Perilous Times Are Here
Stick Figure in Peril by Flickr User Kenneth Kiffer Fong, CC License = Attribution, Noncommercial
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Because peril is a serious subject, let me start out with some lighter fare. The image above is from a Flickr group called Stick Figures in Peril. People post images of warning signs, and then group members comment on them. For example, on the above image, someone wrote, “Skipping like a girl will get you shot.” It’s a fun group since some of the warning signs are not exactly evident, especially if they’re in languages other than English. Plus, many of the stick figure warnings look less like people, so they will not have gender or age issues, and the comments often make fun of the figures themselves. For example, many will say something like, “Don’t do this, or you’ll end up with a detached head and no hands.” The older images have more comments of course.
As for the serious subject, we have this warning in 2 Timothy 3:1 (KJV): “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” In other Bible versions, the words used instead of perilous include hard, grievous, terrible, distressing, difficult, terrifying, dangerous and trying. Some versions are more detailed and give other descriptions. They say there will be times of stress, much trouble, times of difficulty, and violent periods of time. In The Living Bible (TLB), Paul speaks to Timothy this way…
You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian.
And so it will be, and so it is, but what kinds of peril do we most often hear reported or complained about these days? Stepping away from what the Bible calls “perilous” for a moment, let’s think about some troublesome times I’ve heard about just in my lifetime. My grandfather worked three part-time jobs before he came into a career. It was difficult to find full-time work, and even with all the jobs he put in, it was hard for him to feed his family. His family of five shared a small travel trailer on a lot, and their most frequent meal was pinto beans and fried potatoes. (Those years did teach my grandma how to make the best beans and potatoes though, hence my strong desire for those foods now.)
Anyway, those were truly difficult times, but my grandparents persevered until they were able to buy a home. Once they both has jobs, times got much easier for them. They went from a hand-dug pool to a professional pool, and eventually they got a retirement home with riverfront property. But even when times were better, they were frugal and thrifty about most things, like only using the pot belly stove for heat while everyone was awake. I lived with them for some of those days, and only using upstairs heat meant my downstairs bedroom was really cold, but it also meant a few more times out to eat too.
When people complain about being poor in today’s society, it usually means they can’t afford a smart phone with an unlimited plan, a flat screen television, and premium cable. They feel left out if they don’t have a computer and high-speed Internet. Oh, and don’t even think of telling them to be satisfied if they don’t have steak for dinner and a refrigerator full of 2-liters. Where my mom and her siblings would’ve been grateful for hot dogs to go with their beans and potatoes, people are selling their food stamps for cigarettes and then griping if they run out of soda. I’m telling the truth here. And I’m not saying everyone should have to deal with eating from food banks where you get mostly canned mixed vegetables (I still think Veg-All is disgusting) and off-brand mac and cheese. I’m just saying that people complain when they could have it much worse. They could have to work for a living and still struggle for beans and potatoes.
Now, though, let me tell you what the Bible calls perilous times. I’ll share 2 Timothy 3:1-5 from The Message Bible…
Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people.
The KJV Bible lists the last of verse 4 and first of verse 5 like this…
“…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
And doesn’t that explain perfectly why we are where we are in the last days? The real power of God can change everything. Religion is a form of godliness and only changes some things. Ethereal power (angels, miracles, etc.) have their place, but that’s still not the power people deny. The power too many of us are missing now is truth and balance; trusting that God is on His throne, in control, and absolutely knows best even when we don’t understand. We put too many things in our own thoughts and understanding, so we end up with statistics like those shown in a recent article where 63% of active Christians think sex outside of marriage is fine. The article calls them “sexual atheists” and makes very good points.
Yes, perilous times are here in so many ways, but if you know Yahveh as your Lord and Savior, you know from His word that none of this comes as a surprise to Him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and is just as able to deliver us from these end times as He was to deliver Israel from her enemies of old. He can and will govern our lives and minds if we let Him. We have the power of His Holy Spirit to carry us through. His wisdom from Proverbs 3:5-6 (Amplified Bible) gives us a perfect promise…
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
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The Future of Israel–Part I
12 Tribes Road Signs by Flickr User Zeevveez
Click the image to visit this user’s photo stream. He has interesting blogs and books on the Star of David and have even blogged on some of my 6 point kaleidoscope images.
Today’s reading from Genesis 49:1 through Genesis 49:18 covers the prophecies from Israel to the first seven of his sons. Those written of here were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Isaachar, and Dan. Not all of the prophecies for the futures of these sons look like blessings, so I imagine that some of them were hard for Jacob to speak to them. It’s always hard for parents to tell their children the truth, but the lack of truth will do more harm than good, so it’s one of those necessary things. Of course, speaking the future as something negative and without hope may not be the best way to encourage someone either, so it goes back to a saying I heard many years ago, and something I suggest people apply when editing writing for others: Honesty without compassion is cruelty. You’ll have to read it for yourself to decide if the words are honest and compassionate or just honest.
I am actually finishing this post a day later because it was important to me to spend time on the phone with my uncle from Arizona. He was celebrating his 65th birthday, but we also had a lot to talk about concerning his son, my first cousin, who is younger than me but has suffered first from a bad bout of “Valley Fever” (a fungal lung infection that required multiple surgeries), and then suffered two strokes. He’s younger than me, and strokes don’t run in the family, so we think they were side effects of the Fluconozole they put him on for the infection, but regardless of the cause, he has been hospitalized since March. Please keep Chance Robertson in your prayers, not only for physical healing, but that he will use these events to make God the most important part of his life. My uncle has a neighbor who has been bringing Scriptures to him since he has been able to read again, and my uncle is in a place where he prays a lot and says he is willing to change in whatever ways God directs him. That is a great change and blessing to my heart, and it brings me right into what was going on with Jacob and his sons.
I’m sure Jacob would like to have said nothing but good to each of his sons, as any parent would like to do with their children. And I’m sure that even with the news that didn’t seem so good, he would like to have said that each of them would have an opportunity to repent and get it right. Of course, we don’t really know if there was more said, and it is my hope that those who made bad decisions did so with open eyes and minds if they chose to reject God.
So, in brief, Jacob said that Reuben was his first born and the strength of his first offspring, but because he had no self-control and climbed into his father’s bed with one of his concubines, he lost ground and would not have the full strength he should have had. This is the one that bothers me the most because I always hurt for those bad decisions that have consequences that cannot be taken back. All the repentance in the world cannot remove a child conceived by an illicit sexual relationship, and really we should look at the fruit of every sinful seed we plant in this light. We do not receive the true price for our sins (the wages of sin is death) if we give them over to Christ, but they still bear fruit we need to consider. In this case, Reuben missed out on strength he could have had.
Jacob also speaks to Simeon and Levi of losing out because of their uncontrolled anger. They plotted together to kill a man in anger (for raping their sister), but it also says they were cruel and killed animals. Yikes! Their price is being scattered and divided.
Next we get 5 verses on Judah. Remember that our Messiah Yahshua (Jesus) is The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Verse 9 speaks of him as a lion’s cub, a lioness, and a lion on a mountain with prey. The next verse says he will lead and rule until “Shiloh” (meaning Messiah or the peaceful one so the word might actually be another use of “Shalom”) will come from him. It goes on to say people would obey this leadership. Verse 11 seems prophetic of Yahshua in that it says his colt will be tied to a vine (see Mark 11:2 just before the triumphal entry into Jerusalem). It goes on to say that his clothes will be washed in wine and in the blood of grapes. Of course, I’m not sure of the ending words to him of his eyes being darker and more sparkling than wine & his teeth whiter than milk.
The word to Zebulun is that he would be a harbor for lost ships; to Isaachar that he would be a strong donkey crouching between sheepfolds (maybe the Messianic Jews, but I can’t say since I’m not a trained scholar); and to Dan that he would be a judge of his people and a horned snake in the path. Maybe someday, if I remember once I’m in God’s presence for eternity, I’ll ask what some of these prophesies represent, but in the meantime, I’ll be satisfied to receive only what God thinks I need to know. Still, I will search because of what it says in Proverbs 25:2 that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings to search it out.
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December 17, 2013 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, future, Genesis, God, Holy Bible, Israel, Jacob, last days, Lord, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, prophesy, Scripture, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yahveh, Yahweh | Leave a comment