Memorable Moments Hebrews
Romans 8:28 ESV
Deuteronomy 4:23-27
Ezekiel 20:23-24 ESV
John 14:6 ESV
John 20:14-16 (Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene)
Acts 1:8 ESV
Acts 8:4 ESV
Hebrews 13:24-25 ESV
When we read scripture cover to cover we see several patterns evolve. One is that God loves His children. Even when unexpected things happen that may not seem like they’re good we can see eventually that God has a plan.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
We see that God has an ultimate plan and good purpose for His children. God made a covenant with His children and because He loves them He wants them to rely on Him.
But history shows us that man forgot the covenant and they did exactly what God told them not to do.
In Deuteronomy 4:23-27 Yahweh God told Israel, “Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.”
Then God sent the prophets so man would remember what God said.
In Ezekiel 20:23-24 the prophet wrote, “Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.”
But still even then God loved His children.
So after a while (around 400 years after the last prophet), God sent His son Jesus who not only told them (us) the way, He said, “I AM the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
And just when it seemed like everything was wonderful and Jesus had followers He was teaching and crowds of people came to hear Him speak and heal, everything fell apart. Jesus was arrested and tried. And then He was crucified.
The bottom dropped out.
All hope was gone for Jesus’ followers,
But that despair only lasted three days because on the morning of the third day, Jesus arose from the dead and He appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:14-16).
He also appeared to others and before He ascended to heaven He spoke about the scattering, but it was different than before. In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus told His disciples they would scatter so the could be His witnesses…and that’s exactly what happened.
After Jesus ascended to heaven things in the Roman Empire changed, especially when Nero came to power. The Emperor Nero decided the people of the Way of Jesus had to be stopped from teaching and preaching about Jesus. So the persecutions of the followers of Jesus began. It got so bad that the disciples scattered. (https://firmisrael.org/learn/why-jerusalem-judea-and-samaria/)
We read in Acts 8:4, “those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Basically, because they scattered to other parts of the globe they took the message of Jesus to other parts of the world.
And the Good News did spread.
The authors final words in Hebrews 13:24-25 says, “Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with all of you.”
We can see now what only God could see and know in the beginning of the suffering that brought about the scattering. This time the scattering was for a different reason. The children of Israel came full circle with Jesus. The scattering was God’s intentional act of spreading the Gospel message to other parts of the world.
The scattering really really was God’s blessing for His children. Because God loves all the children of the world, He sent the message of Jesus to all the children of the world!
And so as we wrap up the story of Hebrews, we see GOD’s plan in action.
It was for me. It was for you. In was God’s Love plan for all people!
Spiritual Practice: Ask God to show you
Ask God to show you His plan for you.
In God, Deborah
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