Obedience to God is Strength

Moses went up the mountain to receive the Word of God, the Ten Commandments, from God—twice.

Moses is a type of Jesus to come, Who brought the Word of God from heaven to earth at His first coming.

Moses remembered (Deuteronomy 9:9-17) :

“When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I remained on the mountain for forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 It came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, because your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have behaved corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast metal image for themselves.’ 13 The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. 14 Leave Me alone, that I may destroy them and wipe out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

15 “So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a cast metal image of a calf; you had quickly turned aside from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my two hands, and smashed them to pieces before your eyes!”

God the Father had given the direction for the Ten Commandments to be written. Jesus, the Word (John 1:1) spoke the Ten Commandments into being.

The Bible states that Jesus is the Word.  John 1:1—“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was with God and the Word (Jesus) was God.” Jesus was with God His Father before the world was created. He came from heaven to show people Who God is and to take away the sins of the world (John 1:2). 

The Holy Spirit wrote the Commandments upon the tablets of stone. He is the “finger of God” who works in the physical realm (Genesis 1:2).

The people at the foot of the mountain, a type of people on the earth, sinned by worshiping a false god of their own making. This brought about the destruction of the tablets by Moses.

The tablets too are a type of Jesus, the Word. They were smashed because of the sin of the people. The sin of people brought about the death of Jesus upon the cross as well. His body was punched, whipped, beaten beyond recognition and then they crucified Him.

The tablets were in two pieces. Jesus is both the Son of Man (flesh) (Matthew 12:32) and the Son of God (Spirit). (Luke 10:22) He gave up His own life on the cross (John 10:15); His Spirit became separate from His flesh while on the cross (John 19:30). At His resurrection, after three days, Jesus was raised from the grave. Many people saw Him and testified to His resurrection (1Corinthians 15:6). He is the only person to die, be resurrected and never die again (John 10:17).

Moses also destroyed the idol, the golden calf. “And I took your sinful thing which you had made, the calf, and burned it in the fire and crushed it, grinding it thoroughly until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain” (Deuteronomy 9:21).

This is a type of Jesus destroying sin.

On the cross, Jesus, a man who had never known sin, experienced the penalty of sin. He took the sins of the world—adultery, murder, deceit, theft, etc…upon Himself. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf…” (2Corinthians 5:21) Then, because He is the Son of God, He purified the sin (Isaiah 1:18) and cast it away from Himself (Psalm 103:12; Micah 7:19).

The penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself as the Savior of the world so that anyone who believes in Him will not undergo God’s wrath. Jesus died in your place. He Who the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). He is free of sin. He is free of God’s wrath. You must only choose to believe in Jesus. This is the gift of God (Romans 6:23).

Moses went up the mountain again. This time he himself had to carve the tablets out of stone, but God engraved the Ten Commandments upon them.

“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first two, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood for yourself. 2 Then I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you smashed to pieces, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the first two, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 Then He wrote on the tablets, like the first writing, the Ten Commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and I put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and they are there, just as the Lord commanded me” (Deuteronomy 10:1-5).

The two tablets have been remade. This is a type of the resurrection of Jesus, Who is the Word. Moses made the second set because Jesus Himself participated in the resurrection of His own body. God the Father gave the direction (Galatians 1:1), Lord Jesus (the Word) spoke to His body to “Get up!” (John 2:19) and the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the grave (Romans 8:11).

Moses was instructed to place the set of tablets, the Word of God, within the ark. They became hidden from view. The ark is a type of Jesus upon His throne in heaven. Many people saw Jesus ascend into the clouds. As He left, so He will return (Acts 1:9-11).

Each time Moses went up to meet God, he was as Jesus, interceding and praying for His people. The mountaintop burned but Moses did not get burned. The mountaintop is a type of God the Father’s throne. Fire is a symbol of purity. Heaven and God are pure, without sin. No one with sin may enter in. Jesus is without sin; therefore, only those who receive Jesus, their sins purged by His blood, may enter heaven and God’s presence. The blood of Jesus sprinkled on the believer is a witness that he belongs to Jesus and God.

God gave further directions to Moses regarding His people, the 12 tribes of Israel:

“At that time the Lord singled out the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name, until this day” (Deuteronomy 10:8).

The Word is hidden in the ark. Jesus is hidden in heaven. The Levites, the tribe of priests, are instructed to carry the ark of the covenant. They are a type of the church, a kingdom of priests (Revelation 5:10), who are to carry the Gospel, Jesus, and news of the New Covenant to the ends of the world. As they walk, believers are to minister and give blessings in Jesus’ name.

How does a believer carry the risen savior? Within himself. The Holy Spirit was given to men after Lord Jesus ascended. The Holy Spirit is God living within man.

How does the Spirit of God live within a believer? The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus living within the human spirit that each person has. He fills it up, bringing it to life, just as a balloon can be filled with air. The Holy Spirit does this work when a person comes to believe in Jesus as his Savior.  The Holy Spirit gives believers the power to overcome evil. This is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life.

After Moses burned and ground the idol he poured its dust into the water that came down from the mountain. The water is a type of the Holy Spirit which descends from heaven after Jesus died and was resurrected from the grave.

The Holy Spirit descended from heaven as flames of fire upon the first believers.  The fire is a symbol of God’s purity. God helps believers remain sin-free (Acts 2:1-4). The Holy Spirit is the tool in the toolbox that will keep a man or woman out of prison, off drugs and free from living in sin. Without His power within, a man will return to his sinful ways. A man will return to prison. As the water (the Holy Spirit) carried away the dust, so does the Holy Spirit remove repented sin.

The ark of the covenant—Lord Jesus, will reappear.

“Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’ 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

‘We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.’

19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm” (Revelation 11:15-19).

Heaven will open and Jesus will return. He will come with wrath against sin and enemies. He will arrive to reward believers. He will call the bodies of saints out of the earth and the seas to be like Him.

The Lord Jesus is the Word of God. His Word is law. His law is love. He will rule the world by His law. His people, glorified believers, will rule with Him (Revelation 20:4). The kingdom of the world will be the Kingdom of the Lord. He will reign forever and ever.

The tablets of the Law, the Ten Commandments, were given by God out of His love for His people. They were directives in how to live according to God’s way, avoiding sin. The wages of sin is death. God is life. In like manner, God, out of His great love for man, sent His only Son, Jesus, that all the world would be saved and have life, not just now, but forever. (John 3:16).

Loving God and obedience to Him go together. Jesus demonstrated this in His obedience to go to the cross and be executed. He asked His Father three times if the cross could be avoided. But He also agreed to submit to His Father’s will three times. “Not My will but Yours be done” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus endured physical torment and death and spiritual torment when He took the wrath of God upon Himself.

Once again, obedience and love go together.

Moses spoke to the Israelites, “You shall therefore love the Lord your God, and always keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments” (Deuteronomy 11:1).

Obedience to God is strength.

“You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it” (Deuteronomy 11:8).

Obedience to God is blessing.

“And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will provide rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied” (Deuteronomy 11:13-15).

There is a choice. Obedience and the blessing or disobedience and a curse.

“See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

Obedience to God includes worshiping only the one true God. Yahweh. The Name of His Son, Jesus, means “Yahweh is Salvation.”

Jesus became a curse so that no man need be cursed and experience God’s wrath. (Galatians 3:13)

How can you avoid God’s wrath? Flee from it. Repent of sin. Moses warned of sin and its punishment. John the Baptist warned about coming judgment and the need for repentance.

“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).

Jesus Himself warned, “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers” (Luke 12:45-46).

The two sets of tablets had the same commands of obedience written on them: the Ten Commandments  (Exodus 24:12).

(Exodus 20:3-17) Keep God first. Do not worship anything other than God. Don’t take God’s name in vain. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Honor your father and your mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Don’t give false testimony against a neighbor. Don’t covet anything belonging to a neighbor.

Jesus summed them up this way: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

These commandments have not changed. God has not changed (Hebrews 13:8).

God’s love sent His only Son 2,000 years ago to save many. God’s love will send Him again. God is good. One must worship only Jesus. No other will come and save you. “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord [Jesus] will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

(C) Kelly Jadon, 2023

How to Avoid Hell

Jesus spoke about His crucifixion to come referring to a type of it from the Old Testament, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3:14)

The Israelites, groaning and grumbling, were being led through the wilderness by God, having just left the slavery of Egypt.

“Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 So the people spoke against God and Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we are disgusted with this miserable food.’

6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.’ And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.’ 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:4-9)

Moses is a type of Jesus, allowing Himself to be lifted up upon the cross. The pole is a type of the cross—it is a witness of the type of sacrifice of Jesus to come.

The serpent is a type for sin. Why a serpent?

The devil came to Adam and Eve as a serpent in the garden of Eden. He is the beginning of sin, the beginning of the poison that kills. The wages of sin—the poison, is death. Poison kills. Sin kills.

What is sin?

To sin means “to go the wrong way, incur guilt, forfeit” or even “to make a sin-offering.”

The serpent on the pole or standard, raised up for people to look to is a type of the Lord Jesus on the cross, bleeding. 

Paul wrote, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Cor 5:21)

Isaiah prophesied: “Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the plunder with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the wrongdoers. Yet He Himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the wrongdoers.” (Isa 53:12)

Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself. Because of His action, He took the Father’s wrath for those sins upon Himself. 

Now the Israelites were in the wilderness following God. They’d just completed a major victory but were tired of following God. They had become impatient. Then they made a deadly mistake: The people spoke against not just Moses, but God Himself, whining about the food and the lack of water.

To speak against God is sin.

He sent fiery serpents that bit the people; many died.

God deals with sin. It cannot be avoided.

The people repented, asking Moses, a type of the Lord Jesus to intercede with God for them.

Then the Lord made a way for the forgiveness of sin. Those who repented were to look to a fiery serpent on a pole. This required faith. It required repentance. It required dropping one’s pride and doing things God’s way.

Moses is a type of Jesus who also made His way to the cross.

To look to the cross of Christ is to have faith in Jesus. Faith believes that the blood of Jesus washes away the sin.  

The Israelites in the wilderness who looked to the bronze serpent upon the pole were healed of their snakebites.

What Jesus suffered—the beating, flogging and crucifixion, brings about healing caused by sin.

“But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.” (Isa 53:5)

The blood of Jesus poured out of His wounds.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Lev 17:11) 

Those who did not look to the pole with the serpent died in their sins. Their sin stuck to them. Jesus said, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)

Without the cross of Jesus there is no forgiveness for sin. 

To die in one’s sins is to choose to handle sins in one’s own way. It is to choose to pay for the sin yourself. Payment of one’s own sin is to receive God’s wrath. Payment for sins after death occurs in hell, a place of darkness and torment.

To reject Jesus on earth is to be separated from Him after death.

To receive Jesus on earth is to be received by Him after physical death.

Where is Jesus? He is in Heaven. Heaven is Paradise. The way to Heaven is belief in Jesus.

Why was the serpent bronze?

Bronze is symbolic of suffering and oppression. It is a type of the cross of suffering that consumed the Lord.

Jesus was nailed to the cross, through His hands and His feet. He suffered a bloody death leaving Him unrecognizable. He suffered. That suffering occurred because of the sin that He took into Himself. Yes, even your sins.

When Jesus returns from heaven, He will come with hair white like white wool, like snow, His eyes a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace. (Rev 1:13-15)

A furnace separates impurities from the pure metal.

The power of God, of Jesus, purified those sins, making them white.

Isaiah 1:18 foretold this: “’Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like  crimson, they will be like wool.’” 

When Jesus is received as your Savior, your sins, the impurities in your life, are burned away from you. In fact, Jesus has already done this work, but you must receive Him and the work that He has finished. The Apostle Paul refers to change as the making of a “new creation.”

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2Corinthians 5:17) Paul was a former murderer of Christians. He knew what it meant to become a believer in Jesus (Christ/the Savior) and have his sins not just forgiven, but removed from himself.

After sin was separated from Jesus at the cross, it was thrown away from Him.

Micah 7:19 states, “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

Those sins of the past, no matter what you did can be forgiven, forever. The Word of God says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

Jesus is the antidote for the venom of sin. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

There is no condemnation for those who look to Jesus as Savior. (Romans 8:1) Paul wrote this too. He was fully accepted by God because of what Jesus, God’s Son, had done for him.

When Jesus returns, He will come to judge and wage war against the world and its sin. (Revelation 19:11)

“He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” (Revelation 19:13-16)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

He will judge the people of the nations.

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)

The sheep are a type of those who believe in Jesus and have had their sins removed. The goats are a type of those who never believed in Jesus and still are living in their sins.

The sheep, believers, will inherit the kingdom. These are those who are true believers. Their lives demonstrated their belief.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40)

What about the goats?

These people will have rebelled against God, thus aligning themselves with the kingdom of darkness.

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ]take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46) 

Jesus gave His life for both the sheep and the goats, so that all could enter into eternal life and the Kingdom of God. He is called the Lamb of God. He also fulfilled all Old Testament sacrifices, including those of goats. (Lev 23:19) Jesus paid for the sins of the goats. (John 3:16) Hell was not prepared for people, but there will be those, goats, who will choose to rebel, live in unbelief, or disobedience, loving darkness more than light, and they will enter in to the eternal fire.

The Bible says, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26)

“Dead” means without life. Are you as a dead man The Bible says, “Faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26)

“Dead” means without life. Are you as a dead man laying in a coffin waiting for Jesus to return?

The righteous are to be examples of those fulfilling the commands of Jesus until He returns. (Rev 19:7-8) These works were prepared for the church ahead by God. (Eph 2:10) These works are the church’s reputation. The elders are to instruct the younger in good works. (1 Tim 6:18) The light of the church must shine through good works that can be seen. This glorifies God. (Matt 5:16) The church is called to make herself ready for the Lord’s return—this includes finishing God’s commands of good works. (Rev 19:7-8)

(C) Kelly Jadon 2023

The Return of “I AM”

Moses is in the wilderness before the burning bush, which is a type of the cross of Jesus.

13 Moses said to God, “I am going to the children of Israel and will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ When they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and He said, “You will say this to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

15 God, moreover, said to Moses, “Thus you will say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’” (Exodus 3:13-15)

God is speaking here, stating that He is I AM.

Jesus is the Word. He spoke in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1) He said, “I am Who I am.”

God is the Existing One, the One Who is, has been and always will be. There is no other.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

As the Son spoke and said “I AM” in Exodus, He also said “I AM” in the New Testament.

Jesus took the “I AM” of the Old Testament, God’s personal name, and expounded upon it—giving it deeper meaning. He did so to demonstrate God’s love. In the Old Testament God said to Moses, “I am the Lord, 3 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name, The Lord, I was not known to them.“ (Exodus 6:2-3)

Jesus came to make God fully known. He said:

“I am the resurrection and the life,” (John 11:25) and many other “I AM” statements.

Jesus wants to be known.

John 10 records Jesus speaking to Jews who had taken up stones again to stone Him at the temple. “Do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. 38 But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped from their hands.” (John 10:36-39)

Jesus spoke, “I AM.” When Jesus spoke, He could not be touched. He simply walked away.

“I am” in the Old Testament Hebrew is known in English as “Yahweh.”

The name Jesus actually means, “Yahweh is salvation.” In other words, the name Jesus means, “I am salvation.”

Jesus and the Father are One. They are God. God is the power and source of all things necessary for life. Yahweh or “I am” as God’s name explains His presence and closeness to His people—His love and mercy, especially that in sending His Son.

Jesus was approached in a garden by Judas Iscariot, Roman soldiers and temple officers—a force of men with weapons for the purpose of arresting Him.

“Jesus therefore, knowing everything that would happen to Him, went forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’

They answered Him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’

Jesus said to them, ‘I am He.’ And Judas, who betrayed Him, was standing with them.” (John 18:4-5)

Those men numbered about 500 persons.

When Jesus said, “I AM,” the power of God emanated from Him, causing men to fall to the ground.

The “He” of “I AM He” is not written in the Scripture, except in the English. The Greek of the New Testament is simply, “I AM.”

The horde of men come to arrest Jesus could not take Him. He laid down His life and went with them.

Jesus was in control, even of His own death. Jesus died, rose again and hundreds witnessed Him. This is a living, provable faith to which hundreds and thousands have testified. It is not a blind faith, but is true.

Jesus, who is alive, is yet in control. He has said that He will return. When He comes, He will have a sword in His mouth. Revelation 19:15 states, “Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, with which He may strike the nations. ‘He shall rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury and wrath of God the Almighty.”

The Sword is the sword of the Spirit—the Word of God. These two go together—the Word and the Holy Spirit. Jesus works with the Holy Spirit. When He returns, He will strike down the nations by speaking, just as He did when the 500 came to arrest Him.

For those who love the Lord, His mercies endure forever. But He is also a just God. There will come a day when God the Father will have had enough of the disobedience of men. Then He will turn to His Son and instruct Him to return.

As there were signs of the cross to come in the Old Testament, as there was the sign of the cross in the New Testament, so will Jesus –I AM--return with the sign of the cross—there will be blood upon His robe—there will be holes in His hands, feet and side—and there will be fire in His eyes.

God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

(C) Kelly Jadon, 2023

Jesus Matters First

When I attended college, at Spring Arbor University in the 1980s, like the typical student, I changed my major a few times. Back then, I really didn’t know what to major in, so I studied what I both liked and knew that I could handle. I became a teacher certified in Secondary English and Music education. What I did know is that God guided my life.

Moses was a man of the Old Testament who was born a Hebrew, under an Egyptian death sentence for male babies. His mother made him a private little ark and cast it away upon the waters. Providence saved Moses when Pharaoh’s daughter, a princess of Egypt, had his the ark pulled from the Nile River. Moses grew up in the courts of the Pharaoh, with privilege, great wealth, and education. God’s providence kept him safe. (Exodus 1-2)

Jesus, the Son of God, was born to the tribe of Judah, in Bethlehem to a virgin. (Luke 1:26-37) Worried about his own power, King Herod implemented a death sentence for male babies. Then Joseph, Mary’s husband, had a dream in the night. An angel of the Lord warned him to get up and take Mary, the Lord’s mother, and baby Jesus, and flee to Egypt. They remained there five years until God called them out of Egypt and back to their original home in Nazareth. (Hosea 11:1) God saved His own Son, Joseph and Mary. Lord Jesus grew up to be the Messiah, the Sent One, in the home of a carpenter in an obscure town, under the care of an adoptive father. God’s providence had kept Him safe in humbleness. (Luke 2, Matthew 2)

Both men became what the Lord called them to be. Moses—a prince. Lord Jesus—a carpenter.

Both men became the leaders of their people. Moses—led his people out of physical bondage and Egypt. (Hosea 11:1)

Lord Jesus led those who followed Him out of spiritual bondage and slavery to the world.

Moses led his people around the wilderness, demonstrating God’s great miracles.

Lord Jesus led His people for three years, demonstrating God’s great miracles.

Moses died and God buried him. (Deuteronomy 34:1-8)

Lord Jesus died and God the Father had arranged for His burial through His providence. (Mark 15:42-47)

Moses lived on spiritually and was seen by Peter, James and John at the Lord’s transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1-13)

Lord Jesus rose from the grave spiritually and physically in a glorified body and was seen by hundreds. (1Corinthians 15:6)

Moses is a type of Lord Jesus Who would come to earth. (Romans 5:14)

Why did God give these types long before Baby Jesus came?

To tell us to watch for Him. Some did. Simeon, Anna the prophetess, the three magi, prophets. .

Jesus’ first coming was that important. He altered the world, permanently.

There is so much turmoil happening in the world today. “Black lives matter (BLM). White lives matter. All people matter.” Even, “animal lives matter.”

But the only thing or person Who truly matters is Lord Jesus. All black, white, red, yellow and brown peoples are His. He is the Creator. (John 1:3-4; Genesis 1:1)

Nations rise and nations fall. Leaders die. Governments become corrupt. Governments are overrun.

But God still is. He does not change.

Before the Earth existed, He was.

Today He is still the great “I AM.” He oversees all things and is sovereign. It is a relief to know that He is in firm control.

No government nor organization will save us, the Church. No president nor elected official can be our savior. Look instead to Lord Jesus, Who sits upon the throne of Heaven.

For peace in this storm of many waves, look to The Lord. He saves. Ask Him to guide you through these trials. He is the only truth and peace that truly exists. Jesus matters first. May His will be done.

Read More:

HOW THE CHURCH CAN HELP THE CHILDREN

(C) 2020 Kelly Jadon