colson and some studies on the Patriarchs by Beth Moore. First of all it is a supernatural gift from God, it came to where the people were, and was accessible to all. But the people had to gather the Manna to themselves to use it, or else they trampled it underfoot. It was small in size, seemingly insignificant. Jesus was comely, and did not stand out among a crowd. We can also carry God’s word in our pockets, the volume of His teachings for thousands of years can be carried in a pocket Bible. It is white, which is a symbol of God’s righteousness. In Revelation Jesus will be clothed in a white robe, and when He was transfigured, His rainment was a brilliant white. The Manna was eaten, consumed, just as we do in remembrance of Jesus in our communion. Each person had to gather their own quantity of Manna, we cannot achieve salvation from another, it is our acceptance of Jesus. It had to be gathered daily (except on the Sabbath), so to we need to fellowship with God daily, It did not fall into the people’s mouths, they had to go and gather it, but just enough. If they gathered too much and held onto it selfishly it rots. The Manna was lying on the ground, so people had to bend their knees to gather the Manna, and we know that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. It had to be used, not stored. There was a mixed multitude that consumed the Manna, Manna is for all who choose to accept the free gift. And there is a hint of the suffering Jesus would have for the Manna was ground and beaten, and then heated. And that suffering transformed into our salvation with His resurrection.

Well, tomorrow we will look at how the people obeyed God. Hoping you have a blessed night.

Heather

Well, yesterday we had a major snowfall, our picnic table on the back deck has about 17 inches of snow. My daughter was to march in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade,

but the school canceled the trip due to dangerous driving conditions. I am glad for her safety, but she is a bit sad because she was looking forward to a shopping trip with her friends after the parade. Today is her birthday and one of her friends had baked cupcakes for the excursion. If my husband gets up some pictures of the snow I will share them, it is beautiful and my oldest son is now uncovering the buried treasure of our front steps. (Sorry, couldn’t resist). It was snowing so hard that Friday’s Bible study was canceled, something that seldom happens.

Continuation of Pastor Ted’s Bible study on Uncovering Buried Treasure

Pastor Ted pointed out that we need to stand by faith. God’s word will come true, his Word will not return void.

Matthew 12:33-37 Jesus said, Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

(Heather’s note, every time the bible mentions IDLE words, I keep thinking IDOL words because so often when we are speaking from the pomposity our ourselves we really are making our words IDOLS.)

Pastor Ted asked us, “When is the day of judgment?” It is not just the last judgment, but it is everyday. We are being judged daily for what we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. What is the fruit of our words and actions? We are judged for our idle words. Remember, the Bible tells us that judgment begins with us. God does judge His Temple (us). When our words are confused, we cannot move in the realm of God because of what we speak. Do we speak doubt and unbelief? God cannot honor that.

We are taking back the kingdom of satan. We can’t do it within the confines of church walls, we have to be out there where satan is functioning. When we are not speaking the things of God we lose power over the kingdom of satan, and satan will then come and attack us at our weakest points. We are supposed to make an impact in the world atmosphere, something we can’t do if we are hiding behind the walls of the church. The fire of the Holy Ghost will overcome darkness, and it flees at light.

Pastor Ted stated that we are anxious for the world to end, for the rapture. He said that we need to realize that the world will end when we come to the end of the world. That God is in control. And God chooses to do things through His people, His Holy Nation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ comes within us.

Somehow Saul of Tarsus came up, and Pastor Ted asked us what the name Saul in Hebrew meant. (Heather’s note, it appears to mean asked, 7586 in Strong’s). Pastor Ted pointed out that it comes from roots of Sheol the word before Saul in Strong’s. Sheol is hell, hades, and Pastor Ted pointed out that Saul fell into that nature.

He also pointed out that many people say that the Gospel is so easy that a child can understand it. And in one sense it is true, but God wants to move us from the milk of the Word to the meat of the Word, and to do that requires study and digging into the Word. Jesus also pointed out that a babe in Christ is greater than John the Baptist, who was the greatest prophet according to Jesus. The reason being that we have the Holy Spirit.

Jesus spoke in parables and most who heard them did not understand what He was teaching. Even the disciples did not understand much of what Jesus taught when He taught it. And they were uneven in their understanding. In one breath Peter was commended for recognizing Jesus as the Christ, in another breath he was telling Jesus not to go to the cross, and Jesus told him, “Get thee behind me satan.” Much of what Jesus taught regarding the resurrection the disciples did not understand until afterwards.

Peter chopped off an ear of a servant in the Garden, and Jesus healed that ear. Peter did not realize that if Jesus had not healed that ear, then Jesus would have had an area that satan could have accused Him about. Jesus will later tell Peter, John 21:18  Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.

As we grow in Christ, we decrease, and Christ becomes big in us. We are set apart. We need to realize that He who began a good work in us will be faithful and just to complete it.

God is in everything we do.

Matthew 12:37 Jesus said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

We are justified by the blood of Jesus. What words we speak will either be justified (through Jesus) or condemned. Now there is no more condemnation in Christ.

Pastor Ted asked us, whose words are you listening to?

So often we believe something because they make us feel a certain way, they feel right to us. But if you really listen, you may realize that they are not in line with God’s words. We do not want to listen to words that God would condemn. It is important to take every thought captive. Faith without works is dead. We can’t see faith. We can’t see the air in the room, but we can trust that it is there. God gave us all a measure of faith, and all it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.

God plants the seed, the Word of God, in the garden (we are the garden). The seed matures, is watered, and begins to mature. The Word of God and faith, produce more faith. The Word continues to grow and flows out of us like living water.

Pastor Ted pointed out that the church needs to understand the things of the Spirit. That it is more than just reading the Word of God, but of being obedient to the Word of God. God gives increase. He does not judge according to our timetable. He is ordered and timely, and God gives revelation in His own time. The wind blows and we do not know where it comes or where it goes. We are in God’s hands and He will fulfill His purpose through us.

Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

We need to sell all that we have, all that is not of God. Remember the field is the world, and it’s treasure is being stored for us. Jesus told the young rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor. God wants us to give up whatever holds us back from Him. He wants us to not just take the milk of the Word, but to eat the meat of the Word. We cannot dig deep into the Spiritual things and still be connected to worldly things.

Jesus told us that we would do greater works than these. We need to realize that it is not just about physical healing – it is also spiritual healing. It isn’t just about opening blind eyes to see the physical, but also blind spiritual eyes.

When you walk by faith in the Spirit of God, you walk in awesome power.

The son of perdition, is also our human nature, the man of sin. When it is revealed to us, than it can be destroyed. Apostasy will fall away when God comes in. Without Christ we are dead in our sins.

Why did Jesus promise us power if we do not have to exercise that power here on earth? Jesus gave us power to take authority over the world of satan. The Church is longing to escape the earth in the end times, but God wants us to establish His authority here on earth.

Pastor Ted pointed out that most take the passage “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” to be a statement of what happens when we die, it also applies to us while we are on earth. To be absent from the body (flesh) is to be present with the Lord (Spirit). We need to realize what realm we are dealing with, the flesh or the spirit. Let the Lord move you in faith, don’t become a rocking chair Christian. Begin to see the Walk as Christ is in you.

The prophet releases a word into His people. If that word is not spoken, there may not be a manifestation of it. We were sent to overcome the world, and that means that we need to change our thinking.

I hope this blesses you. There are a lot of challenging thoughts to chew on.

Have a blessed day,

Heather

Heather’s note, this is a challenging study for me, and I am sorting it out, but wanted to share it as it was presented on Wednesday.

Pastor Ted started out by asking what you need to do if you are going on a treasure hunt, and some of the comments were, follow clues, read a map, dig, have proper tools. He also pointed out that a rich treasure is not displayed out in the open, but hidden.

It is the same with the treasures buried in the Bible. God wants the Body of Christ to go to the next level, not just attend Bible studies, speak in tongues, praise and worship music, but to look for the treasures that He has provided for us. As we move toward God, He will move toward us.

So many do not understand the process of spiritual growth. We are called to be saints of God. When we give our life to Jesus we are not fulfilled saints, but we begin the path that brings us more and more in line with Jesus. First we have faith, for without faith it is impossible to please God, then we become believers and begin to Believe all that Christ says, we become part of the Body of Christ, the brethren, and part of the house of God. We continue to grow and learn more of His word, then we become disciples, and then we are called to be sent forth, set apart for the work of the ministry.

A disciple is a learner of the Word, a follower of Christ. We learn to pick up the cross and follow Him. Remember if we love God, we will keep His commandments. To be a disciple of Christ means that we abide in Him and He abides in us. It is a process, and we are learning to be In Christ.

If we don’t understand the process, we can get distracted by our circumstances.

Jeremiah 18:1-4  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

When we are changed in Christ, there is destruction of the old, and stuff in us dies. We are changing from the natural man to the spiritual man. The vessel in the Potter’s (Jesus’) hand is marred, and needs to be destroyed, the flesh and our carnal way of thinking needs to be destroyed. For flesh and blood do not enter into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus died for our sins some believe that all our sins are eradicated when we get saved. Not so, for we do continue to sin. Jesus covered the sin of the World, but we still have to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, making our lives come more in accord with God’s word. All of us still err and do not do all that God has commanded.

Pastor Ted pointed out that the creation account in Genesis fits our inner being as well. That the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the earth. When we were in sin we lived in darkness, and certainly not in the form God intended for us. When Jesus came into our lives then we had light, just like God created light in the world. The Light of God destroys anger, the spirit of rejection, abandonment, bitterness, etc. We are all fleshly creatures, and as such will die. What is of the flesh in us will die and be re-shaped by the Potter’s Hand. (Heather’s note, this reminds me of Pastor Don pointing out that so many want to see God’s face, and not His hand in our situations, but His hand is necessary.)

Notice in the fourth verse that it says that the Potter took the marred vessel and made it into another vessel as it seemed good to the Potter. There is a plan for our lives. We may not understand that plan, but that does not mean that it doesn’t exist. We are responsible for everything we are. Sometimes we give satan too much credit.

The book of Job tells us that God told satan what he could and couldn’t do to Job. Satan does not have free reign on the earth. Sometimes, when God wants something to change in our lives, he sends someone who loves you, and they end up hurting you so that the changes you need to make are made. Sometimes he permits satan to sift us.

Marriage is a Covenant, not a contract. When situations get tough in our lives, we cannot walk out on covenant relationships. The world wants us to think that our covenant relationships are contracts that can be broken at will, but that is not the nature of a covenant relationship. God tells us that if we love Him we will keep His commandments, His covenant with us. The devil wants us to think that it is ok to break the commandments and covenants. If we do break them, God is not required to cover us with His protection when we are out of covenant with Him, and that gives satan the freedom to act in our lives. We need to get back into the covenant relationship with God so that we have firm footing to stand against satan.

Jeremiah 18:5-6  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!”

 Whatever we are going through in our lives, we are still in His hand. We are grafted into the vine of Israel, we are the Spiritual Israel.

Pastor Ted pointed out that a potter uses a wheel – we will keep returning and returning to the same spot, the same cycle until we are shaped perfectly by the Potter. There are two dimensions going on in our lives, NATURAL TIME where things flow in order one from another, and INSIDE OF THE TRUTH. The big wheel is the TRUTH, and our little wheel is the natural time going around. The little wheel is where we are shaped, and as we get more and more perfectly formed we move toward the outer wheel.

Sometimes we are so happy to be “good people.” But the world also has good people who do not know God. We are wanting to step beyond just being a good person, to reflecting the divine nature of God.

Pastor Ted then asked us where the treasure was, and finally we came to the verse that points out that we are treasures in earthen vessels. Our body is the earthen vessel, so if we are treasure hunting, we have to look within to what God has placed in us.

Jesus also told his disciples that when the end days would come people would be saying there is Christ, or there, or there, and Jesus told us to stand fast, to not go chasing after the false christs. The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, within our earthen vessels. We can’t see the Kingdom of God with our eyes, as it is within us.

When we pray, Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Pastor Ted pointed out that the Kingdom come is on EARTH, as it is in Heaven. Jesus walked on earth in a human body for a time. His vessel (body) at the time was seen by many people, but most did not recognize Jesus for the treasure that He was. Those who were able to see the treasure that He offered, had to dig for those treasures, to die to themselves, and to their old way of thinking. To make such changes is uncomfortable for us (as Pastor Ted joked, “It scares the hell out of us.” We do want anything from hell outside of us).

Psalm 51:5-6 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part. You will make me to know wisdom.

You can be an Einstein and still not get into the Kingdom of God, for what God wants is TRUTH in our inward parts, the hidden parts. We are looking for spiritual truth behind the book knowledge. The Rhema word which will never leave you, for it explodes inside and illuminates your Spirit. It is a Spirit to Spirit learning that goes far deeper than intellectual knowledge. When we receive Rhema knowledge, the flesh in us dies. We need to be prepared to die to self.

Someone mentioned Adam and Eve. It is not surprising that they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for it LOOKED good to the senses. The tree of life (Jesus) in the garden is not flashy. They went for what looked good. They wanted to be like God. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil appealed to their senses. But God wants us to worship in Spirit and in Truth. He wants us to enter in to worship with Him, in Him, and He ministers to us as individuals. None of us are at the same level spiritually, so God reaches to us where we are. Sometimes when He ministers to us, it doesn’t look or feel good, but the fruit of His ministering to us is good and abundant. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil led to death.

Someone brought up a Bible verse she was studying that day that seemed to speak to this teaching, Philippians 3:14, 18-20 (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus  (18-20) For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Ted pointed out the word “belly” and pointed out that Jonah was in the large fish’s belly for three days. Inside of us are two natures, the natural man and the spiritual man. There is a battle inside of us, and we seek to destroy the worldly in us. It is a battle between light and darkness.

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Jesus is the Word, and before anyone of us was created, He was there. Christ is the hope of glory, He is the foundation of the Word, and His Word is in us, created us. We need to get over the idea that Heaven is out there, and realize that Heaven is also here on earth. Jesus is on the earth and in Heaven. We need to look for the hidden treasure.

If we are not obeying His Word, we are not His disciples in Deed. We can’t do the work of ministry if we are not obeying God, for we are not then set apart from the things of the world. We can’t straddle two realms, the spiritual and the material, the natural and the spiritual. For a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. We are not to be double minded.

Matthew 6:19-21 (Jesus speaking) “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Love God so much, because you know Him. Love Him that you can trust Him no matter what your circumstances seem to indicate. Know that He is truth and He is trustworthy. Then we can have patience in our CIRCUM – STANCE (circum implies circle – stance) When we know the nature of God, we can have Patience (part of the fruit of the Spirit),  and continue to the end of the situation, knowing that God has things in control. God knows the intent of our heart, and as we love God, we move closer to intimacy (INTO -ME- SEE).

We can believe God when He says that He will never leave or forsake us. When we hold onto that truth the devil cannot destroy you no matter what he throws your way. And we need to keep the perspective that we are laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, permanent treasures, not fleeting ones like we have on earth.

Just like in Jesus’ time, people are still looking for signs and wonders. We don’t need a sign and a wonder to know that Jesus is here now. If Jesus did not come into me when I got saved, then I can’t overcome darkness. If we are to wait until Jesus comes to banish the darkness, why did He send the Holy Spirit and power to help us? If we have to wait until we die for the Kingdom, why did He send the Holy Spirit now? If He didn’t come we couldn’t have been changed, given a new mind in Christ. God spoke this before the foundation of the world, and whatever we deal with, we endure to the end of it. We stand in faith until you have overcome. Keep standing in faith no matter the outward circumstances. Keep standing, because in one split second Eternity will meet our earthly time and a change will happen. We won’t know when it will happen, just like the brides did not know when the groom will come, but we need to be ready for when the change occurs. Like a breath of God.

I am going to continue this tomorrow so that the lesson is not long. Have a blessed day.

Heather