SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2023 12:39 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The
Response”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:16-20
Message of the verses: “16 then those who
are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must
not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the
field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are
pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 “But pray that
your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.”
It is great to know that for the saved Jews there
will be divine help in fleeing and hiding.
Let us now take a look at Revelation 12:5-9 to help us understand
this. “5 And she gave birth to a son, a
male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her
child was caught up to God and to His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the
wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be
nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 7 And there was war in
heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his
angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a
place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the
serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” I kind of got you in the middle of something
here and I hope to identify the characters in this section so these verses will
make sense to you. It is my
understanding that the woman is speaking of Israel who gives birth to the
Messiah, and then He is lifted up to heaven where He rules. Israel then is taken to a place where it can
be hid from Satan, and I have mentioned before that this could be Petra where
Israel will be hidden and taken care of.
I believe that as mentioned this happens after the abomination of desolation
occurs which is mid-way through the tribulation period, thus these saved Jews
will be cared for by the Lord for the rest of the tribulation period.
Now
John MacArthur does not mention Petra but does write: “They will succeed in their flight to the
mountains, probably to the east and south of Jerusalem, perhaps to the cliff
caves around the Dead Sea and the hills of Moab and Edom. John reports that ‘the two wings of the great
eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into the wilderness
to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time,
from the presence of the serpent’ (Rev. 12:14).”
Let
us look at verses 17-18, “17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to
get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the field must not
turn back to get his cloak.” In these
verses we can see that the Lord continues to call for urgency as He stresses
the need for immediate flight as seen in these two verses. I want to look at verses 16-20 in the Message
to help us get the idea of what Jesus is saying here. “16 If
you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; 17 if you’re working in the yard, don’t return to
the house to get anything; 18 if you’re
out in the field, don’t go back and get your coat. 19 Pregnant and nursing
mothers will have it especially hard. 20 Hope and pray this won’t happen during
the winter or on a Sabbath.”
With
that we will stop for today and I hope to finish this section up in the next
SD.
12/29/2023 1:00 PM
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