It All Began in the Beginning

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

When we seek for deeper truth in the Word of God, we must begin our search from the point of the foundation. That foundation is in the book of Genesis. Genesis is more than the beginning book. It is the book of the beginning. Genesis is both the literal description of the beginning and a prophetic road map directing us in our spiritual journey to understanding the Word Who spoke the universe into being, to understanding and accepting the Word Who became flesh and dwelt among us, to understanding and walking in the faith knowledge that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning”: In Hebrew, the word translated “the beginning” is “B’reshiyth”, pronounced “Bee ray-sheeth.” It means “beginning, chiefest, principal thing, the head of.”

“In the beginning God”: in other words, God is both the beginning and the most important. He is the head of, the foundation. He is Alpha. It means that He has foresight and planned each step. It means that creation is not random. We can stand on that premise because He is unchanging. (Malachi 3:6a: “6. "For I am the Lord, I do not change.)

The Hebrew word used for God in Genesis 1 is Elohim which is a plural noun that requires a singular verb to show that Elohim is the majestic plural including His incarnate body and His spirit —Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The filter through which we all interrupt the world around us rests on the foundation on which we have chosen to stand. Whether we realize it or not, that foundation, for all of us, is our concept of God. The atheist interprets data based on the belief that God does not exist and everything is random. The agnostic interprets data through a filter of doubt and uncertainty. The deist has a vague concept of an impersonal God that many today refer to as the Universe. The gods of Islam, Hinduism and other religions are impersonal and offer no redemption.

According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the Christian’s filter is the understanding that our chief purpose is to know God and to enjoy Him. If we are to enjoy Him, our foundational knowledge, our filter, must include the understanding that He is good.

The foundation that we must stand on in order to glean deeper truth from scripture is that God is B’reshiyth, that He is the same yesterday, today and forever more (Hebrews 13:8) and that He is good (Psalm 25:8: Good and upright is the Lord).

Two other scriptures that have become stones in my foundational concept of God are:

Jeremiah 29: 11: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

John 10: 10. "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

This is the day the Lord has made. I choose to rejoice and be glad in it.

 The Minor Prophets, Messengers for Today:  Haggai

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

The Lord spoke to the prophet Haggai after the Jews had returned from their exile in Persia.  The people of God had been diligent in rebuilding their own homes and lives, but had neglected the Temple and the worship of the Lord.

Haggai 1:3-8 (NKJV)
“3  Then the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4  "Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?"
5  Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
6  "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes."
7  Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!
8  Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified," says the LORD.”

As He declared in the time of Haggai, the Lord is speaking to the church today. We have not only built beautiful homes for ourselves, but we have also often constructed elaborate edifices designated as places for worship.  Yet, we have even more often neglected the building of God’s temple.

Consider Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church.  According to Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Corinth “was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people.” Paul wrote the letter when he learned of the strife and sin practiced by members of the congregation. The purpose of the letter was to address the different factions within the church and to correct doctrinal errors.  The Corinthians had neglected personal sanctification and had, as a result, neglected to build the true temple of the Lord.1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
“19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Paul addressed the corporate Body of Christ in Ephesus as the temple of the Spirit of God.   

Ephesians 2:19-22 (NKJV)
“19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

Individually and corporately,  we are to be the sanctified temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.  Individually and corporately, we are to consider our ways.  If our emphasis is on material wealth, we are impoverished and malnourished. If we are not good stewards of our wealth, we are putting our funds into bags with holes.

In Acts 7:48-50, the first martyr, Stephan, quoted Isaiah 66:1-2,:
48 However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 'Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the LORD, Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not made all these things?'” (NKJV) 

It is time for us to lay aside the philosophies and practices of the world, to take up the cross of Jesus Christ and to build, both individually and corporately, the true temple of the Lord.

  Celebrating Jesus in the Spring Feasts of the Lord

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Leviticus 23:1-2: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.’"

What we often refer to as the “Jewish Holidays” are much more than that.  The holidays are all about Jesus and the New Covenant we have in Him.  The Feasts are prophetic pictures of the ministry of Yeshua, our Messiah. 

Lev 23:5-6.  `On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.”

Passover pictures the Crucifixion. Jesus is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. He was sacrificed on Passover. In the Crucifixion, He paid the wages of our sins.  He is our Redeemer.

Luke 22: 1-2, 7: “Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve… Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.”

After Passover is the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  During the seven days of this feast, the people fast from anything that contains yeast. (Leviticus 23:6. `And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.’)

The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a memorial to the Exodus when the Israelites left Egypt under the leadership of Moses. They left hurriedly. They couldn’t wait for their bread to rise.

In scripture, leavening (yeast) symbolizes sin.  Just as a tiny bit of leavening affects the entire batch of dough, so a bit of sin in our hearts affects our entire lives.  The unleavened bread of Passover represents the sinless body of Jesus Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 

Numerals in scripture have significance.  Seven pictures the completeness or perfection of God.  The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread signify the completeness of our redemption. 

The Feast of Unleavened Bread declares that all believers in Christ are cleansed from sin and empowered to walk in newness of life.

The third Spring Feast is First Fruits

The Lord told Moses (Lev. 23:10-11):  "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: `When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread there is always a Sabbath (Saturday). The day after that Sabbath, the Israelites were told to bring the “first fruits” of the harvest (the first ripe barley); this offering is the Feast of First Fruits.

The Feast of First Fruits is a time of thanksgiving to God for the first fruits of the harvest. At this time, the people offered the first sheaf of the crop and did not eat anything from that year’s crop until they had given a portion to the Lord (Lev 23:.9–14). They gave the offering of first fruits at a time when little was ready to harvest. They trusted God to provide.

In the week of Jesus’ Passion, First Fruits came three days after Passover, on the day after the Sabbath.

Matthew 28:1-6

“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

Jesus rose on the third day, on the Feast of First Fruits.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (1 Cor 15:20-22b) "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep…so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

Earlier Jesus had said, (John 14:19):  "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also”.

What was accomplished during that Holy Week over 2,000 years ago?

1. The death and resurrection of Jesus paid the price for our sin and allowed God to declare us pure, innocent, righteous, acceptable and forgiven.
2. The death and resurrection of Jesus gave us access to God.
3. The death and resurrection of Jesus set us free from the rule of evil powers.
4. The death and resurrection of Jesus gave us victory.

He is our salvation—Passover.

He is our Righteousness—Unleavened Bread.

He is our Resurrection—First Fruits.

The Feasts of the Lord are all about Jesus.

He is not here; He is risen.  Hallelujah!

 How Lovely on the Mountains

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Nahum 1:15 (NKJV) “Behold, on the mountains The feet of him who brings good tidings, Who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, Perform your vows. For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; He is utterly cut off.” 

While “Judah” in the above passage refers to the Southern Kingdom of Israel, the word “Judah” also means praise.  In that definition is a powerful strategy for overcoming in the midst of our national and world situations.  We are to praise the Lord for Who He is and for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will do.  

At the birth our Lord, the heavenly host proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" (Luke 2:14 (NKJV).  In Jesus Christ, we can experience peace even in the midst of turmoil.  We must open our hearts to the empowering of the Holy Spirit to stand for what we believe, to continue to practice those beliefs and to reach out to others with the love of the Lord.  The wickedness of worldly practices will not destroy us.  Jesus has established His Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against us. (Matthew 16:18). 

We must be the feet on the mountains that bring good tidings.  We must be the ones to proclaim peace in Jesus Christ.  We must be the ones who stand unashamedly for truth.  In doing so, we will prevail in the times of judgment.  

We are the newspapers that our friends and neighbors read daily. We are to be the social network that joins together a disjointed community. We are the news commentators who bring hope in the midst of despair. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'” (Isaiah 52:7)