Day: March 19, 2007

Light Where Jesus Dwells

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Matthew 4:12-25 continues…

Jesus had received the message of John Baptist’s imprisonment, and He leaves Nazareth for Galilee. He makes His home base Capernaum, and He does this because He has a great heart for fulfilling the Scriptures. The Scriptures He is fulfilling by coming to Capernaum is Isaiah 9:1-2.

There is a point here that I will try not to forget when I get to another chapter of Matthew concerning His dwelling at Capernaum, which was pointed out to me in a magazine article I read, and is connected with John 6:16-21, and the relation with chapter 14 verses 22 – 33 of Matthew.

Capernaum is now Jesus’s home where His ministry headquarters are. The word “Dwelt” in verse 13 is “To house permanently”. This is an indication of Jesus’s intent. It does seem to have a special and significant prophetic meaning.

“Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” Matthew 4:12-17 (KJV).

THE LIGHT OF JESUS CERTAINLY SHINES WHERE HE DWELLS. Jesus was the dawning of the great light that was to shine, fulfilling the Scriptures of Isaiah 9:1-2: “Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”.

John the Baptist was a messenger of the Light (John 1:6-9). When the King came it was in God’s plan and time for the prophet to be silenced. With John Baptist in prison that messenger was virtually silenced. John was actually the last of the Old Testament prophets. The prophets basic message was repentance, because that was what was needed, and until John the Baptist, there had been silence from prophecy for about 400 years.

When John is silenced by imprisonment and eventually his death, Jesus continues the message of repentance. The seventeenth verse gives us His beginning message, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Though since that first message of Jesus; He has died, was buried, has risen from death and the grave, and has ascended to His Father’s right hand; the message of repentance is especially needed in the world today. It is a time of immorality run amuck. That being due to the people of God forsaking God and going after the gain of the material world. Jesus is still the Light. The Light that shines in darkness, and shining in darkness reveals the sins of our hearts, and calls us to repentance.

The Fourth Day

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Genesis 1:14-31 continuing…

By way of introducing this segment of the creation study; let me remind you of the second and third days. The second day has no mention of “God saw that it was good”. It was a day of separation when the waters were divided with a firmament between the water over the land and the water in the air over the firmament. The third day was similar to a resurrection, because the waters receded and land was revealed. There was a revelation of land. Just as on the third day Jesus came forth from the grace around four thousand years later. On this third day it is mentioned ‘God saw that it was good’ twice; making it extra important.

 

Covering Genesis 1:14-19 –

On the fourth day we see the lights which God made for the sustenance and warmth of the earth. As I wrote earlier this is a mystery to me. Light created on the first day, and here we are told that God made the sun, moon and stars. The sun, of course to “rule” the day, and the moon to “rule” by night, and these were given for signs and seasons, days and years. I do believe what God says here, but it is a mystery that will probably not be satisfactorily answered until we see Jesus. Then, it probably will not matter.

“…The conflict which some have imagined between the creation of light on day one (v. 3) and the creation of sun, moon and stars on the fourth day (vv. 14-19) is imaginary. The light created in v. 3 has a source other than the specific sources provided on the fourth day. For example, the moon is termed a ‘light giver’ in v. 16, but the light from the moon is totally derived from another source. The moon does not create its own light: yet is is termed a ‘light giver’ just as the sun. Obviously, more than one method of providing light is available to God. Therefore, God provided light and its cycle for day and night on the first day, while on the fourth day He provided the luminaries that would become the permanent sources of light for the earth.” Note of verse Gen. 1:14 from THE CRISWELL STUDY BIBLE 1979, pg. 4.

When Jesus arose from the dead on the third day that was not all that there was for Jesus to do. He still must be seated at His Father’s right hand. The scene changes from earth to Heaven. In looking at Arthur Pink again, he writes, “In the fourth day’s work our eyes are removed from the earth and all its affairs and are turned to the heavens!” pg. 26. It would do us good to read Colossians 3:1-2, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth”.

As we lift our eyes heavenward we will see two great lights – the sun by day, and the moon by night. The sun in its ever burning brightness typifies the Son of God. The moon, as only a reflector of light, is dependent upon the sun for its light. The moon, then, would typify the believer. As the moon has no power/radiance of its own, so it is with the child of God. We are only reflectors of that light as we have His presence within. There are times when the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and this is what is called an lunar eclipse. This is what happens to the Christian who allows the things of the world to take a higher priority in their lives than the Lord Jesus. There are also times when the moon comes between the sun and the earth. This is called a solar eclipse. When the Christian begins to think they are pretty special, there is pride, and Jesus is not being seen, and His light is being blocked by our haughtiness, or by doing things which call greater attention to ourselves; and God is robbed of His glory. The lights above are awesome reminders of who God is, and our place within His creation.

The function of these great lights are “To give light upon the earth” (v. 15), and “To rule over the day and over the night” (v. 18). Thus, it is for Christ and all those who trust Him. This was the fourth day.