Tag: way of escape

Tracing God’s Heart through Geography and History: The Mount of Olives

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Today in the Middle East, just to the right of Jerusalem, stands the Mount of Olives. This mountain is separated from the great city by a narrow area called the Kidron Valley. The Mount of Olives is approximately one mile long and rises to 2,680 feet above sea level. This mountain tells us much about the heart of God. For, God is the God of geography and history. Too many people today think the true God is “spiritual only,” but He is God over every realm! He is Lord over geography because He made this terrestrial ball and the entire universe (Psalm 121:2), and He is Lord over history because He stands outside of time as the “Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13).

What does this actual, geographical location reveal to us about the heart of God? Let’s look at three things:

    1) In Luke 21:37, we learn that Jesus would actually rest on the Mount of Olives following long days of teaching disciples. Our Savior would close His eyes and sleep on the mount at night. This amazes me, because Matthew 26:38 reveals that at this same place – the Mount of Olives – Jesus was nearly overwhelmed by the weight of the sacrifice He would make for the sins of the world. You see, the Garden of Gethsemane – where Jesus prayed right before His arrest and crucifixion – lies on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. Our Savior commenced His unimaginable suffering at the very place He rested so many other days before. I am ashamed to say that there have been times I can hardly sleep at night if I know I have an impending difficult time ahead; yet, Jesus rested in the very place He knew He would carry the weight of human sin. Jesus Christ could rest because He knew that His plan would prevail in the end, no matter how dark the time at hand.

    The Mount of Olives reminds us that we can rest in the midst of difficult circumstances and while facing an unknown future because God is in control.
    2) The words of Acts 1:9-12 tell us that Jesus Christ left this earth from the Mount of Olives. After instructing the disciples that they should concentrate on spending their lives as a testimony to God by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, Jesus was taken up into a cloud and was drawn out of sight. The disciples no doubt stood dumbfounded. They had finally wrapped their minds around His divinity because He had risen from the dead just as the Scripture promised, and He had walked on the earth for forty days following His resurrection. Now, after those seemingly short forty days, He was leaving! Their mouths probably hung open as they watched Him go. Perhaps they were thinking, “Why is He leaving us after rising from the dead?” and “Why is He not fixing this world system right now; why is He allowing the Romans to continue in their plot?” and “When will we see Him again?” As those disciples stood there, two angels informed them that “this Jesus” will come back the same way He left.

    I love it! “This Jesus”! Not another Jesus, but the very same One who walked with them, hugged them, ate with them, was nailed to a cross for them, resurrected for them, walked with them again in His new, glorified body; and ate fish with them in His new, glorified body – this Jesus would return to this earth! The Jesus that was put in the tomb is the Jesus that came out of the tomb and is the Jesus who will return on day. Similarly, the same me that dies physically is the same me that will rise physically and enjoy what Jesus prepares one day. Because of Him, we live too!

    The Mount of Olives reminds us that a very real Jesus is coming back to this earth to make a home of righteousness for us to enjoy with Him in very real, glorified bodies.
    3) The prophet Zechariah declares in Zechariah 14:4 that one future day the feet of Jesus will stand again on the Mount of Olives. At some point before the second coming of Christ, great armies will go to battle against Jerusalem. The city will be captured, and the end of Jerusalem and its inhabitants will seem inevitable. But, just when things seem hopeless – and not before – Jesus will descend on that mount. His feet will cause the Mount of Olives to split in half, producing a valley between the newly formed northern and southern halves of the mountain. That valley will be the way of escape for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Zechariah goes on to explain that the inauguration of the millennial reign of Christ will mean the people of Jerusalem will dwell securely, with no more curse (Zechariah 14:11).

    Just as God provided a way of escape for His people when they were caught between the Red Sea and the approaching Egyptians, so He will provide a way of escape when the Antichrist and all the godless armies seek to destroy God’s remnant of people. Nothing stops God’s plan. In a real and tangible way, Jesus will once again be seen on the Mount of Olives.

    The Mount of Olives reminds us that Jesus is in charge of this world and all of history. He will provide the way of escape for His people and usher in the beginning of His, perfect kingdom.

Allow the God of all history and geography to strengthen your heart with the truths about one, particular location in the Middle East. The Mount of Olives is very important to Jesus, and it should be very important to us, too.

This is (Not?) Too Much for Me

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I know the tribulation of life can feel this way, but – for the Christian – it cannot accurately be said that a trial is simply “too much for me.” Oh, I have surely felt at my literal wit’s end in deep places of despair and struggle, but the Word of God stands true forever. Paul said triumphantly in I Corinthians 10:13 (NASB), “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Either we believe in the God of the Bible or we do not. As a Christian who trusts God for my salvation, I must certainly also trust Him for my survival through difficulty. How can I claim the miracle of Him saving me from the wrath my sin deserves, but I cannot also believe the miracle that He provides my way to escape the temptation to sin or to give up?

I Corinthians 10:13 outlines five important facts to remember:

    1) Every trial we undergo is common to the human race. Despite our tendency to think we are the only ones who have ever felt the way we do, God ensures that our trials are not out of the realm of human experience or toleration.
    2) God is faithful even though we are not. Too often we view God the way we view ourselves or other people. We tend to think that God will act with us the way we might act with others. We imagine that He could possibly give up on His own people. Yet, God is transcendent – completely different than us. He has promised to remain faithful to those who desire Him. He promises that – despite our unfaithfulness – He will never let us down in the midst of greatest difficulty. No matter the trial, He will stay with us to provide a way to obedience and victory.
    3) God will not give to us more than we can endure. The God who created our physical bodies and our emotional, mental, and spiritual make-up certainly ascertains and measures precisely the trials we go through. He knows far better than we do just exactly what we can handle.
    4) God always provides a way of escape. In other words, God will surely give to us what we need to flee the temptation to disobey and cave to Satan’s tactics. God does this by making clear to us a route of escape. Remember the Israelites stuck between the approaching Egyptian chariots and the waters of the Red Sea? God made a route of escape through the sea. God did it. The Israelites simply followed the way God provided. So it is in our current trial. God provides the way for us to make it through, though our minds may see only trouble behind and before.
    5) God’s plan is that we endure, not be destroyed. I know it feels as though this will be the end of you, but that is not God’s plan. He provides a way of escape that you may be able to endure. He wants you to press forward in your walk with Him, and finally – one blessed day – make it to your heavenly home.

Yes, our hearts break under the weight of anguish and difficulties of many kinds. However, let’s take God at His Word. Let’s memorize and ponder and live out the truth of I Corinthians 10:13. Then we can say, “This is not too much for me, for my God is faithful.”