The Eleven Just Don’t Get It!

          or Eleven Days to Christmas 

      12-1=11 That seems simple enough, but I can’t imagine what the 11 disciples thought when a man that they knew for 3 years, Judas, betrayed their beloved Lord (who was put to death) and then killed himself.  They must have wondered at the complexity of it all.  How could it be, that others had seen Jesus alive when they had seen Him die and get buried?  No!  It couldn’t be!

       The eleven still didn’t understand everything Jesus had taught them: that His salvation could only come through His death and resurrection.  They probably thought those speaking of seeing Jesus were crazy, delusional in their grief, or seeing things.  Any way we look at it, there were eleven who lost their belief and spiritual perception.  We do that sometimes, don’t we?

And they (those who saw Jesus) went and told it to the rest (the disciples). Neither did they (the disciples) believe those (who saw Jesus). Afterward He appeared to the Eleven as they reclined (ate together). And He reproached their unbelief (faithlessness) and hardness of heart (destitution of spiritual perception), because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Mr. 16:13,14

       I know, for myself, that at various times I have lost faith in the Lord: to move in my life, to heal me, change me, be out for my good, stay with me, and love me all the time.  Those thoughts were a product of not really understanding / perceiving Him correctly, who He is, and how He works.  Sometimes we just don’t get it!

Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen Me you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed. Jh. 20:29

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hb. 11:1

       It’s funny how we think, ‘You had Jesus there in person, and how could you not believe?’  We know Jesus as historical fact, have proof in the Bible, His words to read, eyewitness accounts in the gospels, yet we still struggle with unbelief and spiritually off perceptions.  Guess we can’t judge, but we can choose to see the real Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, and trust Him completely with our lives.

Water that Brings Life

         or Twelve Days to Christmas

       There are 186 times this number is used in the Bible.  Aren't you glad I'm not listing them all?  So, back in the day when Israel was wandering in the desert, they kept worrying about food and water.  Now, God provided for them every time they had a physical need, yet they still did not have faith enough to always trust.  (Don't we do that too?)  Anyway, I guess the Lord decided they needed a welcome rest because He led them to an area of refreshing:

 

And they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees. And they camped there by the waters. Ex. 15:27

 

       Shade and unending water, how much better can you get?  And there was one spring for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Fresh water for all!  This indicates that God didn't leave anyone out.  He seeks to bring refreshing times to each of us; not just the wealthy, the old, or the wise, not just the men, the parents or the child, not just the skilled, the management or the housewife, but one and all had access to the Lord's refreshing.

 

Jesus still wants to give us times of refreshing. 

 

Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water. Jh. 4:10
Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (in order to recover) Mt. 11:28
Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Ac. 3:19

Solomon's Folly

         or Thirteen Days to Christmas

       Solomon was charged by his dad to build a temple to his God (1Ch. 22:6).  Though David fought long and hard to establish his kingdom, Solomon inherited a land that was in relative peace, yet he expanded it and his kingdom was a wealthy one.  This wealth, combined with the supplies David had stored for the Temple (1Ch. 22:5), made for a magnificent building, as fitting for the Lord of the universe as possible.  It took seven years to finish the Temple (1Kn. 6:38).  Then Solomon began work on his own house.

 

And Solomon was thirteen years building his own house. And he finished all his house. 1Kn. 7:1 

 

       There are many things that people try to read into this Scripture, but the timeline states Solomon built God's Temple for seven years, then spent thirteen years building his palace, together 'done in twenty years' (1Kn. 9:10).  Just because it took less time to build the Temple does not mean there was less care put into it.  When it was done, it was as 'perfect'ly fashioned as humanly possible- I'm sure Solomon would not have stood for less, and the plans came from David!  His palace, on the other hand, was larger, and made more ornate for his own tastes which were opulent. 

 

        It seems to be at this time that Solomon's eyes are taken off of God due to his love of wealth and women.  1Kn. 11:1-10 speaks of 700 wives (crazy man!) and 300 concubines.  The inside walls of his palace were supposedly covered in gold.  With personal and public rooms, the palace area would have been about twice the size of the Temple area.  But the worst sin of all would have to be that he allowed his flesh to obscure his focus on God, and the women in his life were able to turn him to idols- all in thirteen years.  Perhaps he did learn his lesson eventually, as he states here:

 

I made my works great; I built houses for myself... Ec. 2:4
And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them... (v.10)
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit; and there is no profit under the sun. (v.11)