Category: Old Testament

Reason for Advent – Week 3

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali ~ 2 Comments

Luke 19: 41 – 42

When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “if you had known in this day even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

Walking or driving through neighborhoods, I observed people’s houses were all decked up for the Christmas season. Lights of various colors, wreaths of various sizes, garlands, inflated characters like Santa Claus, Peanuts, reindeers, nativity scenes, etc., adorned peoples houses and front yards. People do put in a lot of effort and money in these decorations. And each house is uniquely decorated. I wonder if each house had a story to tell about the most precious gift, that is Jesus Christ in their lives.

Year after year, as we celebrate the first advent of Jesus Christ, we ought to remember the second advent of Jesus Christ, which is quite at hand. At His first coming, He came as a lowly servant, in a manger, born of a virgin. He shed His precious blood to redeem us from sin and death, so we could be reconciled to our Heavenly Father. His first arrival was prophesied in the Old Testament numerous times and yet the people of Israel failed to recognize the timing of His arrival. That is why Jesus lamented and wept over the city of Jerusalem that they did not anticipate His advent.

There are a greater number of prophecies of His second coming than His first. His second coming isn’t going to be a quiet affair. On the contrary, the whole creation will know of and see His advent. Jesus Himself proclaimed about His second advent numerous times. He gave His disciples and us the signs of times that would indicate of His arrival. The apostles, the early church and saints of the past have eagerly awaited His second coming. They neither wanted to miss nor misinterpret His second coming like their ancestors. They lived their lives in anticipation of His arrival.

Today, are we living in anticipation of His arrival? He won’t be coming back as a babe in a manger but He will be coming with all the Heavenly hosts, roaring like a lion. The Israelites may have failed to read the signs of the times they were living in and may have failed to correctly interpret the prophets. We, on the other hand, don’t have an excuse. We do know the Holy Scriptures. We do know how to interpret the signs. How much more then should we live each day in anticipation of His arrival any minute!

Dearly beloved, advent is a season of anticipation. Even though we celebrate Christmas once a year, we should live each day as it could be the day of His coming again for His bride. The days we are living in are getting darker by the minute. The world may mock us of our faith in the King of kings, who is returning. Nevertheless, nothing should deter us from living in anticipation. We will go about our daily lives, an eye on the world and the other eye looking heavenward – a reason for us having two eyes. We will continue to hear what is going on in the world with one ear and listening with the other to what the Holy Spirit is teaching. We will continue to serve others in need with one hand and raise our other hand in worship of Him. Let us live in anticipation of the advent of our Lord and Savior. Let us learn to interpret the signs of His coming again.

The Yeast Beast

Featured ~ Sowmya Gali

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Corinthians 5: 6-8 (NIV)

In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread. Exodus 12: 18-20 (NIV)

In the beginning of the Jewish New Year, in the month of Abib, when the Israelites were still living in bondage in Egypt, God commanded them to observe the Feast of Passover. Apart from slaughtering a lamb and applying the blood on the doorposts, God also commanded that they should get rid of yeast from their houses. Tradition requires that they should light a candle and search the entire house for any trace of yeast and get rid of it right away. Many were skeptical as to how they could bake bread without yeast.

Yeast, which represents the old world and Egypt, should not be found anywhere in Israel. God is setting apart a people for Himself. God has redeemed the Israelites through the blood of the Lamb, which was the covering on the outside. How could one be purged of the yeast, our old self, the remnants of the evil world from which we were delivered? The Lord commands the Israelites to purge every trace of yeast from their houses and must eat unleavened bread.

When yeast is added to the flour, it works its way through and causes air to fill up. It not only makes the bread rise but also sour as the yeast eats the sugar in the flour and releases the gas that makes the bread rise. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Galatians 5: 9 (NIV)

Even though we were purchased by Jesus through the shedding and applying the blood on us, we could become corrupt if there remains in us any minute trace of the yeast beast. The world and old in us does the same as the yeast. It eats away the goodness of God slowly and gives us a false pride, sometimes even religious pride. It puffs up and causes us to think that we are righteous people. Without our riddance of this yeast, we will be given a false sense of security, to a point where we tend to make compromises in our walk with the Lord.

As much as it is hard to get rid of our old self, old teachings, and our old habits, we must strive to start afresh with our Lord’s help. We must seek and rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance so we would not stray or return to our old ways. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians warns the church that the last remnant of evil must be purged from us. If it remains, it will permeate and corrupt the whole society or church.

Jesus warns His disciples in Matthew 16: 11 “How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Even old teachings, some unrealistic and subtle rituals and expectations of being righteous can lead us away from the Truth taught by Jesus. He warns in Luke 12: 1 “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Dearly beloved, let us remain in Him who is the source of all truth and wisdom. Let us go through the purgatory of eliminating every trace of the yeast beast, which represents our old self, the world and its evil influences, so we could be the true remnant for Him, unblemished and purified. Instead of taming the yeast beast, let us be free from it altogether, so our Lord can continue His good work of righteousness in us.

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