Seeking Our Homeland

Hebrews 11 is often known as the chapter on the "heroes of faith." I want to key in on the following passage, which comes after some discussion of the faith of figures such as Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and others:

Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were looking for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

After telling of the faith of many other familiar old testament characters, it reiterates in verses 39-40 that "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."

There are a lot of points to be inferred just from simply reading these scriptures, but the thing I want to really focus on is the fact that these people are examples of faith that we are to follow, and part of that example is that they were "looking for a country of their own," or, as the New King James renders it, they "declare plainly that they seek a homeland."

I want to elaborate on this point by examining the life of Daniel, who is not listed among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. Reading the book of Daniel for the first time, it really hit me that the central theme of the above verses in Hebrews is built into his story. 

First of all, let's get some background on Daniel and take note of his faith.

Daniel prophesied during the time of the Babylonian exile, and much of the prophecy concerning the restoration following this exile is dual, being fulfilled in part by their physical return in order to foreshadow the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. Daniel was descended from the tribe of Judah(thus making him a Jew), and he was a pretty exceptional guy, as it tells us in Daniel 1:4 that he was among a group of "young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to work in the king's palace."

It says in Daniel 1:17 that "God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning" to Daniel, "And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds." Again in verse 20, it says that "In every matter of wisdom and understanding which the king questioned [Daniel and his friends], he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom." God granted Daniel and his friends the abilities needed to impress the king to the point that he appointed them to be rulers over various parts of the kingdom. Over time, Daniel interpreted several dreams for the various kings that he served under, and each time he did so when all of the other wise men in the kingdom had failed.

One of the most well-known stories in Daniel is in Daniel 6, where he defies the king's order by praying to God, for which he is famously thrown into the lion's den. This occurred because Daniel was doing such an outstanding job working for the king that he was planning to set him over the entire kingdom, which made the other officials jealous. So these officials set out to ruin his career, but it says in Daniel 6:4-5 "... They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, 'We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has to do with the law of his God.'" These verses say a lot about Daniel's character. I find it amazing that he was so devoted to God that these people knew that he would follow God rather than the orders of the king, even though such an offense could cost him his life. The officials then went to the king and convinced him to put forth a decree that anyone who prays to any god or man for the next month would be put in the lion's den.

Now notice Daniel's response to hearing the king's orders:

Daniel 6:10-11

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

He didn't even think about compromising his beliefs to save his life because of his faith in God. There are other examples as well where Daniel very boldly displayed his faith in and obedience to God before the kings of Babylon.


Now that we have established Daniel as an honorary hero of faith through his actions, I want to look at the other aspect mentioned in Hebrews about the heroes of faith - that they "plainly declare that they seek a homeland." Consider Daniel's prayer in chapter 9:

Daniel 9:2-19

... in the first year of [Darius'] reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures... that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets... Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame - the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you... All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you... Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive!

Here we see Daniel giving an earnest prayer for God to fulfill his promises to Israel that they would be restored from all of the countries in which God had exiled them. It is likely that he prayed from the same window opening up towards Jerusalem mentioned in the story of the lion's den. Before he prays, he cites a prophecy in Jeremiah that the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem would last for 70 years, but notice here that what he asks for in prayer is more than just the restoration of the city of Jerusalem(which was in Judah) - he confesses the sin of "all Israel, both near and far." Prior to the Babylonian captivity, which consisted mostly of members of the tribe of Judah, the Assyrians had taken most of the "house of Israel," which refers to the northern 10 tribes of Israel, into exile and had put foreigners to replace them in the promised land. When Daniel prayed about "all the countries where you have scattered us," he was referring to both the Assyrian captivity and the Babylonian captivity. The prophecy of 70 years of captivity for Jerusalem that Daniel understood concerned only the latter captivity, and yet Daniel looked forward to the time when all Israel would be restored in the promised land. 



Now think back to what it said in Hebrews 11, that "they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return." While Daniel had a particular physical location in mind, what he was praying for was not to return to what he had come out of when he was taken into Babylon - otherwise, the 70 years prophesied in Jeremiah to bring Judah back from Babylon and restore the city of Jerusalem would have been sufficient. Israel as a whole had been off track for a long time. First, the people had fallen away from God by breaking his commandments almost as soon as he gave them. Then, they fell further away by seeking for a man to be king over Israel, rejecting God as their King. Then, they had been divided into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon, and the northern kingdom stopped following God altogether. Because of their increasing wickedness, God allowed the Assyrians to deport most of the northern 10 tribes and scatter them abroad in their vast empire. Daniel recognized the Babylonian captivity as just one step in a long chain of events separating the Israelites from God and the promises that he had bestowed on them, and it was all due to the unrighteousness of the people. Surely, Daniel was not asking to return to the place that he had left in the state that he had left it.


Daniel received an answer to this prayer before he was even finished, and it reveals God's plan to restore his city:

Daniel 9:20-24

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for His holy hill - while I was still in prayer, Gabriel... came to me in swift flight... He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision: Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy."

God revealed that the restoration made in 70 years would not be complete, but rather showed that the coming restoration would be further in the future. He gave some details about what would happen leading up to this restoration. It says that transgression will be finished. Sin will end. Atonement will be made for wickedness. Everlasting righteousness will come. Vision and prophecy will be all fulfilled. And the most holy will be anointed. Can you imagine what Daniel felt when he heard these things? Surely, he was as desperate to "receive what had been promised" at that moment as anyone has ever been.


The book of Revelation gives us some more information about the city that God has prepared for us:

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

God instructs us to seek His kingdom. We, like the many examples that are given in Hebrews 11 and throughout the bible, are to consider ourselves pilgrims, sojourners, aliens, and foreigners to this world. The homeland that we seek is a city which our Father has prepared for us, one which will come down out of heaven. The latter chapters of Ezekiel give a detailed description of the dimensions of city and the temple that will be built in the city. Interestingly, it is revealed there that the city will no longer be known as "Jerusalem," or even "new Jerusalem" as it is referred to in Revelation 21. Rather, it says in Ezekiel 48:35 that "the name of the city from that time on will be: The LORD is There." In the promises to those who overcome in the Philadelphian church of Revelation 3, Jesus says "I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name." We should all be striving to overcome, seeking our homeland diligently, so that one day we may be counted among God's saints, and to have our savior, Jesus Christ, write on us "The LORD is There."

Holy Days of Obligation?

I am continually fascinated by the intricate web of lies that has been woven in the years since Christ's death. St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and that's sort of what sparked this post, along with a comment that was made by some of my friends a few months ago. 


So here's the story: I'm out with some friends, some of whom happen to be Catholic, and someone mentions something about Christmas. Of course I can't resist mentioning that it's not biblical and give a mini-rant against the pagan holidays that have infiltrated Christianity. One of my friends responds by pointing out that the Catholic church refers to the biblical Holy Days that I observe as the "Holy Days of Obligation," putting extra emphasis on the word "obligation," as though it was a derogatory term. At the time I didn't give it much thought, except to say that the word "obligation" itself implies that there is something required of you on those days. 


Flash forward to this week, when something comes up about St. Patrick's Day, I check out the Wikipedia article, trying to get informed on how it originated. That's when it happened - I found that St. Patrick's Day is considered a "Holy Day of Obligation" in Ireland!!!! I was very confused at that point, so I did some digging and find out that the term "Holy Day of Obligation" is a term specific to the Catholic church that refers to their own observances throughout the year. Every Sunday of the year is a Holy Day of Obligation, as is Christmas and a few other dates throughout the year (such as January 1 for the "Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God," January 6 for the "Epiphany," and a handful of others.) According the the Catholic Canon Law, every Holy Day of Obligation requires the following:

1. People have to attend mass on that day
2. People are to abstain from any work or other affairs which "hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord's day, or the suitable relaxation of the mind and body

Ummmmm...... Doesn't the first one sound remarkably similar to a "holy convocation," which God commands on certain yearly feast days in Leviticus?  And doesn't the second point sound remarkably similar to how God asks us to observe Sabbaths every week and on certain feast days in Leviticus? 

From this, I draw the following two conclusions: first of all, that my friend was sorely mistaken when they made that comment. I wish that I had known this at the time, because it would have been hilarious to point out that this term refers to the commandments of men instituted by the Catholic church and not to God's Holy Days. Second of all, according to 1 John 5:3, "His commands are not burdensome," therefore, even if you were to see God's Holy Days as an "obligation," that term does not apply in a negative context according to 1 John 5:3. As a point of fact, in terms of outward observance, God demands no more from us on his Holy Days than does the Catholic church demand of people on their "holy days of obligation." Also, note that, aside from every Sunday, there are 10 holy days of obligation in the Catholic church, whereas, aside from the weekly Sabbath, there are only 8 days on which God commands a Sabbath rest. Prior to 1911, there were 36 such holy days of obligation aside from Sundays.. Now that sounds burdensome! 

If this whole business of holy days of obligation isn't confusing enough, it turns out that the bishops in each country pick and choose which ones their region will observe.  AAAAAHHHH!!!! WHAT?!?!? As an even more confusing example, St. Patrick's day is not generally recognized as a holy day of obligation throughout the world, but it is considered one in the country of Ireland - so not only can local bishops decide which of the approved days to observed, they can also add in other days that are not generally observed.

By contrast, God's Holy Day observances in His true church are exceedingly simple. No man has the authority to say who keeps what - we do what the bible says to do, and we do it when it says to do it. No matter where you live, it's the same.

I want to now make a few points about St. Patrick's day in particular.

First of all, it usually falls during Lent (another observance that the Catholic church made up and is nowhere found in the bible), which is a time of fasting and abstaining from indulgence - and yet, in modern culture, it is very commonly regarded as a day on which people indulge heavily in alcohol. At least the Catholic church doesn't condone people indulging in drinking on St. Patrick's day (though, given our previous discussion, it wouldn't surprise me if they did, just for the sake of being convoluted.) 

The first point is admittedly not that relevant and more of just a pet peeve of mine, so let's look at the actual meaning, context, and origin of the day for those who actually observe it as a religious holiday. Up until the last two decades or so, St. Patrick's day was indeed revered by Irish people, and it was a day on which people went to church and spent time together as a family. While this is still the case for some, it has, even in Ireland, become a day of revelry as we are used to seeing in America.


This brings us to an important point about God's Holy Days, that they are not marred and devalued by tradition - we obtain the details of their observance from God rather than men. They are perfectly preserved for us in the bible so that we, through reading God's word, will never lose their meaning.


St. Patrick was largely responsible for establishing the presence of Catholicism in Ireland. He lived from 387-493 A.D., and spent a lot of time in Ireland building schools and converting people. He is noted for driving the pagans out of Ireland, and it is said that he used the shamrock(three-leaf clover) to help people understand the trinity, which is why it is a symbol of the holiday today. Before his time, the shamrock already had a certain religious significance to the Celtic people. The druids thought that the plant had mystical powers to ward off evil spirits, and, to them, the three leaves were symbolic of their own deities - the "Triple Goddess." What an easy transition it must have been! This is a textbook case of the Catholic "switch-the-symbols-to-get-the-pagans-in" game. It's exactly the sort of thing that happened all over the world as the Catholic church expanded - pagan statues of a mother with a child were relabeled as Mary and Jesus, and pagan symbols in the shape of crosses were repurposed to represent the cross that Jesus was nailed to. There is no precedent for such practices in the bible. In Deuteronomy 12:30, God specifically tells the Israelites not to seek after how the pagans worship their gods - God clearly defined for them (and for us) exactly how he wants to be worshiped.


That's another important point to recognize: God specifically included the keeping of His Holy Days as part of how we worship Him. We are to observe these days and only these days. Each one reveals part of the God's ultimate plan for salvation. What's more, they reveal God's plan in sequence and are intended to be instructive. 


It's easy to see how St. Patrick's Day has degraded over time - it does not have God's everlasting Word as a foundation and does not have deep spiritual meaning behind it. So it is also with the other "holy days of obligation" of the Catholic church. Even Christmas and Easter, though they are at least an attempt at the celebration of certain biblical events, have been devalued over time because God has not given the instructions for people to celebrate them; and, therefore, people have imputed whatever ideas they wanted into them until they are unrecognizable in modern culture. In light of these things, it is no wonder God was so particular in laying out his Holy Days. It is a great misfortune that so many people do not keep the Law, which God has clearly outlined in the bible. A review of what these days are and how God says to observe them can be found here. These days are not a burden to us, but a great blessing and an integral part of how God wants to be worshiped. Knowing them and observing them will lead you to a greater understanding of God's plan for all mankind, from Adam to present.

Come Here to Me

God tells us in Malachi 4:3 that, before the coming Day of the LORD, He will send us Elijah the prophet to "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers." Jesus taught that John the Baptist was a fulfillment of this prophecy, but that there was another man who was yet to come that would precede Christ's second coming. We find this in Matthew:

Matthew 17:10-13
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come..." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Elijah is revered as one of the most important prophets of the Old Testament. I want to discuss some of the events of his life that may parallel those of the end-time Elijah, primarily to answer the question of what we should be expecting the end-time Elijah to actually do.

When I think of the story of Elijah, two main events come to mind. The first is the contest between Baal and God, in which Elijah very publicly demonstrates the power of God over Baal. The account is found in 1 Kings 18, where Elijah tells King Ahab to "summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel," along with the prophets of Baal and Asherah. He set up the contest as follows:

1 Kings 18:22-24
Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire - he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

The story is probably familiar to you, and you may remember the outcome. The prophets of Baal spend all day doing all kinds of dancing, shouting, and cutting themselves trying to get Baal to consume their sacrifice to no avail. Afterwards, Elijah has people pour water on his sacrifice before praying to God to take it, which He promptly does, consuming not only the bull, but also the wood on the altar and all the water that had been poured on it.

Now let's focus on some key points in this story and try to discern what this story holds for the Elijah to come. First of all, let's go back and notice what exactly Elijah said in that prayer that cued God to send the fire down: he says in verse 37 "Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." These are the same words that describe the eminent  purpose of the end-time Elijah in Malachi; therefore, the clear implication is that the end-time Elijah will accomplish the turning back of the people of Israel to God by a public display of God's power over the false system of religious worship which Israel will fall prey to.

In the time of the first Elijah, the prominent false religion in Israel was idol worship, mainly of Baal and Asherah. For John the baptist, the false religion in place in Israel was more subtle, a perversion of God's way achieved by focusing only on the outward observance of God's law and adding in the commandments of men. Jesus taught that their would also be a false religious system in the end times. In it's current state, the world's "Christianity" distorts the doctrines of the bible and has forgotten God's law. Elijah will, by displaying the power of the true God, turn people away from the pagan doctrines that have infiltrated end-time Israel.

Also, recall that Elijah had the king "summon people from all over Israel" to bear witness to this public display of God's sovereignty. In doing this, Elijah made sure that everyone in Israel was going to hear about what God had done, given how epic the sight they had seen was. Consider what is said of John the Baptist's ministry in Luke 3:3, that "he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance," and in Matthew 3:5 that "people went to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and all the whole region of the Jordan." Perhaps not everyone went out to see John to be baptized, but you can bet that everyone had at least heard what this man was doing because of how the people were moved by his message of repentance. The message of the last Elijah will likewise reach all of Israel, which is a much larger body of people than it was during both the time of John the Baptist and the first Elijah. It will also be a message of repentance to God, as was the message of the first Elijah also.

The second story from Elijah's life that I want to talk about occurs right after the events on Mount Carmel. Jezebel sends a messenger to tell Elijah that she is going to have him killed, and Elijah, fearing for his life, runs to hide in the mountains.

1 Kings 19:13-14
... Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down you altars, and put your prophets to death by the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."

Even being the one through whom God chose to display his power through, Elijah was afraid that his efforts had been of no avail and that he was going to be killed if he went back. Then God reveals something to Elijah to give him hope:

1 Kings 19:18
Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel - all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.

In Elijah's time, he was not the only person following God, though it appeared that way. Now recall that Elijah, leading up the the Mount Carmel contest, had prophesied that it would not rain for three and a half years, after which he went into hiding where God sustained him until he came out for the contest. The time period is significant here, as we see that this is the same amount of time in Revelation 12:14 that the "woman," symbolic of God's church, is cared for in a place that is hidden from the "dragon," symbolic of the agents of Satan who are ruling the earth at that time. We also see that after the dragon has unsuccessfully tried to kill the woman, he "went off to make war with the rest of her offspring - those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ." Now it becomes clear that the seven thousand who had secretly been faithful to God during the time of the first Elijah are a type of God's church in the end times, and the prophets of God who had been killed during this time are symbolic of the "rest of her offspring." We know that a time of tribulation and martyrdom is coming, and those who are not taken to the place of safety will meet this end for their obedience to God and the testimony of Jesus. Since the primary mission of the church is to preach the gospel, it is likely that this is the time spoken of in Amos 8:11, where God says that there will be a famine of hearing his word. If we continue into Revelation 13, we see that the false religion of the end-times is referred to as a beast, and anyone who refuses to worship this beast will be killed, and, again, the time period that this will endure is three and a half years. We see later, in Revelation 20, that those who have not "worshiped the beast or his image" will be resurrected at the coming of Christ to reign in the millennium.

We can then draw the conclusion that the end-time Elijah will also be heard at the beginning of the prophesied three and a half years, resurfacing at the end of the period to fully and unquestionably exert God's power. Furthermore, it is likely that this Elijah will not have contact with the rest of the church of God during this time, not knowing what has become of them. Conversely, think about what it must have been like for those seven thousand, having seen all of the evil that was being done for three and a half years, to finally have Elijah come and put the idolaters to shame. It must have been even more of a shock to them than it was to the Baal worshipers that God had prepared these things. Fortunately for the church at the end times, we have the benefit of knowing what is to come by this example, and the hope that springs from that knowledge will help sustain the church in its time of dormancy.

Let's take a step back now to the Mount Carmel event, focusing now on how Elijah prepared for the sacrifice:

1 Kings 18:30 
... Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD.

We know that the event immediately before the tribulation is the "abomination of desolation," which we know from the history provided in Daniel signifies the desecration of the altar of God with by pagan worship. It could be, since Elijah is coming at the end of this tribulation period, that these verses indicate that the end-time Elijah will be the one to restore the altar of God. Notice here that Elijah is careful to make sure that the people watch as he rebuilds the altar. The prophets of Baal had been flailing around all day, and Elijah could have used this time to be building the altar so that he could get down to business when the time came; therefore, we reason that rebuilding the altar was an integral part of turning back the hearts of the people. It prefaced the miraculous sacrifice by reminding the people of the God that they had followed before - the very God who had given them their name, Israel! How wonderful will it be, after all things have been endured, and Elijah says to the people, "Come here to me," and reminds Israel of their identity and shows them their folly, that they may be moved to repentance. And how much more wonderful, when these things have passed, for God's true church to be able to come out of hiding, having not "worshiped the beast or bowed down to his image," to witness the return of Jesus Christ, and to be resurrected to spirit to reign with Him.

Eat it in Haste

With Passover approaching, I'd like to talk about something that occurred to me last year around this time. One of the points that is typically accentuated around Passover is the admonition found in 1 Corinthians about the serious ramifications of eating it:

1 Corinthians 11:27-29
Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgement on himself.

This is why only those who have shared in Christ's death through baptism (and thereby entered into the new covenant) are permitted to partake in the Passover observance, and even then we must pause for introspection every year to purge out the spiritual leaven before doing so. 


That's the backdrop for what I want to talk about. I was reading the account of the first Passover in Egypt in Exodus 12, where I found that just after God tells the Israelites what to eat and how it is to be prepared, He says the following in verse 11:

Exodus 12:11
This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.

If we continue in verse 12, it says "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn," and then later on in verse 31 we see that Pharaoh called Aaron and Moses "during the night" to tell them to leave, and in 33, "the Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country." You could say that God was simply telling them to be prepared to come out of Egypt (i.e. come out of sin), but consider the fact that they were commanded to put on these garments BEFORE THEY ATE. Surely they would have had plenty of time after the meal to put their traveling clothes on before the Egyptians had time to realize what had happened; therefore, there is significance in the fact that God wanted them to do this before they ate, and there is a message here for us today.


Let's look closer at each of these elements in Exodus 12:11. First of all, notice that they were to be wearing a cloak. What could that mean? Where else in the scripture is a cloak mentioned? Isaiah 59:17 describes God preparing to pour out his wrath on the wicked and redeem those who repent of their sins, and it says 

Isaiah 59:17 
He put on righteousness as His breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak.

This is the cloak that God wants us to put on each year before Passover, to renew our zeal for His way of life. As the first Holy Day of the year, following that long winter lapse following the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day, it is important that we not be spiritually diminished and that we take the opportunity to get zealous for our God. Let us not just put on that cloak, but as it says in Isaiah, be WRAPPED in it!


Ephesians 6 gives us instruction on the “full armor of God,” in which we find details on the meaning of the sandals and the belt mentioned in Exodus 12:11. Note first of all that the cloak is to be "tucked into your belt," which in Ephesians 6 is called "the belt of truth." Our zeal must remain firmly grounded in truth, as Paul warned about in 

Romans 10:2-3
For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

While we are to yearly put on our cloak of zeal, we must be careful to put on our belt, renewing our foundation of knowledge in God's truth. It is crucial that we "know the righteousness that comes from God," and submit ourselves to that righteousness.


Also in Ephesians 6, we find some information about the sandals that God tells us to have on our feet: they are called the "readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" in verse 15. Therefore, God wants us to be READY to eat the Passover with the assurance of our convictions given by the PEACE that comes from the GOSPEL of his coming kingdom, which we show our commitment to through our baptism and our partaking in the Passover. Furthermore, it says just before then in verse 15 that this readiness is to be "fitted" to our feet - this is indeed a very important part of our preparation for Passover, that we make sure that our sandals are well-fitted each year, making adjustments if necessary.


Finally, it says in Exodus that we are to have our staff in our hand. What is the significance of the staff? When David went up to fight against Goliath, he carried his staff with him. Notice the following excerpts from the account in 1 Samuel:

1 Samuel 17:40-46
Then [David] took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream... [and] approached the Philistine... He said to David, 'Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?'... David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel'

Though we are admonished in Ephesians 6 to take up the word of God as our sword in spiritual battle, the story of David and Goliath teaches us also that there are sometimes when only God can fight for us. David, therefore, took his staff - not a weapon of war, but the tool of a shepherd. Surely he must have known as well as Goliath that the staff itself was of no avail, as Goliath even made fun of him for bringing it out. The staff represents our trust in God that even as a shepherd leads and cares for a flock of sheep, God leads and cares for us. 


As we saw earlier, the apostle Paul warned in 1 Corinthians against eating the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. Just before that, he also said the following:

1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Passover is God's designated way for us to proclaim the death of our Savior until he returns. It is a death that we share in through baptism, as Paul points out in Romans:

Romans 6:3-4
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

For the Passover, we are each to take up our staff in our hands, putting our faith in God to do for us that which we cannot do on our own. In particular, we cannot earn our salvation, for which Christ died as our Passover. No matter how zealous we are, how well we know God's truth, and how ready we are for His coming kingdom, Christ had to die for our sins as our Passover Lamb, that we would have salvation unto eternal life. The staff that we are to take up is not a weapon, but a sign of our faith in what God and Christ have done for us in giving us access to the gift of eternal life. Let us remember this as we take up our staff this year, assured in our unwavering faith that one day we will receive that gift, and then, as it was for David and the Philistines, so it shall be that "the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel." Let us put on the right spiritual attitude as we observe these things in remembrance of Jesus. Let us be prepared to partake of it in a worthy manner with zeal, steadfast in our knowledge of God's truth, with readiness for his return, and unyielding faith that God will carry out all that he has promised. As it says in Exodus 12:11 - "Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover."

Stand in the Gap

I read Ezekiel 22:30 last night, which says in the NIV

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none."

As I was driving to school today, this scripture resonated in my mind. Let's break this down. First of all, we see that God is searching for someone who will "build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land" - but what does that mean?

Let's consider the wall first. If we turn back to Ezekiel 13, we find that God had Ezekiel prophesy against the false prophets of Israel, one of the reasons being, in verse 5, that they "have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD." Verse 10 elaborates with the indictment that "when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash," and God then goes on to make it clear that whitewashing this wall is of no avail. So what does the context tell us about what the wall might be? 

Because the false prophets are charged with not repairing the breaks in the wall, it stands to reason that, firstly, the wall is something that already exists but is deteriorating and, secondly, that it is the duty of prophets (i.e. spiritual leaders) to repair this wall. Furthermore, we see that it is the duty of the prophets to build a strong wall, and not simply build up a flimsy wall and then make it look nice by painting it white. What was the purpose of walls in those days? Walls were primarily a tool of defense; they were the foundation of a city's protection from invading forces. The wall in this scripture symbolizes the righteous attitudes of the people, since this is truly the only protection that anyone has from God's judgement. The duty of the prophets was to speak the words of God to the people, so that they may repent and turn to follow Him as they should. The "breaks in the wall" are the sins of the people, and the job of the prophets was to repair the relationship of the people and their God. False prophets, however, would allow the wall to become weak by not proclaiming the things sent to them from God, but instead giving people made-up visions and feeding them flowery words to make them feel better about their current state of affairs - thus "whitewashing" or "glossing over" their vile actions with false prophesies. 

Therefore, in searching for someone who would "build up the wall," God was looking for a leader with the guts to stand up to the people, to decry the wrong that they knew they had done, and to remind them that they should repent and return to God. There is no way that anyone can take on this responsibility unless they themselves are following God's way.

Now lets consider the gap. We've established already that the weakness of the wall signifies a distancing of the people from the law of God, and therefore a distancing from God Himself. This is the "gap" - the space that had grown in between the covenant people and God. God searched for someone to stand in that gap, to be the bridge by which the people could cross back to the ways of their Creator. 

There has been a long history of men that have stood in that gap. Notably, there was Moses, who interceded for Israel when they turned to idolatry while he was up on the mountain. God wanted to utterly destroy the people of Israel and start over with a new line of people descended from Moses, but Moses begged and pleaded that God would continue to work with them. Many of the judges stood in the gap in their day. Elijah stood in the gap. These were men who answered the call of God by walking upright in the midst of wickedness. 

Now I'm going to emphasize another peculiarity of this verse - note that it doesn't say that He was looking for someone to "stand in the gap" - it says He was looking for someone to "stand before Me in the gap." To me, that makes the requirement so much more powerful. It accentuates the point that in order to be the one to stand in the gap, you have to be willing to stand before God on behalf of people who do not deserve His mercy (I say that they do not deserve His mercy because of the fact that the people knew better.) These were God's covenant people, and they knew better than to partake in the idolatry and sexual immorality that they were practicing, as well as the desecration of His Sabbaths; and yet they did it anyway. Because God could find no one to stand in the gap in this case, the people of Israel had to endure his wrath. I have no doubt that there have been multiple times throughout history when God has looked for someone to stand before Him in the gap. Indeed, there are times yet to come when he will look for someone to stand in the gap and build up the wall.

So now that this is understood, I can tell you what I was thinking about this morning that inspired this whole discussion. What meaning can there be for us today in this scripture? Jesus describes the end-time pouring out of God's wrath in Mark 13. In particular, notice in verse 20 that "If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them." And now recall what Jesus said in Luke 18:8 - "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Clearly, God is counting on his church to be there to build up the wall and stand before Him in the gap at the time of the end. 

What can you do to be building up the wall today? Don't whitewash the wall by justifying actions that you know are wrong - examine your life, ask God to search out the evil in you and give you the strength to cast it out so that you can be blameless. 

What can you do to get ready to stand before God in the gap? God does not measure us simply by what we don't do, but also by what we do - consider the description of the righteous man, who saves his soul, in Ezekiel 18:5-9. Notice that in verse 7 that he doesn't just refrain from robbery, he also gives to the poor. 

Therefore, prepare yourself by committing your life to God's service. When you see an opportunity to serve God, take it. If you see a way that you can do something to help someone, do it. Ultimately, there will come a time when God's judgement against this sinful world will not be stayed, and it will be as it says in Ezekiel 14:14, that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the country that God has set his hand against, they each would only be able to save themselves by their righteousness. Be ready.