WHEN THE STORM STILL BELONGS TO GOD

On Second Thought

“The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them.” — Psalm 89:11

There are moments in life when it becomes easy to believe God is present only in the pleasant seasons. We recognize Him in answered prayers, peaceful homes, healthy bodies, financial provision, and joyful worship. Yet when hardship arrives unexpectedly, many believers quietly begin asking questions they are often afraid to speak aloud. Where is God in this disappointment? Where is He in the diagnosis, the betrayal, the uncertainty, or the unanswered prayer? Psalm 89 reminds us that the Lord does not govern only the peaceful corners of existence. The heavens belong to Him. The earth belongs to Him. Every storm, every season, every unseen struggle, and every moment of uncertainty still exists beneath His sovereign authority.

The psalmist Ethan writes during a period where tension exists between God’s promises and painful reality. Psalm 89 celebrates God’s covenant faithfulness while also wrestling honestly with confusion and affliction. That combination matters. Biblical faith never asks believers to pretend suffering is pleasant. Scripture allows room for tears, questions, and exhaustion while still anchoring the heart in the character of God. The Hebrew word often associated with God’s faithfulness in this psalm is emunah, carrying the idea of steadiness, firmness, and reliability. God remains stable even when life feels unstable.

First Corinthians 10:13 offers another layer of encouragement. Paul writes, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” The word temptation here can also include testing or trial. Many believers hear this verse only in relation to resisting sin, but its meaning stretches further. There are seasons where faith itself feels tested. A person may feel emotionally cornered, spiritually weary, or mentally overwhelmed. Yet Scripture insists God remains actively involved even there. He does not abandon His children to chaos without grace, wisdom, strength, or a pathway through the pressure.

I have often noticed that God’s greatest work happens in areas where I feel least in control. We naturally prefer visible outcomes and predictable answers, but the Lord frequently develops perseverance in hidden places. James 1:3 says, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” The word patience in this passage carries the sense of endurance under pressure. Spiritual maturity rarely grows in comfort alone. Like muscles stretched under resistance, faith develops strength through seasons that require dependence upon God.

Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “God is too good to be unkind and too wise to be mistaken.” That statement becomes deeply meaningful when circumstances appear confusing. God’s involvement in our lives does not always mean immediate relief from pain. Sometimes His presence appears through sustaining grace rather than instant deliverance. Paul experienced this personally when he pleaded for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed. Instead of removing the struggle immediately, the Lord answered, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” God was present in both the weakness and the sustaining.

This understanding reshapes how we view difficult seasons. The Lord is not absent simply because life feels heavy. Romans 8:28 reminds believers that God works all things together for good to those who love Him. Notice Paul does not say all things are good. Loss still hurts. Betrayal still wounds. Waiting still stretches the heart. Yet God is able to weave even painful experiences into His larger redemptive purpose. Joseph could eventually look back over betrayal, slavery, and imprisonment and say, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.”

There is also comfort in knowing God’s involvement is personal, not mechanical. The Lord is not merely overseeing creation from a distance like a detached observer. Jesus revealed the Father’s intimate care when He said not even a sparrow falls without the Father’s awareness. The same Savior who calmed storms on the Sea of Galilee also comforts troubled hearts today. Christ enters human suffering rather than remaining distant from it. At the cross, Jesus experienced rejection, agony, abandonment, and sorrow. Because of this, believers never suffer alone.

On Second Thought

There is a paradox hidden within spiritual testing that many believers do not immediately recognize. We often pray for God to remove difficulty so we may finally trust Him more deeply, yet many times trust grows precisely because the difficulty remains longer than expected. That feels unsettling because we naturally associate God’s nearness with visible rescue. But throughout Scripture, God frequently reveals His faithfulness not by preventing every storm, but by sustaining His people within the storm. Israel still faced the Red Sea before witnessing deliverance. Daniel still entered the lions’ den before experiencing protection. The disciples still felt the violent wind before hearing Christ say, “Peace, be still.”

Sometimes the deeper miracle is not that God changes the circumstance immediately, but that He changes the believer while the circumstance continues. We tend to measure God’s involvement by outcomes we can see, while God often measures His work through transformation occurring beneath the surface. A delayed answer may still be an act of mercy. An uncomfortable season may still be holy ground. What feels like interruption may actually become preparation for future usefulness, compassion, wisdom, or endurance. Faith learns to recognize God not only in sunshine, but also in shadows where His sustaining hand quietly carries us farther than we could have walked alone.

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Grace Before the Cross

As the Day Begins

“Much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” — Romans 5:15

Many Christians have been taught that the Old Testament is primarily about law while the New Testament is primarily about grace. While there is truth in recognizing different covenant administrations, Scripture itself reveals that God’s grace did not suddenly appear in Bethlehem or begin flowing at Calvary. Grace has always resided in the heart of God because grace is an expression of who God is. Since God is unchanging, His mercy, compassion, and redemptive purpose have been present from the beginning. The same God who clothed Adam and Eve after their sin is the God who sent His Son into the world. The same God who preserved Noah, called Abraham, and forgave David is the God who extends salvation through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:15 reminds us that grace is not merely an act God performs; it is a gift flowing from His eternal character. Long before the cross stood on Calvary’s hill, God was already revealing His gracious plan through sacrifices, covenants, promises, and prophetic declarations. The cross did not create God’s grace—it revealed it in its fullest expression. Every act of mercy in the Old Testament pointed forward to Jesus Christ, who would become the visible demonstration of God’s eternal love.

As we begin this day, it is comforting to remember that the God who cares for us today is the same God who cared for His people throughout history. His grace has never diminished, never increased, and never failed. When we face uncertainty, weakness, or disappointment, we can rest in the assurance that God’s resources are not running low. His grace is as abundant this morning as it was when He first spoke creation into existence. The stream of divine favor that carried saints through generations still flows freely for those who trust in Him today.

Prayer to the Father

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your eternal grace that has never changed throughout all generations. Before I ever knew Your name, You knew mine. Before I ever sought You, You were already extending mercy toward me. Help me begin this day with confidence in Your faithful character. When fears arise, remind me that Your grace is greater than my weakness and Your love is stronger than my failures. Teach me to trust Your purposes and walk in the assurance that You are working for my good.

Prayer to the Son

Jesus the Son, thank You for revealing the Father’s grace through Your life, death, and resurrection. Through You I see the depth of God’s love and the cost of my redemption. Help me live today in gratitude for the gift You have provided. Guard my heart from self-reliance and teach me to depend upon Your strength. May my words, attitudes, and actions reflect the grace that You have shown to me so freely.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit, fill my heart with wisdom and understanding as I walk through this day. Open my eyes to recognize God’s grace in both ordinary and extraordinary moments. Guide my decisions, shape my character, and help me extend patience and kindness to others. When challenges come, remind me that I am sustained by the same grace that has carried God’s people throughout history. Lead me in paths that honor Christ and glorify the Father.

Thought for the Day

God’s grace did not begin at Calvary—it was revealed there. Walk through today remembering that the same unchanging grace that sustained Abraham, Moses, David, and the apostles is available to you right now.

For further study: https://www.gotquestions.org/grace-of-God.html

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The People God Writes Into Your Story

DID YOU KNOW

Did You Know that some of God’s greatest blessings come in the form of people who quietly pray for you when you are unaware of it?

There is something deeply comforting about knowing your name may be written on someone’s “sticky note” before God. A simple prayer list on a bathroom mirror may not seem significant to the world, yet heaven takes notice of faithful intercession. Scripture repeatedly reminds us that God often works through relationships to sustain His people. In Psalm 89:1, the psalmist declares, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever.” That mercy is frequently experienced through faithful friends who stand beside us in difficult seasons.

Many believers can look back and realize there were moments when they nearly lost hope, drifted spiritually, or became overwhelmed by discouragement. Yet somehow strength arrived at the right moment. Sometimes it came through a conversation, a timely text, a kind word, or simply the quiet faithfulness of someone praying behind the scenes. The body of Christ was never designed to function in isolation. God often keeps us steady through the prayers and encouragement of others who continue lifting our names before Him even when we cannot find words ourselves.

Did You Know that Paul viewed Timothy not merely as a ministry helper but as someone who carefully watched his life of faith?

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:10, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience.” Timothy observed not only Paul’s preaching but also his suffering, endurance, and perseverance. Discipleship in Scripture was relational before it was instructional. Timothy learned by walking alongside someone who faithfully followed Christ through hardship.

This is one reason Christian friendships matter so deeply. We need people who can see God’s faithfulness unfolding in our lives over time. In a culture that often values independence, Scripture calls believers into shared spiritual lives. The Greek idea behind fellowship, koinōnia, speaks of mutual participation and shared life together. Some of the most insightful spiritual growth occurs when we witness another believer remain faithful through trials. Their story becomes a living testimony that God truly sustains His people.

Did You Know that God’s faithfulness in Scripture becomes easier to recognize when we begin paying attention to the stories around us?

First Chronicles may appear at first glance to be filled mostly with names, divisions, and records, yet beneath those details is a powerful testimony to God’s preserving hand. Israel survived wars, exile, rebellion, and hardship because God remained faithful to His covenant promises. David’s rise to kingship was not merely political history; it was evidence that God keeps His word even through human weakness and opposition.

The same pattern appears throughout the New Testament church. Paul endured persecution in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, yet he testified, “The Lord delivered me out of them all” (2 Timothy 3:11). When we begin noticing God’s faithfulness in the lives of others, our own confidence in Him grows stronger. Every testimony of endurance becomes another reminder that the Lord still walks with His people today. Sometimes another person’s survival story becomes the encouragement that keeps us moving forward in our own season of struggle.

Did You Know that faithful prayer for others may protect someone spiritually in ways you may never fully understand this side of heaven?

Prayer is far more than a comforting routine. It is participation in the work of God. James 5:16 reminds believers that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” While we may never see every result, God often uses intercession to strengthen weary hearts, redirect wandering minds, and sustain believers through unseen battles. A quiet prayer spoken faithfully over another person carries eternal significance.

Perhaps this is why Jesus continually prayed for His disciples. Even before Peter failed, Jesus told him in Luke 22:32, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” That statement changes how we view prayer. Christ Himself intercedes for His people, and He invites believers to share in that ministry of encouragement and spiritual care. One faithful prayer may become the very thing that steadies another person during a hidden moment of weakness.

As you reflect today, consider who God has placed into your story and whose story you may quietly be shaping through prayer. Perhaps there is someone you have not prayed for recently, someone carrying burdens you cannot fully see. Maybe you are the one in need of encouragement and support. The beautiful truth of Christian fellowship is that God weaves believers together so His faithfulness becomes visible through shared lives. A simple sticky note may seem small, but heaven measures faithfulness differently than the world does.

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The God Who Waits for Us

DID YOU KNOW

Did you know that God’s patience is not permission to wander farther from Him?

Psalm 85 opens with a beautiful remembrance of mercy: “You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin” (Psalm 85:2). The psalmist looks backward and remembers how many times God restored His people after failure. That memory became a source of hope during present hardship. One of the comforting truths of Scripture is that God does not abandon His people the moment they stumble. The Hebrew word often associated with God’s steadfast love is chesed, meaning covenant loyalty and faithful mercy. Even when Israel failed repeatedly, the Lord continued calling them back.

Yet there is also a warning hidden inside that mercy. Psalm 85:8 says, “But let them not turn again to folly.” God’s patience should soften our hearts, not harden them. Sometimes believers delay obedience because they assume there will always be another opportunity later. We promise ourselves we will pray more seriously tomorrow, forgive later, repent later, serve later. But every delay slowly shapes the soul. God’s longsuffering is a gift designed to lead us toward restoration, not complacency.

Did you know that God remains faithful even when believers struggle with weakness?

Paul’s words to Timothy carry both encouragement and holy seriousness: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Paul was mentoring a younger servant who faced discouragement, persecution, and exhaustion. Rather than offering shallow comfort, Paul reminded Timothy that Christ’s character does not fluctuate with human inconsistency. Jesus remains steady even when His followers feel unstable.

This truth has strengthened Christians for generations. There are seasons when believers feel spiritually weak, emotionally drained, or disappointed in themselves. Yet the Lord does not wake up one morning and decide to stop being faithful. Lamentations 3:22–23 reminds us, “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” That does not excuse disobedience, but it does provide hope for weary hearts trying to rise again after failure. A faithful God becomes the anchor for imperfect people.

Did you know that endurance is one of the clearest signs of genuine faith?

Paul also wrote, “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:12). Much of modern life teaches people to escape difficulty quickly, but Scripture often teaches believers to remain steadfast through it. Endurance is not passive suffering; it is faithful perseverance while trusting God’s promises. David experienced this repeatedly in the battles described throughout 1 Chronicles 18–20. Victory did not come instantly or effortlessly. God’s servants had to continue moving forward even during prolonged conflict.

The Christian life is similar. Spiritual maturity rarely develops in comfort alone. Sometimes God uses waiting seasons, unanswered questions, or repeated struggles to deepen our trust in Him. James 1:3 says, “The testing of your faith produces perseverance.” The Greek word hypomonē means steadfast endurance under pressure. God’s longsuffering toward us becomes the model for our endurance in difficult seasons. He does not quickly abandon us, and we must not quickly abandon Him.

Did you know that worship reconnects us to the heart of God during dry or difficult seasons?

Psalm 85 repeatedly turns the heart toward God’s presence rather than merely toward relief from trouble. The psalmist says, “Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation” (Psalm 85:7). Worship changes the atmosphere of the soul because it redirects our attention away from fear and back toward God’s character. One reason believers become spiritually weary is that they spend more time listening to anxiety than remembering the faithfulness of God.

When we worship, we remind ourselves that God has already carried us through past storms. We remember answered prayers, restored relationships, forgiven sins, and unexpected mercies. Worship softens spiritual dryness and renews perspective. According to reflections from BibleRef.com, Psalm 85 reflects the pattern of remembering God’s past faithfulness while seeking fresh renewal in the present. That pattern still strengthens believers today.

The longer I walk with Christ, the more I realize that God’s patience is one of His most humbling gifts. Every delayed judgment, every restored opportunity, and every fresh mercy reminds us that the Lord desires relationship more than mere ritual. Yet His kindness also calls for a response. Today may be the moment to stop delaying obedience, renew your prayer life, restore worship, or simply return to the Lord with honesty. The God who has been patient with you all this time is still calling you closer.

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Trusting God with Your Whole Story

https://gemsofknowledge.com/2026/05/19/trusting-god-with-your-whole-story/

Gods faithfulness holds you steady today. 🕊️

#biblians #bibliansapp #GodsFaithfulness #TrustInGod #HeldByGod #PeaceInChrist #GodIsWithYou

Tracing the Fingerprints of God

DID YOU KNOW

Did You Know God often hides His faithfulness inside what we consider ordinary details?

When many readers come to the genealogies and lists in 1 Chronicles 4–5, they are tempted to skim past the names quickly. Yet those long records are far more than historical archives. They are reminders that God does not forget people, families, prayers, victories, failures, or promises. Every name represents a life touched by the hand of God. Scripture preserves those records because heaven values what earth often overlooks. First Chronicles quietly teaches us that God works through generations, communities, and ordinary people whose stories become threads in His greater redemption story.

Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord.” The Hebrew word for “praises” includes His mighty deeds and wonderful acts. Faith communities survive spiritually when they remember what God has done. Churches that recall answered prayers, rescued marriages, restored prodigals, and moments of divine provision develop confidence for future challenges. In many ways, spiritual memory becomes spiritual strength. Forgetfulness weakens faith, but remembrance renews it.

Did You Know your personal history with God may reveal your future calling?

Throughout Scripture, God often prepares people through repeated patterns of grace. Moses learned leadership in the wilderness before leading Israel through one. David defended sheep before defending a nation. Peter was shaped through failure before becoming a shepherd to the church. God’s past dealings are not random. They often reveal the gifts, burdens, and assignments He has woven into a believer’s life. Looking backward sometimes helps us understand where God may be leading forward.

This is why keeping spiritual records matters. Prayer journals, testimonies, church histories, and family stories become monuments of grace. Psalm 78 warns Israel not to forget the works of God because forgetfulness produces spiritual drift. The Psalmist recounts miracles, deliverance, and provision so future generations would continue trusting the Lord. Many believers spend years asking, “What is God doing?” while ignoring the trail of faithfulness already behind them. God’s consistency in the past often becomes a map for trusting Him in the future.

Did You Know God works through both individuals and communities at the same time?

First Chronicles highlights individuals, while Psalm 78 emphasizes the collective story of God’s people. Together they reveal an insightful truth: God forms personal faith, but He also builds a shared testimony among His people. Christianity was never intended to be lived in complete isolation. The New Testament repeatedly describes believers as a body, a family, and a temple being built together. Your story matters, but it also connects to the larger work of God unfolding around you.

Paul reflected this truth in 1 Timothy 4:4 when he wrote, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” God’s goodness appears in countless forms—through friendships, church communities, mentors, hardships, and seasons of growth. The Greek word eucharistia, translated “thanksgiving,” carries the idea of grateful recognition. Gratitude helps believers recognize God’s hand in places they once ignored. Sometimes the greatest evidence of God’s presence is not found in dramatic moments but in the steady weaving together of lives for His purposes.

Did You Know remembering God’s story helps us understand Jesus more clearly?

The Bible is not a disconnected collection of stories but one unfolding revelation leading to Christ. Genesis begins with creation, Chronicles preserves the covenant people, the Psalms sing of God’s faithfulness, and the Gospels reveal Jesus as the fulfillment of every promise. John 1 intentionally echoes Genesis 1: “In the beginning was the Word.” From the beginning until now, God has consistently moved toward redemption.

When believers connect those historical dots, faith becomes more anchored. Jesus is not merely a teacher appearing suddenly in history. He is the culmination of centuries of divine preparation. Every preserved genealogy, every act of deliverance, every covenant promise points toward Him. That realization transforms how we read Scripture. We stop seeing isolated stories and begin seeing the steady fingerprints of God across generations. The same God who guided Israel, strengthened the early church, and fulfilled His promises in Christ still works faithfully in the lives of believers today.

Perhaps one of the most encouraging truths in these passages is this: your story may feel small today, but God often builds eternal things quietly over time. The prayers you pray, the faith you practice, the encouragement you offer, and the faithfulness you model may become part of a testimony far larger than you realize. Like the names recorded in Chronicles, lives surrendered to God become part of His continuing story of grace.

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God remains faithful, even when you feel uncertain. 🙏

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Held by the Hands That Finish

As the Day Begins

“He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6

There is a quiet assurance woven into this promise that many believers overlook. The Apostle Paul, writing from imprisonment, speaks not of uncertainty but of divine certainty. The phrase “begun a good work” carries the Greek sense of enarchomai, meaning an intentional initiation—God did not stumble into your life; He deliberately started something within you. And what He began, He is committed to finishing. This is not a casual project; it is a covenantal work tied to your transformation into Christlikeness. Too often, we measure our spiritual progress by our inconsistencies, but God measures it by His faithfulness.

What gives this verse its strength is not our ability to persevere, but God’s unwavering commitment. The word “complete” comes from the Greek epiteleō, meaning to bring to full maturity or perfection. This suggests a process—steady, intentional, and enduring. Like a craftsman shaping wood over time, the Lord is forming character, refining motives, and aligning our hearts with His. You may feel unfinished today, even fractured in places, but you are not abandoned. You are under construction by divine hands that do not quit.

This truth changes how we approach the day ahead. Instead of striving to prove ourselves, we walk in the confidence that God is actively working within us. Each challenge becomes part of His shaping process. Each moment of conviction becomes evidence of His presence. As one commentator noted, “Grace is not only the beginning of faith, it is the continuation and the completion of it.” What God is building in you is not temporary—it is eternal. It will outlast circumstances, trials, and even this present life.

Triune Prayer

Heavenly Father, I come before You with gratitude for the work You have already begun in me. Even when I cannot see progress, I trust that You are moving beneath the surface. Strengthen my faith so I do not measure myself by my failures, but by Your faithfulness. Teach me to rest in Your promises and not rush the process You have ordained. Help me to surrender my timeline to Yours, knowing that Your work is always good and always purposeful. Shape my heart today so that I reflect Your character in my thoughts, words, and actions.

Jesus the Son, I thank You for being both the foundation and the fulfillment of this work within me. Through Your life, death, and resurrection, You secured not only my salvation but my transformation. Walk with me today as my teacher and guide. When I feel weak, remind me that Your strength is made perfect in my weakness. When I feel discouraged, remind me that You are not finished with me yet. Form Your mind within me so that I may think as You think and love as You love.

Holy Spirit, I welcome Your presence in every moment of this day. Continue Your refining work within me, gently convicting, correcting, and encouraging me as I walk forward. Illuminate the areas of my life that still need surrender and give me the courage to release them into God’s hands. Produce in me the fruit that reflects Your nature—patience, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. Guide my steps so that I cooperate with the work You are doing rather than resist it.

Thought for the Day:
Walk forward today with confidence—not because you are finished, but because God is faithful to finish what He started. Let every moment become an opportunity to trust His ongoing work in you.

For further reflection, consider reading this article on spiritual growth and perseverance: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-god-finishes-what-he-starts

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What God Says About The Future Of Israel

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What God Says About The Future Of Israel

“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated,
so that no one went through you,
I will make you an eternal excellence,
a joy of many generations.”
Isaiah 60:15

What validates the Bible is its prophecies. God says that he declares the end from the beginning, and so he does! This is a prophecy about Israel’s future, her glorious future after she has been fully restored by God in her land.

Truly the land was forsaken. The author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) visited the land in the 1860’s and wrote:

“Palestine is desolate and unlovely. And why should it be otherwise?
Can the curse of the Deity beautify a land?”

“There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for thirty miles
in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but
not a single permanent habitation. One may ride ten miles hereabouts and not
see ten human beings.”

“… There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus,
those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.
No landscape exists that is more tiresome to the eye that that which bounds
the approaches to Jerusalem…”

When Israel lost her land in 70 A.D. the Jews were dispersed throughout the earth for a very long time. No one was able to settle her land, because for as long as the Jews weren’t there it didn’t rain, so the land would not produce. Her land was “forsaken and hated, so that no one went through.” (Isaiah 60:15)

But the God of Israel promised that she would be repopulated once again when the time of her dispersion was over, and this time, He said, it will be forever – as God makes Israel “an eternal excellence.”

In the late 19th century, Jews slowly began coming back to the land and in 1948 Israel was once again proclaimed a nation, after 2,000 years! God is in the process of restoring it, and when the Messiah returns, in that glorious day soon to come, all the enemies of Israel will be destroyed, and there will be an end to the “everlasting hatred” which has assailed her from the beginning.

In 1967 Israel took the Temple Mount and it was captured on video:

Thus says the Lord:

“VIOLENCE shall NO LONGER be heard in your land,
neither wasting nor destruction within your borders;
but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”
Isaiah 60:18

It is in this final restoration of the land of Israel to her rightful owners, that the long-awaited Messiah will come, and he will reveal himself to those who had rejected him. They will come to the shocking revelation of who he is:

“And I will pour on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the Spirit of grace and supplication;
THEN THEY WILL LOOK ON ME WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
Zechariah 12:10

The shock of recognition:

“And one will say to him,
‘WHAT ARE THESE WOUNDS IN YOUR HANDS?’
Then he will answer,
‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'”
Zechariah 13:6

The Bible’s story of Jacob’s son Joseph who was banished by his brothers is a “type” of the Messiah being banished by his brothers, the Jewish people. In the end, in one of the most heart-wrenching passages in the Bible, Joseph reveals to his brothers who he is. You can read the story in Genesis 45. The Messiah, like Joseph, will make known his identity to his brothers, and when they recognize him they will go into deep mourning, they will mourn greatly what was done to him when Israel rejected him.

“Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son,
and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn.
In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem…”
Zechariah 12:10-11

But he, the Messiah, the King of Israel, will forgive them, and restore them fully. He will raise up Israel and the newly-repentant Jewish people as he promised so long ago.

“Also your people shall all be righteous;
they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting,
the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.”
Isaiah 60:21

Israel has a bright future ahead, says the God who proclaims the end from the beginning.

But before he comes, there will be a terrible time, a 7-year period of horrific suffering as Satan is allowed his last hour on this earth. The Scriptures tell us that those who belong to Jesus will be taken from the earth before that terrible time begins. Bow before Jesus Christ even now and be saved, for he is your Creator and he holds his nail-scarred hands out to you that you might escape the severe tribulation that is about to take over the earth as God judges the Christ-rejecting world and prepares his people Israel to receive her Messiah. Turn to him now and be saved lest you be left behind to endure that terrible time.

More:

Israel’s Covenant

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