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| Flight 1549 in the Hudson River |
Between The Ears BLOG INDEX, with titles and summaries.
I fell and broke my hip at the beginning of the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles 2024. Friends helped me off the floor and into bed. The next morning, those same friends and more helped me to a car, and drove me to a hospital near home, where I spent the last day of the Feast, receiving hip replacement surgery 24 hours after my fall. I think of those friends and the surgeon as saviors.
I needed saviors.
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| One Sick Puppy |
That boy needs a savior.
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| Cristian Ramirez and His Saviors |
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| Sherlock Holmes |
In D.C., Johnson claimed that everything was going well and crime was down in Chicago, but, Chicago authorities are once again rigging crime statistics by not recording crimes, not making arrests and not solving crimes. Johnson shut down ShotSpotter which helped detect homicides. And only 1 in 7 violent crimes ended in an arrest. Chicago authorities now claim that they have cleared 60% of murders. Last year they claimed to have a clearance race of 54%, but the actual clearance rate for murders that ended in an arrest is only 23%. Or less than 1 in 4 murders. Daniel Greenfield(Chicago) [4]
And it's not a problem isolated to one city in America. Consider Essex, England.
The Essex police have stopped answering calls about drug dealing and a Sun column noted that, "in the last year, Essex police have solved just 1 in 8 robberies and violent assaults, a mere 1 out of every 10 sexual assaults and 1 in 15 burglaries. Daniel Greenfield(Essex) [5]
Most of the victims needed a savior, but none came.
For every story of rescue, there are stories where a savior never came. I think of the 21 Christians who were beheaded by Muslims in 2015 - Wiki(Copts_martyr) [6]. I think of Adam and Eve, who lost their son Abel - Gen 4:8-16. Seth was a replacement - Gen 4:25, but I imagine they thought of Abel often. I also think of Job, who lost his fortune and his 10 children in one day. At the end of the book of Job, his fortune was restored double, and he had 10 more children. But I'm sure he never forgot the first 10. I know people who have had to bury a child. They have told me they think of them every day, even 50 years later.
For many, their savior didn't show.
We often turn to the book of Job to help understand trials. Until recently, I thought of Job as a one time event that happened probably during the time of the patriarchs. But now I'm thinking it's more than that. Job argues his case with his friends in chapters 3-37. My summary of Job's arguments is "it's not fair". And the arguments of his "sorry comforters" (Job 16:2) could be summed up, "you must have done something". But maybe Job represents every man. Every man is "right in his own eyes", and wants to judge God. We wouldn't express it that way, but we would likely say "it's not fair", which really means we think we know better than God. Again, I no longer think Job's experience was a one time thing. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10) , which says he is accusing US day and night not unlike the way he accused Job. And sometimes, God allows Satan the adversary to try us just like Job. Maybe it isn't fair.
Job needed a savior. We all need saviors.
But of all times, why do these trials happen at the Feast of Tabernacles, when we are picturing the peace and safety and abundance of the Millennium? I find one answer in Lev 23, where Moses records how to keep the Feast. I'll quote three verses here.
Lev 23:39 Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.
41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
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| Sukkah |
Deut 8:2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
But a few verses later he also tells Israel this.
Dt 8:7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land
The trials in this life, even at the Feast, are not the end of the plan. He is bringing us into a "good land" as well.
Rom 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
We believe that the Holy Days listed in Leviticus 23 picture the plan of God, some already fulfilled, but Trumpets, Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (aka Tabernacles) lie ahead. The major prophetic events to come which are foreshadowed by the Holy Days are Jesus' return, binding of Satan, the Millennium and the White Throne Judgment. So yes the Feast does picture the Millennium, but we can't forget the symbolism of dwelling in a sukkah for seven days, of dwelling in an earthly tabernacle for seven decades. We picture the Millennium, but we are still in this world, looking for THE Savior to usher in His Kingdom, to right all the wrongs.
For all of those throughout history who hoped for a savior who didn't come, well, He is coming.
Rev 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
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