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| A large bouquet of mushrooms at the cabin after the heavy rains - near Mt. Celo Church |
My Lessons and Applications from
Today’s Readings
Perseverance
in the Face of Opposition – Ezra 3, 4 and Acts 22:1-30 –
The Jewish Repatriates of the OT:
Cyrus, the Persian King has sent many of the Jews of the Babylonian dispersion
back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
The altar is built first, burnt sacrifices are offered to God, the
spiritual feasts are reinstituted, and the Levites are put in charge of the
building of the temple. When the
foundation is laid, there is much rejoicing, singing, praising God, and weeping
by the elderly who remember the grandeur of Solomon’s temple and the inability
of this one to measure up. The
adversaries of Judah and Benjamin come to deceitfully offer their help in the
rebuilding, but are refused. The enemies
then try to discourage, trouble, and frustrate the purpose of the Jews. When this fails, they write to King
Artaxerxes and persuade him to end the construction – for 16 long years -until
the reign of King Darius.
Apostle
Paul Before the Jerusalem Jews in the NT: Paul is now in Jerusalem and the
prophecy of Agabus is being fulfilled.
Paul is speaking in Hebrew to the irate Jews to whom He has tried to
preach Christ. He gives his own
accomplished background as a Pharisee tutored by the famous rabbi Gamaliel, of
his own persecution of the Way, of his conversion, of his “being chosen by God to know His will, hear His voice, be His witness of
what he has seen and heard from Jesus”, of his trying to convince Jesus
that the Jews will not believe him because of his past zealousness as a Jew and
hatred of the Christians. When he quotes
the words Jesus spoke to him, “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles”,
they mob-attack, beat, bind, and prepare to scourge him without a trial. When he reminds them he is a Roman citizen by
birth and will come against them legally, they release him and bring him to
appear before their council instead.
A Cry to God When Under Great Opposition
- Psalm 86:14-17 – “O God, the proud have
risen against me, and a mob of violent men have sought my life, and have not
set You before them. But You, O Lord,
are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy
and truth. O, turn to me, and have mercy
on me! Give Your strength to Your
servant, and save the son of Your maidservant.
Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be
ashamed, because You, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.
My Lessons and Applications –
We have been well warned in the Bible from Jesus and from OT lessons that our
spiritual walk on this earth in obedience to God…will…be met with
opposition. Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith, is a
testimony of the lives of the saints that endured hostility even to death. Hebrews 12 admonishes us to not give in or
give up, to keep our eyes on Jesus.
Still, we tend to weary under the almost constant onslaught from the
world. Jesus reminds us in John
15 to not be surprised if the world hates us since it hated Him first. This
is what draws me back to meditation on the Bible daily through the decades of
my life – somewhat akin to Asaph’s Psalm 73 about why the wicked prosper. This is where I find comfort, close communion
with Christ, life patterns and the most reasonable explanation of truth that
speak to the Spirit within me.
The thing
that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work
in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking
to God. My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers.
True saints
endure every burden of discouragement, believing “that in all things God works
for the good of those who love Him. (Rom. 8:28). They have faith that out of what may appear
to be evil circumstances, a real blessing will ultimately arise. And they have the assurance their Lord will
either deliver them quickly or He will sustain them through the trial for as
long He desires to test them. This kind
of patience and perseverance proves the power of divine grace…The most
masterful works of God are those people who remain steadfast and unmovable even
in the midst of severe difficulties. Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon
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