Category Insights on Scripture

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

“Proclaim Liberty throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof”

The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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This inscription can be found engraved upon the Liberty Bell housed in Independence Square, Philadelphia, Pa. This bell formerly known as the “Province Bell” rang out on July 8th 1776 as the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence took place. This inscription was taken from Leviticus 25:10 proclaiming the year of jubilee for Israel.

Later in the book of Isaiah we read these words: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV)

The liberty bell toiled good news that liberty was being proclaimed from Philadelphia, and Isaiah was prophesying of a time that was yet to come when liberty would again be proclaimed in Israel. That time came with the arrival of Christ. Luke chapter 4 verses 16-21 recounts the story of Jesus standing in the temple and reading from the 61st chapter of the book of Isaiah and then proclaiming on that day the scripture was fulfilled. What better time to proclaim liberty throughout all the land then on independence day? The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 by men willing to give their lives for this great nation, established a national freedom to all citizens of these United States of America.

Yet there is another declaration of liberty that was declared by Christ, signed with his blood, and enacted by his execution, that bought our spiritual freedom. Freedom comes with a heavy price. The signers of the “Declaration faced possible charges of treason against the British crown. But sign they did. Christ signed our spiritual declaration of independence with his own blood.

It was for freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 (RSV)

These words from Galatians ring as clear as the Liberty bell did in 1776 when liberty was proclaimed throughout the colonies. Today marked the 234th birthday of our nation and once again men need to stand up and proclaim liberty throughout the land. The tyrannical bonds of King George III needed to be severed in 1776, and today I am afraid we are seeing another tyrannical government arising to enslave the people of these great United States. Let us first remember that our freedom comes from the Lord, and by remembering the heights from which we have fallen perhaps we can find our way back to the arms of a forgiving savior.

Proclaim liberty to the captives. Proclaim a year of jubilee. Let us pray our debts to one another are forgiven as we forgive those who are indebted to us. This after all is what Christ came to do. He came to forgive our sin debt. The Levitical law proclaimed all debts were to be forgiven once every 50 years in the year of jubilee. We are long overdue for a year of jubilee don’t you think? So let us once again with one accord proclaim liberty throughout the land.

“For where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.” 2 Cor. 3:17

Along for the Journey

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If the Earth is Shakin’ Perhaps God is Knockin’

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

A View from the Nest
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky

Heb 12:26-27 (GW) When God spoke to your ancestors, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the sky.” The words once more show clearly that God will change what he has made. These are the things that can be shaken. Then only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.

Volcanic eruptions such as this one can create...
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Are natural disasters signs of the “end of the age” spoken of in Scripture, or simply just natural occurrences? Would it be proper to associate the apparent increase in seismic activity, and volcanic eruptions with an ‘angry God’ punishing the earth? Or are these just the start of more to come? Is it possible to tell the ‘signs of the end’ from day-to-day occurrences? Is there a difference?

 

In the past several years we’ve seen many significant natural disasters in many places across the globe. For thousands of years there have been earthquakes, famines, and plagues which have brought havoc to mankind.

Are the events of these past few months breaking new ground (forgive the pun) in the global shaking that has increased over the past century? Is there really more seismic activity or are we just more aware of them because of the nature of the news cycle? Could it be the 24 hour a day news programs are adding to the perception that the world is crumbling at the seams?

There have been doomsday prophets for as long as time existed. Since the first century after Christ’s crucifixion there have been those who said the world was coming to an end even before we got to the 21st century. Yet the world still remains. Does this mean Christ’s return is never going to happen? Should we simply ignore these earthquakes or is there something we can learn from all this?

As we witness the groaning of creation, are they the literal birth-pangs of the “Day of the Lord” or just a wake-up call for Christians to be ready for the coming harvest? As things grow increasingly more confused and more lives are affected by one natural disaster after another I can see a great need arising upon the Earth for something more dependable. As the very foundations are shaking beneath the feet of many, there remains a solid rock upon which we can place our hope and trust, that rock is Jesus Christ, the only sure foundation.

As fortunes fall and the earthquakes of life challenges continue with greater frequency the world is becoming ripe to solutions, something real. They have heard all the lies and have trusted in others only to see their foundations shaking and their lives crumbling. Are we ready to offer something other than ‘just words, just speeches?” Is there a place of refuge for those whose lives have been shaken? Is there a place of rest from the constant uproar of the world around us? Is there a safety net for those falling into despair and panic?

The answer to all the world’s needs is the same as it has always been. No matter how hard man tries to remove God from their lives He is still a force that needs to be reckoned with. Accounts need to be settled, debts need to be paid, a man’s choices need to be judged, evil dealt with. As our scripture reference explains, there is coming a shake-up from God, the purpose of which is to shake everything that can be shaken so that the only thing remaining is that which can not be shook. And that sure foundation is trusting in the Lord thy God.

As the great architect of all things, God is the only one capable of mapping out an exit strategy. Trust in the Lord and you will be able to withstand the shakin’ that’s goin’ on. So is it going to be the ‘Rock’ or do you prefer to roll? The choice is yours, I however say along with the Psalmist:

Psalms 62:6-8 (NKJV) He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

 

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org A

Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor.

See, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Be then as wise as snakes, and as gentle as doves. Matt 10:16 (BBE)

People call me

Image by -RejiK (busy) via Flickr

The short answer is no. The longer answer is tolerating evil is sin and is condemned byscripture. Perhaps it is time for the church to take a stand and stop being so wishy-washy in their dealings with evil. For too long the church has been taking a passive roll in the world and we can see the results of this passiveness. Far too many Christians, I believe, have handed over their God ordained role as care taker of the world (take dominion over) to Satan just like Adam did in the garden.

He said, “The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News.” Mark 1:15

Jesus calls people to repent: to change their way of thinking about the Kingdom of God as being some far off place. What Jesus was trying to impart was the truth that wherever God’s people reside, that is where the kingdom of God now is. We are to be the salt and light of the world. If we loose our focus, if we neglect our duties, then by default we allow the Evil one to take command and dominion over that which we were called to watch over.

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it …Gen 1:28 (NKJV)

It was Adam’s failure to subdue the serpent which enticed Eve and eventually caused him to sin against God. His first sin was failing to take charge over his environment. He was not diligent in ridding the garden of the influence of the serpent. Adam permitted the serpent to operate in the realm of his authority which eventually was stripped from him. Adam and Eve where removed from the realm of Godly influence and forced into a world absent the authority of God. They had to now live without the protective hand of God. The whole world became the devil’s playground and all future generations would have to deal with the residual effects of Adam’s poor stewardship. His failure to subdue the earth forced him to become a sub-servant to the earth.

By the sweat of your brow, you will produce food to eat until you return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and you will return to dust.” Gen 3:19 (GW)

If the kingdom is at hand, we need to adjust our way of life and join in the joyful, painful mission of reconciliation of the world back to God right now, ASAP!”That after all is the great commission. That is the work we are called to engage in. We are being given the authority from God once again to subdue the earth, to till the garden, to watch over and take responsibility for that which God has entrusted into your care. Our families and our communities. Continue reading “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” →

Snow Days

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Insight for your "Journey across the Sky"
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org
Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Psalms 51:7-12 (NKJV)

When I was younger I used to enjoy those occasional snow days that would halt regularly scheduled activities, especially school. Waking up in the morning and hearing the radio announce the name of our school as one of the districts to be closed due to a major snow storm was exhilarating. My brother and sister and I would bundle up in our winter gear and grab the sleds out of the garage and head on outside to make tracks in the freshly fallen snow. Hours would pass before we grew tired of playing in the snow. We would make snow forts, snowmen, toss snowballs at each other, sled down the back hill into the neighbors yard, roll around in the snow and even make snow angels. Oh the fun we had as kids playing in the snow.

This week the northeast got blanketed in over 2 feet of snow, and now that I am no longer a school kid snow days are not quite as much fun as they once where. Having a snow day from work is not the same as having a snow day from school, primarily because there is a financial cost attached to the day off. The joy of a snow day has been replaced with the realization that someone has to shovel all that snow out of the driveway and off the sidewalks to make it possible to travel away from home. I have no desire today to make snowmen, or sled down a hill, or even make snow angels, the fact is I do not particularly like snow at all. It does look pretty hanging off the trees and blanketing the countryside, but it surely is no fun to have to shovel all that white stuff off the driveway and maneuver around on snow covered roadways.

It is amazing how our perspective changes as we age. What once was an event we looked forward too has turned into an event we could for the most part live without. I know God in His infinite wisdom felt the need to send snow in the winter, but I think I would much prefer to skip it altogether. If I could control the weather I think it would be a nice warm sunny spring day all year round. I know that is not practical in the northeast but hey I can dream can’t I?

Why this change of perspective when it comes to snow days? What causes one to change one’s opinion of a life event so markedly? Has our life’s situation changed so much that we no longer view the same event in the same way? When I was a child a snow day meant a day off from something that was less appealing — school, but as I got older that same snow day became the object of my dislike because I no longer associated the arrival of snow as a welcome diversion but rather as toilsome and inconvenient. The joy of those bygone snow days has been erased.

The snow that was a joy and delight in my childhood has become a minor inconvenience today. What once brought hours of joy and endless possibilities has today become a nuisance. Perhaps it would do me good to try to remember the joy of my childhood during these Northeast snow days. Perhaps I should try to recapture some of the thrill of those bygone days. Perhaps I should try to see a snow day as a welcomed diversion from normal day to day life.

King David likened snow to his being washed of his sin. He had lost the joy that came along with living because of his transgressions against God. He knew daily that he had messed up and wanted to recapture the joy that came along with being cleansed and forgiven. Guilt and shame steals a great deal of joy from our lives. So does regret. To a child being corrected by our parents ranked high on the list of dislikes. Being disciplined was not something we loved as a child, actually it is not something we enjoy as adults either. Continue reading “Snow Days” →

February 2nd Candles or Ground Hogs?

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
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The Feast of the Presentation, often called Candlemas, commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. According to Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered unclean for seven days. Also, she was to remain 33 days “in the blood of her purification.” Luke tells us, quoting Exodus 13:2,12, that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons, showing that Mary and Joseph were poor. Once in the temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess. Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:

Lord, now you let your servant go in peace,
your word has been fulfilled:
My own eyes have seen the salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Simeon told Mary, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son.

The name Candlemas comes from the activities associated with the feast. It came to be known as the Candle Mass. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles is the distinctive rite. According to post Vatican-II discipline, (if possible) the beeswax candles are to be blessed somewhere other than where the Mass is held. Often your local parish will hand out candles, or you may bring your own, to be blessed before the procession. These may be saved for later use in your home. After an antiphon, during which the candles held by the people are lighted, there is a procession into the church. During the procession to the church, the Nunc Dimittis is sung, with the antiphon “Lumen ad revelationem” (Luke 2:32). This procession into the church for Mass commemorates Christ’s entrance into the temple. Since Vatican II, the feast is reckoned a feast of the Lord (as opposed to a feast of Mary), and officially designated “The presentation of the Lord.”

History

Egeria, writing around AD 380, attests to a feast of the Presentation in the Jerusalem Church. It was kept on February 14th. The day was kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily on Luke 2:22-39. However, the feast had no proper name at this point; it was simply called the 40th day after Epiphany. This shows that the Jerusalem church celebrated Jesus’ birth on the Epiphany Feast (as is common in some Eastern Churches today).

In regions where Christ’s birth was celebrated on December 25th, the feast began to be celebrated on February 2nd, where it is kept in the West today. In 542, the Emperor Justinian introduced the feast to the entire Eastern Roman empire in thanksgiving for the end to a great pestilence afflicting the city of Constantinople. Perhaps this is when Pope Gregory I brought the feast to Rome. Either way, by the 7th century, it is contained in the Gelasianum Sacramentary. Pope Sergius (687-701) introduced the procession to the Candlemas service. The blessing of candles did not come into common use until the 11th century.

While some scholars have asserted that the Candlemas feast was developed in the Middle Ages to counteract the pagan feasts of Imbolc and Lupercalia, many scholars reject this, based on Medieval documents. While the feast does coincide with these two pagan holidays, the origins of the feast are based in Scriptural chronology. Some superstitions developed about Candlemas, including the belief that if one does not take down Christmas decorations by Candlemas, traces of the holly and berries will bring about the death of the person involved. In past times, Candlemas was seen as the end of the Christmas season.

Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind “Groundhog’s Day,” which falls on Candlemas Day.

Today, the feast is still celebrated on February 14th in some Eastern Churches, including the Armenian Church, where the feast is called, “The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple.” Most churches celebrate it on February 2nd.

Welcome to Gobblers Knob
Image by Eddie~S via Flickr

So whether it is a religious celebration or simply a weather forecasting gimmick February 2nd holds different significance to different people groups. A parallel can be draw between Simeon’s forecasting the life and death of Mary’s child Jesus with the farmers forecasting an early spring if there was no shadow cast on February 2nd. Punxytawny Phil causes quite a stir around these parts each year when thousands gather at Gobblers Knob to witness the ceremony. This annual celebration turned a small town in Western Pennsylvania into a tourist attraction. In fact there is a statue of a ground hog right in the center of town.

Punxytawny Phil may be the main attraction on Ground Hog day but as Christians our focal point should be Jesus Christ and the cross. It was the shadow of the cross that Simeon saw that day when Jesus was presented to him at the temple for dedication, and it is the shadow of the cross that can turn your wintertime of hopelessness and despair into a springtime of renewed life. So whether there is going to be an early spring or a much longer winter really depends on how you view the shadow of the cross  and not the shadow of the woodchuck.

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