The Refugee

International attention of late has been focused on the growing refugee crisis in various parts of the world. People who have been forced to flee from their homes and their native lands; seek a place of refuge. To remain in their homes could mean death or severe persecution.

It is a touching sight on TV watching thousands of people fleeing from war torn areas. So many people trying to get to safe havens in Europe are causing an international crisis. Even though it is now winter in the Northern Hemisphere, yet, there are those willing to risk the wintry conditions to reach their goal. Sadly some of those who try to reach Europe in unstable, overcrowded boats perish on the way; some drowning in sight of land.

Did you know that Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God's Son understands the plight of the refugee? How does He know? It is because He was once a refugee Himself!

As a little toddler He was forced to flee from Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph. Let's look into the Holy Scriptures for the record of this event. It takes place after the wise men had come to the house and worshipped the young Child Jesus. As we will see it was imperative that Jesus had to flee.

Matthew 2:11-14:

"(11) And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

(12)Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

(13) Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."

(14) When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt,

(15) and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Hosea 11:1 about BC 740).

King Herod [Herod the Great, appointed by the Romans] sought the young Child's life and was determined to kill Him. When Herod realised that the wise men had deceived him; in a murderous rage he ordered his soldiers to kill all the male children two years old and under in the Bethlehem area.

Matthew 2:16-18:

"(16)Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

(17)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

(18) "A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more." (Jeremiah 31:15 about BC 606).

Herod the Great was a brutal man who even had some of his own family murdered.

Meanwhile, Joseph took Jesus and His mother Mary down to Egypt for safety. Joseph being a skilled carpenter would have been able to obtain work in Egypt to sustain his family, whilst they were refugees in Egypt. The news about the massacre of the children around the Bethlehem area would have reached Egypt at some stage. Joseph would have been reassured that he had done the right thing in obeying the angel's words to him in the dream.

Matthew 2:19-23:

"(19) But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

(20) saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead."

(21) Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

(22) But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee.

(23) And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, "He shall be called a Nazarene."

From secular history it appears that Herod the Great apparently died within a couple of years of the massacre. Archelaus it seems was even more brutal than his father and was incompetent. The Romans relieved him of his position as Ruler a couple of years into his reign.

Joseph was afraid to go to Bethlehem because of Archelaus and instead went back to Nazareth in Galilee where Archelaus did not have any authority. This is where Jesus grew up and why Jesus is called Jesus of Nazareth. Nazareth was not well thought of and it was despised by many Jews.

John 1:43-46:

"(43) The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me."

(44) Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

(45) Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
(46) And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

As the foregoing Scriptures reveal Jesus was born and spent a little time in Bethlehem; before fleeing as a refugee to Egypt because Herod the Great sought to kill Him. This meant a journey from Bethlehem to Egypt and later another journey from Egypt to Nazareth in Galilee. Even on the return trip Jesus was still a refugee as Joseph was afraid to return to Bethlehem because of Archelaus.

So Jesus does understand the plight of the refugee! He does understand the concern of fleeing for your life's sake. He has provided an eternal refuge in Heaven for all who will trust in Him and receive Him as their Lord and Saviour. You can have your sins forgiven, peace with God and a home in Heaven. 

Deuteronomy 33:27:

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..."

1 Peter 5:7:

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Matthew 11:28-30:

"(28) Come to Me [Jesus], all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
(29) Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
(30) For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Jesus the One who was once a refugee knows how to comfort the refugee, not only with comfort in this scene but throughout eternity!

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

[If you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the comments section below.]

Woe to them!

In the Book of Jude in verse 11 we read these words, "Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah."

We need to establish who the woe is pronounced upon before we look into the three men named in verse 11. Let's look at verses 3 and 4 for an explanation.

"(3) Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

(4) For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ."

 Matthew 7:15:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

 The Way of Cain

 What then is the way of Cain? Let's have a look at Genesis 4:3-5:

"(3) And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.

(4) And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering.

(5) But He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell."

 Cain brought an offering from a sin cursed ground. Genesis 3:17, "...Cursed is the ground for your sake [Adam]; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."

Cain thought his offering was good enough for God. Note, he believed in God; he was not an atheist, or a pagan. He was comfortable in approaching God with his offering. However, he did not understand, or appreciate, that his sins needed to be atoned for in order for God to accept him. His brother Abel understood this and he brought an offering from his flock. He realised that the death of a substitute victim was necessary to atone for his sins; and to make him acceptable before God. "...the Lord respected Abel and his offering."

Cain's anger resulted in him murdering his brother Abel; because Abel's offering was accepted by God. Even though God pointed out to Cain that if he brought an offering like Abel's his new offering would be accepted. However, Cain was filled with murderous rage against Abel and slew him.

The lesson to learn here is that if we try to come to God by our own works we will not be accepted by Him. Our acceptance has to be based on the sacrifice of a substitute - in our case Jesus Christ of Nazareth. When Cain was clearly shown the way of acceptance before God - he refused it!

The Error of Balaam

Now let's have a look at the error of Balaam. "They...have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit" Who was Balaam? The Book of Numbers gives us the answer.

The children of Israel were about to enter the land of Canaan; the land God had promised to them. Balak the king of Moab and his people were terrified of them. Balak sends a message to Balaam the son of Beor to come and curse the Israelites so that Moab would have victory against them. Obviously Balaam was renowned for what he could do. If he blessed a person they would be blessed. If he cursed a person they would be cursed. He was not however of the children of Israel and was therefore not a prophet of the true and living God. He was a diviner.

 

Numbers 22:7-8, 12 :

"(7) So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner's fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak.

(8) And he said to them, 'Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the Lord speaks to me.' So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam...

(12) And God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."

Balaam is given explicit instructions concerning the children of Israel. He tells the elders of Moab and Midian that he is not allowed to curse the children of Israel. They go back to Balak with the information.

Numbers 22:15-17 :

"(15) Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honourable than they.

16) And they came to Balaam and said to him, "Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: 'Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me;

(17) for I will certainly honour you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.' "

Balaam tells the princes that he cannot go with them, but tells them to stay with him

over night and he will see if the Lord says anymore to him about the matter. Balaam had already received his instructions. He was not concentrating on what the Lord had told him to do; instead he was thinking about Balak's reward and great honour. The upshot of this is that the Lord tests him by telling him to go with the men.

Numbers 22:20 :

" And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you--that you shall do."

Numbers 23:11 :

"Then Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!" Balaam's thoughts of riches and great honour were turned to dust. Instead of cursing Israel for reward he blesses Israel for and gets no reward.

The Rebellion of Korah

We now come to the rebellion of Korah. IF we look in Exodus chapter 6 we find that Korah was a cousin of Moses and Aaron. Moses is the man God chose to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Aaron his older brother was chosen by God to be God's high priest among the children of Israel. Korah's rebellion is directly related to Aaron's high priesthood.

Numbers 16:1-3 :

"(1) Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men;

(2) and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, representatives of the congregation, men of renown.

3) They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?"

Korah and those with him were jealous of Moses and Aaron, particularly Aaron's role as high priest.

Numbers 16:4-7:

"(4) So when Moses heard it, he fell on his face;

(5) and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.

(6) Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;

(7) put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!"

The next morning Korah and his company appeared before the Lord. Now let's look at what Moses tells the children of Israel.

Numbers 16:30-35:

"(30) But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord."

(31) Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,

(32) and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.

(33) So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.

(34) Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, "Lest the earth swallow us up also!"

(35) And a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense."

Korah and his followers decided that Moses and Aaron were nobody special. Surely Korah and the others had just as much right to do the priests' work; as they also were of God's chosen people. Such presumption ended in their deaths! In reality they were rebelling against God's choice of who He wanted in His service. They did not like the power and influence that Moses and Aaron wielded on behalf of God. Their deaths would have been a terrifying, dreadful, soul subduing sight!

Galatians 6:7-8 :

"(7) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

(8) For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

Let's look again at Jude 1:11 and the following couple of verses.

Jude 1:11-13 :

"(11) Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

(12) These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

(13) raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."

I sincerely hope that you are not in the same frame of mind as those revealed in verse 11. Many people are aware of the Lake of Fire, the second, permanent, eternal death. Here is another graphic description of the final end of the damned, "...for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Have you ever been in total darkness? It is very scary! You cannot see anything as there is no light at all. How would it feel to be in this state for eternity? Do you want to be in a position of having this woe pronounced on you?

Surely no thinking person would want to choose the Lake of Fire and the Blackness of Darkness forever!

Why has God chosen to reveal the end state of the damned? It's because He is not willing that any should perish. 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." Salvation is only found in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Go to Him now for salvation full and free! It does not matter what language you speak for He knows them all! Eternal life is His to give to you!

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.]

[If you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the comments section below.]

The Great Decision

Every day each of us makes decisions. None of us are robots or programmed machines. We all have the power of choice. Hopefully, most of those choices will be good choices. Regretfully, some of those choices we make are bad choices. However in each of those choices we have exercised our power to choose. 

Many of our choices stem from our cultural background, our upbringing and our education. Our general knowledge and our ability to assess situations also come into play. Our knowledge is crucial in any given situation to enable us to make the right decisions. Lack of knowledge, or, not knowing the full facts can often lead to wrong decisions. 

For instance what do you know about God the Creator? Your answer will determine not only your perspective on life, but also where you end up when your life's journey comes to a close. Are you a well educated person? Perhaps you have a lot of knowledge on many subjects. However, knowledge is not wisdom. I have met many smart/dumb people in my life. In their areas of expertise they are smart, but when it comes to our Creator God they are abysmally ignorant! The majority of universities in the world make much of mankind's knowledge but refuse to believe in a Creator God. Why is this? 

The reason is sin in the hearts of those who teach and lecture! Let's look at Romans 8:7:

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Here we have the reason the carnal mind, or natural mind, is hostile towards God. Men and women in their natural, unrepentant state won't be subject to the true and living God - because of their sinful lives. 

It is easier for them to believe that there is no true and living God and that mankind is able to sort out any problems of their own making. It's easier for them to believe in a 'big bang theory' and that the universe sort of happened accidently; without some Supreme Being orchestrating its development. For instance take my car as an example. I assemble all the parts necessary to build my car and put them all together in one place. Then I stand back and wait for some wonderful and mysterious power to put the car together. Perhaps a big bang will do it! We all know that this is utter nonsense; yet people will believe that the universe somehow threw itself together. 

It's time to face reality! Proverbs 14:12 tells us, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." If God required your soul tonight where will you end up? If you die in your sins - Hell awaits you. Hebrews 9:27 tells us quite clearly, "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," 

Now we will look at a verse in the Book of Romans. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." You cannot refute the fact that everybody will die. People in every nation on Earth die every day. Your turn will also come! The reward for our sin is death! "...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."  The true and living God has provided a way for us to have eternal life. This gift from God is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Yes, that Man who paid the price for our sins at Calvary on a Roman cross - eternal life is found only in Him. If you want eternal life then you need the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. 

Perhaps you are wavering? People who sit on the fence are on their way to Hell. You are either saved or you are not - there is no in between! In the Book of Revelation there is a list of people who will stand before the Great White Throne to be judged in their sins. The list begins with the cowardly [fearful] and the unbelieving. 

Revelation 21:8:

"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."  

Perhaps you are one of those people who say, "I am not a sinner this won't apply to me." You are only fooling yourself! Your own conscience convicts you every time you do wrong and sin. Romans 3:23 is quite explicit in telling us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." There is no getting around this fact that all have sinned. 

If you are unsaved and unrepentant then you have a great decision to make! Choose the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and obtain the gift of eternal life plus a home in Heaven when you die. Or, choose to die in your sins and stand before the Great White Throne to be judged in those sins and be cast into the Lake of Fire; a place of eternal torment. 

The decision is yours - only you can make it. 

Jon Peasey

Words of Life blog www.jrpeasey.blogspot.com

Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey 

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.] 

[If you have any questions or comments you are invited to contact me via the comments section below.]