Light In Your Dwelling

Greetings in the name of Yeshua and a very happy New Year to all who celebrate the New Year.   The reason I say it like that is because of the Torah portion that we studied this past week.  See, the Gregorian calendar, for the most part, doesn't mean very much to the Lord.  He’s on a Biblical calendar that has little to do with the calendar that we recognize.  Still, it serves a purpose when dealing with matters concerning this age.

I have just come off of a sabbatical in which I spent New Year’s Eve alone with the Lord.  It was a glorious time, but the significance wasn't in the New Year coming.  No, the significance was that I took time to spend with the Lord.  While the world celebrated a seemingly meaningless time in the Biblical context, it seemed the Lord was waiting for me and our very intimate time together.  Now, let’s look at the text of this past week’s Aliyah.

 21 The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will become darker.”

 22 So Moses stretched forth his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness over the entire land of Egypt for three days:

 23 They did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days, but for all the children of Israel t here was light in their dwellings.

Verse 21 speaks of not just darkness, but a darkness that can be felt.  While families gather for New Year’s and have wonderful times (I have had wonderful times over the years as well), we are well aware that this time can be a time of great darkness in this age, with parties that have nothing whatsoever to do with our Lord. I've personally experienced darkness during the New Year celebration before I came to Christ and it is dark.  There is coming an age, and now is, when the darkness will become darker (verse 21).  We can see it and even feel it all around us now.  But, the portion speaks of a darkness that even those in the darkness will not be able to comprehend.  How true that is today.  Even evil people are saying things are getting bad. 

My encouragement in this writing is that the children of the Lord are children of light and no matter how dark it gets we will continue to dwell in the light (verse 23).

Another  word for “dwell” is  “tabernacle” .  In the Gospel of John 1:1, it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, etc.    Verse #4 says in Him was life and the life was the light of men.  Now, go to verse #14.  It says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.  What does this mean, my dear brothers and sisters?  Yeshua made his tent here.  He “tabernacled” here, he dwelt here, and when he finished the work on the cross, that light was made available to dwell within us.  When you accepted Yeshua, there is no amount of darkness that can overcome the light that shines within you.  I don’t care how dark, how ugly, how scary it becomes out there, it shall not “come nigh thy dwelling” place (Psalm 91:10).  The darkness shall not overtake you.  I declare it.  I decree it.  I absolutely profess it over your lives in the name of Yeshua.     

In light of what I just said, I believe for you all a joyous and prosperous 2014.