From the Womb

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Psalm 22:9-10 NIVUK

David made the confident assertion that his relationship with God started when he was born. In fact, he stated that he was “cast on [God]” at that nascent point in his life. A new life, full of potential, and with God’s hand upon him, how could he ever fail? And writing here David is much older and wiser, but testifying to his start in life. God was there at his birth and while being fed by his mother, and God was still with David much later as Psalm 22 rolled off his pen. 

Was David being singled out for special treatment by God? Did God know that He would have to be proactive in David’s upbringing, ensuring that he would be the right person for Israel’s king? When a child is brought into the world, the potential for a great man or woman of God is there, but not many will achieve the lofty heights of kingship. So, how is that potential realised during a child’s upbringing? In David’s culture, much of that was down to the mother, who nurtured the child, sung songs of praise and worship, prayed, told the Bible stories, and taught the child in the ways of God. The Jewish father also led the family in prayers and teaching, reminiscing over meals about the great acts of God in their heritage, the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea and so on. A Jewish boy’s education would also have been steeped in the Hebrew Bible of that time. In David’s case he progressed from childhood into manhood but he took with him all that he had been taught, and, most importantly, he started to work in his father’s business, tending sheep for long hours and in the process he developed the skills necessary for life as well as honing his relationship with God. And he wrote Psalm 8:1-2, “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you“. In those long nights he looked up and saw the canopy of the heavens in all its glory, and he wrote, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known”(Psalm 19:1-2). But it all started as a new born baby in his mother’s arms, with God looking on.

There are other examples of God raising up a man for a particular purpose, and Moses comes to mind. But there was a special Man born two thousand or so years ago who was the Son of God. His mission has changed the course of history, and is still doing so as the End Times loom ever nearer. On that day, Heaven touched earth in the arms of a peasant teenager called Mary, bringing a Life that climaxed thirty three years later on a cross at Calvary, birthing something else that we call the Church. But that’s for another day.

The birth of David would not have appeared in his memory of course, but his parents would have reminded him about his Godly origins. It stresses the important role that a parent has in bringing up children. Those early years of nurture and teaching will make or break a child’s future, because what is sown in the first few years will set the course of their lives ahead. It is so sad that parents will often abdicate their responsibilities and sit the child before a television, potentially filling their minds with all the wrong information. And our schools, colleges, and politicians today seem more intent on propagating ideologies that are just plain wrong. We pray for our country, that God will once again visit us bringing conviction of sin and salvation. We need You, God! Our politicians need You. Our teachers need You. We all need You. Come Lord Jesus!

God does not prefer one person over another, as Paul reminded us in Romans 2:11, “For God does not show favouritism“. We are all equal before God and, most importantly, before the Cross. But people will have different abilities, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents. We can read it in Matthew 25, but here is verse 15, “He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip“. Notice the phrase “in proportion to their abilities”. God doesn’t expect more from us than we are able to give. The first two servants, even though they had different abilities, heard their Master say, “well done, my good and faithful servant”. But we need to use what God has given us to the best of our ability, being aware of the ultimate fate of the third servant. 

Many people will try one day to blame their upbringing for their status in life. Although there is some truth in that, we have a wonderful God who is able to redeem our past, and restore the years the locust has eaten. We may experience many fruitless years in this life, but God is patient and knows our hearts. One day He will bring us through to His presence. But in the meantime, we listen for God’s voice and we obey His instructions. We are on Planet Earth for the just the time as this. There is an opportunity to reach our generation for Jesus, using the gifts the Holy Spirit planted within us from our mothers’ wombs. We may never see the fruit of our labours this side of eternity, but I think we may be surprised when we find souls coming to us one day thanking us for our perseverance and willingness to share our faith. We trust God with our future, as David did. And with him we proclaim that he is our God. Forever.

Dear Father God. We trust You with our lives, and one day we pray in faith that we too will hear those words “well done” from the Master Himself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Time for Giving Birth

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labour pains and the agony of giving birth.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭12:1-2 NLT

John’s writings about his vision continued. He saw, witnessed even, “an event of great significance”. And he proceeded to describe what he saw. His vision of the woman must have been delivered to him with some considerable help. Otherwise how would he have known that she was wearing the sun, was standing on the moon, had a crown of twelve stars and was pregnant. Heavily pregnant, probably, because she was in the final stages of labour. And he knew he was about to witness something special.

The second sentence of today’s verses describes what the woman looked like, and we have to look back into Scripture to find out what the sun, moon and stars refer to. Taking the woman’s clothing, probably a cloak, it was described as being made of the “sun”. A mystery perhaps, until we find that in Malachi 4:2 Malachi prophesied, “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” In the context of the chapter in Malachi, he was referring to the event in the End Times when the day of God’s judgement arrives. We read also in the same chapter in Malachi, “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.” (Malachi 4:5). This fits in well with the context in John’s Revelation, having just read the previous chapter and heard that the blowing of the seventh trumpet preceded the establishment of God’s Kingdom. We remember that the elders’ prayer included the statement “but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead”. So straight away we get the picture that being clothed in the Sun can mean nothing else other than being clothed in Jesus, the Christ, Himself. There is also a connection between Jesus’ righteousness and clothing. For Job said, “Everything I did was honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban”. (Job 29:14).

In our verses today, we see that the woman is standing on the moon. At least we are told that it is beneath her feet. This is enough to see that in this context, the moon was something inferior, something beneath where the woman was at. Perhaps we could consider the moon as being her footstool. It may be another way of pointing out that God’s enemies are beneath His feet. We read in Psalm 110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honour at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” 

What are the crown of twelve stars that the woman in wearing? Again, we consider the number twelve, which refers to two important groups in the Bible. The twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles. In this context, the twelve stars possibly means that the “woman” represents the Messiah’s Jewish roots and His subsequent extended family, the Church, founded by the Apostles. So the woman was cloaked in God’s righteousness, with her enemies her footstool, and she was wearing ID on her head, defining the roots of her very being. John’s Revelation seems to support the view that the End Times are very much connected to Christ’s Church, so we’ll take the perspective that the baby to come refers to events yet to happen. And the Jews and Gentiles will one day be united into Jesus’ wonderful Bride, the Church.

So the question now is, what is the gestation period of Jesus’ Church? Two thousand years or so have passed already, more if we include the Jewish years before the birth of Jesus. But the pregnancy has been difficult. Our enemy, the devil, has done his utmost to destroy the church. But the pregnancy has continued regardless. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it“. If Jesus said it than it will happen. There is no power available to the devil that can destroy His Church. But he keeps trying, which is why we pilgrims have to be constantly on our guards. We cannot relax, even for a minute. Note if the twelve stars that formed the woman’s crown were the Apostles, Peter was one of them.

In John’s vision, the woman is about to give birth. The gestation period is over. Labour pains are increasing, and the woman is experiencing the agony of child birth. John’s vision is clear and concise. The only thing missing from it is the “when”. And that is something we pilgrims pray about, that we too will be birthed as part of Jesus’ Church, when the time comes.

Dear Lord Jesus. We thank You that You said that You will build Your Church. Nothing will frustrate Your plans and purposes. We praise and worship You today. Amen.