May He Increase

Posted By Joe on August 20, 2010

Continuing the recent theme of prophecy here at May He Increase, we bring you a great video of Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship.

May He Increase!

Category: Personalities, Prophecy | 2 Comments »
Tags: greg laurie, Prophecy

Posted By Joe on August 18, 2010

One of the recent shows I've been watching is "Chasing Mummies" on the History Channel. I'm a big history fanatic and, of course, with my love of God's Word, anything that is somehow related to it--especially in a historical sense--I'm all over it. Though he can be a bit caustic at times, I really like Dr. Zahi Hawass.

Although Dr. Hawass' interests are primarily in Egyptology, I'm confident that one mummy or one tomb he will never find is that of Moses.

Bold statement, I know, coming from a peon such as myself. The casual Bible reader or even the average Christian may not realize that the Bible is very specific on the burial site of Moses!

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day. --Deuteronomy 34:5-6.

Two verses out of the Old Testament that many of us have probably glossed over. Did you pick up on what the text said?

"And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab." The "He" is referring to God. The "him" is Moses. What is this passage saying?

God Himself buried Moses in the valley in the land of Moab!

Furthermore, the Bible explicitly says that "no man knows his burial place to this day." Conclusion: Moses' tomb will never be found without God revealing its location.

This verse leads to the inevitable question of "why?"

Jesus' Half-Brother Weighs In

Probably one of the least studied books is Jude. I went through an podcast study of Jude earlier this year and it was just fascinating. I'd like to do a series on it at some point myself.

There is a verse tucked away in Jude that references the time period in Deuteronomy we just looked at.

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" --Jude 9.

This is probably one of those verses that either we've read through and just accepted it at face value, or read it and didn't think much about it, or read it and wondered "when did this argument take place?"

We don't know for certain how Jude knew about this argument. Some commentators think that Jude was possibly given this revelation by God directly, or he read about it from the apocryphal book known as the Assumption of Moses. (Note: My personal belief is that it's the former because Jude says in this letter, in verse 3, that he was initially intending to write about "common salvation" but the Holy Spirit guided him into a different direction.)

What is the Point?

We know that God must have buried Moses Himself because God must have a purpose for the body of Moses. Certainly there were occasions after Deuteronomy 34 where Moses appears (Matthew 17:1-3 notably). Some believe that one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 might be Moses.

Either way, it would serve Satan's purposes if he obtained the body of Moses. Had he done so, he could have: turned it into an object of worship for the Israelites, desecrated it so that it could not be used for either Matthew 17:1-3 or Revelation 11. We don't know for sure, but we do know Satan's tricks and his schemes and therefore we can deduce that--from the Deuteronomy 34 and Jude 9 passages--that God protected Moses' body from Satan's purposes.

Where is Moses' Tomb? Clearly, only God Almighty knows!

Sorry Dr. Hawass.

May He Increase!

Category: Deuteronomy, Jude | 3 Comments »
Tags: archangel, dr zahi hawass, jude, michael, moses, Satan, tombs

Posted By Joe on August 16, 2010

My son is just over two and-a-half years old now. I love him dearly. He's so smart and truly a very loving child. I'm not sure if I'd say that--at least up to this point--that he's "in his 'terrible twos,'" but I'm slowly beginning to see where he is starting to need regular discipline.

Don't misunderstand me or the word, "discipline." I mean just that: discipline. This isn't the same thing as punishment. Some of you might say, "That's obvious," but perhaps there are some who don't see or can't make the distinction.

Today was one of those days where I can see that my son is starting to need discipline. He's a boy, and yes, boys will be boys. Boys, generally, are not as compliant as girls. And you know what? That's okay! We don't need to make them like girls. We need boys to be the way our Father made them.

Having said that, however, I'm not advocating that we let them run wild. Just like a wild horse needs to be brought under control in order to be ridden, a wild horse is still a wild horse.

A week or so ago, I wrote about "getting beaten by God." While the tone of that post wasn't necessarily on discipline, I feel as though God is showing me through my son how He feels when He needs to discipline me! Speaking only for myself, I hate having to discipline my son at times. As upset as he can make me at times, I look in his sweet face and part of me says: "Oh let it go. Look at those beautiful brown eyes," etc. But then the other part of me, that little voice inside, says: "No, you are raising a man. You need to teach him right from wrong and if you screw up, there are consequences."

Indeed, I've never been a fan of the school of thought that says corporal punishment "harms" the child and damages their self-esteem. That's bunk. My parents didn't shy away from giving me a swat when I deserved it as a child--and I know I deserved it many times! What kind of man would I be had they let things go all the time and not shown me that when you make bad choices, there is pain involved? What kind of parent would lie to their child by withholding discipline and making the child believe that there are no consequences to bad behavior?

He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently. --Proverbs 13:24.

I how how clear the Bible is. Do you hate your child? Don't discipline them. Do you love your child? Then discipline them diligently!

Do not hold back discipline from the child, although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. You shall strike him with the rod and rescue his soul from Sheol. --Proverbs 23:13-14.

Did you get that? If you discipline your child you are saving their life! Why won't so many parents step up and love their children by disciplining them?

It's not easy. Parenting takes courage. Parenting is not for cowards nor the neglectful. This is especially true for fathers and sons. I believe that of all parental relationships, the relationship of father and son is the glue that holds any nation together. Don't agree with me? Check out how quickly neighborhoods deteriorate when fathers neglect their sons. Neighborhood declines lead to cities declining. Get enough large cities in decline and you have entire nations at risk.

Take a look at the United States. You tell me how our nation can continue without fathers stepping up to their responsibilities to teach their sons how to become men?

May He Increase!

Category: Parenting, Proverbs | 2 Comments »
Tags: children, discipline, fatherhood, love, Parenting

Posted By Joe on August 13, 2010

In the last few months, we've taken a look at a few examples of how God beautifully "conceals a matter" (Proverbs 25:2) in the Old Testament books of the Bible.

To recap, we've looked at:

• Rahab and the Spies
• The Genealogy of Noah
• The Mourning of an Only Son
• The Ark and the Cross

One of my favorites is found in the book of Numbers.

The Cross and the Camp

Numbers might very well be one of those books that people gloss over because of all the names, generations and, well, numbers listed in various forms. One thing to always keep in mind while reading the Bible is that no detail is unimportant. Every name, every place, and yes, even every number serves God's purposes.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "The sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers' households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting at a distance." --Numbers 2:1-2.

Beginning at verse 3 and ending in verse 34, God gives Moses and Aaron specific instructions on how the people were to be encamped around the Tabernacle. A basic rendering of this passage would look something like the image below.

What this ends up being is that the three tribes at the top of this picture are at the North (Asher, Dan and Naphtali) and the tribes at the bottom (Gad, Reuben and Simeon) are at the South. The tribes on the left (Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh) are on the west side and the last grouping on the right (Issachar, Judah and Zebulun) are on the east. The Levities are part of the tabernacle.

But these groups are numbered in this chapter by taking a census. The populations of these tribes are:

• Benjamin 35,400
• Manasseh 32,200
• Ephraim 40,500
• Naphtali 53,400
• Asher 41,500
• Dan 62,700
• Judah 74,600
• Issachar 54,400
• Zebulun 57,400
• Gad 45,650
• Simeon 59,300
• Reuben 46,500.

The Levities were not numbered. Outside of them, the total population was 603,550.

What's the point? Well, using the image above, if we plot this out each "leg" of the camp will extend out from the Tabernacle according to the populations of each group of three tribes, yes?

What would this look like from 30,000 feet? See below.

The boxes represent more-or-less proportions against each population. What does the image appear to be?

A cross!

And this is from the Torah, one of the five books of Moses! This is centuries before crucifixion was even invented! Read Numbers 2 for yourself and just draw out a picture of what the camp would look like. Try it for yourself.

There is no way you can convince me that the Bible is anything but God-breathed. There is no way that Jewish rabbis would have tried to conceal this into the text. There is no way!

I close this post with the same point I made in my last post: if the Bible is authenticated over-and-over again by way of prophecy, thereby clearly making it a message outside of our domain of time and space, what is the implication?

You need to answer the question for yourself. You entire eternity depends upon the answer!

May He Increase!

Category: Numbers, Proverbs | No Comments »
Tags: camp, cross, crucifixion, israel, tabernacle, tribes

Posted By Joe on August 11, 2010

Christians: how do you know the Bible is the Word of God? How do you know the Bible is true? How can you trust that what we hold in our hands is from God?

Have you ever stopped to consider the answers to these questions? And I don't mean "I just know" or "Because the Bible says so."

If the Bible is a message from God, how can God authenticate this message as being from Him? How can He demonstrate to the reader that this message is truly from Him and not some contrivance?

You can sum it up in one word: prophecy!

God authenticates His message to us by laying out events before they happen, sometimes centuries before they happen!

God says through the prophet Isaiah:

"Remember the former things long past, for I am God,and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it." --Isaiah 46:9-11.

The Bible is filled with prophecy. A classic example is Psalm 22. This Psalm vividly depicts someone dying of crucifixion. But the key point is that the Psalm was written 400 years before it was even invented by the Persians, later adopted ("perfected") by the Romans!

So then the real question becomes: if the Bible is authenticated over-and-over again by way of prophecy, thereby clearly making it a message outside of our domain of time and space, what is the implication?

The answer has to be: it is a message from the Creator of the Universe! And if that is true, then this is not just some old book that was written by some really old Jewish guys, but a love letter to mankind, written in the precious blood of the Savior of all.

May He Increase!

Category: Isaiah, Prophecy, Psalms | 2 Comments »
Tags: crucifixion, love, Prophecy