Ecc. 1:5-6;9 The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. 9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
This week could be a prophetically significant week as events are unfolding throughout the world.
Last week, an Iranian ship in the Red Sea was hit supposedly by Israel whereby Iran has threatened retaliation. On Sunday, a power outage at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was caused by an act of “nuclear terrorism” Iranian officials claimed and reserved the right to take action against the perpetrators. Over the past week, Russian troops have been massing on the border of Ukraine in a region increasingly threatened by war. Meanwhile, in the United States, a major court case is being decided in Minnesota that could unleash riots throughout the country. It’s safe to say, we need to be watching carefully as these events are unfolding!
The writer of Ecclesiastes was aware of cycles in nature, how they repeat themselves. Some have noticed another interesting historical cycle that awakens our awareness at this time of year. The dates April 15th-21th contain an interesting pattern. This is a time frame that has seen the birth of much havoc in the world. Historically this is when the birth of Rome and the Roman empire took place, the birth of Napoleon, and the birth of Hitler and Nazi Germany occurred. Currently, in our day, Iranians will celebrate the birth of their leader Ali Khamenei who has called for the annihilation of the Jewish state on April 14th.
This time frame is also key in American history as these dates mark times when wars have begun; among them, The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War.
Historically, this time frame also includes when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the Titanic sank, America abandoned the gold standard, the Waco Branch Davidian debacle, the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Columbine High school massacre, the Virginia Tech shootings, the Boston Marathon bombing, and finally, the ecological disaster of BP Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Anniversaries can be positive, and awaken joyful memories, or…they can recall difficult moments which cause us to brace inwardly and wonder if some kind of trouble will arrive once again. God is the Lord of history and His purposes stand for our good in any case, so we needn’t fear the future under His care. During this season when much trouble has been seen in history, let us be watching and ready to stand in the gap and to unleash prayers as the need arises — for truly it is the season for believers to standing on the wall.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Here we have a stark word. Here we see the Lord testing Israel: “He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” [Deuteronomy 8:16]. Yet Paul says that they put Him to the test. A great irony occurs when God is testing us, and we despise His discipline, thereby testing Him.
Paul exhorts the church at Corinth about grumbling and complaining. He reminds the believers of the judgments that befell the 10 spies who brought a bad report of the land – and were struck down by a plague, and terrible fate of Korah and those aligned with him that came against Moses and Aaron and were swallowed up by the ground under them.
For the past two weeks we’ve been building life lessons derived from the Exodus wanderings and from Paul’s exhortations to the church in Corinth. Notice carefully that Paul says, “these were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come”…
…that is, written for us today! – admonitions from Paul to learn lessons from the history of the children of Israel.
For the past two weeks we have examined lessons from the OT account of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt in hope of avoiding the errors and attitudes of the children of Israel. This week we will draw connections between the Exodus and the prophecies in the book of Revelation.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve begun a series of devotions based on the Exodus wanderings of the Children of Israel, and their tragic mistakes which we can learn from and avoid. One powerful influence common to their failures was fear.
The Lord spoke to Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt to be desperately cornered with the Red sea before them and Pharaoh’s chariots advancing upon them from behind. Overwhelmed with terror they cry out to Moses, “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Having just miraculously escaped from the miserable life of slavery, and only beginning their new life of freedom, the children of Israel were faced with the most dire threat to their existence.
When Peter and John had gone up to the Temple for prayer [Acts 3], they saw a man who was lame from birth, and were moved to heal him in the name of Yeshua (Jesus). Immediately the religious leaders laid hands on them [Acts 4:3] and kept them imprisoned for a day. The following day, with boldness, they declared this miracle was done in the name of Yeshua. I love what the “religious” leaders said next — “they perceived that they were unlearned men and they marveled at their boldness!” Why were they bold? They had been with Yeshua, and the leaders took note of that!