Hannukah, Dedication, LIGHT*

Hannukah, the Feast of Dedication, also called the Festival of Lights, is not one of the original feasts of the LORD as given in scripture, but it was proclaimed a feast by Judah Maccabee after the cleansing and dedication of the temple which had been defiled by heathens. Part of tht dedication was the lighting of the Lamp in the temple. The account of the cleansing and dedication of the temple is found in the Apocrypha in the Book of 1 Maccabees. This feast is still kept by the Jews, and was also kept by Jesus: "And it was at Jerusalem the feast of dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." (Jn. 10:22-23). It was at this time that certain Jews demanded of Jesus to say outright if He was the Christ. Jesus answered,"I told you, and ye believe not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (v. 25-28). As Jesus described those who believe in Him, He said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Mt. 5:14-16). Believers in Christ are supposed to dwell in His light. That light is to shine outward for all to see. That light testifies of our works. Is your light shining? Jesus, in the same passage, described the believers in Him as the salt of the earth. However, Jesus said, salt that has lost its savor, or taste, is no longer good for the purpose it was intended. The same applies to our light. The Apostle Peter described the believers in Christ as those who have been called out of darkness into His marvellous light: a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people (1 Pet. 2:9). We are defined by the light of Christ. First John says that we are to walk in the light even as Christ is in the light, and as His blood cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, John continues, then we are liars, and the truth is not in us (1:7-8). If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive them, and cleanse us. This is walking in the light. The temple in Jerualem had to be cleansed and dedicated in the original Hannukah account. We are a living temple, and that cleansing and dedication is necessary for us all as well. Have you cleansed your temple? Have you dedicated yourself? Paul discussed the seasons and times, and how we should all be familiar with them. He said that we aal should know that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. When men are declaring, "Peace, peace", sudden destruction will come upon them. He reminded the Church of the role that the light of Christ plays in our preparedness and understanding, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober...For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ..." (1 Thess. 5:1-9, excerpt). We are not meant to be sleeping. Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins, and ALL ten had fallen asleep. The only thing that allowed five of them (who were wise) to enter in with the bridegroom, is that they had their lamps well prepared, and more thaan enough oil to keep their light. Paul wrote that the wrath of God would come upon the children of disobedience, and warned, "Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light...And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them...all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light". He added quoting Isaiah, "...Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. 5:6-14). As Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares, He explained that the good seed, the wheat, "are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one". At the end of the age, Jesus said, both the wheat and the tares would be gathered, or harvested, by the angels. The tares, the children of the wicked one, those who offend and do iniquity, will be cast into a furnace of fire with much suffering and wailing. However, of the good wheat, the children of the kingdom, Jesus said, "Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Mt. 13:36-43). Are we willing to hear the revelation of Jesus, or will we stop up our ears against it? Do not be deceived, heaven is real. Hell is also real, and to be avoided at all costs. The righteous shining like the sun, as Jesus taught, is a promise prophesied in Daniel. Daniel's prophecy is of the time of trouble like as has never been seen before. This time of trouble takes place in "the time of the end". Daniel also spoke of a judgment of the dead: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Though the times will be very difficult, there will be a difference seen in those who are children of the kingdom. Daniel wrote, "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Daniel was told to seal up his book until the time of the end (Dan. 12). We now read and understand these visions and prophecies of Daniel, which is yet another identifier that we are in those end times of which Daniel wrote. Are you shining, as Daniel prophesied of the wise? The lights of the Menorah are lighted to recall the cleansing and dedication of the temple after it had been defiled. The light is to be kept shining. The saints are equipped by apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists to do the work of the ministry. Shining the light of Christ into the darkness is a large part of that work. Is your lamp filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit? Are you shining with His light? *Based upon the 12/13/20 message of Dr. Stevenson to the Church. To contact: PO Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 or Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com Find Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson on Facebook and twitter also.

How Much Fruit is in a Seed?

 

 

One seed produces enough fruit to feed many. As God created life on the earth, He created within that life the power to regenerate and multiply. He placed that power in seed form:

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good."   Gen. 1:11-12

Each seed produces the same plant and fruit that had produced it. As we know, when the planted seed grows, matures and bears fruit, it has in fact multiplied itself many times, even within each fruit.

The Hebrew word for seed is zerah. It means "seed, offspring, descendants, children, posterity, of moral quality, a practitioner of righteousness, a sowing time".

The future, or fruit, is contained and determined by the seed sown in the present. The Hebrew meaning of the word, as we see above, also contains the idea of an activity, or behavior, as well as a time, or season-there is a time for sowing.

Jesus told a parable of a sower sowing seed (Mt. 13:3-9). The seed itself has the potential to grow. Various conditions, like good soil, stony ground, devouring animals, overgrowing thorns, or unrelenting heat, can impact the resulting growth however. Seed planted in good soil multiplies itself many times over-thirty, sixty, one hundred fold- in the fruit it will produce. Jesus specifically identifies the seed sown in this parable as the Word of God (Mk. 4:14).

The Word, Jesus Himself, is a good comparison to a seed, because we know the Word also contains creative and multiplicative power:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." 

                                                                                                             Jn. 1:1-3

This same seed, the Word of God, has been planted in each of us who believe. Are we being the "good soil" needed for the Word seed to grow, flourish, and produce fruit? We sometimes mix the seed of the Word with our own strange seed of our own ideas and will. God warns against what He calls "mingled seed":

"Ye shall keep My statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a different kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee."   Lev. 19:19

We cause harm by mingling the Word/seed with our own desires. A powerful example of this is found in the account of Abraham and Sarah. The LORD spoke a miracle promise, a seed, to Abraham, a childless man, that his seed (descendants) would be as numerous as the stars (Gen. 15:5). Abraham and his wife Sarah mingled that seed of the Word promise with their own reasoning and unbelief. That mingled seed bore fruit when Abraham conceived a child with his wife's maid, Hagar. Sarah became unhappy with this result of her own making, and abused Hagar. Now that seed was being mingled with jealousy and resentment. The child that was produced from all of this would still have the multiplication power of that seed promise (Gen. 16:10). However, having been mingled with unbelief, jealousy and resentment, the child or fruit produced from that mingled seed would be called "a wild man, whose hand would be against every man" (Gen. 16:12). We still see today in the Middle East the resulting fruit in the ongoing enmity among Abraham's seed.

Our ways and our words are the seeds that we sow. We need to be careful to understand the future ramifications of them:

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him."  Isa. 3:10-11

The seed we sow by word and deed will affect the harvest that we reap. The two cannot be separated:

"A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence."   Prov. 13:2

When we are careless with our words, speaking things over and over again that should not be spoken even once, we a sowing a crop that will bring forth fruit after its kind:

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."   Prov. 18:21

While we seem to have little awareness of the power of the seed, and its direct connection to the fruit produced from it, the Devil is very aware, using that eternal seed principle for his own evil plans. Jesus revealed this in His parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt. 13:24-30). Good wheat seed (the Word) was sown in a field, but while men slept (sleep, rest, be indifferent to our salvation), an enemy came and sowed tares. Tares are a counterfeit (lying) wheat, difficult to identify until the plant matures but produces no head of valuable and desirable wheat grain. The tares and the wheat had to be left to grow together. Tearing out the closely mingled tares would also pluck up the nearby wheat plants growing with them. The separation would have to wait until the harvest. The tares would have to be allowed to continue doing their damage until then. The effects from a weary or negligent attitude regarding the seed/fruit principle can be long lasting. The enemy will use the opportunity that we give him.

The scriptures assure us that the principle of the sowing of seed and the reaping of the resulting harvest or fruit, and the seasons that accompany them, will exist as long as the earth exists (Gen. 8:22). Paul uses this same principle to teach that the connection between  sowing and reaping is a spiritual truth:

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary of well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."   Gal. 6:7-9

How much fruit is in a seed? Like the stars in the sky- too many to number.

 

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