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daily devotional
Evening ...
Luke 24:33,35
And they rose up the same hour, and returned Jerusalem . . . and they told what
things were done in the way, and how He was known of them.
When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were refreshing themselves at
the evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them upon the
road, took bread and brake it, made Himself known to them, and then vanished
out of their sight. They had constrained Him to abide with them, because the
day was far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp
to their feet, yea, wings also; they forgot the darkness, their weariness was
all gone, and forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell the
gladsome news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by the way. They
reached the Christians in Jerusalem, and were received by a burst of joyful
news before they could tell their own tale. These early Christians were all on
fire to speak of Christ's resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the
Lord; they made common property of their experiences. This evening let their
example impress us deeply. We too must bear our witness concerning Jesus.
John's account of the sepulchre needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary
could speak of something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from
which nothing can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts and special
manifestations; but the one object God has in view is the perfecting of the
whole body of Christ. We must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and
lay them at the apostle's feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has
given to us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know,
and testify what you have seen. Let not the toil or darkness, or possible
unbelief of your friends, weigh one moment in the scale. Up, and be marching to
the place of duty, and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.
Morning ...
Psalm 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.
Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess,
has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly
inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles;
and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for
the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God,
and the thrusting ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has
undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy He will
forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable
or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept,
this unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon His province, is
all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who
cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden,
is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads
to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom.
This is going to the "broken cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which
was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness,
and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the
Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example
marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads
us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast
each burden as it comes upon Him, and are "careful for nothing" because He
undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us
against much temptation. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is
stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."
Leviticus 23:15-16
(15) And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the
sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven
sabbaths shall be complete: (16) Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath
shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the
LORD.
Pentecost is unique among the holy days because it is the only
annual feast determined by counting. All the other festivals God commands us to
keep on certain dates on the Hebrew calendar, but we must count for Pentecost.
Whether we count fifty days or seven weeks or seven Sabbaths from the day of
the wavesheaf offering, we must still go through the exercise of measuring the
time to keep the feast properly. Why?
God does nothing without a purpose, and His purposes always
include giving His people additional instruction for their ultimately eternal
benefit. Counting to Pentecost is no exception. Even a cursory examination will
expose several fascinating avenues of study.
First, God commands us to count. Counting is a means of
calculating sequential items, events, and measurements. The Bible equates
counting to numbering and measuring, and it becomes a metaphor for judging and
evaluating. When we understand what the period from the wavesheaf offering to
Pentecost represents, the extended meanings come into play.
Passover symbolizes our redemption from this world and the
forgiveness of our sins. Unleavened Bread typifies our lifelong task of coming
out of sin and putting on the new man in sincerity and truth. We begin to count
on wavesheaf day, which occurs during this period, and the fifty days extend to
Pentecost, a festival that prefigures the harvest of God's firstfruits. The
fifty days, then, represent the period of a Christian's conversion, the time
between his calling and his resurrection to eternal life.
Thus, God wants us to count, number, or measure the time of our
conversion. This should bring several well-known verses to mind. For instance,
Paul considers us wise if we are "redeeming the time, because the days are
evil" (Ephesians 5:16). He cautions the Romans, "And do this, knowing the time,
that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer
than when we first believed" (Romans 13:11). In both instances, he is advising
Christians to measure and make use of our time carefully.
A few Old Testament verses may be even more on point. David
writes in Psalm 39:4, "LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of
my days, that I may know how frail I am." If we understand just how short our
time is, we also realize how weak and insignificant we are next to God and
eternity. It forces us to rely upon Him and strive to improve. This is the kind
of attitude that God desires in us and will enhance our growth in character.
Moses, too, makes use of this imagery in Psalm 90:12: "So teach
us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Properly evaluating
our lifetimes builds wisdom in us, and wisdom-the godly use of knowledge and
understanding-will make our behavior pleasing to God. Wisdom will help us to
prioritize our time properly so we can devote ourselves to what is truly
important.
Second, God has us count fifty days. What is significant about
the number fifty? Fifty is the round number of years human beings live in a
normal adult life (compare Numbers 1:3; Psalm 90:10). Fifty years, then,
represents the period during which we live, grow, overcome, bear fruit, and
prove our devotion to God through trials, tests, blessings, curses, and life's
other varied experiences. Fifty years corresponds to the span of our conversion.
Biblically, the number fifty has its closest association with two
things: the Tabernacle/Temple (in some of its measurements) and the Jubilee.
The apostles describe God's church as a temple, and Christians are individual
"living stones" within it (I Corinthians 3:9, 16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22; I Peter
2:5). The fifty days thus symbolize the time it takes to complete the work of
building a habitation for God.
Every fiftieth year in ancient Israel, the Jubilee was decreed on
the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:8-9), which, among other things, represents
unity, being at one, with God. The Jubilee was a year of liberty, when all
debts were cancelled and inheritances reverted to their original families
(verse 10), foreshadowing "the restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21). It was
also a year of rest (Leviticus 25:11), when no crops were sown or reaped, a
foretaste of God's rest (Hebrews 4:4-10). Under this type, the fiftieth day of
the count, Pentecost, represents the harvest of Christians into God's Kingdom
by the resurrection.
Overall, then, we count to Pentecost for two major reasons:
1. God commands it, and
2. It teaches us to realize and use carefully the
ever-shrinking time we have to come "to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).
In His wisdom, God has us annually take stock of our procession
through time so that we will devote ourselves to making the most of it. In
doing so, we can gauge our progress toward God's Kingdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Wavesheaf Offering
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