If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake,
baked a cake, baked a cake.
If I knew you were comin' I'd've baked a cake
Howd-ya do, howd-ya do, howd-ya do?
~Silly Song Lyrics from 1950's
We've reached the hallway point today in Counting the Omer! There cannot be a better place to pause and reflect because throughout scripture the #25 is associated with repentance. In Hebrew the #25 is comprised of the two Hebrew letters: "kaph" and "hey." "Kaph" literally means "palm." The ancient formation of the letter "kaph" resembles an open palm which "bends" and "curves." It is from this pictograph that "kaph" gets its meaning of bending to another's will, submitting under the hand of a Master, tamed and subdued. The Hebrew letter "Hey" means "Look" or "Behold!" Descriptively they indicate the act of REPENTANCE. When we repent, there are two words in scripture: "metanoia" which means also has a similar meaning such as to "Look" or "Behold" (make a mental note of) your current sinful state and then the word Shuv, which means to TURN, bend, curve, submit to the will of Almighty God under the palm of His mighty and merciful Hand. What a beautiful picture image for repentance!
As we continue to Count the Omer, we are reminded that this tradition is based on Leviticus 23:15. It is a day by day reminder of the Living God's miracles connecting the time between the Exodus Passover and receiving the Word, the Ten Commandments. It was fifty days after Passover that the Law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. After this Old Testament foreshadowing, Yeshua was sacrificed as the Passover Lamb, and then fifty days after Passover His followers in Jerusalem received the Living Word, the indwelling Holy Spirit on Pentecost. So, 50 days from the original Exodus to the Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai (Moses the Deliverer ~ a shadow picture of Christ) and then 50 days from Last Supper (Passover) to the giving of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost...the fulfillment of the Old Testament shadow-picture. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Law is engraved upon our hearts.
Today, much like the Israelites during the Exodus and the First Century Church, those who love God are once again "on the run." History teaches us that there are 5 Stages of Christian persecution:
1) Stereotyping
2) Vilifying
3) Marginalizing
4) Criminalizing
5) Physical Assault/Death
For students of history, we can see this exact trajectory in the making of the Jewish Holocaust during WWII. Caricatures and cartoons of the Jews, at first seemingly harmless, were the first sign that the German society had turned the corner in its insidious ideology. From stereotyping, it is not a big step to vilifying. After vilifying, marginalizing (removing from the public square, from the marketplace) is the next stage. Those of us who will not bow down to an evil agenda won't be able to buy and sell. Many, all over the globe, are already experiencing criminalizing from jackbooted laws and fines. The final stage is: BEATINGS, JAIL and DEATH.
Don't think it can happen here? Think again.
Surely, with the evidence in the news, we are rapidly reaching Stage #5. Much of this persecution is coming from the LGBTQ+ perversion agenda. Some recent examples include the courts allowing a divorced parent to pursue transgender treatments (including puberty blockers and potentially more radical surgery) for a 7-year old child, even when the other parent objects.
In the State of Oregon, a 15-year old can get hormone treatments and sex change surgery without parental approval or even notification! Can you imagine the horror of your child taken into custody by the State and then returned to you with their God-given body parts butchered?
These rulings should shed some "wake up" light for every liberty-loving person in the world. Freedom of speech and freedom to worship Christ without restraint were the very same freedoms our forefathers fought for and came to these shores for. We have fallen asleep in the darkness.
In America, unless you have been living in a cave, you may have also heard about "Sweet Cakes by Melissa" a Christian bakery that has been forced to shut down because of their unwillingness to celebrate perversion in the form of their artistic cake-making abilities. The other "cake case" by Jack Phillips made it all the way to the Supreme Court. He also had refused to make a "wedding" cake for a man/man party celebration. While he was mostly victorious in the Supreme Court case, the persecution did not stop. Immediately, he was accosted again and asked to create a "gender transition" cake which started a whole new round of legal battles for him.
As apostate Mega-church "pastor" and liberal progressive recently heretically suggested:
"Maybe they should just ask themselves, 'What would Jesus do?' I think he'd bake the cake."
Really? John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ's ministry was beheaded rather than reverse his position on Herod's scandalous marriage.
Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her."
~Matthew 14:3
To suggest that Christ Himself would take a position LESS than His Repentance preaching predecessor is patently absurd and unbiblical. John said he wasn't fit to untie Christ's sandals.
John answered their questions by saying, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am--so much greater that I'm not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandals.
~Luke 3:16
Unlike the silly song lyrics posted above, we must ask ourselves this question: "If we REALLY knew Christ was coming...would we bake the cake?" In scripture, the Baker was ultimately executed by Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, while the Cupbearer was spared and restored. (Genesis 40).
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
~Genesis 40:13
However, things didn't go very well for the Baker:
Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and impale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh."
~Genesis 40:19
It's utter folly to think that the modern "Egyptian" land of secularism and false idols will treat you any kinder. If our devotion to Christ cannot withstand the squeezing pressure of this initial rising tide of persecution, we will die at the hands of the government, just like the baker. Those of us who are keenly aware that Christ is coming back, will NOT "bake the cake."
We are to be like the cup-bearer, bringing forth the sweet atoning cup of Christ's blood by showing people the Light. That path requires us to pick up our cross like our Master through personal sacrifice and preach REPENTANCE. We don't simply look forward to being restored to an earthly king's court position, but we look for a position restoration with the King of kings. It's not going to be a "piece of cake" serving Christ with our whole hearts. There will be trials, tribulations and persecutions:
But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.
~ Luke 21:12
If you've cleansed your "vessel" with the Holy Spirit through daily repentance, you'll be able to take full advantage of this Truth:
Therefore settle it in your hearts not to mediate beforehand on what you will answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
~Luke 21:14-15
Remember, the devil has NO ORIGINAL IDEAS. All he can do is pervert something or counterfeit God's originals. God originally offers us a "genetically modified" transformation. We become flesh and blood sons and daughters of the Most High and then we are transformed into His likeness to spend all eternity with Him!
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
~ 1 Corinthians 15:51-53
So take your pick...eat the cake first and ruin your appetite for the Main Meal?
And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb."
~ Revelation 19:9
We must grow up and eat the meat of God's Word. We will eventually be rewarded with the sweetness of God's eternal promises served with His goodness and mercy.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
~ Hebrews 5:14
If we REALLY believe He is coming again and coming soon, would we bake the cake? Either way we will eventually get our...
JUST DESSERTS
