Tehillah Generation Chapel
Daily Manna | Wednesday, March 28, 2018 | Reading: Exodus 33:1-11, Exodus 4, Gen 3:1-21
Topic: The Tabernacle of God 393
Scripture: But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. (Heb 9:11)
Note: Matt 16:18, “And I say also to you, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” When Jesus made mention of the gates of hell against the Church, He spoke from the perspective of the oriental world, where traditionally, the idea of gates in the ancient world indicated a source of power. For example, a small village may have only a simple entrance; a large, fortified city included a vast gate that could stand against a strong army.
When Jesus made reference to the gates of hell, the most likely idea was an indication that all the powers of satan, hell and death would be marshalled against the Church, in their avowed aim to decimate her into smithereens, if it were within their power to do so. Yet, Jesus was very much aware that inspite of the combined evil armada that shall be unleashed upon the Church through hell’s insignia of power demonstrated through the intimidating strength of its gates, they could not overcome the might, power, stability and everlasting endurance of the Rock, upon which the Church shall be built.
The failure of death, hell and satan to terminate Jesus once and for all on the cross of Calvary, at a time that they enjoyed an unfettered power and trampled freely upon the justice system without any fight back, meant that even with a one sided advantage over the Church, they could never trample upon her. In the lead up to the tortuous trials of Jesus that smacked of impunity and gross unfairness on the part of the religious ruling class against Christ, one of their own blood, a trial that was expected to be guided by the principles of Yahweh, unfortunately aided by a partisan crowd shouting “crucify him” comprising people that Jesus had healed, delivered from demonic oppression, raised their dead, restored their sights and freely fed them miraculously, the spectacle that unfolded during the melee of Christ’s suffering, epitomised the unstable and unreliable nature of man in his depraved state.
The wickedness, untruthfulness and unfaithful nature of man hasn’t changed even with the benefits of enlightenment through education. History has proved that even with the improved environment of man, along with developments in technology and standards of living, that have kept improving steadily with passage of time, man has grown worse. These things are all external to man. Inspite of the headway made in all these areas, one thing that has remained unchanged in the midst of the changing times is the heart of man. If at all, the wickedness of man has increased with the passage of time.
Food for thought: Improved environment, development in technology and more education, have all failed to tackle the sin nature of man.
Declaration: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer 17:9
Author: Rev Fred Aboe
