Are You in God's Timing for the New Year?

Everyone is time-conscious as we transition between 2013 and 2014. A new year symbolizes the end and start of things. What we did in 2013 is for the record books or the pages of a diary. What we have yet to do, and what we can carry over from 2013, will emerge in 2014.  We will survey the past year, make resolutions, and hope for better.

But what if we’re actually a few months behind in a civil year that’s already started and too early for a biblical new year? The Gregorian calendar isn’t God’s calendar; it’s an adaption of a calendar designed by an Italian doctor and astronomer, Luigi Lilio. The Gregorian calendar was named however, after Pope Gregory XIII. Spain, Portugal and Poland were the first countries to adopt the calendar in 1582.

The civil calendar we use isn’t God’s lunar calendar. On the Jewish calendar, it’s 5774. The civil year began at sundown on Sept. 4, 2013 at Rosh Hashanah. The biblical year begins at sunset on April 14, 2014 on Passover. (Hebrew4Christians.com discusses the Jewish calendar extensively and cites biblical references here and here.)

Many believers who follow Jesus may shrug off the Hebraic calendar because they’re wary of slipping into legalism. But if we follow a civil calendar with Roman roots,  surely there are truths we can learn from God’s calendar with its Hebraic roots? What if God’s calendar aligns us with His transcendent timing, whether we are Jew or Gentile? What if God moves us forward in destiny through His calendar, and restores us when we feel worn-down by the world? What if God uses His calendar to prepare us for times of repentance, rest and celebration? What if there’s much to learn because Jesus followed the appointed times?

Dr. Robert D. Heidler writes wonderfully on this subject in his book, The Messianic Church Arising!: Restoring the Church to Our Covenant Roots. This book is a must-have for every Christian’s library. Dr. Heidler writes of God’s timetable:

As I began to study the feasts, I discovered that the biblical feasts were part of a cycle of life that actually made up a biblical calendar. They were not holidays or Jewish rituals. God called them His “appointed times.” In a very real sense, these feasts are “appointments” with God: times set by God to meet with His people.

This New Year’s is a perfect opportunity to ask God for revelation about His appointed times. He may want us to draw more from 2013 than remembering the year’s top stories and watching the ball drop in Times Square. He also may have more in store for us in 2014 than we expect – if we step into His heavenly timing. 

Generosity Has Benefits

Did you know? There are benefits to being generous. Writer Nadia Goodman spells them out in an insightful article at Entrepreneur.com. (Read it here.)  

Givers are huge assets to companies and have large networks. They also anticipate the needs of others. During our Treasures of Hope Christmas Store, the generosity of volunteers and donors helped us serve hundreds of families this year.

Volunteers prepare packages at the Treasures of Hope earlier this month./Photo: Dallas Leadership Foundation

Truths to Follow from God's 'Christmas Plan' Every Day

Lemon Orchard in the Galilee./Wikipedia: David Shankbone

Long before Jesus was born, it was prophesied that a messenger would precede the Messiah, and that He would bring light to those who walked in darkness. These promises from God were part of His eternal Christmas plan, and they are a perfect way to conclude this study. Embedded within them are truths we can follow every day, long after the Christmas merrymaking ends. But before discussing those truths, let’ s review the two prophecies:

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 40:3-5).

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first He lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined (Isaiah 9:1-2).

John the Baptist fulfilled the first prophecy by announcing the coming of Christ. He was Jesus’ cousin, but John also was the messenger proclaimed in Isaiah 40. John stood apart from the crowd as he fearlessly announced a revolutionary message about the coming Messiah. 

During our lifetime, we will have opportunities to be a forerunner for heavenly objectives God may want to fulfill through us. God may give us large or small assignments. Sometimes we will be part of a company of people. Sometimes we will fulfill God’s purposes alone. Whatever the case, we must be as bold and forthright as God calls us to be. John knew his God, and was praised by Jesus Himself. We should seek to follow God faithfully as well; for “but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits” (Dan. 11:32, KJV).

Map of Galilee/Photo: Wikipedia

The second prophecy was fulfilled in the location of Jesus’ early life and ministry. The Galilee region was within the ancient tribal boundaries of Zebulun and Naphtali. Jesus grew up in one of its cities, Nazareth, which was mocked by Nathaniel. When Philip invited Nathaniel to come and see Jesus, Nathanielquipped: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” 

Jesus also ministered in other cities like Capernaum and Bethsaida. Scholars disagree on how Jewish and/or pagan the Galilee region actually was during Jesus’ day, but we can take evangelistic cues from His social interactions. He ministered openly among the various people groups in Galilee, the revered and the downcast, the cherished and the hated. The Travelujah, a faith-based site specializing in Holy Land tours, sums up Jesus’ Galilean ministry this way:

Galilee also was the home of our Lord during at least thirty years of his life. The first three Gospels are chiefly taken up with our Lord’s public ministry in this province. The entire province is encircled with a halo of holy associations connected with the life, works, and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is noteworthy that of his thirty-two beautiful parables, no less than nineteen were spoken in Galilee. And it is no less remarkable that of his entire thirty-three great miracles, twenty-five were wrought in this province.

With grace and truth, Jesus brought light to the region with His proclamations about the abundant love and intentions of God. The light imagery Isaiah uses in his prophecy describe the transformational nature of Jesus’ ministry and carries spiritual footnotes we shouldn’t overlook. First, Jesus declared Himself  the Light of the world. He lived and ministered in a region that Isaiah described as a place where “the people walked in darkness.”

Secondly, in biblical thought, the day starts in the evening. If the creation passages, the days of creation were calculated evening to morning, not morning to evening (See Genesis 1:5). Is this a picture of God’s way of doing things? It’s worth meditating on the possibility. 

We can observe through Jesus’ ministry how He interrupted and trampled darkness through miracles, signs and wonders.  As the beloved Son of the Father, He introduced a region of spiritual gloom – Galilee – to His eternally majestic Light. Amazingly, for those of us who have received Him as the Savior and Lord, He expects us to light up the world, too. He said of those who believe in Him: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).

Wow. Christmas Day may be over, but the Christmas lights within us are far from dim.

A Strange Star and Wise Men Add Mystery to God's Christmas Plan

Photo: Karen's Whimsy

God’s eternal gift of Jesus the Messiah as described in chapter two of Matthew’s Gospel included gifts that were prophesied centuries before Jesus was born. One was the Star of Bethlehem. The other was the arrival of the Magi.

Let’s unwrap the gift of the Star of Bethlehem first. Was it a comet? A meteor? A UFO? Even today, the star confounds and ignites debate, as seen here and here.

Why do we settle for unbelief when we can’t fully understand the origins of His gifts right away? The fact is,  God may reveal information after the passing of time. Sometimes He doesn’t. And sometimes He shares formidable clues such as biblical prophecy.

During the time of Moses, one of ancient Israel’s enemies Balaam was recruited by the king of Moab to curse Israel. Balaam tried  to slam Israel until God intervened.  Instead of a flow of curses, Balaam delivered incredible prophecies to Israel, including this one:

A Star shall come out of Jacob, a Scepter shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17).

Balaam tried to sully the destiny of Israel for money wound up proclaiming its future king for the glory of God! 

Now fast forward to the birth of Jesus. The Magi saw the Star of Bethlehem from where they were in the east. They deduced that the phenomenon in the sky related to the birth of king because of the incredible juxtaposition of the planet Jupiter, the king planet and the star Regulus, which was understood by the ancients as a king star. Frederick A. Larson also has created a phenomenal video extensively detailing this cosmic event on its site, The Star of Bethlehem. 

The celestial interplay occurred within the constellation of Leo, or, to say it in Hebrew, Aryeh.  Aryeh is associated with the Lion of Judah. According to Mayim Hayim Ministries,  the star Regulus, the brightest in the constellation of Aryeh, means treading underfoot, signaling the Messiah's defeat of Satan, which was prophesied in Genesis 3:15:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ”

Some scholars identify the Magi as wise men who could have been from Babylon and Persia who knew the teachings of Daniel when he was exiled in Babylon. The star directed them to the Baby Jesus and hovered over the house where he lived with Mary and Joseph. The family no longer lived with the animals when the Magi arrived, although many traditional Christmas manger scenes show this.

Tradition also usually depicts the wise men as three men, but Matthew didn’t detail how many Magi arrived. We don’t know how many gifts they brought, either. Gold, frankincense and myrrh were mentioned, but perhaps the Magi were wealthy and brought more. Whatever the case, the Magi fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah:

The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising...They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord (Isaiah 60:2-6). 

The Magi seem like late guests to the Christmas party because they showed up a while after Jesus’ birth. If they were wise men who knew Daniel’s teaching, however, their presence symbolized another gift yet to come. Daniel wrote extensively about the end times, the future period when God will wrap up human history and quench the power of the adversary.  As the Magi worshiped Jesus at His First Coming as a baby, their presence foreshadowed the promise of Jesus’ Second Coming in the future.

Both the Star of Bethlehem and the Magi’s visit were mysterious gifts from God. Mystery and majesty surround them because mystery and majesty surround God, the One who set in motion His Christmas plan long, long, long ago in the Garden of Eden.

Next: Jesus would be preceded by a messenger and bring light to Galilee