Do You Notice the Little Details

The suffering Savior.  Psalms 22 is familiar to most.  It mentions being forsaken, being poured out like water, being pierced in His hands and feet, being in extreme thirst and asphyxiation, being naked while they cast lots for His garments.  These are the details only God knew!

Let’s look a little closer.  Psalm 22:2 has some details that may have gone unnoticed.  “O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.”  Read it before?  See anything different?  Any details?  Recall the crucifixion record in the gospels?  Luke 23 says that Jesus hung on that old rugged cross from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon.  At noon darkness fell over the whole land until 3 p.m.  The first three hours of the crucifixion it was day; the last three hours was like night!  Does Psalm 22:2 look any different now?  Little details?

Six hours on a cross so we could spend eternity with God!  There is no greater love; no greater sacrifice!

"Jesus answered, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me". John 14:6   This is a bold assertion of Deity.  You cannot find your way to heaven on your own!  All roads do not lead to heaven.  In the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches about the way to heaven.  "Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it".  Matthew 7:13-14   Do you have a false assurance or salvation?  Believing in Jesus is the only way to heaven.  It is one thing to confess with your mouth verses your actions.

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Hungry For News

When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming over the crest of the hill, with that big multi-colored coat flapping in the wind, looking like royalty, they hatched a plan without a moment of hesitation, look at pretty boy; let’s kill him!   This poor teenager, daddy’s favorite, was about to encounter the Yiddish ‘twilight zone’.   Beaten, thrown in a dry well, and sold into slavery for a half pound of silver; Joseph was seeing firsthand how brotherly love didn’t work to his advantage!   For all his brothers knew, Joseph was sold at the slave market, never to be heard from again.   This violent turn of events launched Joseph into a trajectory that caused him to land in Egypt.  Into the second most powerful seat in Egypt!

Twenty years without a letter from home is a long time! Joseph wondered how the family was doing.  Who had been sick, who had married, who had died and who had moved away?  So many questions, so few answers.  No news is unsettling!  Would you have given the family a second thought after what had transpired?   To be fair, Joseph’s family didn’t know where or who he was.  A severe famine in Joseph’s hometown brought his brothers to Egypt to buy food.   Joseph recognized his brother’s, but they didn’t recognize the powerful ruler before them.   He was hungry for news from home, but played his role wisely.   When he finally revealed himself to his brothers, they were terrified.  What would happen to them?   Had it been anyone other than Joseph, it might have been their final day.   Joseph decided to forgive and forget and told them of God’s plan. Joseph told them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  Genesis 50:20

God uses people’s evil actions to sometimes fulfill His ultimate plan.    God is sovereign. His plans are not dictated by human actions.  “So, then it was not you who sent me here (Egypt), but God.” Genesis 50:20.  

 Bottom line

“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”  Psalm 56:11

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Wood For Worms

Wormwood: ever heard of it?  The King James Version mentions hemlock twice, but some modern versions translate the word inquestion as ‘Poisonous weed’ or ‘wormwood’.  Wormwood sounds like a wormy-like critter that gnaws on wood.  Wormwood is actually a bitter herb known to botanists as (Artemisia absinthium).  Legal in many countries it is used in: alcoholic beverages such as Vermouth, in medicines to treat digestive problems, and other remedies.  It was actually popularized by several famous artists; Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, Monet, and others.  Wormwood is a plant with a very bitter taste, and stands for the bitterness of God’s judgment.  

 
Some people have thoughts that Wormwood was the destruction of Chernobyl.  D.C.  Comic miniseries “Kingdom Come” has a fictional character named “Wyrmwood” their Secretary General of the United Nations, that calls down a nuclear strike to rid the world of metahumans (whatever they are?).  Big science fiction.  There are other oddities out there, too numerous to mention.  Be aware.  References to Wormwood in the Bible are almost always metaphorical, e.g. Amos 5:3-5 “For the lips of an adulterous drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword.  Her feet go down to earth; her steps lead straight to the grave”.  Want more?  Read Deuteronomy 29:17-18, Jeremiah 9:13-16, 1 Corinthians 15:46, Revelation 8:10-11.         

Wormwood is mentioned several times in the Old and New Testament.  It was known for its bitter, unpleasant taste.  It came to symbolize sorrow, tragedy, and even cruelty.  The famous writer C.S. Lewis wrote a fictional book called ‘The Screwtape Letters’.  It’s about the correspondence between two devils, one of whom is named Wormwood.  He has been “assigned” a human being, and his job is to poison the mind of the human assigned to him.  Many think C.S. Lewis took this imagery from the book of Revelation 8:8-11, where a star named Wormwood fell from heaven and poisoned the waters on the earth.  Believable, you better believe it!  Jesus had John the Baptist as His precursor.  Wormwood has Hollywood and its prima donnas to influence not to mention those who “wish us harm”!  Be aware!

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