Monthly Archives: July 2010

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

Just as a reminder: when Jesus walked in His earthly ministry,  He was the living word who only did what the Father showed Him and only spoke what the Father told Him.

Now, with our memories refreshed, let’s look at a New Testament incident which we have heard over and over again.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” (John 8: 3-5)

Jesus was sitting in one of the Temple’s courts, teaching a large crowd of people. Maybe, He was explaining His “rivers of living waters” statement which had recently caused a controversy among the Jews.

But as He taught, a commotion interrupted His teaching. A crowd of men, scribes and Pharisees, dragged a women into the center of the court, and then these men pointed out her sin of adultery to Jesus.

The scribes were not really a religious sect like the Pharisees, but were professionals who copied the Law onto scrolls. The scribe’s work was tedious and demanding, but because of their total involvement with the Old Covenant, the scribes knew the Law and were also teachers of it.

As for the Pharisees, this sect of six thousand men memorized the whole Law. They devoted their lives to following the Law’s dictates and calling Israel back to a strict observance of the Law.

And usually, the scribes and the Pharisees agreed with each other.

But the Pharisees had a problem: lust. And since, the Law elevated men to leadership positions in the Temple and to a higher place of worship in the Temple and also used male circumcision as an Old Covenant sign, the Pharisees figured that men were preferred by God and much closer to God than women were.

Thus, the Pharisees blamed women for their problems with lust and also for the sins of fornication and adultery.

So, now we can understand why only the woman stood in the center of the court, guilty of adultery. The man, who was the woman’s lover and also caught at the same time as the woman, was given a pass by the scribes and Pharisees.

After all, it was the woman’s fault, and not the man’s fault.

Jesus did not buy into the logic of the scribes and Pharisees.  Instead, He eventually said:

He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw  a stone at her. (John 8: 7)

Who knows? Maybe, each of the male scribes and Pharisees wished he had been in bed with this woman rather than her lover.  And maybe, this particular woman was one that each of these men lusted for.

As we all know, the male scribes and Pharisees exited the court and left the woman alone with Jesus. Then the Lord admonished her not to commit adultery again.

Now, this incident was trumpeted by the crowd who witnessed the whole episode throughout Jerusalem and Judah. You can easily imagine what the people said, “Jesus actually cares about women and sees them as having standing before God.”

Now, why did the Father do this?

(Continued in Part 10)

A Updated Rerun Series

Prophetic marriages can really be something, right?

After being divorced in early 1992, I received a prophetic word later in the same year:

“The Lord will place the woman you are to marry in front of you. So don’t go looking for her.”

At the time, I thought, what a silly prophetic word. I can’t afford to pay attention. So how can I possibly  support a wife?

Fast-forward ahead two years to a home church meeting where I prayed for a lady named *Virginia. And Virginia was standing in front  of me when I prayed for her.  Soon, we began dating each other.

But this was 1994, and I was going through the worst financial and spiritual warfare struggles of my life. I was barely able to hold my head above water, and Virginia had her own bag of issues. So, our relationship was on-again and off-again during the months that followed.

Then, in early 1995, while driving my truck home from Virginia’s place,  I was talking to the Lord about my dating situation. “Lord, You need to get us married. What’s Your problem?”

All of a sudden, the truck cab filled up with laughter. It was as if  Jesus and His angels were laughing. The laughter was so loud and contagious that I joined in, tears ran down my face. I slowed the truck down so I would not end up in a ditch because of my laughing convulsions.

Hmm, I thought at the time. Is the Lord laughing because He knows something that I don’t know or is He just happy for me?

I chose to ignore the former and opted for the latter.

Next, the Lord spoke to my heart in July, 1995. “You will get married on an anniversary.”

And guess what? A  Christian neighbor came over to my apartment later on  the same day. He was excited. “I saw an anniversary card at the drug store and felt the word anniversary was important to you,” he said.

Unbelievable confirmation, right?

Now, at the time, I was confidant that I would marry Virginia because of the 1992 prophecy. There were no doubts in my mind. We just needed a few miracles from God to make it happen.

But then, nothing happened for months and months. Virginia and I discontinued dating because of our issues. But even in the midst of all of this discouragement, I felt that I needed to just hold onto the prophetic words and something good would eventually happen. Faith moves mountains!

But then God pulled a switcheroo on me. A big, big switcheroo!

(Continued in Part 2.)

*Virginia is a fictitious name for the woman.

An Updated Rerun Series

Click on following links for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

D. Waiting And Waiting And Waiting.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

If any American region knows about waiting, it should be us Southern Californians, all 24,000,000 of us. We wait on expressways. We wait in banks. Grocery stores. Libraries. Post offices. Walmarts. LAX. Disneyland. We wait everywhere. It’s a fact of life. Period.

But is this the type of waiting referred to in Isaiah 40:31?

The Hebrew word qavah, which is translated into the English word wait in Isaiah 40:31, means more than just hanging out and passing time while doing nothing. It’s number one interpretative definition actually conveys the thought of “to twist or to bind like a rope.”

Now, consider that rope making has been around for thousands of years. Natural fibers, such as jute, sissal or common vines, are woven into strands which are then woven into ropes, usually three-stranded ones .

Hold the picture of a woven rope in your mind for a moment or two, okay?

The second interpretative definition for the Hebrew word qavah implies “to be strong, robust” as in the notion of tying fast with a rope. And even the third interpretive definition imparts the idea of “enduring, waiting for or expecting with strength.”

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait for You. (Psalm 25:21)

Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land… (Psalm 37:34)

Scripturally, waiting on the Lord does not imply that a believer sits around, doing nothing, and still hopes that his personal prophetic words will come to pass in his life. It won’t happen!

Waiting on the Lord means winding and weaving yourself around the true vine – Jesus – so that like a rope, you will be strengthened and renewed to receive the promises offered by your prophetic words.

If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

(This concludes this series.)