We pray for the Peace of Israel, Psalm 122
The Ninth Day of Christmas
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
Why do we still Celebrate 12 Days of Christmas?
A Pilgrimage, once the decorating, the cooking, wrapping, joys of Christmas have ended, we have time to reflect on Christmas, when God changed the earth forever.
Christmas, comes again. Scripture repeats and repeats. To remind us, even as life changes, we see in the changes represented in Genesis, Kings and Chronicles. Nothing is new within mankind. God is not depressed or surprised. He gives us His Word that we do not give ourselves completely to mankind. And He calls His Word Good News. We have knowledge and sometimes despair, but God is calling us to have Joy.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
5 And He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.”
Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Oh, if only Zechariah had been quiet when the presence of Gabriel announced the Joyful Plan of God to bless Zechariah, Elizabeth and all mankind! And yet, the nature of mankind is repeated and repeated.
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls bare witness
to the perfidy of mankind
Genesis 15
7 And He said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
8 But Abram said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful
and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
Pilgrimage -
a journey to know
the God of Love better.
Even the Prodigal Son
is a pilgrimage
One of the most disliked Scripture verses is in the Gospel of Luke's 14th Chapter.
Luke 14:25-27
Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Would Jesus explain? Sometimes Jesus let the disciples get into a huddle and say the most unenlightened things before He would teach again.
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Suppose our Father, the God of Love, decided not to ask for Justice and Righteousness and worshiping Him with all our hearts? Suppose the mercy of God decided to just say, “It's all good,” to both Abram and Zechariah. Abram, Zechariah are just sheep without a shepherd's brain in them. They just need to roll with their questions and have all the good vibes they could soak up.
"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night"
St. Bette Davis
And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, 5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, 7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” 11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child's manner of life, and what is his mission?”
And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” 16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?”
18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful * ?” 19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works [works of the Lord] wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.
20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. 22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.” 24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol [ = tribe of Judah, villages and western foothills].
We have seen the Book of Judges. When mankind did as they thought, right and wrong suited them. It's not the same ending Billy Graham liked to cheer and encourage us for the entire scope of the Word of the Lord and the Good News. What happened when mankind decided what was right and wrong themselves? Eve would remember, and her DNA is in all of mankind.
Judges 16
28 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.” 29 And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.”
Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it.
So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.
31 Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.
People say they really don't enjoy reading Moses: Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Because the Lord explains our souls into situations that are unpleasant and wordy. And yet, when mankind rules itself on right and wrong - - - we experience the end of The Book of Judges. A man, a godly man, for the time, maybe, allows his concubine to be brutally gang raped and murdered by a rape, violently oriented mob. It seems the entire town had gone mad with all sex accepted lust and murder. Crime was allowed to become widescale horror. And then the man is offended! They killed the woman he put in such a terrible situation. A family tribal fight turns into a war. The wonderful tribe of Benjamin, beloved of Jacob, is wiped from the face of the earth. So the other tribes decide to go to war, pillaging and enslaving young women to be forced to bear the children of whatever is left of the Tribe of Benjamin.
All of this sounds like the history of mankind, after plagues and during recovery.
As for me and my house, I certainly hope and pray we will serve the Lord. And in doing so, accept His Authority. When mankind accepts The Authority of the Lord God Almighty:
Luke 1:5-25
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
Genesis 21
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
… Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Matthew 1: 21
… His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Might God,
… The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace Isaiah 9:6
… God hath made that same Jesus… both Lord & Christ Acts 2:36
… Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world! John 1:29
…they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, the song of The Lamb Revelation 15:3
… Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah Revelation 5:5
..and the Bright & Morning Star Revelation 22:16
..and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life 1 John 1:1
…we have and advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ The Righteous 1 John 2:1
…whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us. Luke 1:78
… Before Abraham, I Am. John 8:58
… And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. John 1: 34
…are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 1 Peter 2:25
… We have found the Messiah which, is being interpreted, the Christ. John 1:41
… I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6
…through the knowledge of the Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 2: 20
..a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Revelation 19:16
… I am the Light of the World. John 8:12
… The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world… John 1:9
… I am Alpha & Omega the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come
The Almighty Revelation 1:8
Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Abba, Father,
May the God of hope fill us all, everyone,
with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
we may abound in hope.
Dwell in me,
Dwell in us,
Dwell in those we Love,
Help us to seek You first.
And we will finish well, in Jesus Christ.
Help us find and bring
to become
more Heaven
to this earth.
The Lord,
The Almighty,
Our Father,
Bless,
Save,
Secure
and Uphold
those who had no
Christmas in
Israel.
And Ukraine.
Those here with us.
We know:
Our God is working. His Son,
Jesus is working.
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