Rabbi’s Reflections – Monday, December 28, 2020
Shalom,
This week I’ll be visiting with family. In anticipation of that, I asked Raymond Finney to write some extra RRs, and he did. Here is the first of 3 “bonus” RRs by my friend, Raymond Finney.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Mon 28-Dec-2020 13th of Tevet, 5781
Ge 48:10-16 2 Sa 17 Ps 89 Lk 11:1-28 (2 Co 12)
Week 1
Memory Verse: Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about events not yet seen, in holy fear prepared an ark for the safety of his household. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
* 1 12/28 Monday: Genesis 1-2
2 12/29 Tuesday: Genesis 3-4
3 12/30 Wednesday: Genesis 6-7
4 12/31 Thursday: Genesis 8-9
5 1/1 Friday: Job 1-2
What Time Is It? Part 1 section A by Dr. Raymond Finney
INTRODUCTION: In this RR series, I ask one of the most important questions ever asked: “What time is it?” A person’s answer may determine his/ her eternal future.
Adonai is a meticulous Timekeeper. His creation, the Universe, is intricately conceived and marvelously regulated with mathematical precision. As Albert Einstein said, “God does not play dice with the Universe.” That is, everything is carefully planned and nothing is left to chance. Adonai said of Himself (Isaiah 46:9-10): “Remember the former things of old: for I am God– there is no other. I am God, and there is none like Me– declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient time, what is yet to come, saying, My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all that I please.”
God cannot be surprised. He has known from the moment of creation what would now be happening. He has a plan– a plan that will be completed, and completed on His precise schedule. In His plan, He has a complex timetable for events that will be fulfilled. In His timetable, He has plans for the return of Yeshua and for the descent of New Jerusalem (from Heaven) to Earth. He longs to have as many men and women join in and enjoy His plan as answer His call.
We worry too much about things we cannot change. Yeshua told us to let God be God, and stop trying to micromanage Him (Matthew 6:25): “So I say to you, do not worry about your life– what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?” Yeshua continued this teaching in verses 26-34 of Matthew, chapter 6 (not reproduced, here, due to space limitations). In this RR, I wish to mention a few things to activate our thought process as to where we may be in God’s calendar and, even more importantly, what we should be doing with the time allotted to us. Concerning time, consider a few more Scriptures:
● (Genesis 1:14): Then God said, “Let lights in the expanse of the sky be for separating the day from the night. They will be for signs and for seasons and for days and years. “Seasons” translates the Hebrew “Mo’ed” (two syllables). Mo’ed implies an appointed, even sacred season. The Jewish calendar is frustrating in that the Feasts of Israel occur on different dates in successive years because they are based on a lunar calendar (movement of a heavenly light, the moon), not the more rigid, fixed-date Western (Gregorian) calendar.
● (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 14): For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven:…. |…| I* know that everything that God does will endure forever. There is no adding to it or taking from it. God has made it so, that they will revere Him. [*This pronoun, I, refers to the Kohelet– the Preacher, who was, according to Rabbinic tradition, Solomon in his old age.]
● Biblical events are often defined by completion of certain events, called “the fullness of time.” (For example, see Matthew 26:18, 27-29; Mark 1:15, 8:31.)
● God’s timetable is often mysterious:
** When Daniel was confused by the end-time prophecies he had faithfully written, he asked the Heaven-sent visitors (Daniel 12:8): “Now I heard, but I did not understand. So I said, ‘My Lord, what will be the outcome of these things?’” Daniel was told it was not time for these things to be revealed, but the meaning would be revealed to him after his resurrection (Daniel 12:9, 12): Then [the visitor] said: “Go your way, Daniel. For the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. |…| … You will rest and then at the end of days you will arise to receive your portion.” (Note that this devout worshiper of Judaism believed in resurrection.)
** When the disciples asked Yeshua when He would return, He said it was not for them to know and not even for Him with His Son of Man mind (Matthew 24:36): [Yeshua said] “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, except the Father alone.” (See also Matthew 24:42, 44.)
** Again, Yeshua did not disclose God’s timetable to His disciples (Acts 1:6-7): So when they gathered together, they asked [Yeshua], “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not your place to know the times or seasons which the Father has placed under His own control.”
● God’s timing is always good, right, and appropriate. We must exercise our faith in Him to remain in a good attitude, using the Mo’ed – the appointed time that He has set for us to overcome the world and meet the challenges imposed by our trials. We deal with nothing as continuously as time. Every day, from the moment we awaken until we again fall asleep, we watch time, set times, meet schedules, calculate how much time we have, and so forth. Time highlights everything that matters because our time is so limited. I hope to emphasize in this series that God is in control of time all the time, and we should be aware of the very small amount of time allotted to us. Read Jacob (James) 4:13-17, as Jacob emphasized the brevity of life, which he compared to a rapidly vanishing vapor.
Let’s pick this up tomorrow with part 1 section B of What Time Is It? by Dr. Raymond Finney