LIGHT AND DARKNESS
Wednesday – July 10, 2019, Tamuz 7, 5779

Greetings to all and welcome back to this in-depth Bible Study of the Book of John. Our Lord, our God is the only living God and is so merciful and so gracious to us all, saint and sinner alike. If you are reading this on Facebook please take a moment and hit the “like” and “share” buttons so I know you are engaged and sharing these Truths. The featured pictures this week are from a recent trip to Samoset Resort in Rockport Maine. Now let’s turn our attention to our study by reading the primary Bible text aloud.
John 11:5-10 (KJV)
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
As we move forward in this very illuminating account for the serious student not the casual reader let’s focus on the response from Jesus upon receiving the news of Lazarus being sick. First, we saw in verse four that this illness was not going to result in death and that the goodness of God was going to be demonstrated in the life of Lazarus. I suspect that we all know that Lazarus dies and is raised from the dead by Jesus, so what did Jesus mean when He said: “This sickness is not unto death”? It would seem that Jesus was speaking of a perpetual state of physical death not a temporary state of physical death. Notice that the instructions of the Father to Jesus were not to rush to Lazarus’ side to prevent Lazarus’ death from this illness. That is not to say that it was by any means the will of the Father for Lazarus to be sick, or to die, or have a need to be raised from the dead. By way of review, Jesus did not say anything the Father did not give Him to speak, and He did nothing He did not first see the Father do, and He had full confidence the Father would confirm the Word. Jesus always exercised faith in the Father, was always motivated by love (agape), and was led of the Spirit 100% of the time. Therefore, the verbal response of verse four and the lingering in that place another two days were all Father directed. In every circumstance it is essential that we be attuned to the still small voice of God to direct us. How does one become attuned? Like every other relationship we have ever had, we must spend time with the person. In addition, we must understand the basis of the relationship, what are the governing rules or parameters.
One might say, well Jesus should have rushed to Lazarus’ side after all they were friends and Jesus loved him. Jesus did not rush to Lazarus’ side. The text does not disclose the reason but we can know from the full counsel of Scripture that they were not in a position for healing or being raised from the dead yet. These only happen by faith. Perhaps one of us have received bad news like this and we rushed, went immediately, to the side of the person thinking that was the right thing to do. Unless we hear from the Lord to rush, we are reacting to others expectations or fear and are entirely in the flesh. Fear is not of God but the devil. Fear is the opposite of love and is the belief that God will not keep His end of the Covenant. In addition, we must never say that the delay was so that Lazarus would die and Jesus could prove that He could raise the dead. Not only did Jesus not rush to Lazarus’ side staying two more days on the east side of the Jordan River but then He says to the disciples that He wants to go into Judea again which is on the west side or what is now part of the “West Bank” of the Jordan River. The disciples are afraid for that is where they just came from and the Jews are not in a good mood concerning Jesus. They want to kill Him by stoning. They, the disciples, perhaps had some rudimentary understand about who Jesus was but persisted on a very carnal level. This brings us to verses nine and ten of our text.
Again, Jesus is talking spiritual which is the superior realm and the disciples are talking about carnal, physical things, or the workings of the world system which is a subservient or far inferior system. If we only had verse nine to judge the conversation, we could be left with Jesus only talking about the carnal and it would be way out of context but verse ten keeps us in the spiritual realm. Jesus uses verse nine to set the stage for verse ten giving a physical example before the spiritual. A most illuminating verse the Lord brought to my attention many years ago that has helped a myriad of times is the following.
Romans 1:20 (AMP)
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],
In short, understanding the natural things about us gives great insight into the supernatural. The natural creation is a reflection of the supernatural reality albeit degraded by the curse (sin). Using the example of getting around without stumbling in the daytime compared with the night is well know by all. He then changes gears to the supernatural. Lord willing, I will pick up here tomorrow.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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