Gen 41:45a And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah (“Decipherer of Secrets”);
Joseph interpreted dreams and revealed their meaning to those around him, and so Pharaoh gave him the name Tsofnat Paneach (Zaphnathpaaneah), which means the “Decipherer or Revealer of Secrets.” Yeshua (Jesus), at his first advent, coming as the suffering servant or otherwise known as “Mashiach ben Yosef,” also came revealing secrets, not as an interpreter of dreams, but as one who disclosed the secrets of men.
Yeshua’s teaching consistently exposed the innermost thoughts of the heart, forcing them into the light. As the living Word of God, His words, like a sword, cut through deception and went straight to the motives of men. Exposing sin through deep conviction, He presents the opportunity for real and sincere confession. He can then remove those sins through His atoning death.
Yeshua’s insight and the conviction of His word are a gift. If He probes you in the secret places, it’s only because He loves you so much and because He wants to reveal His grace and power to cleanse you. When you read His Word or seek Him in prayer, don’t be surprised if you discover some of your own secrets, things you may have even hidden from yourself. He will reveal what He wants you to see, what He wants you to confess, and what He wants to help you change. And then, you will also discover a “secret” love He was waiting to show you.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Laodicea was an idyllic city except for its lack of a water supply. It depended on water from an external source, the city of Hierapolis was located six miles to the north, the site of mineral hot springs which were used for medicinal purposes. These steaming hot waters were piped to Laodicea, arriving there… lukewarm, hence the metaphor in Yeshua’s warning to the Laodicean church.
The church at Laodicea received a stern warning in chapter 3 of John’s Revelation. We would do well to reflect on it.
The word “Laodicea” is a compound in the Greek; “Laos” which principally means “people”, and “dike”, defined as “principle or decision”. One rendering might read, “rule of the people”, or, in modern terms, “Democracy”. In the western world, we have an affection and even a deep commitment to Democracy. Yet this form of government, “rule of the people” is fatally flawed… because we are fatally flawed by our sin nature…
As we continue to probe the lessons from the salt covenant, we now inquire into our part in the covenant.
Yeshua (Jesus) said He is the “bread of life”. It was His body that was broken on our behalf as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. Notice that He never once called us to be the “bread of life”! He is the ONLY “Bread of Life” – the true bread who came down from Heaven which anyone may eat and not die. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is His flesh, given for the life of the world.
For years, when I visited my father-in-law’s home in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, we would break bread and bless the bread with the traditional blessing – “Baruch Ata Adonai Eleheynu Melech HaOlam Ha-Motzi Lechem Min Ha’aretz” – which translated means,”Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us bread from the earth”. After the blessing, my father-in-law would take salt and sprinkle the challah bread as he broke and passed it to everyone at the table.
One day a passerby saw a homeless man on the roadside. He stopped for a moment to hand him some loose change and casually said “God bless you, my friend”.
“I thank God,” said the homeless man, “I am never unhappy.”
Here in Israel we have an interesting geographical phenomenon – there are two landlocked seas. One is alive and one is dead. The sea full of life is the Kinneret, better known as the Sea of Galilee. The dead sea is…….you guessed it, the Dead Sea. Now the Kinneret is constantly emptying as it flows through the Jordan River valley…. into the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea does not empty its water at all. Instead, the Dead Sea is continually shrinking, because the intense heat at this lowest place on Earth actually evaporates more water than is flowing in. Do you see a parable here?