JUNE Anniversaries

• Milton & Cindee B. celebrate their wedding anniversary on June 4th;

• Earl & Joan B. celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary on June 6th;

• Steve & Bea K. also celebrate their wedding anniversary on June 6th;

• Loren & Susie M. celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary on June 23rd.

JUNE Birthdays

• Keeley D. celebrates her birthday on June 7th;

• Earl B. celebrates his birthday on June 10th;

• Suzan C. celebrates her birthday on June 22nd;

• Elena L. also celebrates her birthday on June 22nd; and

• Eric K. celebrates his birthday on June 23rd.

STATEMENT of Faith & By-Laws

Two years have passed since we’ve read the Calvary Baptist Church documents. Beginning June 1, 2025, will read a portion of our Statement of Faith, By-Laws, and the Biblical Statement on Marriage during the announcements at our Sunday Morning Worship Service.

FELLOWSHIP Meal for May

Sunday, June 1st, is the first Sunday of the month and we will have our fellowship meal immediately following the Sunday morning worship service, approximately 12:15 p.m. As usual, there will NOT be an evening service on that Sunday.

MISSIONARY Visit

Caleb Daniels, and his wife Esther, along with their children Joy, Kevin, and Timothy, have been visiting Ninilchik since May 26th and will be here until June 20th, 2025. Caleb grew up in Ninilchik and attended Calvary Baptist Church until he graduated from high school home schooling. Caleb follows in the footsteps of his late father, Kevin, as their mission is in supporting churches and missions through carpentry. Bro. Caleb’s mission is financially supported by CBC Ninilchik.

Brother Caleb is helping our church with a noise reduction project in the fellowship hall. The atrocious acoustics during fellowship meals has made it difficult for many to hear conversations, so we hope to significantly reduce the noise level via this project. We will have our first trial run tomorrow, June 1st, during our fellowship meal.

If the Lord places upon your heart to support Bro. Caleb’s mission, you may designate it on your check and place it in the “CHURCH’ side of the offering box, or you may place your check in one of the small envelopes from the missionary tray and designate who your gift is for on the envelope before placing it in the slot.

CALEB Daniels’s Presentation & Preaching

Bro. Caleb will provide a missionary presentation during the Sunday School service, 9:30 a.m., on June 15th, 2025. He will also be preaching the message during our Sunday morning worship service, at 10:30 a.m., on June 15th.

COMMUNION Sunday

The Lord’s Table will be set before us on Sunday morning, June 29th, 2025. Our communion message will come from Job.

UPCOMING Events

With 2025 upon us, here are a few things that are happening this coming year, Lord willing, and if He should tarry.

• August 31, 2025, Communion Sunday (message from Ephesians)

• October 26, 2025, Communion Sunday (message from Psalms)

• December 28, 2025, Communion Sunday (message from Philippians)

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here are a few links to some recent messages and devotionals.

• Sunday School lesson taught on 5/25/25, “Hidden Manna and White Stone” (Revelation 2:17). Click here to listen.

• Sunday Morning Worship message delivered on 5/4/25, “The Wisdom of Godly Fear” (Job 28:28). Click here to listen.

• Sunday Morning Worship message delivered on 5/11/25, “Empowered by Imputed Righteousness” (Job 29:14). Click here to listen.

• Recent Daily Devotional of note is from 5/30/25, titled “Only Jesus Could Be Strengthened by the Law” (Deuteronomy 3:28). Click here to read.

COMMENTS?

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

With love in Christ,

jon

Elihu is a type and foreshadow of Jesus Christ in Scripture. Although Elihu is there, among Job and his three companions, he is not mentioned until the end of their discourses. His name means “He is my God.” His words are full of sound theology.

Here, Elihu states a truth of Jesus Christ as eternal God. If, by God’s grace, we are righteous, we are not giving Him something by our righteousness as if He was lacking. Elihu states a similar truth in the previous verse when he says,

Our sins, likewise, do nothing to strip Christ of His goodness or holiness. Certainly, we can grieve Him by our sin or please Him by our obedience; nevertheless, the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient in Himself (John 5:26). He is, therefore, eternally unchanged, as it is written,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

This means that Christ’s love for His people is unchanging and undiminished. His mercies are unchanging and therefore they endure forever (Psalm 131:1-26). This is an amazing and blessed truth. Yet it should not surprise us, for grace must be eternal and unchanging, else it would not be grace.

All that Christ does for us, with us, to us, and through us is based upon who He is and what He has done at Calvary’s cross. It’s not based upon our defeats or victories. Therefore, we can truly rest in Christ. We can really trust in Christ. The truth of Christ’s eternal and unchanging nature should be a source of great comfort, an encouragement toward obedient submission, and a provocation for good, gospel works for Christ’s exaltation and the heavenly Father’s ultimate glory. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Our Lord Jesus, He does not change:
Eternal in His ways;
For through the cross the worlds were fram’d
Unto the Father’s praise.

There’s a tendency in the corrupt human condition to connect calamity with sin, evil, and wickedness. This was the conclusion of those who spoke to Jesus about…

…the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. Luke 13:1

This was also the conclusion of Job’s companions, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar— that Job had sinned against God in some way to merit his calamities and sufferings.

Jesus snaps both them and us into reality, speaking the same words twice— every man, woman, and child since and including Adam needs repentance. This repentance accompanies saving faith, and it is a grace of God. Were repentance a natural act and a logical conclusion, those speaking with Jesus would have automatically recognized their own need of repentance. Instead, they dismissed their own fallen condition and focused upon the fatal circumstances of the Galileans. They were only doing like their father Adam, who did not repent immediately after his disobedience in the garden but attempted to cover the guilt of his sin with fig leaves, ridiculously attempted to hide from God in the trees when he heard Him, and foolishly attempted to blame the woman, and ultimately God, when confronted with his sin.

True repentance accompanies saving faith so that we can turn from the sin we once loved and embrace the Christ we once rejected. Yet because of the corruption which remain in our mortal flesh, repentance is a grace we must cherish ever and always. After we’ve been saved, we should not only be alarmed by the Lord’s words of repentance, but we should also be humbled by the Lord’s holy character as a Man— recognizing that the best of our prayers and good works must also be repented of when compared to the life of Jesus.

O, my friend, that God may grant us,
Blessed repentance by His grace;
With our eyes always on Jesus
Until we see Him face to face.

God had made Himself known as El Shadday, that is, God Almighty, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex 6:3). His name, YHVH, the LORD, had only been revealed for the first time here, before Moses at the burning bush.

Jesus of Nazareth was the great I AM sent to the people of Israel to free them from their bondage to sin, just as Moses foreshadowed Israel’s Messiah as the deliverer who would lead Israel out of their bondage in Egypt. Jesus said,

“I am the Bread of Life.” John 6:35

“I am the Light of the world.” John 8:12

“I am the Door of the sheep.” John 10:7

“I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10:11

“I am the Resurrection and the Life.” John 11:25

“I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” John 14:6

“I am the True Vine.” John 15:1

Moreover, Jesus claimed to be eternally existent, using the name of the LORD from the burning bush when He said,

“Before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58

The Jews understood what Jesus was saying because they picked up stones to put Him to death for this statement (John 8:59).

Here, in the Midian back desert, Moses heard the name of God uttered by the pre-incarnate voice of Jesus of Nazareth. He saw Jesus, the Angel of the LORD, in the flame of a bush supernaturally ablaze, yet not consumed. Spiritually speaking, Jesus Christ must speak to us as well, from the purging fire of His gospel and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Since Christ came and suffered God’s holy wrath upon that tree of wood, shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins, suffered death, and that believing in Him we may have life in His name, you and I don’t have to wait forty years in the desert like Moses to hear the voice of Jesus Christ speak to our hearts. We only need to turn to His cross.

Lord Jesus speak and I will hear,
For You have sav’d me by Your grace;
With Your Spirit, draw me near
Until the day we’re face to face.

I’m hoping to get some reviews for the audiobook.

If you’re in the USA or UK, I have codes from Audible.com so you can download the audiobook for free. If you are interested, please respond to this email, or email me at pastor@calvarybaptistninilchik.com.

I’ll also send along a PDF eBook when I send you the code for the free download.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQFHW72R

If you don’t have a Kindle Reader but would still like to read and review the book, you can download a PDF copy of the book by CLICKING HERE.

There are prompts and links for leaving your review in both the Kindle Edition and the PDF copy. I do appreciate it. The reviews help bring more visibility to the book; and as the English version has blessed a large number of Christian believers, I’m praying that this version will help to draw my Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters nearer to our precious Lord Jesus. Muchas Gracias!

I’ve also provided the Spanish book description below:

¿Has oído decir que orar funciona, pero has tenido problemas con tu vida de oración? ¿Has buscado libros sobre la oración cristiana sólo para encontrarte con fórmulas o trucos? Si has anhelado un libro cristiano sobre la oración que te fortalezca para vivir una verdadera vida de oración como discípulo, ¡no busques más!

Señor, Enséñanos a Orar, explora las profundidades del Padrenuestro tal y como lo enseñó Jesús a Sus discípulos. Esta perspicaz guía desglosa cada frase, ofreciendo al creyente cristiano una comprensión más profunda de cómo orar de manera poderosa y efectiva. A través de este cuidadoso estudio, los lectores descubrirán cómo la oración sirve de modelo para su propia comunión con Dios, transformando tanto la vida de oración personal como la comunitaria.

Con este breve tratado, descubrirás el poder de una vida de oración, que te ayudará a conectar con Dios a un nivel más profundo. Cada capítulo desglosa las poderosas palabras de la oración, revelando profundas lecciones para la fe, la vida cotidiana y el crecimiento espiritual.

Qué contiene el libro:

NO TE AFLIJAS

Expresa el pecado de la preocupación y la ansiedad a través de las Escrituras, y la cura para esa angustia es la oración, confiando en un Dios soberano.

ENSÉÑANOS A ORAR

La petición de los discípulos y la respuesta del Señor.

NUESTRO PADRE CELESTIAL

Comprensión de a Quién rezamos y con Quién tenemos una relación.

EL SANTO NOMBRE DE DIOS

Acercarse a un Dios santo con temor reverente y estremecimiento.

EL REINO CELESTIAL DE DIOS

Aprendiendo la sumisión y la entrega al avance del reino de Dios en la tierra a través del evangelio de Jesucristo.

LA VOLUNTAD CELESTIAL DE DIOS

Aprendiendo la sumisión y la entrega a los planes y propósitos de Dios según Su santa voluntad y beneplácito.

Y MUCHO, MUCHO MÁS...

Tanto si buscas un crecimiento espiritual como una relación más estrecha con Dios, este libro te equipará para orar con mayor confianza y convicción, siguiendo el ejemplo establecido por el propio Cristo. Puedes seguir buscando libros sobre crecimiento espiritual o puedes conseguir este pequeño libro, descubrir los fundamentos de cómo Jesús nos enseñó a orar y empezar a disfrutar de la comunión con Dios en Cristo, desatando tu poderoso cristianismo con una oración que realmente funciona.

www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHS8PCG2

Thanks! and have a blessed day!

As perfect sinless Man, as well as the Prophet Moses foretold would come (Deut 18:15-19), there is no man, woman, or child who walked the earth with greater faith than Jesus Christ. He walked in absolute assurance and complete conviction as God’s anointed Servant (Heb 11:1). Through His suffering God’s wrath for sins He did not commit, and by His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus conquered the kingdom of the cursed world. By His righteous life, Jesus enforced the justice of the Law no sinful man could keep. Through His substitutionary death, Jesus obtained all the promises of God. By His resurrection, Jesus stopped the roaring mouth of Satan (1 Pet 5:8) in his efforts to tempt Christ and ultimately kill Him.

Every person written in the “roll of faith” (Heb 11:4-40), by their faith, foreshadowed Christ’s faith in God. Their faith, at times, faltered; for they were descendants of fallen Adam, just as we are. Noah got drunk from the wine of his vineyard. Abraham lied to Pharaoh and Abimelech about Sarah, his wife. Moses struck the Rock in the wilderness when he was told to speak to it. Rahab was a prostitute. Yet through the eternal truth and later fulfillment of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, God’s grace was applied to their lives; and because they believed the word spoken by God, like Abraham, it was counted to them for righteousness (Gen 15:6).

Likewise, the same applies to us. We too may walk as those listed in the roll of faith. By God’s sovereign grace, He has revealed His beloved Son to us. Because we believe on Christ, we are blessed because our sin is not imputed to us (Rom 4:5-8); and moreover, Christ’s righteousness is also imputed to us through faith (Rom 4:20-23). This is the excellent power of Christ’s cross! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

By grace through faith we have been sav’d—
Praise Christ’s sufficient work!
Christ overcame death and the grave
To fulfill all God’s Word.

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After spending His last Passover meal with His disciples, after praying in the garden, when the Lord was arrested, He had been sleepless for nearly 24 hours. He was led before accusers at three Jewish trials: first, at the home of Annas; then at the home of Caiaphas; finally, in the morning, at the Sanhedrin, where the Lord was officially condemned by the Jews. During this time, Jesus was mocked, spat upon, beaten with fists, beaten with rods, and his beard was pulled completely off of His face (Isa 50:6). After these first three trials, Jesus was conveyed to three Roman trials: the first, with Pontius Pilate; the second with Herod; and the last, again with Pontius Pilate. During those last three trials, Jesus was beaten and mocked even more, and then finally scourged until He was unrecognizable as a human being (Isa 52:14). Though we recognize His physical sufferings did not atone for man’s sins, it was a necessary part of His redemptive work. The ravaging of the Lord physically not only demonstrated how depraved and sinful mankind was, but it also demonstrated Christ’s great delight to save souls. Our verse today tells us of this truth. Jesus is the only righteous Man who has ever lived. All others have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23); and the best of our righteous deeds are filthy rags when compared to Christ’s (Isa 64:6). Christ was struck and rebuked by unrighteous men, yet because the truth of imputed righteousness from the cross is so powerful, Jesus cries out through the psalmist as if wicked sinners, like you and me, so we may have His righteousness place on our account. Fulfilling His Father’s will through the salvation of souls by the cross was so glorious to Christ, He delighted in His afflictions and sufferings as a kindness from the Father and as a blessed anointing from the Spirit. Moreover, Jesus despised the shame of sin so vehemently, He endured the cross for the joy of our salvation set before Him (Heb 12:2) and continues to pray against men’s evil deeds to the uttermost in order to save them (Heb 7:25). Hallelujah! What a Savior!

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Does this mean a Christian will constantly be joyful? There are some people who believe this. I have actually heard some young pastor preach this. It sounds wonderful… and we should be full of joy and rejoice evermore; nevertheless, it just isn’t possible to rejoice every single moment of every single day— at least, not until the Lord returns and this corruptible puts on incorruption. Moreover, there are times, many times in our lives, when rejoicing must give place to godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation (2 Cor 7:10). The Holy Spirit tells us through the apostle that, in order to humble ourselves and to submit ourselves to God, we must be…

afflicted, and mourn, and weep: [to] let [our] laughter be turned to mourning, and [our] joy to heaviness. Jamess 4:9, KJV

As you can see, if this verse meant what some people think, we would be discouraged each time we failed to be joyful; or worse, be dejected and possibly conclude we have lost our salvation. Okay, then, what does it mean to rejoice always or evermore?

This is a command; and it was only truly fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see the command, it is a reminder of His fulfillment of every command. Jesus was not only the Man of sorrows (Isa 53:3-4), but He was also anointed with the oil of gladness above all others (Psa 45:7). In the depths of His greatest grief and agony, when He suffered God’s wrath upon the cross, He rejoiced in the justice, truth, grace, and mercy of the heavenly Father. He must; otherwise, He never would have, or could have, commended His spirit into the Father’s hand (Luke 23:46).

For us, rejoicing always is an eternal truth for God’s people. It springs forth from life’s everlasting well within the soul, rejoicing in all that is Christ and all that belongs to Christ— regardless of the circumstance— for it is eternal, and it is in Christ.

Rejoicing always comes to us
As we are in the Lord;
It’s gripped by grace and instills trust
For praise with one accord.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the world (John 8:12). He was very God in human flesh when He proclaimed this truth; and though He laid aside His glory as God, Jesus was the most glorious person ever seen upon the planet, before or since (John 1:14). After He was crucified, risen, and ascended into heaven, He was restored to the glory He once knew with the heavenly Father before the world was (John 17:5), a glory far exceeding His person while on earth. Now, with the fullness of His glory restored, we should recognize that the light of Christ’s ascended glory has no darkness whatsoever (1 Jn 1:5), and that He is without variation or shadow of turning (Jas 1:17). Christ’s light is amazing. Christ’s light is revealing. Christ’s light is clarifying. Christ’s light exposes sin. In order for us to repent unto salvation, Christ’s presence, through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit, exposed our sin and made it visible to our once blinded eyes. Now, since we’ve been saved, His presence continues to shed light upon our lives, exposing sin to confess and repent of, as well as humbling us to the dust for His amazing grace. Christ’s light exposes Himself so He is more and more visible to us within the Scriptures. Heaven is only heavenly because of the presence of Jesus Christ. If we don’t want Jesus, we don’t want heaven. He is eternal Life because He is eternal Light. When we study the Scriptures merely to broaden our intellects or follow its instruction to appease our guilt, we’ve turned our back on the Light, and His truth has become dark and veiled.

Christ’s light also exposes Himself so that He is more visible to us in every situation and circumstance— since He is sovereign God. This strengthens our trust in Christ, which in turn, gives us greater focus upon Him, as well as greater commitment to Him.

The Lord Jesus, the Light of life,
Exposes things and me;
Our walk is Christ through the world’s strife
By Light eternally.

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YHVH God alone does wondrous things. Although we recognize that the coming of the Wicked one will be in the power of “lying signs and wonders” (2 Thess 2:9), and Satan deceptively disguises himself as an “angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14), yet we must also recognize that all which is truly wonderful, heavenly, and glorious can only come from almighty God. Every work of God is wonderful because it is designed to point to His most wondrous work of all: the incarnation, righteous life, substitutionary death, resurrection, ascension, and future return of His only Son, Jesus Christ. The most wondrous work of God is His work in Christ crucified and resurrected. Every soul saved by God’s grace through the proclamation of the truth of Christ crucified is testimony of God’s most wondrous work. It proclaims God’s majesty. It testifies of God’s power. It declares His grace and mercy. It displays His holy attributes. And on and on. If you see a “miracle” and it does not exalt the gospel truth of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart and soul, there are only two reasons for this: either (1) it’s not the wondrous work of God; or (2) your flesh lusts for the miracle rather than love for the Messiah. There is no third option. Let us, by God’s grace, endeavor to keep at the cross in all things so Christ Jesus is exalted unto the Father’s ultimate glory.

Lord, give me eyes to see the cross,
To keep me sound and true;
All works, therefore, we count as loss,
Unless they come from You.

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Just before Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses warned them that when they begged YHVH God for a king, their king must not cause the people to return to Egypt (Deut 17:16). Why? Because the LORD brought them out of the bondage of Egypt? Yes, but much more than that. Egypt represented the world; and Israel’s slavery illustrated mankind’s bondage to sin. Israel’s deliverance from Egypt foreshadowed mankind’s salvation from the bondage of sin. Approximately 1,000 years later, Zedekiah’s request to Pharaoh for horses and men to help against Babylon’s armies was futile according to the LORD through His prophet Ezekiel. Why? Because of their sin, God declared His holy judgment.

Egypt is a spiritual type of the ungodly, faithless world. Pharaoh is a spiritual type of the work of the flesh. God’s judgment upon sin was poured out upon His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, when He hung upon Calvary’s tree. Therefore, anyone, saved or unsaved, who flees for refuge to the world or the work of the flesh, will actually find themselves opposing God and His decrees. As far as the unbeliever is concerned, because he has rejected Christ, his sin is far more wicked before God and exceedingly more offensive to the LORD because it defies Christ and implies His sacrifice is worthless. For the believer who sins and fails to confess it, this grieves the Holy Spirit, and therefore, it spiritually weakens the professing believer; moreover, it also weakens the church because, when…

…one member suffers, all suffer together. 1 Corinthians 12:26

We should never seek help, refuge, or relief, from the work and power of the flesh (Pharaoh with his mighty army). Jesus Christ alone is our Help, our Rock, our Refuge (Psa 61:4). Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Seek not assistance from the world,
Nor from the work of flesh;
It’s futile and just brings sorrow,
It will not bring you rest.

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I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp. Psalm 49:4, KJV

There is never a hint of the Lord Jesus Christ playing a musical instrument in the Scriptures, as David played the lyre (harp). Although David actually played the lyre, when it is used in Scripture concerning our Lord, it is really a parable, a proverb, a dark saying, a description of the mysterious truths from heaven about the Lord Jesus Christ or His gospel.

One of the key elements behind Christ’s power as a flesh and bone Man was His sense of worship at all times. Everything is about the glory of God in worship of Him (Psa 73:25-26; 1 Cor 10:31). This is the ultimate purpose of God’s creation, and most especially as it pertains to the chief end of man. Christ Jesus, as a Man, relied upon the Spirit’s sweet and harmonizing influences to hear (incline mine ear to) the spiritual mysteries of heaven (a parable). He did not rely upon the mere logic of earth (1 Cor 2:14), because the gospel is foolishness to the unsaved world (1 Cor 1:18).

God’s absolute truth and His everlasting gospel come not as a series of facts designed to elicit a conclusion. Instead, they come as a melody, orchestrated to the rhythm of a unique tempo in order to lead men submissively to the cross. Christ was led to Calvary by this heavenly harmony. Likewise, must all other men be led there in this way. Christ’s words were dark sayings, parables, which came forth from His tongue with a supernatural tune (upon the harp). It is only while Jesus Christ leads our submissive lives, as heaven’s great Conductor, will the mysteries of heaven be harmoniously revealed (Mark 4:43-44). To the rebellious, or even to the complacent and indifferent among men, heaven’s revelation will not be given (Matt 13:10-11). Christ’s words are heaven’s hymn, borne along by the Spirit’s tune, filled with the Father’s joy.

The heart of Christ is worship fill’d
With heaven’s mysteries:
Yet, sinful wicked men had kill’d
God’s Song upon a tree.

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Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe…. “After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!” 1 Samuel 24:4, 14

Saul, pursuing David to kill him, turned aside to a cave by the sheepfolds and literally “went in to cover his feet” (1 Sam 24:3, KJV); in other words, take a nap, or as the ESV puts it, “relieve himself.” David and his men were already deep inside the cave. David’s men suggested that YHVH God had given Saul into David’s hand (1 Sam 24:4a). David did not take Saul’s life, but instead, cut off the “corner” of Saul’s garment. This may have been the cord of blue, which is in each corner of the garment, as the LORD commanded fringes along the hem and blue cords in the corners to remind the people of God’s commandments and His holiness (Num 15:37-41). Although we will meditate upon the prophetic typology, this was certainly an event which truly, actually, and historically took place.

In the fourth verse, Saul, king of Israel, is a type of almighty God, resting from the work of His creation. In the darkness of the cave, David is a type of Adam, and though anointed to be king (1 Sam 16:13) just as Adam was given dominion over the earth (Gen 1:28), David cutting off a corner of Saul’s robe was a picture of Adam stealthily disobeying the commandment of God not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden (Gen 2:17). 

In the fourteenth verse, David pleads with Saul as a penitent man with a changed heart (1 Sam 24:5), exemplifying himself as a type of Jesus Christ, who hung upon the cross on behalf of sinners He would redeem; being One who was as a dead dog or a flea.

Although Christ Jesus was perfect, sinless, and needed not to repent before almighty God, He did, and does so, before God in order that sinful man’s repentance may be received by a holy God. Jesus took the full brunt of God’s holy justice when He hung upon Calvary’s cross, for He was disciplined “with rebukes for sin” He did not commit and was “consumed like a moth” so we might have dear, precious, eternal life (Psa 39:11).

Jesus Christ, the blessed Lord,
Sinless, perfect Son of God;
Save us and lead us by Your Word
Until all heav’n and earth applaud.

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“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the LORD inflicted on the day of His fierce anger. From on high He sent fire; into my bones He made it descend; He spread a net for my feet; He turned me back; He has left me stunned, faint all the day long.” Lamentations 1:12-13

Jeremiah penned five dirges, or lamentations, about the fall of Judah and destruction of Jerusalem after the Babylonians’ third siege. Although he does not strictly follow the rules for an acrostic, such as we see in Psalm 119, Jeremiah provides the words of YHVH God’s heart from the Hebrew alef-beyt (alphabet). Moreover, although the five chapters in this book express the reality of the destruction of Jerusalem, as a prophet of God, Jeremiah provides God-breathed foreshadows into the person, ministry, and mission of the Messiah (John 5:39). Our portion today presents a few prophetic insights into Christ’s sufferings upon Calvary’s cross.

 When Jesus hung upon the cross, “those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads” (Matt 27:39). Sin causes man to be so void of love, mercy, and compassion, when the unredeemed walked by to see a human being reduced to a beaten, bloody, brutalized stain of torn flesh pinned to a Roman cross, they acted as if it were meaningless, as if it was nothing to them. Christ’s very ravaged form upon the cross commands men to look and see and consider the depths of Christ’s grief (sorrow like my sorrow) when He suffered the holy justice of God for sins He did not commit (the LORD inflicted on the day of His fierce anger). God’s wrath was so severe, Jesus could even physically feel it in the depth of His being (sent fire; into my bones He made it descend). Because of the corruptions still remaining in our flesh, we also tend to take a casual, even complacent view of Christ’s cross. The only remedy is to keep at Christ’s cross and to know Christ’s sorrows.

The cross of Christ, God’s sorrow rais’d
In shameful misery;
He bore the weight of our sin’s shame
While pinn’d upon a tree.

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“He trusts in the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, for He delights in Him!”  Psalm 22:8

Psalm 22 is often called “The Psalm of the Cross” …and for good reason. David penned this psalm about 1,000 years before Jesus was crucified— a few hundred years before the Persians invented crucifixion as a form of capital punishment, and several hundred years before the Romans perfected it. Written in first-person as if David himself were hanging upon the cross, it begins with the words Jesus quoted during His crucifixion (Psa 22:1; Matt 27:46). Smack dab in the middle of the psalm (Psa 22:16), the Romans (dogs) and the jealous religious Jews (company of evildoers) surrounded Jesus and crucified Him (they pierced My hands and My feet). Every verse speaks of Jesus Christ and Him crucified in some way, shape or form— most especially in our verse today.

David prophetically quotes the words of those who would mock Jesus as He hung upon the cross:

“He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now, if He desires Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Matthew 27:42-43

The statement of those mocking the Lord was not only fulfilled prophetically, but it was also significant ironically. Because the Lord Jesus, as perfect Man, trusted God, He needed not to be delivered from God’s wrath or physical death. His trust in the Father empowered Him to endure. Because Jesus Christ, as perfect Man, trusted God, we who turn to Christ with trusting faith may be delivered from sin and the pains of death through Him. Because Jesus delighted in the Father and the Father delighted in the Son, we are rescued from God’s judgment and made new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17, 21); and thus, we can now delight in Christ and delight in our heavenly Father through Christ! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Because Messiah trusted God,
His life He did lay down;
And by His trust, we can trust too,
And thus, we lost are found.

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“Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it.” Ruth 4:6

Ruth is more than a mere story for Hollywood producers to pilfer in order to make a movie released the year I was born. The story of Ruth and Boaz was an actual historical event; and more than that, it contains many gospel illustrations and applications. Ruth, whose name means “friend,” was a widow who followed her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem. Although they lived together, Ruth was still a Moabitess, a stranger, while she gleaned in the field of Boaz. While Boaz commanded to leave handfuls of grain on purpose (Ruth 2:16), it reflected the efficacious grace of God to call sinners to Himself. When Boaz redeemed Ruth to be his wife, it represented Christ redeeming His precious church to be His beloved bride (Eph 5:25, 32). Afterward, Ruth would need not to glean in the fields. The property, and all the grain therein, was hers by virtue of it belonging to her husband, Boaz.

Boaz, as a near-kinsman, is a foreshadow of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. The episode of redeeming Ruth for his bride not only presents us with insights into gracious redemption through Christ, but also gives us insights into how grievous the ruin of mankind in the fall of Adam was. Boaz tells Ruth there is a kinsman nearer than himself (Ruth 3:12). This nearer “redeemer” was a picture of Adam (Ruth 3:14). The relative had truly spoken when he said he could not redeem the land (Ruth 4:6), because fallen Adam has no ability to undo what he had disobediently done; neither had he the power to redeem a single descendant because of his sinful condition. Boaz, whose name means “in strength,” would raise up children through Ruth for the sake of her deceased husband, Mahlon, whose name means “source of sickness.” In this Boaz represents Christ, who raises children to inherit the promises of God, though we are descendants of Adam and “desperately sick” (Jer 17:9).

O, magnificent is the grace
Of God through Christ the Lord;
Like grain from Boaz in Ruth’s place,
Depicting Christ’s pure Word.

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“Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who celebrate. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.” Jeremiah 30:19

As a Man, thanksgiving flowed from the heart of Jesus Christ in sinless perfection. He gave thanks effortlessly, yet purposefully, to His heavenly Father in all things. Whether it was to bless and break bread for multitudes or to give thanks at the tomb of a beloved friend, there has never been another human being more thankful than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Moreover, there was an eternal harmony in the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ when He sang praises and songs of thanksgiving to the Father. I couldn’t even imagine what the disciples must have experienced to sing the Psalms of Ascent with the Lord Jesus as they traveled from Capernaum to Jerusalem for one of the feasts; or what it must have been like to sing psalms with Christ every Passover.

We have been redeemed by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-9). God has restored the fortunes of our sinful tents (Jer 30:18), so we have much for which to be thankful. We should be infinitely grateful. Yet quite often we’re not. There are times when we forget the compassion and tender mercies of God. There are times when we forsake His everlasting love (Jer 31:3), thus thanksgiving never comes to mind. There are times when we fail to give thanks, even though we know we should. There are also times when we sing songs of thanksgiving and there’s absolutely no heart in it— mere lip service. Although our flesh is often ungrateful, the Father still imputes Christ’s holy and righteous thanksgiving to our account! Hallelujah! What a Savior! This gives us even more reason to be thankful in song. Before you close this devotional, let a song of thanksgiving rise in your heart and flow from your lips.

The gratitude express’d by Christ
Continually flow’d
From His heart to reach the heights
Of the Father’s abode.

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After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola... Judges 10:1

After the death of Abimelech, who was the first king in Israel (not over Israel, because he was only king over Shechem), a man of Issachar’s tribe arose as God’s judge to defend Israel. Not much is known of him except for his lineage (Judge 10:1) and the length of his ministry, 23 years (Judge 10:2). What is most curious, however, is his name, Tola. His name means worm.

The worm is prophetic of Israel’s Messiah:

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. Psalm 22:6

When Jesus hung upon the cross, ravaged and savagely beaten by sinful men and despised by the people He came to save, the Lord Jesus suffered God’s unbridled wrath and holy justice for sins He did not commit. The punishment Christ suffered as God’s own holy Substitute sunk the Lord Jesus to depths far below what any human can ever know or experience.

The worm in Israel had a dark red, earthy color. When these worms were harvested from the tree in which they made their homes, dried, and ground to fine powder, their residue was used to produce dye for garments. So rich and potent was the deep red color of the worm, it only took two worms to produce enough dye to make a scarlet or crimson cloth. In the Old Testament, scarlet and crimson are translated from their Hebrew words, tola’at shney, which means “two worms” (and scarlet, being sometimes from the word shney, meaning ‘two’). When we consider this connection with Christ, God’s wrath, and the crushing of the worms to make crimson, it gives greater insight to the Lord’s sufferings:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him. Isaiah 53:10

And again,

…though [your sins] are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. Isaiah 1:18

O, the depth, breadth, length, and height of the cost of our salvation! Too wonderful for comprehension; too marvelous for words! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

The gospel truth of Christ, the Worm,
Who suffered holy wrath,
Bore the punishment to affirm
The sav’d will walk God’s path.

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