Thursday, 28 December 2023

The Upper Room Discourse 59

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John 17:1 Yeshua spoke these things; then, lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so the Son may glorify You."

And so Yeshua begins His prayer to His Father (and to our Father) in Heaven. Think about the miracle. We know these words because we read them in John's gospel. We have John's gospel available to us because of the canonization of Scripture and the wide distribution of it due to the printing industry. The rest of this piece is the following Rabbi Trail. I will come back to this same verse next time.

Rabbi Trail: Yeshua really began His prayer without words, He simply lifted His eyes toward heaven. I saw a man recently lift his eyes toward heaven, not with praise or a call to glorify God, but in exasperation toward God because a mother had died in childbirth. As he looked up toward heaven, he said, "Really Lord?"

I wanted to correct him publicly, but the circumstance did not allow it. Instead, I will explain my position here, in the RR. God does not cause pain and suffering (or even death), Satan does. This man should have looked down toward hell and said, "Really Satan?"

Then, why doesn't God put an end to pain and suffering? Pain and suffering is our inheritance from the Garden of Eden. It is part of God's plan to bring the world into submission to Himself.

Ephesians 1:22-23 God placed all things under Messiah's feet and appointed Him as head over all things for His community - which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

If God has placed all things under Yeshua's feet, then why is there still pain and suffering in the world? (This is the same question many non-believing rabbis ask.) Timing is everything. It's not time yet.

Psalm 110:1 A psalm of David. Adonai declares to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for Your feet."

Currently, the world is in rebellion against God. We are near the end of a 6,000 period of pain and suffering whose purpose is to teach us one thing, that Satan is a lousy administrator. Living in Satan's administration hurts and causes death. (There is no death in God's administration.) Satan is a liar. Actually, 1 Corinthians 15 says much about this (more than I am quoting here).

1 Corinthians 15:23-26 But each in its own order: Messiah the firstfruits; then, at His coming, those who belong to Messiah; then the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Yeshua will soon return. When He does, His administration will not have any of the pain and suffering of Satan's administration.

Isaiah 51:11 Now the ransomed of Adonai will return, and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Thanks for allowing me this "detour" from the Upper Room Discourse. We'll get back to it next time. End RT.