Ken Winter

We read in Judges that the next generation of Israelites “… did evil in the LORD’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the LORD. They abandoned the LORD to serve Baal and the images of Ashtoreth.”

My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.If you missed the first three episodes of the series, i invite you to go back and listen to them.

And, as always, i pray this post and my books challenge and encourage you in your walk with the Master.

This is the second of this year’s weekly Advent episodes. Those of you who have followed the podcast for more than a year know that it is my annual practice to post a weekly episode for the season of Advent about the incarnational birth of Jesus. My hope is that the stories have become a part of your Advent tradition as you remember and celebrate the Good News of the advent of our Lord and Savior.

Joseph was an unlikely choice to be the earthly father of Jesus. There was nothing about him on the surface that would have prompted any of us to consider him worthy. And yet, no other man in history has been charged with the tremendous responsibility he was given.

The Wilderness Tabernacle was completed exactly as the Lord specified and was erected on the first anniversary of Israel’s departure from Egypt. That day, the Lord’s glorious presence descended upon it, covering and filling it with His awesome glory. His presence, previously seen in the guiding pillar of cloud, now took residence within His dwelling place among the people.

In many ways, our world today mirrors the one to which the apostle Paul set out. We have become so post-Christian that society now resembles a pre-Christian culture. In that sense, we are not unlike the ancient city of Athens.

As Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, teaching His disciples, He told them He would one day return and that they must be on the alert for His arrival.

Jesus often used simple stories (parables) to communicate profound truths. Such is the case with the three parables recorded in Matthew chapter 13. The parables of the weeds, the mustard seed, and the yeast.

On their fifth full day in the Promised Land on the west side of the Jordan, the first Israelite walked out from camp to gather the daily portion of manna and discovered it wasn’t there!

God instructed Moses to collect the staff of each leader from the twelve ancestral tribes, along with Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi. These thirteen staffs were placed overnight in the tabernacle. God promised that the staff of the man He had chosen would sprout buds, signifying His selection.

From the day the Israelites left Egypt, the Lord gave His people a constant reminder of His presence. He sent a pillar of cloud to guide them by day and a pillar of fire by night, so they could travel without losing sight of His leading.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God sent an angel to Cornelius, who immediately obeyed the command to send for Peter. Though others may have been closer to Caesarea, Peter was God’s man for this assignment. Remember, Peter “held” the “keys to the Kingdom.” His obedience set in motion events that would open the door of faith to all Gentiles.  What may have seemed like a small act had a ripple effect that continues today.

It’s important to remember that the focus of John’s Gospel is to help us see, discover and know Jesus as the Son of the Living God. John wanted us to behold Jesus in the fullness of His glory as God incarnate. Jesus’ desire for His apostles—and for us—is that we would see the glory of the Father and come to know the Father through Him. Before He spoke these words of comfort,  Jesus had told the disciples that He was going to His Father’s house to make a way for them—and us—to join Him. He seized that moment to remind them that if they truly knew Him, they knew the Father as well.

Pontius Pilate, the governing prefect of the region, ordered the killing of some Galileans as they were offering sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. Eighteen people had recently died when a tower in Siloam collapsed. These two tragedies led the crowd to ask Jesus what these victims had done to deserve such a fate. Let’s explore His response.

Militarily the Canaanites held a great advantage over the Israelites. From a human perspective, the situation looked bleak. Even for a man of courage and faith like Joshua, the situation seemed dire. That’s why the LORD said to him, “Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel….”

On the eve of what could have been the greatest day of their lives, and their history as a nation—the day they were to enter God’s Promised Land—the Israelites chose to reject Him and refused to enter.

As the Israelites approached the Promised Land, the Lord instructed Moses to assemble a group of twelve men to spy out the land—each a leader from one of the twelve ancestral tribes.  These men were highly respected and trusted by their peers.

Moses called his brother, Aaron, and his brother-in-law, Hur, to join him on the top of a hill that overlooked the field of battle at Rephidim, where the descendants of Abraham—Israelite and Amalekite—would battle one another.

Imagine the surprise of the Jerusalem church when Saul, the persecutor, showed up in the city professing to be a follower of Christ. They were filled with fear and disbelief. There was no way anyone was going to accept him into their fellowship … until a believer named Barnabas took action.

The preparations for Passover were so important to Jesus that He sent His two most trusted disciples: Peter and John. Both men would have known what preparations were required under the Law. However, they wisely asked Jesus what details they should follow. We, too, would do well to ask Jesus about the details.

i believe the omission of his name is purposeful. As a part of the nameless crowd, he could be any one of us, free from any of the preconceived notions that might come with knowing his background.

On one particular day, as Jesus and His disciples were walking through a grainfield, the religious leaders accused Jesus and His disciples of an act of “Sabbath defiance.” The Pharisees accused them of “wantonly disregarding the rules” of Sabbath by plucking off the heads of grain, rubbing them between their hands, and eating the grain.Thus we see the clash—one that continues today—the religious traditions of men versus an authentic relationship with a Holy God.

The Gibeonites opted to use the weapon of deception—and they were very good at producing fake news—down to the last detail. They loaded their donkeys with patched wineskins and weathered saddlebags. They loaded their packs with dry and moldy bread. They dressed themselves in ragged clothes and worn-out, patched sandals.

Two Israelite men, Eldad and Medad, were part of a group of seventy elders that God had directed Moses to assemble.(1) We don’t know from which tribe these men originated. There is no further information about them other than this one reference in Scripture. For some unknown reason these two men, who were probably brothers, had not gone to the Tabernacle with the rest of the elders; they were still in the camp. However, when the Holy Spirit came upon the elders, He came upon all of the elders, including these two who weren’t in the tabernacle. Oh, and isn’t it interesting that theirs are the only names we know out of that group of seventy? Perhaps the Lord has a lesson for us to learn from these two men.

The Israelites found themselves in the Sin Desert between Elim behind and Mount Sinai ahead. God was teaching His children who He was. He was teaching them His character. He was giving them truth to live by; truth on which they could stand firm.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew and Mark both write that this was Jesus’s response when the expert in religious law asked Him which was the most important commandment in the law of Moses. Luke writes that the expert in religious law told Jesus that they were the most important commandments in response to Jesus’s question, and He affirmed him. If the Spirit of God impressed all three Gospel writers to include this dialogue, it is well worth our paying attention.

When Simon witnessed the miracles performed by Philip, he did not demonstrate faith in the Word of God; rather, he placed his faith in the miracles themselves. His belief was like that of many people who witnessed the miracles of Jesus but refused to acknowledge His Word. Simon’s “belief and baptism” were not the result of true repentance; they were part of his attempt to manipulate and deceive in order to gain favor and power.

It was Tuesday. Jesus had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday and had cleared out the temple on Monday. The leading priests, teachers and elders were all still stinging from His rebukes the day before. So, it’s no wonder their first question—or should i say their first accusation—was a challenge to His authority.

Our actions are often an accurate reflection of our thoughts about Jesus and the nature of our relationship with Him. But an even more telling indicator is our inaction or our failure to act. Such was the case one night in the home of Simon the Pharisee, who had invited Jesus to dine with him.

The hour had come. It was very late. Jesus had led the disciples to a garden called Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives so He could pray … and they could pray with Him. Well, He had led almost all His disciples. Earlier that night, Judas had abruptly gone out from the upper room while Jesus was still speaking … apparently sent on an errand by the Master. There had been no sign of him since then.The disciples were unaware that a teenage boy had secretly followed them to the garden and was hiding in the bushes.

Has that still, small voice (the Holy Spirit within you) directed you to do something now that is contrary to what your conventional wisdom is telling you to do?

The people that left Sinai were much different from those who had arrived a year earlier. They arrived as a ragtag multitude bound together by the promises of God; they left as an ordered people, united in the presence of God.

The day God provided a ram to be sacrificed in the place of his son Isaac, Abraham called that place Jehovah Jireh, meaning “The Lord will provide.”(1) That day was to be a reminder to all generations that the Lord will provide. He will be faithful to provide just what is needed at the exact time it is needed. He is seldom early; but He is never late! He seldom provides in the manner we anticipate; but He always provides in a way that is sufficient. That was true for Abraham and Isaac, it was true for Moses and the Israelites, and it is true for us today.

The early church chose the following to serve: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith).

We live in a day filled with upheaval, confusion, and uncertainty. It therefore comes as no surprise that the rates of depression, anxiety, and fearfulness about the future continue to reach new highs  among adults in the U. S. according to a Gallup poll published in May 2023. But as followers of Christ, we can take heart that the perilous times in which we find ourselves are also indicative of the days to come that Jesus described two thousand years ago. We can embrace the hope we have through the promises and assurance He gave to His disciples—and through them, to us.

The timeframe of this particular journey recorded in Luke 9 was well over a year before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. He still had much yet to do, messages yet to preach, and miracles yet to perform. But in this verse, Luke is reminding us that Jesus never lost sight of why the Father had sent Him.

As we prepare for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, i want us to look at the events leading up to those days through the eyes of the second of two of Jesus’s disciples. But in so doing, i want us to see how the sin they both harbored in their hearts kept them from seeing the truth of God in those events.Too often, the sin we harbor in our hearts keeps us from seeing God’s truth. Instead of confessing our sin, we justify it, and thus we fall headlong down the slippery slope. This week let’s see if we can learn from the second of the two men who despite his personal walk with Jesus became blinded to truth. And let’s see if we can learn from him.Though elements of the story you are about to read are fictionalized, the ultimate truth it reveals is very real!

This week and next, as we prepare for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, i want us to look at the events leading up to those days through the eyes of two of Jesus’s disciples. But in so doing, i want us to see how the sin they both harbored in their hearts kept them from seeing the truth of God in those events.Too often, the sin we harbor in our hearts keeps us from seeing God’s truth. Instead of confessing our sin, we justify it, and thus we fall headlong down the slippery slope. Let’s see if we can learn from two men who despite their personal walk with Jesus became blinded to truth. And let’s see if we can learn from them.Though elements of the story you are about to read are fictionalized, the ultimate truth it reveals is very real!

i have acted in that same manner. i’ve encountered Jericho-sized situations where i knew if God “didn’t come through” i was sunk. i’ve turned to Him and seen Him work the miraculous. Then on the heels of that great victory, i encountered something so seemingly minor – so seemingly insignificant – i didn’t think there was even any need to pray about it. Then – SMACK! There was that unexpected defeat that knocked the wind out of my sails.

We live in a culture that believes life centers around us. It is about “my” dreams, “my” ambitions, and “my” goals. Our fulfillment most often comes from our needs being met, our dreams being achieved, and our achievements being recognized. We’re striving for the “trophy,” even though it has taken on different forms and shapes as we’ve gotten older. It’s the lie that our culture feeds – that “it’s all about me.”

What about us? Do we thirst for the water that will temporarily satisfy our immediate need or do we thirst for a deep drink of Living Water that will always satisfy and can only come through an intimate relationship with our Living Lord? The choice that day at Rephidim was much like the choice on the day many years later, when the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus at the well. She chose Living Water – an intimate relationship with the Son of God – and left her bucket at the well – never to thirst again.

God was at work in a new way! Many of those who were alive during those days had been born during the latter part of the four hundred years of silence between the last prophet of the Old Testament – Malachi – and the arrival of John the Baptist. During those years the people had not heard a fresh word from God. Then God Himself showed up on the scene in the form of Jesus and the religious leaders rejected Him and crucified Him. When they should have been hungry to hear afresh from God, they had become quite content with their traditions and their own religious practices. They had settled into a very comfortable rut and were dedicated to maintaining their status quo. They thought their problems were over when they crucified Jesus. They thought they would be returning to “the good old days” of tradition and no longer having their leadership challenged.

It was the end of the third day of the week of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Two nights hence, He would be betrayed and arrested. He had taken His disciples to the Mount of Olives that evening to spend the night. It was a place to which Jesus often retreated when He was in Jerusalem. It was a place where He could have long conversations with His Father in prayer. And it was a place that evening at which He chose to have a long conversation with four of His disciples – Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

Another important distinction we must understand before we look at the events that unfolded in the wilderness is that Jesus was not tempted as the Son of God; He did not use His divine power to overcome the temptation. If He had, there would be nothing for us to learn. Remember, He came to teach us how to live, to enable us to live, and to empower us to live. You and I will never have divine power; we’re not God! We have access to divine power, but we do not ourselves possess it. Therefore, if Jesus had responded to Satan as the Son of God, He would not have taught us how to respond to temptation. Rather, He responded – and was proven – as the Son of Man using the same spiritual resources that are available to us in our journey today – the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Word of God.

The Israelites had planted crops and were augmenting their meals of manna with fresh produce from the land. They had begun to put down modest roots. As a matter of fact, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had petitioned Moses to make their permanent dwelling place on this side of the Jordan, and God had permitted them to do so. So, when Joshua sent out word that they were leaving in three days, it was very short notice for a move of that magnitude.

God called the Levites to be in charge of the Tabernacle, and all of its furnishings and equipment. He called them to stand guard and protect it. When the Israelites were camped in the wilderness, God’s Spirit dwelt in the Tabernacle in their midst, but the area immediately surrounding His dwelling place was the home of the Levites. Whenever the pillar of cloud moved from the Tabernacle to lead the people, the Levites took down the Tabernacle and carried it. Whenever the cloud stopped, the Levites would set up the Tabernacle and prepare it for the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit.

i don’t know about you, but if i’m getting ready to head out into the wilderness, i want one of those shepherd’s staffs like Moses had when he was leading the Israelites. From the very first day at the burning bush, God had demonstrated His power through that staff. He had turned it into a snake. He had turned the water of the Nile River into blood with it. God had Moses outstretch it to part the waters of the Red Sea, and He had him strike a rock with it to bring forth water. Then God used it to ensure a victory in the battle with the Amalekites. Sign me up for one of those staffs!

This week, we’re looking at some of the early days of the church. The idea of a being a “body” of believers was brand new. No one had done it before, and everyone was following the Spirit of God as closely as they could.