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Dec 17, 2024 • 6min

Advent 17 | O Little Town of Bethlehem 2024

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,from you shall come forth for meone who is to be ruler in Israel,whose coming forth is from of old,from ancient days." - Micah 5:2Some Prophecies are Harder than OthersDepending on who you ask, it is possible that Jesus fulfilled a couple hundred prophecies from the Old Testament. That is absolutely incredible. Some people will go on and on trying to figure out the odds of this happening so that they can show that no mere human being could possibly accomplish this and therefore Jesus must be God. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, one of my favorite illustrations comes from a book published by a guy named Stoner in 1957 called Science Speaks. He said that the odds of Jesus fulfilling just 8 of these prophecies would be the same as if you covered the state of Texas with silver dollars 2 feet deep, marked one with a checkmark, and blindfolded someone. Then they walked around and picked the marked silver dollar on their first try. Do you see what he’s saying? That’s just not possible.When we look at the text for today in light of this we are faced with some really interesting questions. In the above scenario we are talking about an adult attempting to fulfill these prophecies, but what about the prophecies about stuff that had to happen before the Messiah was born? What about where you’re born? Or where you move as an infant? What about your ancestors? See what we are getting at here? No one has ever been able to plan the city in which they were born… no one that is, except Jesus. And the reason he was able to do this is because he was, and is, God.The Not-So-Expected ProphetJust like with many of these prophecies, this one looks really clear to us as we look back but, what did the Jews of Jesus’ time think about this? Did they know that it was a prediction of the Messiah? This is a difficult question to answer because it looks like it’s a mixture of yes and no.First, let’s look at the “no”. During the time of Jesus, the Jews could be separated into 2 basic groups of people: those who were looking for the coming Messiah, and those who weren’t. It might sound weird to say this, but from the New Testament’s witness it looks like the religious leaders of the day fell into the category of the ones who weren’t. They had built up their own power and influence and they were not ready to hand that over to anybody—not even the Messiah.On the other hand, we see faithful Jews who were raised on the Old Testament and longed for the Messiah to come. This makes sense too. These were the common Jews who didn’t have any of the power of the leaders. They were the ones who felt the most of the oppression by the Romans. Of course, they were looking for the Deliverer.We see these people showing up as real seekers in the gospels. In John, there is an interesting interaction between these 2 groups of people. Jesus has gotten up and told them that he is God and that there is hope only in him. Some of them say, yes, “he is the prophet” or “he is the Messiah” but some say it’s not possible because Jesus is from Galilee (remember he moved a couple of times as a kid). Look at verse 42, “has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”Read the full article here:Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 16, 2024 • 5min

Advent 16 | Peace on Earth 2024

“1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,the Spirit of counsel and might,the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.He shall not judge by what his eyes see,or decide disputes by what his ears hear,4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,and faithfulness the belt of his loins.6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;and a little child shall lead them.7 The cow and the bear shall graze;their young shall lie down together;and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.9 They shall not hurt or destroyin all my holy mountain;for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORDas the waters cover the sea.10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” – Isaiah 11:1-10The Heart of the KingFirst off, let’s pay attention to how God is narrowing the path to the Messiah. Twice in this little passage, Isaiah tells us that this hero is going to come through Jesse’s family. And you remember the story, right? Jesse was a faithful Israelite looking forward to a Messiah when out of nowhere a prophet comes to tell him that one of his boys is going to be the king. This is when Jesse parades each of his sons out in front of Samuel but then finds out that none of them are gonna work. He has to actually go out to the field to get David from watching the sheep so that he can be anointed as the king! How crazy this that?! Don’t forget: man looks at outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.Like the Best Petting Zoo EverAs we have seen over and over this is just another example of God narrowing and expanding the vision for his kingdom. He is narrowing it by telling us that it is going to come through Jesse’s family, but he is expanding it to include the whole world, “far as the curse it found”. We know that there is something wrong in the world. When we look around us there is so much violence. Not only do we see wars and fighting among men and nations, but we see it in the animal kingdom as well. When God created the whole world and said that it was “very good” there was no violence, just peace.The vision that Isaiah is giving us is of that same kind of peace. Have you ever watched Planet Earth or the Discovery Channel? How do animals typically treat each other? More like food than friends, right? WePlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 15, 2024 • 4min

Advent 15 | The Child Born to Be the King 2024

"The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,on them has light shone.You have multiplied the nation;you have increased its joy;they rejoice before youas with joy at the harvest,as they are glad when they divide the spoil.For the yoke of his burden,and the staff for his shoulder,the rod of his oppressor,you have broken as on the day of Midian.For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumultand every garment rolled in bloodwill be burned as fuel for the fire.For to us a child is born,to us a son is given;and the government shall be upon his shoulder,and his name shall be calledWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Of the increase of his government and of peacethere will be no end,on the throne of David and over his kingdom,to establish it and to uphold itwith justice and with righteousnessfrom this time forth and forevermore.The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this." - Isaiah 9:2-7The Light of HopeThis is such an exciting and beautiful prophecy. And it makes it even more meaningful when we realize that this was given 700 years (give or take) before Jesus. Yet when you read over this you just can’t help but think of him. This is another one of those passages that we read every year at this time and it gives us hope, but think about the hope that it gave the Jews all those years ago before Christ.As you look at this passage you can see that God is sending a rescuer, a deliverer. It’s easy to see how the Jews would have been so surprised by the way Jesus lived on earth. It would be hard for them to see him as their Messiah since he didn’t fit the picture of a conquering warrior. The history of the Jews had been very dark. Even after they came back to their land it seemed like they couldn’t catch a break. One nation after another seemed to oppress them. They needed someone to set them free.No Mere Human Would DoWhen we look at this passage there is so much going on. First off, the focus is on a child. Isn’t that interesting? This should let us know that something really unique is going to happen. The answer that they are looking for is going to come in the form of a baby boy.Next look at these titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These aren’t titles that you would give to just any military leader. The Jews stood apart from the rest of the world in their time because they believed that there was only one true God, the God who created the universe. It was blasphemy to worship any other God.If we tie both of these ideas together we can realize that even in their own holy scriptures God has given serious hints pointing to the incarnation. This is a prophecy that is talking about a child to be born who would be called God...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.cPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 14, 2024 • 4min

Advent 14 | Maher-shalal-hash-baz 2024

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." - Isaiah 7:14Double RainbowWe have all have read the verse above and we know, for certain, that this is about Jesus. But did you know it’s also about someone else? Wait, what? Yeah, this is one of those situations where God makes a prophecy that has an immediate fulfillment and then a later fulfillment. This is another amazing example of God’s specific sovereignty over all of human history. The people of Israel needed something to give them hope and God gave it to them. What they didn’t know at the time was that this was also going to give hope to the whole world.Signs of DeliveranceHere is what is happening in the context of Isaiah 7. The king of Israel, Ahaz, is freaking out because there are 2 other kings threatening war with him. So, God sends Isaiah to comfort him. That is where this prophecy comes into play. Let’s read it again but this time let’s go just a little bit farther."Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”" - Isaiah 7:14-17What is Isaiah saying to Ahaz, and why is it important? God is foretelling the birth of a little boy. When this boy is really young the threat will be over. The whole point of this is to calm Ahaz down and let him know that he doesn’t need to be afraid. This is going to happen in his lifetime, and this is a sign for him that God is going to keep his word.So Is This About Jesus or Not?Yes. This is about Jesus, but first, it’s about Maher-shalal-hash-baz. You see the whole point of this sign is that it provides something tangible for Ahaz to see. That’s why we get the first fulfillment one page over in chapter 8. To understand this we need to know a little something about the Hebrew language (because the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew). You see the word translated as “virgin” doesn’t necessarily have to mean “virgin” and could just mean “young woman”. This little boy is actually born to Isaiah and his wife. God confirms this when he tells Isaiah that before his son is even old enough to say his parents’ names the threat will be over.But you might be thinking, how then do we know that it’s about Jesus? Great question and there are 2 clear ways that we see this...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-14-maher-shalal-hash-baz/Follow the whole study of The Things Concerning Himself at:https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/Every day, Dec. 1-25, we'll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the Snowbird App, Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 13, 2024 • 4min

Advent 13 | Grace From Disgrace - The Wife of Uriah 2024

"When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever." - 2 Samuel 7:12-13"and Jesse the father of David the king.  And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah," - Matthew 1:6The Un-named GrandmaWhen you read through the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew you’ll notice that there are 5 women who show up in the line of Jesus but only 4 of them are mentioned by name. This one is simply called, “the wife of Uriah”. Isn’t that interesting? Why wouldn’t Matthew mention the name of this woman? I think it’s because this isn’t a particularly bright spot in Israel’s history. This episode in King David’s life is not something that they were proud of. It gets even more interesting when you realize that Matthew was writing to a mostly Jewish audience who would have known all about who this lady was. The bottom line is that I think the reason Matthew didn’t mention her name is probably the same reason you don’t know many ladies named Bathsheba.Wrong Place, Wrong TimeThere are 2 things that everybody remembers about King David. The first is that he killed Goliath and the second is his relationship to Bathsheba. We hear all about this in 2 Samuel 11. At the beginning of the chapter, there is some not-so-subtle foreshadowing that should tip us off that something bad is going to happen. It says “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle … but David remained at Jerusalem.” There you have it. David is the king of whom they used to say had “slain ten thousands”. He should be out there with his men, leading them in battle, but instead, he’s lounging around the palace in the middle of the afternoon. It’s pretty embarrassing.A Man of HonorThe rest of the story is even worse. David sees a beautiful woman and asks about her. Even though he knows that she is married to one of his most valiant soldiers it doesn’t stop him from pursuing her. Soon afterward he finds out that she’s pregnant and tries to get her husband to come home to be with her so that everyone will think that he is the one who got her pregnant. This plan might have worked except for the fact that her husband was way more honorable than David. Uriah would not come home and enjoy the comfort of his normal life while the army was out in battle. How ironic is that? The king didn’t care that they were at war, but the soldier did.After all of this, when David couldn’t think of anything else to do, he sends Uriah to the front line of battle and orders everyone around them to retreat. Who knows how many people David ordered to their death just to cover up his sin...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-13-grace-from-disgrace-the-wife-of-uriah/Follow the whole study of The Things Concerning Himself at:https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/Every day, Dec. 1-25, we'll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 12, 2024 • 4min

Advent 12 | David's Moabite Grandma 2024

"Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the LORD will give you by this young woman." - Ruth 4:11-2 "Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king." - Matt 1:5-6 A Widowed Daughter-in-lawIf you haven’t picked up on this yet, our journey through the Old Testament on our way to Jesus often reads more like the plot to a soap opera than a religious text. This goes to show us that God uses all kinds of people from every type of background to bring about his plan for the world.This episode in the drama of Scripture starts out very dark. I mean no sooner do we get introduced to the main characters than they start dying off. There’s a man named Elimelech from Judah who moves to Moab because of a famine and there he and his two sons die, leaving his wife Naomi with two daughters-in-law. One of them goes back to her family and our story follows Naomi and Ruth as they go to live in the little town of Bethlehem.Gleanings and SandalsAs soon as they get settled in Bethlehem, Ruth gets to work. You see God had already made a way for faithful Jews to take care of the poor and Boaz was a faithful Jew. It just so happened that this takes place in the time of the harvest and Ruth just so happened to stumble across Boaz’s field. As was their custom Boaz’s workmen would harvest the fields but would leave anything that fell to the ground for the poor to pick up for themselves. This is where Ruth comes in. She was busy all day picking up the leftovers when Boaz noticed her. He had already heard of the kindness she had shown to Naomi and he wanted to help reward her so he told his men to leave out even more for her. When Naomi hears about this she realizes that Boaz is in a unique position to help because he is a close relative of theirs and could be their redeemer.I realize that some of this might be confusing because it is talking about ancient Jewish traditions and customs, but the really crazy part is that these practices had been a part of the Jewish culture for generations and now God is using them to bring about his plan of salvation through Jesus. Then we come to the climax of the story. Boaz decides that is going to redeem them but he has to get past another relative who is first in line. This guy doesn’t want to ruin his own inheritance so Boaz redeems them and hands over his sandal, which is kinda like a handshake. The deal is done...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-12-davids-moabite-grandma/Follow the whole study of The Things Concerning Himself at:https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/Every day, Dec. 1-25, we'll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also access the audio recordings on the Snowbird App, Apple Podcasts, and Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 11, 2024 • 6min

Advent 11 | The Savior of the World (and Rahab) 2024

"… and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab," - Matthew 1:5Don’t Forget the LandFor the people of Israel, the most tangible part of God’s covenant with them was that he would give them the promised land. It’s really cool for us to look back on how all of this played out because we usually don’t think much of the land. After all, we don’t live in Israel and most of us don’t ever plan to. But for the Jewish people this meant everything to them. And in reality, if we don’t keep the promise of the land in mind we will miss out on a lot of what the Old Testament is about.Today we will talk about the events that take place in the book of Joshua. Let’s do a quick summary to get us up to this point in history. Remember that when God made his promise to Abraham he told him that his people would be slaves in a land not their own for 400 years and that afterward, God would bring them back to possess their own land. This is exactly what happened. They went down as sojourners to Egypt and then when a new Pharaoh came on the scene he put them in slavery. Moses then rises up as their deliverer and God brings them out with great possessions to wander the wilderness for 40 years. During this time God gives them victory over everyone that opposes them, which will bring us up to the book of Joshua.The Faith of a PaganThe first city of the promised land that they face is Jericho. This is a city surrounded by walls that seem impenetrable to the people of Israel. So Joshua sends in two men to spy out the land. This is where we first meet up with Rahab. Now Rahab is not a godly woman. Not only is she living in a sinful environment but she has a very sinful profession. She makes her living sinning against God’s design for marriage. In other words, she is an unlikely convert. But look at what she does. She risks her neck to save these foreigners. Why would she do that? It’s because she has heard all about the God of the Jews.Let’s look at God’s Word in Joshua chapter 2.Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:8-13)Rahab is confessing in Yahweh and putting her faith in him...Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-11-the-savior-of-the-world-and-rahab/Follow the whole study of The Things Concerning Himself at:https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/Every day, Dec. 1-25, we'll be publishing daily advent study posts (written and audio versions) on our website. You can also accesPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 10, 2024 • 5min

Advent 10 | A Prophet Like Moses 2024

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." -  Deut. 18:15-18  Ready, Set…First off, the book of Deuteronomy is one of the most enjoyable books to read. It’s so good because in it we get to see God’s heart for his people. It is constantly talking about how special these people are to God and how special God should be to these people. It’s really good.Anyway, it is basically a series of sermons that Moses is giving to prepare the people for the promised land. One of the biggest reasons why Moses is doing this is because he, himself is not going to get to go in (that and he is recording the Word of God for God’s people). And part of preparing the people for their next chapter is the passing on of the leadership from Moses to Joshua.Joshua, but Not JoshuaIf you are reading through the Old Testament and you come across this passage, it seems pretty cut and dry Moses is transferring the authority to lead over to Joshua but there is more going on here. This is another one of those situations where we see God is giving a promise that will have more than one fulfillment. Spoiler alert: it’s also about Jesus.First, let’s look at Joshua. Is it fair to say that he is a prophet like Moses? Absolutely. Let’s look at a few examples. In Joshua chapter 1, God has a conversation with Joshua where he appoints him to lead the people of Israel. Several times in this conversation God tells him to “be strong and courageous” and to back it up he tells him, “Just like I was with Moses, so I will be with you”. God actually makes the comparison between Joshua and Moses.In addition to that in 4:14, the people seem to acknowledge that he is like Moses. Scripture says, “On that day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life”.If you needed any more confirmation that Joshua is the guy, look at 5:13-15:When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.Read the full article at: https://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-10-a-prophet-like-moses/Follow the whole study of The Things Concerning Himself at:https://www.swoutfitters.com/advent/Every day, Dec. 1-25, we'll be publishing daily advePlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 9, 2024 • 5min

Advent 9 | By Any Means Necessary 2024

"Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,..." – Matthew 1:2"And one of the elders said to me, 'Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.'" – Revelation 5:5It’s Not a Love StoryIf you think your family is crazy then you really need to pay attention to Jesus’ family. Today we are going to be looking at Genesis 38. This chapter is really confusing and pretty dark. For the sake of those who might be using this to read to your children we are going to handle this in a very sensitive way. The truth of the matter that shines through is that our world is full of sin and sinful people, but that will never stop God from keeping his promises. In the lineage of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 1 there are 5 women mentioned in Jesus’ family line. During this season we are going to take a day to think through each one their parts in God’s plan for our salvation. Now we will turn our attention to the unlikely couple of Judah and Tamar.Skipping BranchesAs you remember God planned to have Judah be the tribe that would produce the kings. And since Jesus was going to be born the King of Kings, that means that Judah is going to be his great, great, great, great grandfather. So when we see that Judah has a son named Er, we automatically assume that he is going to be in the line also. However, the Bible just has one sentence about him, “But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death.” Whuh oh, now what? Well in Jewish culture they had a custom where if the oldest son died without having a baby then the wife would marry her dead husband’s brother so that they could continue the family line. This might sound really weird to us, but that is the way they did it back then. The second son’s name was Onan. However, Onan didn’t like this setup. He didn’t want his brother to get credit for his son so he wouldn’t keep up this custom. And you guessed it, God put him to death too. This is where Judah got really concerned. He only had 3 sons and his first 2 died after being married to Tamar, so he wouldn’t let his third son get married to her. He told Tamar that she needed to just stay single.This is where our story gets really crazy. Tamar was not content to just stay single, she wanted to have a child to carry on the family name, so she tricked Judah into having a baby with her by disguising herself as someone else. Then 3 months later Judah found out that she was pregnant. He was so angry and was going to have her put to death until she let him know that he, himself was actually the father. Whoa, talk about a surprise. He then realized that he had sinned before God and didn’t try to have her punished at all.We Shouldn’t Be SurprisedIsn’t it just like God to accomplish his plans in a way that we would have never guessed? As God makes it clear in Isaiah 55, his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts. As high as the heavens are above the earth so are his thoughts higher than our thoughts. He is thinking on a different plane altogether and he sees all of time from the beginning to the end. Whenever we find ourselves thinking that this isn’t what we would have done we shouldPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.
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Dec 8, 2024 • 4min

Advent 8 | Three Strikes & You're In 2024

"'Judah, your brothers shall praise you;your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;your father’s sons shall bow down before you.Judah is a lion’s cub;from the prey, my son, you have gone up.He stooped down; he crouched as a lionand as a lioness; who dares rouse him?The scepter shall not depart from Judah,nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,until tribute comes to him;and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." – Gen. 49:8-10It’s Good to Be KingEvery year at this time we read over this passage and rejoice in the fact that Jesus is born as “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” and he is. He is the promised king from Judah’s line who will have an everlasting kingdom. And if you have studied the Old Testament you know that the kings were always supposed to come from the line of Judah. The above passage is the first place where we get to see this. This is where Jacob basically lines up all of his children and speaks blessings over them.Fourth time’s the charmHere’s an honest question: did you know that Judah wasn’t the firstborn son of Jacob? If you are anything like me, you just assumed Judah had to be the firstborn because he was supposed to be the line of the kings. I thought that for a long time. It just makes sense. However, he is actually the fourth born son of Jacob. So then, what happened to the other three? The short answer is that they disqualified themselves. And what’s crazy is that even in this “blessing” passage in chapter 49 Jacob tells us the reasons.First is Reuben. He is the firstborn and should rightfully be the heir, but because he had an inappropriate relationship with one of his father’s wives he got crossed him off the list. Then we see Simeon and Levi, the next two in line. Their story is crazy, they slaughtered a whole nation of men because of how they had treated their sister. So then we are left with Judah.Grace upon graceLet’s look even closer into this. God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would bless the whole world through them. As we look over this Old Testament history we can see the way that God both narrows and expands his promises and he is doing this according to his own will. It is not because of any good that anyone is doing, it is only by his grace. Judah did not do anything to be chosen by God to be the tribe of the kings, he is just the next in line. In the next section, we will even get to see that he wasn’t even doing anything to try and preserve his own line. This should get us to focus on the real main character in all of this, which is God. When we are looking at human history we can see that God is the one who is working out his perfect will through sinful human beings.ReflectionWhat do we need to learn from this in our preparation to celebrate Christ’s birth? We need to realize that we cannot put God in a box. What I mean by that is that God does not work the way that we think he should. Isn’t it always supposed to be the firstborn son that inherits? In our human reasoning that makes sense, but that’s just not the way that God works and we can’t try to impose what we think should happen onto him. We probably would have just picked Ishmael, Esau, or Reuben to be the ones set to inherit, but God had other plans...Read the full article at Please leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.

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