SEASONS - RESURRECTION DAY

When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple:  He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.  And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher, and departed.  And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulcher.  Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise again.  Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, least his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first.  Pilot said unto them Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can.  So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.    In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for the Angel of The Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.  His countenance was like lightening, and his raiment white as snow.  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.  And the angel answered and said unto the woman, "Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  He is not here; for He has risen as He said.  Come see the place where the Lord lay; and go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and behold, He goeth before you unto Galilee; there shall ye see Him; lo, I have told you."  And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.  And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "All hail."  And they came and held Him by the feet, and worshiped Him.  Then said Jesus unto them, "Be not afraid:  go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.  Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, "Say ye His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.  And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you."  So, they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him.  But some doubted.  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I AM with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.  (Matthew 27:57 - 28:20)

It is true!  He is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

Jesus is risen from the dead; and we, the disciples left on the earth today, the Mary Magdalene's and other Mary's and Joseph of Arimathaea's, and Peter's and John's of today, are to proclaim this good news loud and clear!  He told the disciples who had seen him after the Resurrection to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all people. 

Time is short.  Do it now.  Tell everyone you know of the power of our Risen Lord and the story of Resurrection! 

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 63 - ELIEZER HAS A NEW ASSIGNMENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

If you ever need an example of a great servant take a look at Eliezer, the 
servant of Abraham.

Eliezer was Abraham’s oldest and most trusted servant.  Abraham had trusted Eliezer with all that he owned from the very beginning of their time in Hebron.

Not only was he a servant who looked after Abraham’s household, Eliezer headed up the band of adopted sons (over 300 trained men) who lived with Abraham and Sarah and protected and defended them when they were in danger.  He was both a great servant and a mighty warrior.  He was also a close friend and advisor.  He was like a member of the family and was treated as such with great respect.  

Eliezer looked after the welfare of Abraham’s family as if they were his own.  All of the above and more are true of Eliezer, yet he was very humble and always remembered his place of servanthood.  He had an outstanding resume, but if asked, the one credential he always gave was “I am a servant of Abraham.”

Early on it was thought that Eliezer might be the one to inherit Abraham’s vast wealth; but that was not his motivation for his faithfulness.  He proved this by the way he stayed with Abraham and looked after his best interest even many more years after the birth of Ishmael and Isaac.  

Abraham loved Eliezer like a brother and would have gladly given him full freedom; but Eliezer did not desire to ever leave the service of Abraham.  He had died to his own life and he lived specifically to be a good and faithful servant to Abraham.

Is it any wonder, when Abraham decided it was time for Isaac to marry that he chose Eliezer to go and find his bride?  

There would be no one better than Eliezer to accomplish this task successfully. He was very wise,  and he would carefully choose a bride that would please both Abraham and Isaac.
   

Abraham thought it very important that Isaac find the right woman to marry.  Abraham had become very wealthy.  God had blessed him tremendously.  Now that Abraham was old and it was well established that Isaac would be his rightful heir, he wished for his son to be happily married to a type of woman deserving of what Isaac would have to offer.    She would not be from the country which they dwelt in now, as it was still full of pagan worship and idols, in spite of the fact that Abraham and Sarah had turned many in the land toward God.   

Isaac’s wife needed to come from the people that Abraham and Sarah had left behind, the original family of Abraham.  The heirs of Isaac would not be from the women of this land.  The LORD would make a distinguished nation from Isaac and they must be a separate and set apart people.

Genesis 22 speaks to us about Abraham receiving word from his brother Nahor, who still dewelt in the land of Abraham’s origin, Aram Naharaim, an area we now know as modern day northern Syria.  Nahor now had many children, one of them being a young daughter named Rebekkah.  We are not sure if Abraham had Rebekkah in mind when he told Eliezer to go and find a wife for Isaac among his people, but perhaps Abraham knew of her and wondered if she was the one for Isaac.

 

Perhaps he thought sending Eliezer would be a good test to confirm that she was the right one.  If Abraham did not tell Eliezer whom he sought, and Eliezer was led to Rebekkah by God, Abraham would know that his suspicions about her were correct.

So Abraham called Eliezer to him and, saying nothing at all about Rebekkah, told him to go to the land where his family dwelled and find a suitable wife for Isaac.  Isaac’s wife must not be one of the idol worshipping women in the land of Canaan; but a godly woman with the same heritage and fear of God as Isaac’s Mother, Sarah.  Eliezer knew this was not an easy request. All of the people living in Aram Naharaim were not godly.  What if he did not find such a woman?  Why did Abraham not go himself or send Isaac?
 

These questions became clearer to Eliezer as he discussed the details of this important task with Abraham.  God had brought them out of a foreign land and and planted them here in the land of Canaan.  He had promised this land to them one day.  They were never to go back or return out of the promised land.

 Abraham took great care to make sure that Eliezer understood that Isaac was never to leave the land of God’s promise.  All of his blessings were tied to the place where God had planted him.  Eliezer understood and swore to Abraham that he would never allow Isaac to leave the land of Canaan. 

This promise from Eliezer must have given Abraham comfort in his old age.  He knew he would not always be around to protect Isaac and to remind him of the great promises that God had given.  Isaac was very obedient, but what if that should change?  Abraham knew he could trust Eliezer to correct Isaac in his absence.  Isaac had respect for this great and mighty servant, and he would see reason when Eliezer pointed it out to him if needed.

The bond between Isaac and Sarah had been very, very strong.  No mother had ever loved a son more that Sarah loved Isaac.  When Sarah died, Isaac mourned even more than Abraham.  The old stories have mentioned from time to time that the ties between Isaac and Sarah were so strong that they had kept Isaac uninterested in finding a wife until after Sarah’s death.  It wasn’t that Isaac did not desire a wife, but finding a woman who could live up to the standards that Sarah had modeled to her son would be very, very difficult.  Sarah would be a hard act for any young maid to try to follow.  It would take a woman of great spirit, faith and beauty, one who was very wise, to attract such a man as Isaac.

Eliezer had a great task before him, not so different from our own task as children of God, which is to go out into the world and bring strangers to the knowledge of their bridegroom Jesus Christ.  

Yes, in a sense, we too are all Eliezer’s making our way through a foreign land, looking for the perfect bride, bringing the creation unto The Creator, all the time in the name of our Master acting as His servants.  God is preparing a wedding for His Son and The Church.  The Bride must be made ready.  The Eliezer’s of this world play a huge part in getting the bride ready for the wedding.  A good servant of God will do the same as Eliezer, they will stay focused on the task at hand and be sure to keep the Master’s work first priority.  The Messiah is returning and the Eliezer’s of God must acquaint His bride with who she is to marry.  She must know all about him.  He must tell her how wonderful her husband will be and what a grand marriage they will have.  He must make room and allow for the infinite wisdom of God to work among the finite logic of men.

When we look at the life of Eliezer, we can also see how God's Holy Spirit works in our own life, like the faithful Eliezer, bringing us to our Master who will give us away to our Bridegroom.

 Eliezer knew he had his work cut out for him, but he swore to Abraham to not let Isaac leave the land.  Eliezer would be the one to go to the original home of Abraham and seek a perfect wife for Isaac among Abraham’s brother’s people.  How different Abraham’s people were from Abraham and Sarah and Isaac!  This would not be easy.   

It was a long, long journey, so Eliezer hastened to perform his task.  God went ahead of him, preparing the way for exactly what needed to happen next.