Young People’s Blog

“And His disciples came to Him [the Lord Jesus] for to shew Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them…there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1-2).

The temple referred to here was built by Herod, and took 46 years to complete. Although not as beautiful as Solomon’s temple, yet it was very costly and impressive. In today’s verse the Lord Jesus predicted that it would be totally demolished.

When the Roman general Titus came against Jerusalem in the year A.D. 69-70, he gave strict instructions that the temple was not to be harmed. But when some of the Jews took refuge in it, a soldier threw a firebrand into it, and it caught fire. Everything combustible burned, and all the gold melted. When it melted, it ran down between the stones, and later, when everything had cooled down, the soldiers pulled all the stones off each other in order to get at the gold. The Lord Jesus’ words were fulfilled to the letter!

It was God’s judgment on the Jews for rejecting their Messiah, and for refusing to listen to the apostles and others who preached the gospel to them after the Lord Jesus was risen. How solemn!

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterward he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether” (Exodus 11:1).

Here we have, not Pharaoh’s final offer, but rather the Lord’s final judgment, or plague, on Egypt. Our verse today does not say exactly what it was, but later in the chapter we find out that it was the killing of all the firstborn of every family in Egypt, and all the firstborn of cattle. When this happened, not only would Pharaoh allow the Israelites to leave, but he would tell them that they had to go. What does this mean today?

There are many times when this world wants to attract us as Christians, and they will make all kinds of adjustments to arrange this, without letting us separate completely from them. But when we bring Christ in, and His claims, then the world does not want us. They will tell us to go.

When the firstborn were all killed in Egypt, the Israelites were safe because they put the blood of a lamb on the door. This is a picture of the death of Christ, and His blood being shed for us. The world does not want that, and will want to get rid of us.

We should not be surprised at this, for if they rejected the Lord Jesus, they will reject us too, if we are truly faithful to Him.

“And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed” (Exodus 10:24).

Here we see another one of Satan’s tactics. It seems that Pharaoh never got tired of making suggestions that would allow the children of Israel to sacrifice unto the Lord, yet keep them connected to Egypt. This time he allows everyone to go, but they were to leave their flocks and herds behind in Egypt. Pharaoh knew that because of this, they would have to come back to Egypt.

As we said yesterday, flocks and herds would speak of our work, our business in this world. It was necessary for the Israelites to keep cows, sheep, and goats, and it is necessary for Christians to work and support themselves in this world. But once again, Moses refused to allow this arrangement, for all that we have must be looked after in a way that would honor the Lord, and not according to this world’s ideas.

“And he [Pharaoh] said…who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go…and he [Pharaoh] said unto them…go ye now that are men, and serve the Lord” (Exodus 10:8-9,11).

Here we find another suggestion by Pharaoh. This time he said that only the men could go, but that their wives and children would have to stay behind. Once again Moses refused this plan, and made it clear that their young and old must go, their sons and daughters, and all their cattle too. God does not want families to be separated, and some to honor the Lord, while the rest live in the world. Our families and also our business (pictured in Israel by the cattle) must all be done to honor the Lord, rather than being handled according to the principles of this world.

In our story in Exodus 10, Pharaoh would not allow this, and as a result, God brought further plagues upon the land of Egypt.

Let us remember this lesson, and not give in to Satan’s suggestions that try to connect us with this world.

“And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away” (Exodus 8:28).

Here we have another plan of Satan. Pharaoh was willing to let them go outside the land of Egypt, but not very far away. This might seem to be a little better than actually being in the land of Egypt, but again, they would be close to Egypt, and under the influence of Egypt.

This is a picture of a Christian who really wants to please the Lord, but who also wants something of this world too. He goes outside of this world and its system, but does not go very far away. As you can see, this is not a good thing, for we are still under the influence and power of this world.

“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land” (Exodus 8:25).

You will remember how the Lord sent Moses to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, demanding that he let the people of Israel go and sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness. In the course of a number of days, God sent ten different plagues upon the land of Egypt, the last one being when the firstborn of every house was killed.

In today’s verse, and in the next few days, we will look at the various proposals Pharaoh made to Moses, all of which came short of allowing the people to go without any conditions. All of these proposals were Satan’s way of keeping the Israelites as slaves in Egypt.

In today’s verse, Pharaoh wanted the children of Israel to sacrifice in the land of Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world, and this idea is a picture of Christians living worldly lives, and trying to honor the Lord while going on with the world. Moses wisely refused this proposal of Pharaoh, and made it clear that they could not sacrifice in the land of Egypt.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13).

As you can see, I have quoted only part of the verse here in Matthew 13, for we want to focus on this particular sentence, and on the word “hypocrites.” If you read the whole chapter, you will find that the Lord Jesus uses this sentence seven times in referring to the scribes and Pharisees, who were the Jewish leaders. He was very stern in speaking to them, because of their wrong ways.

Do you know what a hypocrite is? It is a person who puts on a false appearance, and who pretends to have certain good qualities that he/she does not have. The Jewish leaders were like that; they taught the people the right things, but they did not do those things themselves. They found ways of getting around what the Jewish law required, and yet pretended to be keeping it.

It is a good lesson for us, for God does not like those who pretend to be what they are not. Let us be upright with God and with one another. Let us not be hypocrites!

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).

Here we have the most precious and intimate prayer in the whole Bible, for it is the Lord Jesus praying to His Father just before He went to the cross. Many of the things mentioned in this prayer have to be felt rather than explained, but here in our verse today the Lord Jesus confidently tells His Father that He had finished the work that the Father had given Him to do.

As to time, the cross was still ahead of the Lord Jesus, but as a divine Person, He could look upon something in the future as if it were already completed. Only God could do that. Also, He was the only One who could say that He had finished the work that was given Him to do. We too have the privilege of serving the Lord, but none of us can say, at the end of our time in this world, that we have finished the work God has given us. As a perfect man, the Lord Jesus did this. What a wonderful example God has given us in His beloved Son!

“Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:17).

“Render therefore unto Caesar the thing which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

The Jewish leaders thought that this question would be impossible for the Lord Jesus to answer, but the Lord used great wisdom in His answer, and also reached their consciences. When they showed Him the tribute money, it had Caesar’s image on it, just as our money has the image of our leaders on it. Since the Romans were in power, it was only right that they had to pay taxes to Caesar.

But why were the Jews in that position? Why did the money have Caesar’s image on it, and why were the Romans ruling over them? It was because they had not rendered unto God the things that belonged to God. The Israelites had been unfaithful to the Lord, and for this reason He had allowed them to be under the rule of foreign governments. Now the Lord Jesus was there as their Messiah, and once again they were not rendering to God what belonged to Him. The Lord Jesus was the Son of God, and they would not recognize Him for who He was.

“But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none…for the fashion of this world passeth away” (1 Corinthians 7:29,31).

This is an important day for my wife and me, for it is our wedding anniversary! As I write this in 2023, we have been married 53 years, and by the time you read this, if the Lord has not come, and we are both still alive, we will have been married 55 years.

It is wonderful to enjoy the marriage relationship, but our verse for today says something rather strange. It tells us that since the time is short, we are to be as though we did not have wives. What does this mean?

It does not mean that Christian husbands are to neglect their wives, so that they do not care for them, and enjoy them. Rather it means that we are to live and move in the light of eternity, and not just for time. We can enjoy happy times together naturally as husband and wife, but if that is all that we enjoy, it will not last for eternity. What is done for the Lord will last, and we are to remember this.