Passover and A Betrayal

I think most people have a general idea of what Passover means - we've heard the stories about Pharaoh and the plagues, and how God used the last plague to kill all the firstborn children...except for those who believed in God, those houses he passed over and the children were saved.

But, if you dig a little you can find out some interesting things.  First - the last plague fell on Egyptians and Israelites alike if they did not follow God's instructions.  He was bringing judgement for sin, but mercifully providing a way of escape.

The instructions (Exodus 12):

• Take a Lamb...but it had to be perfect (no deformities), year-old, and a male.
• Kill the Lamb...but it had to be done at the right time.
• Blood on the Door...now wipe the blood from the lamb on the door posts and frames.
• Stay Inside...don't go outside until morning.
• No Broken Bones...you can eat the meat, but not outside, and don't break any of the bones.
• I Will Pass Over...when God's judgement came, He would pass over any house who obeyed.

With the passover, a lamb died in place of the firstborn children, and the Israelites were delivered from their slavery in Egypt.  Passover is a time to remember being protected by the blood of the unblemished male lamb.  The symbolism of this just starts to pour out as we read the beginning of how Jesus comes to be betrayed and put to death on the cross.

He's betrayed by Judas Iscariot....one of the disciples chosen by Jesus just three years earlier.  (Interesting note - 1000 years before this time, King David wrote about this in Psalm 41:9 "Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.")

Only the book of Matthew (probably because he used to be a tax collector) records the exact amount that Judas accepted to betray Jesus...30 silver coins.  The exact price of a slave...some places I read say that it's the compensation for a dead slave.

False Prophets

Yesterday I was watching the National Geographic channel, and there was a show called "Inside a Cult".  They followed along and made a documentary about how the people in this cult believed that their leader is Jesus Christ the Messiah, returned to earth.  They walk around, quote scripture, sing their praises of God...and call their cult leader "Father".

It's absolutely frightening how they use the Word of God...and tweak it oh so slightly for their own purposes.  They've consumed the lives of so many broken people looking for something to fill the void in their lives...and this "leader" has torn apart mothers from their children by deception and false teaching.

After reading Matthew 23 and 24, I'm convinced that those pages must have been torn out of the cult's bible...because how do you read the words we have yesterday and today, then still believe that guy when he says he's Jesus Christ???

If you wanted to look up and read more about the cult and their self-proclaimed leader, do a google search for strongcity.org  You can read some of the things posted there...but please do so with a closed mind to what they say there.  Be discerning in your research.  I am purposefully NOT including a link, because I don't want anyone who randomly comes across this blog to think in any way shape or form that I am associated with that group of lost souls.

The Meaning of a Name

At the end of Matthew 22 Jesus finally turns the table on the Pharisees and asks them who they thought the Messiah was.  The Pharisees knew that the Messiah would be a decendant of David, but they didn't know it would be God himself.

I'm going back to my book, The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.  There's a page in there that goes through the different names used to describe Jesus in the Bible.  It's a good explanation, so I hope someone else gets something from this like I did...

"The Bible records many instances of prophets who lived long before the birth of Jesus, who wrote with unerring accuracy about his coming.  Isaiah recorded this 700 years before the birth of Jesus...
For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  (Isaiah 9:6)
Note how the child is called Mighty God.  There are many other names that describe aspects of the Lord's character:

Son of God:  This name is a metaphor with no physical implications.  It simply means Jesus had the nature of God, in contrast to a son of Adam who had a sin nature.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his [God's] being... (Heb 1:3)

Son of Man:  This name was used to emphasize Jesus' humanity and declare his identity.  For centuries, scholars recognized this term as referring to The Annointed One.  When the above two names are combined, they find their complete expression in the fact that...He [God] was made visible in human flesh... (I Tim 3:16)

The Word:  God didn't just tell us about himself, he showed himself to us.  The spoken word became the living Word.   In the beginning was the Word,...and the Word was God. ...The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  (John 1:1,14)

God came to earth to personally explain how man could be saved from eternal death.  Think of it this way.  You see a bull-dozer clearing a road, but in it's path lies an anthill.  You know the ants are about to be destroyed, but what can you do about it?  The only andswer would be to become and ant and warn them in the way ants warn each other of impending danger.

...Jesus came into the world to save sinners...   (1 Tim 1:15)"