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Recently one of the testimonies at a Missions conference was so powerful it seemed to take the breath away from the people attending. It was the story of a blind woman by the name of Pani. She was listening to the Jesus film in her village as those with their sight were watching. Pani was greatly moved when, she heard on the film, Jesus restored the sight of the blind man. When Pani heard these words she cried out, “I want to receive my sight too.” At the conclusion of the film a miracle took place. Pani could see! Jesus restored her sight! As the mission conference attendees heard this wonderful story they began to show emotion for such a miracle. They were stopped of their emotional exuberance by the missionary as he gave them a reminder. The restoration of Pani’s sight was not the greatest miracle that evening.
A greater miracle took place than the restoration of her sight. Pani received forgiveness of her sins that night by trusting Jesus as her Savior! She heard Jesus speak the sweetest words of all, “Your sins are forgiven.”
A few years ago Calvin & Hobbes were my favorite cartoon characters - Calvin, the hyper-active little boy with a wild & vivid imagination, & his companion, Hobbes, a tiger.
Well, in one cartoon Calvin & Hobbes were lying in the shade of a tree on a summer afternoon discussing the important things of life. Calvin says, "What if there is no heaven? What if this is all we get?" Hobbes answers, "Well, if this is all we get I guess we’ll just have to accept it." Calvin replies, "Yeah, but if I’m not going to be rewarded for my good deeds, I want to know it now."
NUMBERS IN THE BIBLE
Remember to use these keys when dealing whith Bible Prophecy only
Many of the numbers in the Bible have deeper prophetic or spiritual significance. Both in the Old and New Testaments, numbers reveal hidden concepts and meanings that commonly escape the casual reader. And throughout history, men with great minds, like Augustine, Isaac Newton, and Leonardo Di Vinci, showed more than just a passing curiosity regarding the importance of biblical numbers. Once more, Jesus said, “The very hairs of your head are numbered” (Matthew 10:30). So obviously, Bible numbers should be carefully considered.
At least 12 numbers in the Bible stand out in this regard: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 40, 50, and 70. In order to express this truth, one or two biblical examples have been given below. However, much more can be said on this subject, so these examples serve merely as an introduction and are not exhaustive by any means.
1 – represents absolute singleness and unity (Ephesians 4:4–6; John 17:21, 22.) (We presume readers need no more than these two citations, as most of the biblical information regarding unity and singleness is common knowledge.)
2 – represents the truth of God’s Word; for example, the law and prophets (John 1:45), two or three witnesses (2 Corinthians 13:1), and a sword with two edges (Hebrews 4:12). See Mark 6:7 and Revelation 11:3. It is also used 21 times in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
3 – represents the Godhead / Trinity. The angels cry “Holy” three times to the triune God (Isaiah 6:3). See also Matthew 28:19 and 1 John 5:7, 8.
4 – represents universal truth, as in the four directions (north, south, east, west) and the four winds (Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:1; Revelation 20:8). In acts 10:11, a sheet with four corners symbolizes the gospel going to all the gentiles.
5 – represents teaching. First, there are the five books of Moses. Second, Jesus taught about the five wise virgins and used five barley loaves used to feed the 5,000.
6 – represents the worship of man, and is the number of man, signifying his rebellion, imperfection, works, and disobedience. It is used 273 times in the Bible, including its derivatives (e.g, sixth) and another 91 times as “threescore” or “60.” Man was created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26, 31). See also Exodus 31:15 and Daniel 3:1.
The number is especially significant in the book Revelation, as “666” identifies the beast. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:18).
7 – represents perfection, and is the sign of God, divine worship, completions, obedience, and rest. The “prince” of Bible numbers, it is used 562 times, including its derivatives (e.g., seventh, sevens). (See Genesis 2:1–4, Psalm 119:164, and Exodus 20:8–11 for just a few of the examples.)
The number seven is also the most common in biblical prophecy, occurring 42 times in Daniel and Revelation alone. In Revelation there are seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven thousand slain in a great earthquake, seven heads, seven crowns, seven last plagues, seven golden vials, seven mountains, and seven kings.
10 – represents law and restoration. Of course, this includes the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20. See also Matthew 25:1 (ten virgins); Luke 17:17 (ten lepers); Luke 15:8 (healing, ten silver coins).
12 – represents the church and God’s authority. Jesus had 12 disciples, and there were 12 tribes of Israel. In Revelation 12:1, the 24 elders and 144,000 are multiples of 12. The New Jerusalem city has12 foundations, 12 gates 12 thousand furlongs, a tree with 12 kinds of fruit 12 times a year eaten by 12 times 12,000 or the 144,000. (See Revelation 21.)
40 – represents a generation and times of testing. It rained for 40 days during the flood. Moses spent 40 years in the desert, as did the children of Israel. Jesus fasted for 40 days.
50 – represents power and celebration. The Jubilee came after the 49th year (Leviticus 25:10), and Pentecost occurred 50 days after Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2).
70 – represents human leadership and judgment. Moses appointed 70 elders (Exodus 24:1); The Sanhedrin was made up of 70 men. Jesus chose 70 disciples (Luke 10:1). Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 times 7.
“Some Stings Are Worse Than Others!” 1 Samuel 18: 1-14 Key verse(s): 11-12: “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.”
Chuck Swindoll tell the story of a man who backed his bright, shiny new Cadillac out of the driveway and headed for the freeway on his daily commute to work downtown. He was busily shaving himself as he drove--a normal operation for him. I suppose he had his radio on, and he was listening to the news and traffic reports as he made his way to his office. Witnesses say that suddenly he reached up behind his neck and slumped over the wheel. The car swerved and went into a culvert, and he was killed. His car was completely demolished.
An autopsy was ordered. Ad they began to put together the details, a keen-thinking physician noticed a small pinprick behind the man’s ear where a wasp had probably flown from behind the seat, or some part of the car, and had stung him, temporarily paralyzing a particular area of the nerve and blinding him with pain. He slumped over the wheel, lost control of the car, and died. Normally a grown man with normal strength can just swat away a little wasp with no problem. But when that wasp struck its mark, it led to a fatal crash. (Swidoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes, pg. 180)
When a loved one becomes an enemy, just swatting away at the problem will seldom attain the results so necessary for the restoration of that relationship. A loved one become an enemy may be an enemy whose sting can cause long-lasting, even fatal harm to a relationship. David knew this well. Saul had taken David in as his own son. He ate at the king’s table and shared in the relationship of Saul’s family. Jealousy, however, had caused Saul’s love to turn into a hatred for David almost overnight. Saul craved fame and glory and when he saw David garnering more than him, he turned on David and tried to kill him. David had a choice. He could defend himself against these attacks and possibly make Saul’s hurts even deeper or he could flee the relationship altogether in hopes that time and separation would bring repentance and reconciliation. David chose to flee and retain h...
Author and teacher, Dr. Howard Hendricks tells the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. When there was full repentance and restoration, Dr. Hendricks asked this Christian how it felt away from the Lord. The young man said it seemed like he was out at sea, in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shore hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty, and wrong.
“But, there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go.”
In his book “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”, John Maxwell tells the story of one of the most incredible restorations in American business history. It happened at the Chrysler Corporation in the early 1980’s. Chrysler was in a mess, despite a long history of success. At one point in Chrysler’s history they had captured an incredible 25% of the entire domestic automobile market. By the time the 1970’s rolled around, the Chrysler Corporation was in a steady decline. By 1978 they only had 11% of the market. Things looked bleak. The company was headed toward bankruptcy. In November 1978, Chrysler brought a new leader to take over the company. His name was Lee Iacocca. Iacocca had just left Ford in 1978 after serving as their president. When he left Ford, the company, under his leadership, was earning record profits of 1.8 billion in each of the last two years. The task of turning around Chrysler proved to be enormous. Iacocca described the company as having been run like a small grocery store, despite its size. There were no viable financial systems or controls in place, production and supply methods were a mess, products were built poorly, and nearly all of the divisions were run by turf-minded vice presidents who refused to work as a team. Morale was very low throughout the company, customer loyalty was low, and the company continued to lose money. Iacocca did everything he knew how to turn things around. He replaced 33 of the 35 vice presidents. He brought in the best leaders he could find. He reduced as many expensed as he could. He grudgingly and humbly went before Congress for loan guarantees so that Chrysler would not go bankrupt. Finally, he reduced his own salary to $1.00 a year. Iacocca brought about a total restoration to the Chrysler Corporation. By 1983, Chrysler was able to pay back its loans. Before he retired, Chrysler had gained 16% of the market, double what it was in the first years he took over. The company has fought its way back and been restored to a growing, profitable industry.
Tithes Safe: The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals handed Crystal Evangelical Free Church a victory on 4/13/98, saying the federal bankruptcy trustee has no claim on tithe money given to the Minnesota church by a couple who later went bankrupt. This affirms the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and holds that a ’96 Supreme Court ruling striking down RFRA’s authority over state laws has no bearing when RFRA is applied to federal bankruptcy laws. Expect an appeal. Hundreds of churches are facing similar battles and one federal district court in Idaho has 90 such cases pending, mostly among Mormon churches. (Pastor’s Weekly Briefing 4/17/98)
Leonardo was “skilled at painting the difference between the sexes,” and the “delicate folded hands, and the hint of a bosom. It was, without a doubt…female.”
The reference to delicate folded hands as a proof that the figure traditionally identified as John was really Mary Magdalene is forced. In the Study for the Hands of John in the Windsor Castle Royal Collection (no. 12543), they do not appear distinctly feminine. They may be the hands of a woman, but then again they could as easily be those of a man. In The Last Supper itself, John’s hands are no less masculine than most of the other hands in the picture.
As for the hint of a bosom, this is entirely unjustified. Even if an overly fertile imagination might find such a “hint” on the character of John where his clothes are loose, on the other side, given the absence of the loose cloak, we should be able to detect even clearer evidence of a bosom, we see instead that John’s chest is conspicuously bosomless. Here again Brown’s assertion may derive from his reliance on the conspiracy book The Templar Revelation, where we read of “the tiny, graceful hand, the pretty, elfin features, the distinctly female bosom and the gold necklace” (p. 20).
Interestingly a more recent, post-1999-Last-Supper-restoration book by The Templar Revelations author Lynn Picknett now replaces the old distinctly female bosom claim, with the equally groundless assertion that there is “a dark smudge where ‘his’ breasts should be.” Picknett apparently wants us now to believe that the female bosom was originally there, but that it was subsequently rubbed out.
In a posting from ABC News (Nov 3, 2003) we read.
“Many art historians have dismissed the theory that the figure is a woman, saying it’s just a tradition to paint John as beardless and long-haired. ‘It looks like a young male. I see no breasts,’ art historian Jack Wasserman told ABCNEWS.” Wasserman is a well-known Leonardo scholar.
Finally, John’s face is admittedly effeminate, but not more so than th...
(this is a pretty cool illustration. The materials cost less than $3, and, though it was originally intended more for a junior high audience, it actually is pretty fascinating for all ages, including senior high and adults. Everyone likes to blow things up!)
Let me give you a visual. Another science experiment. Here’s two bars of soap. One is Zest – think of it as the world’s vision for a life in pursuit of personal pleasure. The other is Ivory – think about it as God’s vision for a morally pure life. It even says right here on the side – “100% Pure”
(have a volunteer unwrap a bar of each kind of soap and put them in a large, clear container. I used a 5-gallon storage bin from our church kitchen. The bin is originally empty except for the soap, but I pour in about six pitchers of water while I’m talking about the “tides of life rising around you”. Ivory floats, Zest does not.)
Now, lets try a couple of things. First, water. Think about this water as the difficulties life. Trying to pay all the bills with not enough money. Making yourself be responsible and go to work when you would rather go to the lake and forget about it all. Paying for braces for your kids instead of getting a ski boat for yourself. All your life you struggle trying desperately to do all the right things with too little resources. This isn’t the life you imagined – this isn’t fun – this is trying to just hang on another day. This is trying to keep from drowning. What kind of life will keep you afloat? Oddly enough, it isn’t a life lived seeking personal pleasure. That’s just not good enough when the waters rise. There is no hope in a life lived in pursuit of pleasure. Believe me, when you are feeling overwhelmed, drowning in the details of life, what you need most is hope. There was a movie once, called “Hope Floats.” It’s true. The hope that God gave us will keep you afloat, but you have to accept the gift and take it inside you, live the life demanded by a restoration with God.
(now have a volunteer unwrap another bar of each type of soap and put them in a small bowl each. Put them both in a microwave at the same time and turn it on high for about a minute and a half. Make sure the microwave is one that lights up and you can see things through the door while they cook. The Zest just gets soft. The ivory foams and grows to several times its original size.)
Next, let’s heat things up. Think about this microwave as those things that go way beyond the day-to-day troubles of life. I’m talking about tragedy striking. A drive-by shooting of someone you love. I’m talking about discovering you have cancer. I’m talking about emotional and physical abuse, or someone in your family who has and alcohol or drug problem. Those things we talked about earlier that people are hoping to overcome this Christmas. Tragedy that comes like fire to burn you up. When the fire comes, you will either melt down, or grow and be transformed. It’s the hope inside you that makes the difference.
You see, there’s something different about Ivory than about any other kind of soap. Once, a long time ago, a factory worker at a soap-making plant fell asleep and left a machine on far too long. This particular machine was responsible for mixing up all the ingredients in the soap while it was still liquid. Left on too long, the machine actually began to whip the liquid. Just like making eggs into meringue, if you whip the liquid too long, you begin to mix in air, tiny bubbles. Ivory is full of microscopic air bubbles. These bubbles keep the soap afloat. These bubbles expand when heated.
These bubbles are like hope. Hope keeps you afloat when the waters of life threaten to drown you. Hope transforms you when tragedy strikes and threaten to consume you.
At a Danish Protestant Church, the congreagtion always turned and bowed before a white blank wall. Why? Custom for the local Church goers: After a restoration of interior wall; A pre reformation mural of the Virgin Mary was found. A Catholic custom of bowing to the Virgin had survived 300 years even after the reformation.
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