Bits and Pieces – 187th Edition – April 21, 2024

     The Jews, as a rule, do not employ names like Genesis, Exodus etc. for the five books of Moses.  Instead, they take part of the opening text each time as it stands in the Hebrew Bible.

     The lovely title they have for Exodus is “Elleh Shemot,” which means, “These are the names.”  The reader thus learns the names of those who went down into Egypt with Jacob.  They were the people who were there at the beginning.

     Another lesson we learn from “Elleh Shemot” is that God is interested in names, particularly the names of His people.  There is significance in names.

     God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.  He arranged for the High Priest, when wearing the garments of “Glory and Beauty,” to carry those names in “Elleh Shemot” on His shoulders before the very Throne of God, and likewise He represented the names as His jewels on the breastplate, showing that Aaron bore these “precious names” on His heart as well, a two-fold way of keeping them in remembrance as he entered into God’s presence.

     It is most touching that these names embellish the City Foursquare.  While the names of the twelve apostles adorn the foundations of the new Jerusalem, the twelve gates there feature these same names from the Exodus record, bestowing upon the twelve tribes an everlasting remembrance.  It is as if God is still saying in Heaven, “Elleh Shemot” – these are the names.

     God is interested in keeping the names of His saints. “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance”

[Dr. John Douglas.  From the preface of a new book by George McConnell and Rev. David Linden listing 25 of the early stalwarts of the Free Presbyterian Church who have gone to glory].

     One of the primary signs of the second coming of Christ is war between the nations,  “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars”  [Matthew 24:6]. Undoubtedly, we are living in an age of war, destruction and death.

     Two world wars, and wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iran and Iraq are just some in recent memory.  Add to these the current conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and the very serious outbreak involving Israel and Hamas and other Middle Eastern terror groups.  Many Christians are turning to the Old Testament for guidance for the future, believing that “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” [James 5; 8].

     The battle between Israel and Hamas, that started last October 7, shows no sign of ending. Hamas, Hezbollah, and now Iran have all attacked Israel, showing their hatred of it. The war in the Middle East is in danger of escalating.

     One is reminded of Zechariah’s prophecy, written over 2,500 years ago, and not yet fulfilled.  “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh” and “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle.”  [Zechariah 14:1,2].  He then describes the atrocities that will be launched against God’s ancient people [v2].

     It is at that stage the Lord shall “go forth, and fight against those nations” [v3].  Then comes that mighty moment when “His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem.”  [v4].    Surely there is much food for thought here – and prayer.

     Not much in life is easy.  If one wants to be an athlete, it will not come without pain and hard work.  You cannot learn to swim without getting into the water.  Likewise to become a useful Christian does not come without affliction.  The Psalmist, from personal experience, said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted: that I might learn thy statutes.” [Psalm 119:71].

     The Lord allows His people to have afflictions, not to hurt them, but to make them better fitted for the work He has for them to do.  Some of His most useful servants have suffered greatly. We ought to pray for the healing of those who are suffering. And we should pray that the Lord would sustain, comfort and strengthen those persons as they pass through the trials.  The prayers of brothers and sisters in the Lord encourage suffering saints.

“Ye have not, because ye ask not” [James 4:2].

     The great need of the church today and of human society as a whole is a genuine God-sent revival.  It is either revival or revolution, and a revolution will plunge human society and civilization into chaos and utter confusion.  It is a time of widespread apostasy.  This may be the last apostasy from which we will be saved by the return of our Lord Jesus to this earth to take the reins of government into His own thoroughly competent hands.  That would be the greatest and most glorious of all revivals and a revival that would never end.  But we do not know that this is the final apostasy.

[Written by R.A. Torrey, exactly 100 years ago.  If it was true then, how much more is it true in our day? His book “The Power of Prayer” is an excellent read].