Alabaster Investment
Word In Due Season (http://www.treeoflifeinc.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=41)
Pastor Eric Aschendorf
Become a Part of the Love at:
Tree Of Life Ministries Association
(http://www.treeoflifeinc.org)
Matt 26:2, 6-13
Mat 26:2 Ye know that after two days is [the feast of] the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.
Mat 26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Mat 26:7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat [at meat].
Mat 26:8 But when his disciples saw [it], they had indignation, saying, To what purpose [is] this waste?
Mat 26:9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
Mat 26:10 When Jesus understood [it], he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.,br/> Mat 26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did [it] for my burial.
Mat 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, [there] shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
As we know the elements of nature can dry out the skin. Wind beating upon it or the sun can dry it out and cause it to crack and bleed. Therefore in the Middle East the use of oils for the treatment of the skin is vital.
In the case of Mary and JESUS we see Mary anointing JESUS. She is said to be preparing HIM for HIS death and burial. Keep this in you mind as we will come back to this later!
Let me lay a simple foundation first!
Throughout the Bible The HOLY SPIRIT is expressed in various ways. To give only a few, HE can be expressed as oil, or water or wind. The Hebrew word for “spirit” is “ruwach” and it means, “wind or breath”. In the Chaldean it may also be defined as mind, spirit or wind. While in the Greek it is “pneuma” from which in English we derive the word pneumatic and it means among other things in the Greek “a current of air such as to breath, or a breeze”. So with that said, when we talk about The HOLY SPIRIT we are talking about the breath or wind or the mind that is HOLY or coming from GOD.
Turn with me in your Bibles to Gen 22! Gen 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here [am] I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?
Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Gen 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Gen 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here [am] I.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.,br/> Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Gen 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh (The LORD your provider): as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Note the ram in verse 13. Jewish Traditional teachings uphold that in order for Abraham to free this ram to be used in the sacrifice he had to cut both of the horns off. They contend that one of the horns is still kept in Jerusalem to this day and that the other one was taken by an angel to Heaven to be used as a trumpet or Shofar and sounded at the time of The MESSIAH’s coming!
In Exodus we find GOD’s voice also described as being like a trumpet or Shofar.
Exd 19:13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether [it be] beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.
Exd 19:14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes.
Exd 19:15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at [your] wives.
Exd 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that [was] in the camp trembled.
Exd 19:17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
Exd 19:18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
Exd 19:19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
Because of this it is often said that when the Shofar is blown that satan cannot tell the difference between the Shofar or the voice of GOD. It is said that the sound of the Shofar or the trumpet’s call, would clear the air and drive out the evil spirits.
The design of the Shofar is such that, the part which you blow into is called the Hallow. The part that the sound emanates from is called the Mouth. While the section in between is known as the Throat. We are designed with a mouth, which is connected to a throat, which connects to a hallow or our belly area. When we worship the LORD the sounds of true worship must emanate from deep within our hallow. From within our belly! The groanings or sounds must travel up our throat and out of our mouths. JESUS said, Jhn 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
The Shofar is a ram’s horn which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. One of the most important observances of the Jewish Holy day of Rosh Hashanah, which was just observed, is hearing the sounding of the Shofar in the synagogue. A total of 100 notes are sounded each day. There are four different types of Shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, "big tekiah"), the final blast in a set, which lasts 10 seconds minimum.
The one that I want to bring to your attention is the fourth type of sound. The “tekiah gedolah”. Paul describes this in 1 Corinthians when he says, 1Cr 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. PTL!!!
As I mentioned the Jewish Holy day of Rosh Hashanah was just observed. Rosh Hashanah is also known as the Feast of Trumpets. On the Jewish calendar there are seven major Holy days.
1) Passover
2) The feast of Unleavened Bread
3) First Fruits
4) Pentecost
5) Rosh Hashanah
6) Yom Kippur
7) Feast of Tabernacles
The first 4, Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost have been fulfilled in CHRIST, JESUS. They also correspond with the age of man. According to the Jewish calendar JESUS walked the earth during what would be equivalent to the fourth day of creation. As an interesting side note look at what the book of Genesis tells us about the fourth day!
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Gen 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light (Do you see JESUS?) to rule the day, and the lesser light (satan) to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.(Their seed)
Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that [it was] good.
Then comes the final three Jewish Holy days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles. I’m not exactly sure I can do this and do it justice but I’ll try to explain all three without too much detail. Even though they are three Holy days they could easily be seen as one continuous HOLY season.
The season starts forty days before Yom Kippur. This time is known as the Season of Teshuvah (pron: tesh-shoe-vah’). The Season of Teshuvah is a season of repenting and awakening before Yom Kippur which is the Day of Atonement. During this season the Jews are to pay special attention to what their life has been for the past year. This is a time of great reflection and anticipation. During this time if they discover that they have ought toward a brother, that they have caused harm to him or in some other way left him offended they are to leave what they are doing and make things right between them. This sort of thing can be done at any time during the year but this is a special time in which to be even more reflective upon those things that may have slipped past during the year. Particular attention is given at this time because of the judgment to come. On Rosh Hashanah the Priest will announce whose names are in the Book of Life, whose are in the Book of Death and who is in a provisional or undecided state. Those in the Book of Death have died during the past year. Those in the Book of Life are good to go for another year and those in the provisional state have ten days to get their affairs in order. Ten days to discover where they have failed during the year and make the necessary restitutions. This all culminates on Yom Kippur where the Priests announce the names of those that are sealed into the Book of Death or the Book of Life and whose have been blotted out for the next year.
Five days after this solemn time comes The Feast of Tabernacles. This is time of rejoicing and thanks giving. This is truly a festive time done in remembrance of the time spent in the wilderness and how GOD sustained and provided for HIS children (The American celebration known as Thanksgiving has it’s basis here). This celebration last for seven days as the people live in shelters they have made for themselves and their families. The next day is often seen as a part of this festival time but really is a Holy day unto itself.
In Psalms we read,
Psa 1:1 Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
This is part of this Holy day. This is the time and/or season for this to be pronounced. This is the time of year when the rainy seasons in Israel, both the former rain and latter rain, come together for a time. This is the end of the one year and the beginning of the next. This is the time of a “double out pouring” of the blessings of the LORD upon the land and it’s people! This “double out pouring or double portion” season is what we are in today!
In Acts we read;
Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Then in 1 Thessalonians we see;
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
So why do we have what appears to be a contradiction?
JESUS did not reveal it because The HOLY SPIRIT had not yet come! With The HOLY SPIRIT comes illumination and revelation. Whenever The HOLY SPIRIT has a fresh outpouring there comes a fresh illumination or revelation of a lost Biblical truth!
With the Reformation movement of the 1800’s came the revelation of, “the just shall live by faith!” With Azuza Street came the revelation of, “the gifts of the SPIRIT!”
During the 40’s & 50’s came the revelation of, “miracles and healings!”
With the Charismatic movement came the revelation of, “praise and worship!”
Where are you? Where are "we" today?
As I stated before we are in the season of “Double out pouring or Double portion”!
Now let’s look at this in light of the biblical examples we have?
Moses was what we will term as an outer court man. David was an inner court man and Solomon was a Holy of Holies man! Each was in these positions for forty years. Forty for Moses in the wilderness. Forty years as King for David and forty years for Solomon. Forty plus forty plus forty equals one hundred twenty years! God told Noah that, Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
With Moses, came forty years in the wilderness and the message of sanctification and holiness. Thus he is in the outer court if we were to put it in perspective of the Temple. David calls not for sacrifice but for praise and worship. Thus we place him in the inner court where we see the Shew Bread, the Menorah and the Golden Altar. Why do they correlate?
In Psalm 34 David says, “Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him.” Tasting is indicative of the Shew Bread in the inner court!
In Psa 119:105 . Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Thus the relationship of the lamp to the candlestick or Menorah.
As for the Golden Altar we need to look to;
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
So, suffice it to say, David is an inner court man!
David’s ministry was akin to that of the Charismatic movement. He was a Praise and Worshipper! When the Jews were under Moses’ ministry there basically was no song and dance. Moses had one song and Miriam, his sister, had a moment of dance as soon as they crossed the Red Sea but most of their time was spent in murmuring and times of discontent while Moses was continually calling them to holiness. GOD did not give them the Praise and Worship because their hearts were not right. They would have only given HIM lip service and HE wants service from our hearts. Let me insert here; If you are having a hard time getting into Praise and Worship or you see that the assembly where you attend is having problem making that move, then you may need to check some hearts?
When David’s ministry of Praise and Worship came the old timers didn’t want it! In 2 Samuel 6 David danced, sang and made offerings for miles as the Ark of the Covenant was brought back to Jerusalem. When he got there he was met by the worst opposition he could face. His own wife, Michal declared that she was embarrassed by his actions. Michal represents, for us, the old timers who are continually bringing their only message of holiness while David represent the Charismatic, Praise and Worship movement. David was a man after or chasing GOD’s own heart!
In 1 Kings 1:1 we read, Now king David was old [and] stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Attempting to keep the movement of Praise and Worship alive his servants brought to David a young virgin. Her name was Abishag, whose name means, “father of error or more accurately the elders have error-ed.” They tried to put flesh on flesh to revive the movement. This is why we see so many dried up, assemblies today. We, as a body are doing the same thing. If only we could get this superstar minister? If only we could get this superstar Praise and Worship leader or team? IF ONLY WE …!!!! Flesh on flesh!
Then there was Solomon. David had been a man of war. There was blood on his hands, so he could not build the Temple for GOD. Therefore GOD raised up Solomon.
Notice what Solomon does.
1Ki 6:1 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.
1Ki 6:7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe [nor] any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.
When Solomon built the Temple there was no iron heard in the house! Why? The iron and the ax were symbolic and tools of war. GOD would not allow that in HIS house! You cannot have Praise and Worship and war in the same house!
What did JESUS say?
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
They cannot both live within you either! As Paul also said; 1Cr 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If you are continually having trouble living in Praise and Worship unto the LORD, then there “MAY”, I said “MAY” be war within you! There may be an unresolved battle or conflict raging within you! If this is you then seek the LORD while HE may be found! Keep seeking HIM and knocking on HIS door until you get the answer that will pass all understanding within or without you. Keep seeking until you are able to honestly Praise and Worship HIM! Until you can, for the most part, generally speaking, live a joy filled life.
During the construction Solomon had stationed outside of the Temple a Praise and Worship team. They were there for 6 ½ years! For 6 ½ years they stood between the Temple site and where the stones were being cut and lifted their voices in Praise and Worship to the LORD. They were there during the rain! They were there during the snow! They were there in the heat and the cold for 6 ½ years! As Solomon had the Temple built he kept the sounds of the instruments of war away from the site. All that would be heard in the construction site was the Praise and Worship team.
Today the sounds of war are carried in by the membership! Psa 64:3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, [and] bend [their bows to shoot] their arrows, [even] bitter words: Today we perform acts of war against one another with our tongues! With our words! Denomination against denomination! Church against church! Member against member!
We often hear sung in our assemblies that we want the glory to come down. LORD let your glory come down? LORD let the glory fill the house! Do you REALLY want the glory of GOD to come down? No you don’t! It would kill most of the Body!
When the Priest would enter the Holy of Holies they had dried pomegranates and bells tied to their clothing to make noise and a rope around their ankle so that they could be pulled out, if need be. If when they entered, behind the veil, they were not right, if they were not clean before the LORD, being in HIS glory, in HIS presence would kill them! Do you really want HIS glory to come down? Are you “REALLY” ready to have HIS glory come down in here, NOW?
With Solomon we see the combination of the sanctification and holiness of Moses combined with the Praise and Worship of David. When the Temple of Solomon was opened there were so many sacrifices made that they couldn’t be numbered (1 Ki 8:5; 2 Chr 5:6). He had the Ark of the Covenant that David had recovered and he had a Praise and Worship team.
Do you know who the Praise and Worship team was? It was the same ones that had paid the price for 6 ½ years. It was the same ones that had been faithful everyday. That had been loyal through the good and the bad. They were there even if they didn’t get to sing their favorite song or even when someone else was given the solo. They were the ones that were true to their calling.
Solomon didn’t forsake the message of sanctification and holiness! Once all of this came together The Glory of the LORD filled the Temple so thick that the Priests were unable to stand (1 Ki 8:11; 2 Chr 5:14; 2 Chr 7)!
In the late 1800’s, in America we had the message of sanctification and holiness come alive. Then in the 40’s and 50’s came the Charismatic renewal, a time of the revival of Praise and Worship. With it we seemed to have forgotten the message of sanctification and holiness. Now is the awakening of the time of Solomon! Now is the 40 years, roughly, of the time where we must bring together the two messages. But in order to do that there cannot be heard the sounds of war within the temple!
To be sanctified is to be “set apart” from the world. You can’t claim to be sanctified and still be doing things the same way you always have. The same way your neighbor or friend does! The same way everyone at school or work does. You must become set apart from the world!
Too many of us try to ride the coat-tails of someone else’s sanctification. We sit next to mother so-n-so and when she starts to sense the “Glory” all over her we start to shake. We, like Sampson say, “I will shake myself” but the glory is no longer upon us!
Jdg 16:20 And she said, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him.
Daily, GOD tells us to lay our selves down before HIM. Daily we must put away those things that so easily beset us and pick up our cross and follow after the way of The LORD! Daily, all of us, no matter how long we have been a CHRISTian, we must seek a miracle! Daily we must ask the LORD to intervene into the things of our life! Devine Intervention; really, that’s all a miracle is!
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, they chose to exclude GOD from their lives and ours! They chose to serve the ways of satan; the ways of this world. They chose to make what we see, as normal. However, that is not the way it was supposed to be. The way it was supposed to be is that we were supposed to live with and interact with GOD in all of our ways; at all times! By making the choice to serve our self interest we have made things of GOD into miracles. Therefore, there is no one that does not need a miracle everyday!
If you really want a miracle. If you really want the Glory. If you really want GOD to intervene in your life daily then you first must be sanctified, daily, just as the Priests did! Unlike the Priests you do not have to make animal sacrifices each time. JESUS became your sacrifice once and forever but daily you must lay your flesh at the feet of the LORD. On the altar before HIM for HIM to consume and then use as HE knows best to do!
The Charismatic movement brought with it an easy understanding of salvation but as is often the case, if satan can’t pull us off the narrow road to GOD he will simply try to push off on the other side. With the Charismatic movement came what has become known as “easy believe-ism”. This is where a person says all the right things but they really experience no change. They think they have made it while there is still much to be changed within them. They have not really become sanctified and as long as they live in this flesh they will never become finally sanctified. For, if any of us became finally sanctified while on this earth we would no longer need GOD! We would no longer need HIS intervention into our lives. We would no longer need a miracle!
Essentially, we must recognize two types of sanctification. One is to be “Finally sanctified”. That is the one I just defined as impossible while we still live in this un-glorified body. The other is the “Daily sanctified” body. This is the one that daily lays himself at the feet of The MASTER, denies his own will in order to do that which the LORD has set before him for that day. This is the one that can walk in the miracles of GOD for he is the one that has made 2 Chr 7:14 a guiding word for his life.
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
GOD is not going to intervene into our lives, on our behalf’s unless we first seek HIM. Unless we first humble ourselves before HIM. HE will seek us. HE will reach out to us but in order to get HIM to intervene or to work the miraculous upon our behalf we will have to come to HIM.
Back when Solomon was building the Temple remember that he had the workers that were cutting the stones separated from the temple site by the sounds of the Praise and Worship team. Why? Science has proven the existence of molecules in all things. In gaseous substances these molecules are far apart. In liquid items they are closer. While in solid items they become very close. In all of them there is still space between the molecules. Sound sends molecules into other things. It imbeds molecules between even the closes of molecules.
Look what the bible says in Joshua 24:27!
Jos 24:27 And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
JESUS, HIM self said;
Mat 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
These are both Biblical accounts of sound molecules being imbedded into other molecules.
Did you know that blood has a voice?
While the LORD declares in Habakkuk,
Hab 2:11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Hab 2:12 Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
In Leviticus God declares,
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh [is] in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it [is] the blood [that] maketh an atonement for the soul.
When Solomon is making the sacrifices for the new temple the blood of each of the lambs, each of the goats, each of the bullocks, each of the doves is crying out, “I am a sacrifice but I am not The PERFECT SACRIFICE!”
John the Baptist declared,
Jhn 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Then when JESUS came into Jerusalem he said,
Luk 19:40 … , I tell you that, if these (meaning the people that had gathered) should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
Early on I pointed out the time where we find ourselves today. The season of atonement has ended and we have entered into the time of the former and latter rains. This is the season of the double blessings of the LORD being poured out upon the children of Israel. Before we can enjoy this season we must first atone for our sins. Today we come to the altar of GOD through the blood of the eternal sacrifice. Through the Blood of the LAMB OF GOD which taketh away the sin of the world. If you need a miracle today, you need JESUS!
Right now before we go any further, take the time to ask HIM anew, to apply HIS blood to your life with me.
LORD JESUS, I need you! I need what only you can supply for my life. I accept that which you have done for me and I ask that you forgive me of my sins. Of all that has crept into my life while I was unaware or in ignorance of it’s going on or it’s purpose. I ask you to become my SAVIOR? To forgive me of all things that is not of you? To be the sacrifice for my life today? Amen!
In Luke 8 we find a woman who had been ill for 12 years. She had exhausted everything she had trying to get healed. Finally in desperation she reached out to JESUS and touched only the hem of HIS clothing and was instantly healed.
Luk 8:43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
Luk 8:44 Came behind [him], and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
Then in John 14, JESUS explains that we, who are HIS disciples, that is, followers of HIM and HIS ways, are one with HIM. We are just like the clothes that HE wore when the woman in Luke 8 touched HIS clothing and was healed.
Jhn 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Because of this, you to can receive anything, any miracle you need, right now!
Jhn 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Jhn 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jhn 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do [it].
What do you need? Bring it to HIM now! It is not us but HE who is in us that you are desirous to touch! That you are desirous to receive from! Right now reach out and touch the hem of HIS garment and receive!
When JESUS went to the house of Simon who is better known to us as Peter. Peter’s mother-in-law was ill. JESUS healed her and immediately she served HIM (Mk 1:30-31). In our text we see Mary, the sister of Martha and whose brother is Lazarus. After JESUS raises, from the dead, Lazarus, Mary is so consumed with gratitude for what JESUS has done that she sacrifices what is the most important and valuable earthly thing she possess, the oil in the Alabaster box.
An average wage for a Jew in those days was a penny a day. The parable that JESUS tells us in Matt 20:1-16 explains this for us. Biblical scholars then tell us that an average bottle made of Alabaster to contain oil would have cost about $52 (5200 pennies) or 5200 days of labor. If you divide this by a 6 day work week you must work 867 weeks or just under 17 years without spending a penny, just to buy this half-pint (8 ounce) bottle of oil. This may have been more expensive than her house! This would have been more expensive than all of her retirement money!
Now that you have called upon JESUS and received from HIM what will you do? What is in your Alabaster box? What will you pour out at the feet of the LORD? What will you place upon the altar? When the people of Israel came to the Temple for the atonement of their sins at Yom Kippur, the sins of the nation were symbolically transferred by the Priest onto a goat which was released into the wilderness. Today we call this goat the “scapegoat”. Then they would take their sacrifice to the Priest to be offered up for the use of the LORD but like what Mary did to JESUS, the sacrifice first had to be prepared for it’s death. What do you possess in your Alabaster box that you can give in preparation for the death of those things which have become common in your life? What do you have to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD? Now is the time to bring it to the altar!
Always HIS servant,
Pastor Eric Aschendorf
Become a Part of the love at
Tree Of Life Ministries Association
http://www.treeoflifeinc.org
Copyright © by Tree of Life Ministries Association All Right Reserved.
Published on: 2003-11-10
