​Jesus gave Peter a three-fold command to “feed my sheep” in John 21:15-17. Each time Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” it was in response to Peter’s three-fold declaration of love for Jesus. The setting was one of the last of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for them, and then commissioned Peter with the task of feeding His sheep and tending His lambs.

The three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time Jesus says it, the Greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). The Greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. Believers are referred to as sheep throughout Scripture. “For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Psalm 95:7). Jesus is both our Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and the Door of the sheepfold (John 10:9). By describing His people as lambs, He is emphasizing their nature as immature and vulnerable and in need of tending and care.

The second time, the literal meaning is “tend My sheep” (v. 16). In this exchange, Jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. Peter follows Jesus’ example and repeats this same Greek word poimainoin his first pastoral letter to the elders of the churches of Asia Minor: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 Peter 5:2).

The third time, the literal translation is “pasture (tend) the sheep” (v. 17). Here Jesus combines the different Greek words to make clear the job of the shepherd of the flock of God. They are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full-grown sheep, in continual action to nourish and care for their souls, bringing them into the fullness of spiritual maturity. The totality of the task set before Peter, and all shepherds, is made clear by Jesus’ three-fold command and the words He chooses.

What is this food with which shepherds are to feed the flock of God? It can be no other than the Word of God. Peter declares that Christians are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it, we can mature in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2). As early as the book of Deuteronomy, we see the Lord describing His Word as food for His people who live not by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3). Jesus reiterates this thought in His temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4). The importance of the Word of God as food for our souls cannot be over-emphasized.

Clearly, the job of the shepherds of God’s people is to provide them with the pure milk of the Word of God so they can move on to the meat and solid food of the spiritually mature (Hebrews 5:12-14). Pastoral ministry should be primarily one of pastors feeding their people the Word of God. Only then can pastors declare, as Peter did, their love for the Lord Jesus.

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” – John 21: 17 (NIV)
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Can you hear the urgency in Jesus' question for Peter? The tenderness in the way he pushes Peter past his failure of denying Jesus and into living a life that continues to honor Jesus? After reading this exchange, we can all start to see God’s heart of love for humanity. He desires us to be people who live in service of others!

Jesus goes out of his way to clear the air between Peter and himself. He does not leave this Earth without making sure Peter knows that He is forgiven and that God still has a place for Peter in his Kingdom. Jesus also gives the rest of us insight as to what those who proclaim they love Him must do. He wants us to feed his sheep.

Jesus calls for action to accompany our faith; giving meaning and purpose for our Christian lives.

Let’s be the people that take Jesus’ words seriously and begin to willingly give our time and talent so that we are a blessing to those around us. Philippians 2:17 says, “But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.”

May we all have the opportunity to share the joy that comes when we are faithful to serve. Let’s explore what Jesus is saying to Peter in John 21 and how we can apply these words to our own lives.

What Does ‘Feed My Sheep’ Mean In the Gospel of John? Three times Jesus charges Peter to care for his church. Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs, feed his sheep, and then again to feed his sheep. The “lamb and sheep” that Jesus is referring to is the church of Christ. Becoming part of Christ's church means we accept him in our hearts as our Lord and Savior through a prayer of faith.
We see the term sheep used elsewhere in the Bible. In Luke 15:4-7 Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and says he would leave the 99 to find the one lost sheep. John 10:11 states that Jesus is the good shepherd and he will lay down his life for his sheep.

Jesus is our chief shepherd, caring for all of his followers. Jesus invited Peter and all his disciples to take part in caring for his church. In this text “feed my sheep” means more than just give them food; it's referring to the work of a shepherd. They are called to nurture others, care for the church, feed believers and the lost with spiritual food, protect those in the church, and go out and seek the lost “sheep” that are still out in the world.

Why does Jesus give Peter this charge? It was a way to not only forgive Peter for his earlier betrayal of Christ but to show that Jesus had absolute trust in Peter’s ability to lead in God’s church. Jesus forgives Peter and entrusts him with being part of the most important work to be done here on Earth.

Who Was Jesus Instructing and Why? In John 21, Peter and a few of the disciples decide to go fishing; but after fishing all night they had no success. In the morning, a man calls to them from the shore asking if they had caught any fish. They reply “no” and he tells them to cast their net on the right side of their boats. When they listen to the man from the shore's instructions they suddenly catch an abundance of fish! As they are pulling up the net, packed full of fish, John recognizes that the man on the shore is Jesus and shares this revelation with Peter. Peter immediately jumps out of the boat and eagerly swims to shore to meet Jesus!

When Peter gets to Jesus he sees that Jesus is waiting with fish and bread ready for them to eat. Jesus invites Peter to have breakfast with him and then in verse 17 begins to ask Peter if he loves him. Jesus asks Peter “if he loves him” three times—mirroring how Peter denied Christ three times before he was killed on the cross.

Jesus’ conversation with Peter is Jesus restoring his relationship with Peter, charging Peter to continue the mission of sharing the good news of Jesus with the world, and preparing Peter for what it was going to take to be his follower in the coming months and years. Jesus foretells Peter’s death and instructs him not to worry with the fate of the other disciples but to focus his mind on following Jesus well (John 21:18-22).
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Jesus is sharing with Peter and the disciples who are huddled around this breakfast fire during this intimate exchange that to love him was going to mean action on their end. Loving Jesus looked like “feeding his sheep.” These men went out from these precious encounters with Jesus, before he ascended to Heaven, and they all gave all their lives to grow the early church.

1. God has spoken.

Verse 13b: “You received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” So twice he calls his communication the “word of God.” This is not merely the word of man.

​Paul is speaking. But it is the word of God.

God has spoken and is now speaking through Paul.

We believe that God has spoken in history, and that by inspiration, the Bible is the authoritative deposit of that word for all time.
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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17) 

2. His word comes to us in human words.
In the middle of verse 13, Paul says, “You received the word of God, which you heard from us.” You heard God’s word from us. We are human. God is divine. We are speaking on his behalf. His word is heard in human words.

Christ had appointed apostles who would be his authoritative spokesmen.  He teaches and guides and inspires them

​(and a band of brothers close to them)
and they speak his word on his behalf with his authority.

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:13, “We impart [God’s truth] in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” This is what we have in the New Testament — God’s word mediated to us in the divinely taught words of men. God’s words come to us in human words.

3. The Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us. . . .” God spoke, humans gave his word through their words, and the Thessalonians heard that. They heard the sounds. They knew the Greek language. They construed meaning with their minds.

God uses humans to deliver his word, and he delivers it to humans. Human minds hear and understand the word from God, and then another set of human minds receive it from those human mouths and again hear and understand it.

Nothing has been said yet about how the Thessalonians have evaluated the words. Only that they are hearing, and by implication, they are construing. They are trying to make sense of what they hear. That’s what we do when we hear someone speak. So the Thessalonians heard the words of Paul.

4. As they heard, God acted on their minds and hearts.
What did he do? And how do we know this?

What he did was enable them to receive Paul’s words as the word of God. Verse 13b: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” That’s what God did. He opened their mind and heart to know that Paul was speaking the word of God, and he gave them the inclination to receive it for what it is, not mere human words, but God’s word.

How do we know God did this? Because at the beginning of verse 13, just before saying that they received his word as the word of God, Paul says, “And we also thank God constantly for this.” For what? “That when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.”

But why would Paul thank God for this? Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians grasped the divine nature of the human word?
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​Why would he thank God that the hearts of the Thessalonians embraced the human words as divine word? The reason is that God enabled them to do this.
It’s the same as when Peter said to Jesus: “You are the Son of God,” and Jesus responded, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). In other words, God enabled Peter to see that the human person of Jesus was more than human. And God enabled the Thessalonians to see that the human words of Paul were more than human.
“We thank God that . . . you accepted our word not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.” We thank God because God gave you eyes to see the word for what it really is.

If you have welcomed the gospel as God’s word and believed, that’s how it happened to you. God opened your eyes. God inclined your heart. You saw in the words of man, the word of God (see John 8:47; 18:37; 1 John 4:6).

5. The Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as the word of God.We’ve said it, but it deserves its own point. Point 4: God acted. Point 5: the result was that the Thessalonians accepted Paul’s word as God’s word.
There is another word for this reception in verse 13: belief, or faith, or trust. “You accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” He is calling them believers now precisely because they accepted his word as God’s word.

So saving faith, involves the work of God, opening the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18) to see Paul’s message as God’s word and accept it, embrace it, receive it. Faith doesn’t look at the word of God from a distance and pronounce it true. It takes hold of it, receives it, takes it in, embraces it.
“If you have welcomed the gospel, then God opened your eyes. God inclined your heart.”“As the word of God!” That is, as supremely valuable. Precious. All important. So the Thessalonians accepted, welcomed, received, embraced Paul’s message as the very word of God, as supremely important and precious and valuable in their lives. It was received as a treasure —whose value is only exceeded by God.

6. This word of God was now at work in the Thessalonians.Verse 13b: “You accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” So God acted to cause them to welcome the word. And now the word itself is living and active in them.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) 
And what specifically was the effect of this working? That’s the last observation.

7. The working of God’s word produced joyful endurance in suffering.Notice the connection between verses 13 and 14. End of verse 13: “which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.”

Paul is giving evidence that God’s word is at work in them. And he says that receiving Paul’s word as the word of God had led to suffering. But that by itself would not prove God’s word was at work in them, because they might have responded to their affliction with anger and doubt and unbelief. But they didn’t. How do we know that? Because Paul had already said it clearly, which is why he didn’t need to here. Look at 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6:

Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
By the Holy Spirit, God had powerfully given them joy in the midst of their affliction. “Our gospel came to you in power and in the Holy Spirit . . . And you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
Now when we go back to 1 Thessalonians 2:13–14 we see how God does this. He does it by his word. Verse 13, at the end, “The word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered. . . .” Indeed you suffer with joy. Joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was giving them joy in suffering by the working of the word in their hearts and minds.

Applying the Text to Your LifeSo here is the truth that I draw out of this for living the Christian life: by the work of the Holy Spirit, God defeats temptation (like the temptation to be angry and depressed that you are suffering) by awakening joy through belief in the word of God which is at work in us. And that word is most centrally the good news that Christ died for us so that all the promises of God are Yes in him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

So let’s say the lesson another way now. We live the Christian life, we walk by the Spirit, when the Holy Spirit overcomes our temptations to sin by awaking joy through faith in the blood-bought promises of God that are at work in us. So you see the dynamics at work here: the Holy Spirit, the word of God, faith, and joy. By the Spirit, we trust the promises which bring joy which defeats temptation. And all the while we are praying!

So now let me illustrate how this works. It helps me to have an acronym called APTAT.

A — I admit I can’t in myself do what needs to be done.
P — I pray for God’s help.
T — I trust a particular promise he has given.
A — I act to do whatever God is calling me to do.
T — I thank him for his help when I am done. 

So here’s how it works with temptations for specific sins.
The Temptation of FearGod has called you to do something. You know it’s right, but you’re afraid. What do you do?
You admit honestly and humbly: “I am afraid and I cannot do this by myself.” Then you pray: “O God, grant me courage. Please don’t let me be ruled by fear. Take it away.”

Then you call to mind a specific, tailor-made, blood-bought promise that Christ has guaranteed for you by his blood: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). You trust this promise. You say to God, “I take this promise for myself. I trust you. You are now my help.”

And you act. You act, believing that God, the Holy Spirit, is acting in you by his word through your faith. And when you are done, you bow your head and say, “Thank you. Thank you.”

Then you call to mind a specific, tailor-made, blood bought (and that is especially relevant here, because Jesus bled instead of being bitter) promise, like Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

And you trust this promise:
​He will repay. He will repay. Vengeance belongs to him and he will see to it that perfect justice is done for every sin against me, indeed every sin in the universe. He will deal with it, either in hell or on the cross. I don’t need to carry this cause anymore. I can hand it over to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23). And I do that now. “I trust you, Father, to settle this matter perfectly. I trust you.”

And then you act. You get rid of the reminders you’ve been using. You don’t go to the brooding places. You burn the letters you’ve been simmering over. You stop rehearsing all the scenarios of vengeance. When they come up in your head you say, No, and turn to the word of Christ, the cross, the promises, the judgment.

And you look up to God, your merciful Father, and thank him for being a perfectly holy and righteous judge who lifts the deadly burden of vengeance from our back.
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The Word at Work:
So I commend it to you: APTAT — admit, pray, trust, act, thank. I think this is what it means to walk by the Spirit. To walk by faith. I think this is what it means for the word of God to be at work in those who believe.

I thank God constantly that all year long you received the word of God, which you read in your Bible and which you heard from me; and that you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe, to set you free.

Ephesians 2:15b-16, “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.”

When Paul mentions creating one new humanity of the two, he is talking about Jews and non-Jews coming to Christ. Their identity as Jews or Gentiles becomes secondary to their identity in Christ. What shapes your identity and what shapes the perceptions you have of others? In our congregations we don’t have an issue with the Jewish/Gentile divide but we have been conditioned to see each other through a racialized lens. We see each other as white, black, Asian, Latino, Native American.

The biblical worldview is the only antidote to identity politics. Intersectionality erodes the bedrock of civil society and dismantles decorum precisely because it is predicated and upon differences. It will only tolerate and celebrate divergence and divisiveness. The Christian worldview, however, offers a powerful response to identity politics. The biblical reply does not deny the reality nor the importance of identities to the human story. It does, however, begin with what unites all humanity—the Imago Dei. The biblical worldview starts in sameness not differences. It grounds the value of an individual in something more transcendent than experience, background, race, or gender; it starts with the image of God that resides in every human being on the planet. Humanity stands united by virtue of our common descent from Adam and Eve. Christians, therefore, do not reject identity politics and intersectionality merely because of its failure as an ideology, but because it denies the common bond that beats in the heart of every human: we are all made in God’s image. That identity is precious, perennial, and most to be cherished.

By the way, this issue helps to underline why biblically committed Christians must point again and again to the common descent of all humanity from Adam and Eve. We all share the same first parents. Modern evolutionary theory denies the very possibility of common descent from a single couple. Ideas have consequences.

Christians must understand and hold fast to the image of God that unites humanity in a common identity. The most important identity for every human is not our own self-prescribed definition based upon their experiences and background, but the identity given to them by the God of the universe. That identity trumps everything else.

Additionally, the biblical argument is not drawn only from Genesis. It reaches not only into the truths of Genesis, but the glories of the New Covenant of redemption inaugurated by Christ.  Jesus Christ is creating a new humanity—a people not of this world but of heaven, a people for God’s pleasure. It is a people made up of every tribe, tongue, people, and language—a citizenry of every ethnicity and race, of every socio-economic background and culture. Its citizenship does not stand on its differences but on our common salvation in Christ. In Christ we find our true identity. Believers in Christ share an eternal and glorious unity in Jesus Christ the Lord—a unity we enter upon faith in Jesus’s perfect sacrifice and atonement for sin.

Intersectionality and identity politics breed division. These ideologies atomize society and drive humanity away from its core and essential commonality. This is where Christians must counter with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture. Only the gospel secures peace and establishes truth. Only the gospel will unite a fractured society. Only the gospel can stem the tide of modernity’s downward spiral into chaos and decay. Identity politics is bad enough in the culture. In the church, it denies the gospel altogether.

Of this, I am certain: At the marriage supper of the Lamb, no one will hold any kind of sign claiming their own identity.

On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood at Brandenburg Gate at a ceremony commemorating the 750th anniversary of the City of Berlin. In his speech he uttered some of the most famous words every said by an American President, “Mr. Gorvacbev, Tear Down This Wall!” That Wall, which began to come down in November of 1989, tells a deeper story about the nature of humanity: humans are willing to divide themselves over any issue. There is something in  our hearts that causes us to divide ourselves and erect walls to protect our identity. This division can be manifested in different ways: social, racial, economic, political, and even theological.

In Ephesians 2:14-18 the Apostle Paul argues against such division, primarily concerning the issue of race. In the context, Paul is speaking about the deep rift between Jews and Gentiles. The division that extends all the way back into the Old Testament. These two ethnic groups, who once hated each other, are now one in Christ. Paul describes how Christ has broken down the wall of separation and has reconciled both groups together. The issue at hand is a hard one but a very pressing issue.

The cross has spiritual implications (Ephesians 2:1-10) and social implications (Ephesians 2:11-22)

In the larger context, Paul shows that the death of Jesus both has spiritual and social implications. In verses 2:1-10 the text demonstrates that we are reconciled to God by faith. This logically leads Paul to discuss the social implications of the death of Jesus in verses 11-22. For this article, I want to focus primarily on verses 14-18 of the text and show a few ways this impact those in Christ.

 Jesus Has One People 

It’s important to realize when we talk about the social implications of the gospel that we don’t miss the gospel. Paul makes clear that in order to be reconciled to each other that we first must be reconciled to God (v. 13). Those who were far from God are now brought near through the death of Jesus. His substitutionary work subsequently changes the way we view the people of God now. The Bible claims that the two groups (Jews and Gentiles) are now one and Christ has torn down the dividing wall of hostility.

This means that the two groups of Jews and Gentiles in Christ are now one because Christ Himself has torn down the very things that seek to divide them. So practically for us, we may not experience hostile Jew and Gentile tensions, but we do experience division as it is related to race. In Christ, we are no longer divided based on race, culture, or ethnicity; rather we are one in Christ. This means that there is no hostility but peace. The reason why, “He is our peace.” Jesus is the One who creates peace between fallen people like you and me.

One New Humanity

Since Jesus has One New people, He has broken down the wall that divides them. The “wall” in context is referring to the “the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations.” Paul probably has in mind the identity markers of Israel such as circumcision, food laws, and the Sabbath. The very things that would make a Jew, a Jew. However, in Christ, those identity markers have been torn down! For Paul, his identity was not found in him being Jewish but in Christ.

This means that in Christ, He has redefined the people of God. To be included into the people of God is not a matter of social or ethnic identity. Rather it is a matter of identity in Christ. This means that anything that divides people has to be broken down by Jesus. Paul does not mean that race, ethnicity, or cultural heritage are not important. Actually to the contrary. Even as a follower of Jesus, Paul still maintained some of his Jewish culture. But those things don’t define God’s people. The people of God are a beautiful mosaic of different people, languages, nations, and tribes. And Paul’s point is that Jesus Christ has created One New Humanity. As Diognetus argued, Christians are a “New Race.”

Reconciled into One Body

Paul further argues that reconciliation has happened through the cross of Jesus Christ which has resulted in one body. Reconciliation is the removal of animosity and the acceptance as equals. This one body language could mean the church body or Christ’s bloody body. I personal understand the phrase to mean that through the One body of Jesus (bloody body), He has now reconciled us into One Body (the Church) John Piper says:

That is what God is aiming at in our salvation: a new people (one new man) that is so free from enmity and so united in truth and peace that God himself is there for our joy and for his glory forever. That’s the aim of reconciliation: a place for God to live among us and make himself known and enjoyed forever and ever. 
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The death of Jesus reconciles us to each other. We are created for each other, and we need each other. We are part of the people of God that does not divide itself over issues of race, ethnicity, or culture. Rather we are reconciled, brought into friendly relationship, with each other by the death of Jesus.

Christ Preached Peace

Paul grounds his argument by saying that Jesus Himself preached peace. I believe this is referring to both peace with God and with each other. Through the death of Jesus, we now have peace with God (Romans 5:1), which results in peace with each other. I’m convinced this is our message. We don’t preach peace for the sake of unity and harmony. We preach peace, as Jesus did, in order to people would experience peace with God that results in peace with each other.

Access to Spirit and Father 

Lastly, Paul seeks to prove that these two groups, now made one through Jesus Christ, have access to God by the Spirit. It is by the Spirit that the existence in the realities of the New Humanity can occur. The Spirit Himself provides the access needed to be in proper relationship to God. As one New Humanity brought about by the death of Jesus and applied to us by the Spirit, we can experience complete access to God’s grace, mercy, and peace. We do this in unity together because of the work of Jesus.

Christ has come to break down the spiritual and social Berlin Walls in our lives. Christ died to make us one in Him. His death accomplished more than just a personal relationship with God. It provided a way to have relationship with each other. This text is a call to unity. We must forsake those things that divide us whether they are racial barriers, cultural concerns, or ethnic division. We have to cast of those identity markers that divide the church. Our identity as the people of God is not based on any social, racial, or political identity. Rather it is based on Christ.
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Now realize: we are not color blind, and we should not pretend that race doesn’t matter. Rather the church must be on the frontlines of discussing the issue of race by proclaiming peace! And peace is only found in Christ. We must know that God in Christ by means of His Spirit is calling fallen humanity into a New Humanity – the church which is made up of many races, languages, tribes, and people.
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Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
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Separated, alienated, strangers, having no hope, without God in the world.  Do you hear the unrelenting drumbeat of despair?


Paul spoke of the Gentiles vs the Jews, and so I will too, but when I speak of the Gentiles, please hear your name:  The Gentiles:  that’s you and me, folks.
And the Gentiles were aliens from the society of Israel.  And your point is … ?


Well, the people of Israel were the holy people.  We’ve seen and heard that holy really means different, separated from, other than.  In what sense were the people of Israel different from other peoples?


They were different in the sense that in the realest way, their only king was God.  Other nations might be governed by democracy or aristocracy, but Israel was theocracy.  Their sovereign was God.  When the Psalmist sang, “I will extol thee my God and King,” he meant it perfectly literally.


The Gentiles might be ruled over by kings and tyrants and rulers and unpredictable senates and councils; the king of Israel was God.  To be an Israelite was to be a member of the society of God; it was to have a citizenship which was divine.  Clearly life was going to be completely different for any nation which had a consciousness of destiny like that.


It is told that when Pericles, the greatest of the Athenians, was walking forward to address the Athenian assembly, he used to say to himself:  “Pericles, remember that you are an Athenian and that you talk to Athenians.”   But for the Jew it was possible to say, “Remember that you are a citizen of God, and that you speak to the people of God.”  There is no consciousness of greatness in all the world like that.  And the Gentiles were excluded from it.


Second, the Gentiles were strangers from the covenants on which the promises were based.  The Jewish idea of a covenant was this.  They believed that God had approached their nation with a special offer.  “I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you your God” (Exodus 6:7).  This relationship involved not only privilege, but also obligation.  This covenant relationship involved the keeping of the law.  The relationship depended on the people keeping and observing and obeying the law which God gave to them.  But it gave to the Jews the peculiar and the unique consciousness of being the people of God.  Simply to be a Jew was to have the consciousness of dignity.  Paul could not forget, because it was a fact of history, that the Jews were uniquely the people of God, the instrument in God’s hand.


Third, it says that the Gentiles were without hope and without God in the world.  The Gentile could say, “We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish.”  But they could not triumphantly add, “But naught changeth Thee.”  It was really true that the Gentile was without hope because they were without God.  Israel always had the shining, radiant hope in God, which burned clearly and inextinguishably even in her darkest and most terrible days; but in his or her heart the Gentile knew despair, because he and she was without hope and without God in the world.


But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far off have been brought near
in the blood of Jesus Christ.


Those who were afar off have been brought near.  Isaiah heard God say, “Peace, peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near” (Isaiah 57:19).  When the Rabbis spoke about accepting a convert into Judaism, they said that the proselyte to the faith had been brought near.  For instance, the Jewish Rabbinic writers tell how a Gentile woman came to Rabbi Eliezar.  She confessed that she was a sinner, and asked to be admitted to the Jewish faith.  “Rabbi,” she said, “bring me near.”  But the Rabbi refused.  The door was shut in her face.  But now, in Jesus Christ, the door is open.  Those who had been far off from God—you and I—have been brought near, and the door is shut to no one.  The blood of Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility.


A poem by Robert Frost entitled, “Mending Wall” concerns a wall that stands between the poet’s property and his neighbor’s.  The poet and the neighbor have to be repeatedly mending it, picking up and putting back the stones that have fallen from the wall.  The wall refuses to stay up.  The neighbor wonders why.  In his opinion, “good fences make good neighbors.”  But the poet says there is something in nature, something in reality itself, that will always knock down walls and fences that people put up.  He says, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, that wants it down.”


St. Paul would emend Frost’s line to read “Someone there is who doesn’t love a wall, who wants it down.”  That someone, clearly, is Jesus Christ.


There was a literal wall between Jews and Gentiles in the Temple of Jerusalem.  It was the wall that divided off the inner court of the Temple, where only Jews could go, from the outer court, into which Gentile visitors could come.  The inner court was where the real place of worship was.  This meant, of course, that only Jews, only members of the sacred community could go in to worship God.  A wall stood between the two kinds of people: Gentiles, who were without God, and Jews who belonged to God.


“But now,” the Scripture says, “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”  That is, Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sins of all people, removing the sin and guilt that kept us all far away from God.  “He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, this is putting to death that hostility through it.  So he came and proclaimed peace to you Gentiles who were far off, and peace to those (the Jews) who were near; for through him both of us have access in one spirit to the Father.”   (vv. 15-17).  Christ has made us right with God, by his work on the cross.  Now, anyone who believes in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, is already right with God, close to God, and one of God’s people.


There is no need to look to the Law to make us valuable and worthy and important in God’s eyes.  “He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances.”  The only basis for God’s accepting us and looking upon us as worthy is the basis God has provided.  That basis is the life and death and resurrection of the Son, Jesus.


Thus the Law and the special covenant with the Jews is done away with, as a wall between people.  There is no true grounds for anyone to feel superior to anyone else, since the only proper basis for anyone’s sense of self-worth is the fact that Jesus loved you and me, and gave himself for us.  This is all that any of us can claim, and we cannot ask more of anyone else than is required of ourselves.


The implications of this go infinitely beyond the particular wall that Ephesians speaks of.  All other walls of hostility must be done away with, too, and for the same reason.  Ephesians 1:10 speaks of God’s plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in Christ.  It is God’s purpose to unite in Christ all human beings, and indeed all creation, across all barriers, to overcome everything that divides us and keeps us enemies.  No more walls!


It is impossible for a Christian of any race or nationality, for example, to look down on a person of any other race or nationality.  Nor can my personal animosities or feelings of superiority toward my neighbor stand between us any longer.  We are all in the same boat.  We all have no reason to boast, no grounds for pride, except the grace of God in Jesus Christ; and anyone can claim that grace.  Christ died for all people.  “He is our peace; in his flesh he has made all groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between us.

​

One of the most fascinating and significant prophecies recorded in the bible is Daniel’s seventy weeks vision. The Jews had been in exile and Daniel understood from Jeremiah’s prophecy that God would bring them back to the Promised Land after seventy years. As Daniel was deep in prayer, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to him. God had sent Gabriel to give Daniel understanding concerning Israel’s destiny beyond those seventy years in exile. It concerned Israel’s future until the end.

Essentially, God has decreed 70 weeks of years, meaning 490 years (70 times 7) for Israel and the city of Jerusalem before the end will come. Bear in mind that these are lunar years (360 days a year) and not solar years (365.25 days a year), which we are more accustomed to. During these 70 weeks of years, God will deal with Israel’s sin and rebellion against His covenant, and He will turn the nation back to Him. At the same time, all the prophecies pertaining to Israel and the present world will be completely fulfilled.


At the Beginning & End of the First 69 Weeks

Daniel 9:25-26 (NASB) - "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

The countdown would begin on the day when the decree to rebuild the broken walls of Jerusalem was issued. This event happened 93 years later after Daniel was given the vision. A Persian king, Artaxerxes Longimanus, issued the decree for the Jews to rebuild the broken walls and their beloved city. Based on the date given in Nehemiah 2:1 (the month of Nisan on the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign and assuming it falls on the first day of Nisan in the Jewish calendar),the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, United Kingdom, computed the date to be 14 March 445 B.C.

According to the prophecy, the 70 weeks of years are divided into 3 periods of 7 weeks, 62 weeks and the final 1 week.

At the end of 7 and 62 weeks, which is essentially 69 weeks, “the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing.” 69 weeks of years equal to 483 years(69 x 7) or 173,880 days (69 x 7 x 360). Using 14 March 445 B.C. as the start date, the date for the end of the 69 weeks of years works out to be 6 April A.D. 32.

Fascinatingly, this was the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and presented Himself to the Jews as their Messiah. However, the political and religious Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as the prophecy has indicated -- “the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing.” They executed Him on a cross. They cut Him down and cut Him off.

Barely 40 years later, “the people of the prince who is to come,” that is, the Roman armies under the command of Titus Vespasianus destroyed the temple and Jerusalem. The formidable Roman military force literally came in like a flood. As Jesus had also prophesied, “not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down” (Matthew 24:2). During the next few decades, the Romans continued to put down guerrilla attempts by small Jewish rebel groups until they banished all the Jews from the land.


The Church Age

After 69 weeks of years, the prophetic clock for Israel stopped ticking. The final one week of Daniel’s 70 weeks was suspended indefinitely. In a sense and prophetically speaking, Israel disappeared from the scene and the church emerged and took centre-stage since then until today. This period is known as the church age. It is also known as the time of the Gentiles. We are living in the church age.

The church is a mystery (Ephesians 5:32). The entity of the church was unknown to the Old Testament saints. No rabbis or scholars anticipated the emergence of the church. 


The Final One Week

Daniel 9:27 (NASB) - "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."

The church age straddles between verse 26 and verse 27. It will come to an end when God decides to rapture the church. On that day, our Lord Jesus will appear in the sky. There will be an element of surprise to it. it will be sudden and unexpected. Suddenly all the faithful Christians will be snatched up by Jesus and caught up to be with Him, and then brought to heaven (I Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4;15-17).

When this happens, the last one week (7 years) of Daniel’s 70 weeks of years will kick in. The prophetic clock for Israel, which has stopped for more than 2,000 years, will start ticking again. This is the 7-year tribulation period, which we read in the book of Revelation when God unleashes His wrath and judgement on the inhabitants of the earth.

God will finish His dealing with Israel in this last 7 years and then the end will come. It will be a terrible time of severe judgement for Israel. There will be wars and catastrophic disasters in Israel. This is the consequence of their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah some 2,000 years ago.

Besides the rapture, another political event will also mark the beginning of the final one week of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy. The Anti-Christ will make a covenant with Israel and her enemies guaranteeing her peace and security. However, he will break the covenant and turn against Israel at the 3.5-year mark (“in the middle of the weeks”). He will also set up something sacrilegious, described as “the abomination of desolation” by Jesus (Matthew 24:15)in the rebuilt Jewish temple.

The good news is that finally all the remnants of Israel will be saved (Zechariah 12;10, 13:8-9; Romans 11:26).

At the end of 7 years of Tribulation, Christ Jesus will return to the earth with the armies of heaven, which includes the church (Revelation 19:7-8, 14). He will fight and utterly defeat the Anti-Christ (the beast) and the kings of the earth and all their armies that are gathered to fight Him and Israel (Revelation 19:19-21).

Notice that the church is not present during the 7-year Tribulation period. It is God’s appointed time to deal with Israel and the city of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, the church, which has been raptured 7 years earlier, will return to the earth with Christ Jesus. The church will return as the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7-8, 14, 17-18).


God’s Sovereignty

This amazing prophecy of Daniel’s 70 weeks points to the existence as well as the sovereignty of God over human affairs. God is in absolute control over the world and everything that is happening. He has sovereignly decreed the times for both Israel and the church, and the Jews and the Gentiles. He alone determines how this present age will end. Jesus is the Lord of history and the future.

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!


Pastors Leslie & Adeline Chua


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First-century Christians weren’t prepared for what a truly radical and radically inclusive figure Jesus was, and neither are today’s Christians. We want to tame and domesticate who he was, but Jesus’ life and ministry don’t really allow for it. He shattered barrier after barrier.

One example is Jesus’ encounter, in the fourth chapter of the gospel of John, with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus and the woman talked about Jesus being the Messiah, why he was even deigning to talk with her, and the unnamed woman’s past and present, which she initially sought to hide from Jesus. (It included her five previous husbands, according to the account in John, and the fact that “the one whom you now have is not your husband.”) Yet not a word of condemnation passed the lips of Jesus; the woman felt heard, understood, cared for. Jesus treated her, in the words of one commentator, “with a magnetic dignity and respect.”

The encounter with Jesus transformed her life; after it the woman at the well became “the first woman preacher in Christian history,” proclaiming Jesus to be the savior of the world to her community, according to the New Testament scholar Kenneth Bailey.

This story is a striking example of Jesus’ rejection of conventional religious and cultural thinking — in this case because Jesus, a man, was talking earnestly to a woman in a world in which women were often demeaned and treated as second-class citizens; and because Jesus, a Jew, was talking to a Samaritan, who were despised by the Jews for reasons going back centuries. According to Professor Bailey, “A Samaritan woman and her community are sought out and welcomed by Jesus. In the process, ancient racial, theological and historical barriers are breached. His message and his community are for all.”

This happened time and again with Jesus. He touched lepers and healed a woman who had a constant flow of menstrual blood, both of whom were considered impure; forgave a woman “who lived a sinful life” and told her to “go in peace,” healed a paralytic and a blind man, people thought to be worthless and useless. And as Jesus was being crucified, he told the penitent thief on the cross next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus was repeatedly attacked for hanging out with the wrong crowd and recruited his disciples from the lower rungs of society.

And Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan, a story about a man who helps a wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, made the hero of the story not an influential priest, not a person of social rank or privilege but a hated foreigner.
For Christians, the incarnation is a story of God, in the person of Jesus, participating in the human drama. And in that drama Jesus was most drawn to the forsaken and despised, the marginalized, those who had stumbled and fallen. He was beloved by them, even as he was targeted and eventually killed by the politically and religiously powerful, who viewed Jesus as a grave threat to their dominance.

Over the course of my faith journey, I have wondered: Why was a hallmark of Jesus’s ministry intimacy with and the inclusion of the unwanted and the outcast, men and women living in the shadow of society, more likely to be dismissed than noticed, more likely to be mocked than revered?

Part of the explanation surely has to do with the belief in the imago Dei, that Jesus sees indelible dignity and inestimable worth in every person, even “the least of these.” If no one else would esteem them, Jesus would.

Among the people who best articulated this ethic was Abraham Lincoln, who in a 1858 speech in Lewiston, Ill., in which he explained the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence, said, “Nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on, and degraded, and imbruted by its fellows.”

Yet another reason for Jesus’ connection with outcasts undoubtedly had to do with his compassion and empathy, his desire to relieve their pain and lift the soul-crushing shame that accompanies being a social pariah and an untouchable.

But that is hardly the only reason. Jesus modeled inclusion and solidarity with the “unclean” and marginalized not only for their sake but for the sake of the powerful and the privileged and for the good of the whole.

Jesus must have understood that we human beings battle with exclusion, self-righteousness and arrogance, and have a quick trigger finger when it comes to judging others. Jesus knew how easily we could fall into the trap of turning “the other” — those of other races, ethnicities, classes, genders and nations — into enemies. We place loyalty to the tribe over compassion and human connection. We view differences as threatening; the result is we become isolated, rigid in our thinking, harsh and unforgiving.

Jesus clearly believed that outcasts had a lot to teach the privileged and the powerful, including the virtues of humility and the vice of supreme certitude. Rather than seeing God exclusively as a moral taskmaster, Jesus understood that the weak and dispossessed often experience God in a different way — as a dispenser of grace, a source of comfort, a redeemer. They see the world, and God, through a different prism than do the powerful and the proud. The lowly in the world offer a corrective to the spiritual astigmatisms that develop among the rest of us.

It’s easy for us to look back 20 centuries and see how religious authorities were too severe and unforgiving in how they treated the outcasts of their time. The wisest question those of us who are Christians could ask ourselves isn’t why we are so much more humane and enlightened than they were; rather, it is to ask ourselves who the modern outcasts are and whether we’re mistreating them. Who are the tax collectors of our era, the people we despise but whom Jesus would welcome, those around whom are we determined to build a “dividing wall of hostility,” to use the imagery of the Apostle Paul?

“How Christians, including me, responded to the AIDS crisis in the ’80s haunts me,” my longtime friend Scott Dudley, senior pastor of Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Wash., recently told me. “Had we, like the first Christians, cared first and cared most for modern day ‘plague’ victims, I think we’d be in a whole different conversation with the L.G.B.T.Q. community. We may still have significant differences of opinion. However, I believe the dialogue would be one of more mutual respect, and I believe the L.G.B.T.Q. community would feel less afraid of the wounds Christians can inflict.” But even if the conversation were not different, as Scott knows, caring first and caring most for those victims of a plague would have been the right thing to do.

No society and no religious faith can live without moral rules. Jesus wasn’t an antinomian, one who believes that Christians, because they are saved by grace, are not bound to religious laws. But he understood that what ultimately changes people’s lives are relationships rather than rule books, mercy rather than moral demands.
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Jesus’ teachings are so challenging, so distinct from normal human reactions and behaviors, that we constantly have to renew our commitment to them. Every generation of Christians need to think through how his example applies to the times in which they live. We need our sensibilities to align more with his. Otherwise, we drift into self-righteousness and legalism, even to the point that we corrupt the very institution, the church, which was created to worship him and to love others.

​

​Ezekiel 38:7–14 records that after the army of Gog gathers, their purpose will be to attack what they think is the defenseless kingdom of Israel. This prophecy refers to the great battle commonly referred to as the battle of Armageddon, which will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.



​Ezekiel 38

38 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

The Lord told Gog, the satanically inspired ruler of end-times events, that a day is coming when he will be summoned to invade the Promised Land of Israel. Together with a vast army of allies from Persia, Ethiopia and many clearly identifiable nations, he will march against God's people and this invasion is to happen at the 'time of the end.' The Lord told Gog that He would 'put hooks in his jaw' and give him and his allies, an irresistible urge to flood into the Land, at a time when God's people were living securely.

The aim of Gog and his co-conspirators will be, 'to take a spoil'. Their evil plan will be to plunder Israel of its great wealth. They will come like a great cloud covering the land. But the Lord, Who knows the end from the beginning, reveals that this is an oracle of judgement against Gog. Although he and his allied troops will rapidly advance through the land like a thunderstorm, they will all be judged and punished, because of their evil ways.

Just as the Lord raised up Pharoah to demonstrate His almighty power to the people, so the Lord will use Gog to show the nations that the Lord is God, and sovereign over all the earth. "You will come up against My people Israel. You will come like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about, in the last days, that I will bring you against My land, so the nations may know ME when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."

This great leader called Gog, is told by the Lord, WHAT he is going to do, "You will come up against My people Israel", HOW he will come, "like a cloud to cover the land", WHEN it will take place, "It shall come about in the last days", WHERE this will happen, "I will bring you against My land", and WHY it is happening, "so that the nations may know Me and I will be sanctified through YOU, before their eyes, O Gog."

From the beginning, the enemy of our soul has sought to hide God from us, to distort His character, to disrupt His plan of salvation, to deceive the nations, to destroy His Anointed and to shipwreck the faith of those that put their trust in Him. He has taken control of corrupt minds and used men like Gog, as his puppets to counteract the Lord's glorious plan of redemption, which was planned before the foundation of the world.

Down through the corridors of time, we see a succession of evil men, like Gog, with the spirit of antichrist. The enemy of our soul manipulates their minds to carry out attacks on God's people. He uses evil rulers to deceive the world of the truth about God's goodness and grace. Satan was a liar and a murderer from the beginning who used Cain to slay his brother in an attempt to destroy, "the Seed of the woman who will crush the serpent's head."

Nimrod, Pharoah, Herod, and Jezabel, the wife of wicked King Ahab, were biblical characters that the enemy has used in his attempt to thwart God's plan of redemption. More recent history also records many dictators, who have the evil spirit of antichrist, such as Emperor Nero, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong and Adolph Hitler. But God used their wicked work to forward His perfect plans for mankind. And the satanically inspired Gog from the land of Magog, is the coming tyrant of Ezekiel 38, whom the Lord will use to show the nations that God is the Lord.

God knows the end for the beginning, and although Gog from the land of Magog, will be prompted by the enemy to attack the beautiful land of Israel in the last days, his assault will be used by the Lord, to overturn Satan's plans, punish the evildoers and reveal Himself to the world, so that the nations may know Him and be sanctified before Gog. On that day, the Lord will exalt Himself and demonstrate His holiness. On that day, He will make Himself known to many people, and all the people of the earth will learn that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the LORD.

There are many that speculate about Gog of the land of Magog, and try to pinpoint the time when this will happen. But perhaps the more urgent thing to consider is that there are still family members, work colleagues, neighbours and people we pass in the street each day, who have not yet trusted Christ as their Saviour.

Let us remember that Ezekiel's prophecy was given to Israel, to encourage them at the time when Gog and a great army with him, sweep into the beautiful land of Israel, like a cloud covering the land, "to take a plunder." God is jealous for His people, and when Gog invades Israel, the Lord has determined to execute judgment on him. He will send a plague on the evil people and bloodshed. The Lord will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone on Gog, as on all his troops and the many people who are with him.

It is not only the nations that will know that God is the Lord, but Israel will see that God Himself has come to their defence, and rescued them from their enemies, as He did in olden days. Today, Israel is in the land in unbelief, but the invasion of Gog will help to wake up God's people to the truth.

But while the age of grace is still here, let us tell as many as we can, the glorious gospel of Salvation and warn of the wrath to come. Let us be diligent to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, as we wait expectantly for Christ to come in the clouds and take us to be with Himself. And let us have mercy on lost sinners, and those who doubt the truth - let us help to save some by snatching them from the coming fires of judgement, so that they too may know that God is the Lord.

My Prayer
Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, thank You for alerting us to the coming judgement of the world and the many deceptions that seek to distort the gospel, disrupt Your plan of salvation, deceive the nations and shipwreck the faith of those that put their trust in You. Thank You, that You have told us the end from the beginning and that a day is coming when evil will be punished, and the world will know that You are the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, and that Jesus is coming back to rule this world in righteousness. Have mercy on those that do not yet know You and bring many into the Body of Christ before that time of terrible tribulation, when judgement is poured out on the wicked. Hear my prayer I pray, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ezekiel-38-16

​. . . for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.  

(Galatians 3:26–29 ESV )
Key Observation: How society has taught us to categorize, limit, and relate to one another must have no force among those who are “in Christ.”

Old Testament texts like Exodus 4:22–23 and Deuteronomy 14:1–2 applied the title “sons” or “children of God” to the people of Israel. Paul applies the title to all people who are “in Christ,” whether Israelites or Gentiles. Where Jews and Gentiles are “in Christ” together, there is no longer a “Jew” over here and a “Gentile” over there. There are only people “in Christ.” Trying to introduce the Law at this point means reintroducing the division of people into Jews and Gentiles. It means undoing what God has done.

Paul recalls the ritual of baptism to drive this home. In the early church, people were often baptized by being fully immersed in water. This became a powerful image that could be developed in several ways. In Romans, Paul will speak of being submerged in baptism as the burial of a believer’s old self with Christ. What burst forth from the water is a new person, living a new life of righteousness with Christ. Here, Paul speaks of being submerged into the water of baptism as being plunged into Christ. The person goes in a Jew or Gentile, a slave or a free person, a male or a female. The believer emerges, however, with Christ engulfing, covering, and enveloping him or her like a garment. After baptism, what we should see when we look at one another is Christ, into whom we have all been plunged together.

The Jew divided up humanity into Jew and Gentile, slave and free person, male and female. The Greek would replace the first pair with “Greek and barbarian” (cf. Colossians 3:9–11), a Roman with “Roman and non-Roman.” All would affirm the second and third pairs to be meaningful. These divisions of humanity are not just innocent observations of difference. The distinctions are laden with value judgments and unequal power relations. They reflect the racism and chauvinism of this “present evil age” from which Christ rescued us (1:4), not the new creation.

Paul’s vision challenges us to break fully free from the power of this “present evil age” on our relationships and roles within the church and our outreach beyond. Paul would challenge a Christian named Philemon in this regard. Onesimus had left Philemon as Philemon’s slave. After spending some time with Paul, Onesimus put his trust in Jesus and received baptism. Would Philemon still cling to the old relationship, according to which he (a free man) owned a slave? Or would Philemon honor the new relationship, according to which he and Onesimus had become brothers together in God’s family? (see Philemon 1:8–21). Living as new creation requires living in very new ways with one another.

Paul concludes this paragraph returning to the topics of 3:15–18. Those who have been baptized into Christ have become part of Christ. They have thereby become part of the singular Seed, the one descendant of Abraham, to whom the promises were given. By virtue of being one with the Seed, they have become heirs of the promises themselves. There is nothing more that circumcision or Torah observance can do for them—except undo what the Spirit has already accomplished in their midst.


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Questions for Reflection

1. What would need to change in your church for it to reflect fully Paul’s vision for oneness in Christ?
2. Into what pairs of categories have you been taught to partition people? How do these categories interfere with loving your Christian sister or brother as yourself?

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What is the Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament? How does Christ fit in to the larger story of salvation reaching as far back as Abraham? What is the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christian’s life?

​Jehovah Jireh means “the Lord will provide,” and it’s one of the most popular names for God.  To understand this name for God more fully, we need to go back to the story where we first hear this name for Him. Jehovah-Jireh is first used in the Old Testament with a story of Abraham. 
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Jehovah-Jireh in the Bible: Abraham and Isaac Abraham received a fresh set of instructions from God: “Take Isaac, your only son, whom you love, and sacrifice him on the mountain I will show you” (Genesis 22:2). The word sacrifice in Hebrew means “a whole or burnt offering.”

This passage may present questions and struggles for many readers. The very core of this direction feels contrary to other known truths about the Lord.
The Complete Jewish Study Bible notes that while the “binding of Isaac” passage or the Akedah, is read during every Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) service it is “by far the most difficult passage of the Torah.”

A superficial reading of the story may leave the reader with an ugly sense that God led Abraham on an emotional wild-goose chase.

Abraham went to an undisclosed location to sacrifice his son, only to have God stop him at the last moment. Then Abraham saw a ram caught in some thorny bushes, sacrificed it, and called the place, "Jehovah-Jireh" - "The Lord will Provide." Why would God treat them like this?

But that interpretation reveals more about the reader than it does the text or God Himself. One of the crucial details missing in that reading is the trust displayed by both Abraham and Isaac.

Scripture doesn’t tell many details about the private thoughts and feelings of Abraham or Isaac in this story. But in Hebrews 11:19, we are told that Abraham knew God’s character and power enough to trust that if God took Isaac at that moment, because of all God’s other promises about Isaac, Abraham knew God would fulfill His word even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham was doing this difficult task with assurance in his heart.
The Meaning of Jehovah-JirehAbraham calls the place, “God will provide.” The word there is richer than our English denotes.

• “Provide” in Hebrew is also “see to it,” which is similar to the name a woman named Hagar calls the Lord in Genesis 16:13 – “The God who Sees.”
• That Hebrew word also means “perceive” and“experience.”

When Abraham calls God Jehovah-Jireh, he isn’t just saying, “God gives the goods!” He is saying, “You see/experience all this need of mine and make provision for it.” It is deeply personal.

God’s provision isn’t automated like a paycheck deposited into your bank account. And it isn’t far removed as if He doesn’t feel the need.

Jehovah-Jireh’s Ultimate and Daily ProvisionProvision for eternity.

 This passage of Scripture is one of the clearest foreshadowing stories of the work of Jesus Christ. God not only provided for Abraham, but He also provided his only son so “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). Jesus is the Provision.

While God amazingly provided for the big needs like eternity, He is also present in the “littler” needs.

Provision in the daily details. The very next words after the story of Abraham and Isaac abruptly switch to genealogy information. It feels weird to read after such an intense experience. But the genealogy information lets us know that even when Isaac was a young boy, God had a plan for his future wife because her family is mentioned in the genealogy.

God had a plan for Isaac’s family, and He had a wife specifically for Isaac. Years in the future, when Isaac is approaching 40, he was meditating (praying) in a field when his wife Rebekah came to him. And the Lord filled Isaac’s heart with love for the young woman who would become his wife. The two became part of the lineage of Christ.

The Lord had made promises to Abraham about this young man. Not only did God provide for Isaac’s life, but also for his future as part of God’s promise to bring Christ into the world.
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From the great needs of our soul for issues like salvation and forgiveness to the yearning of our heart for a spouse, God Provides - He is our Jehovah-Jireh. God Sees. God is with Us. It is His promise and His character. It is His very name!