It is amazing isn't it that only a few years into their
enjoyment of the land the people are serving the king of Moab, the nation that
wanted Balaam to curse them and instead blessed them? For eighteen years they served this king who,
along with the Ammonites and Amalekites defeated them in battle. Ehud was left-handed, which was thought to be
a handicap in those days, something wasn't quite right about
left-handedness. It worked to his
advantage, however, was in some ways redeemed by the Lord because it allowed
him to get a weapon past the guards of the king. A right handed man would have strapped the
knife on his left leg and would then have been discovered by the bodyguards of
the king but Ehud's "disability" allowed him to be the perfect assassin
and he was then able to plunge the knife into fat king Eglon. His act of daring, the Lord's answer to the
prayer of the people, became the catalyst for them to act to throw off the yoke
of the king and win their freedom.
Jesus had given so many signs in His ministry that they
could hardly be counted much less fully recounted in the Gospel accounts. As He died on the cross the people, who
misunderstood His cry of Eli to be calling to the prophet Elijah, taunted Him
for a miracle, " let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” He was, on that cross, saving Elijah
himself. The signs continue at Jesus'
death with the tearing of the temple curtain, earthquake, and the bodies of the
saints coming to life. The last is the
strangest of all isn't it? Why doesn't
Matthew tell us what in the world happened to these people after this
event? At any rate, the signs caused the
centurion and those with him to conclude something was different about Jesus,
whether He was "the" Son of God or "a" Son of God. People were still, even in death, coming to
faith in Jesus at some level. Even death
on a cross wasn't a handicap to their faith.
I wonder what the disciples thought it would mean that they
would receive the Holy Spirit and power.
Were those two separate things?
What kind of power? They had to
have some ideas about this matter as the Holy Spirit empowered people like
Bezalel and Oholiab, the men who constructed the tabernacle under Moses'
leadership. the leaders to whom God gave some of the Spirit He took from Moses,
Saul, who was given the Spirit and prophesied, David, and the prophets
themselves, from Elijah all the way to Malachi and John the Baptist. The Spirit was given for a particular purpose
to specific people. Here, it was to be
so that they could be Jesus' witnesses wherever they went. That meant that they would say and do things
that authenticated Him. Even better, as
we know, the spirit would be poured out on all flesh, their witnessing would be
fruitful, even among Gentiles. All
barriers or handicaps would be shattered.
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