Welcome to Spirit Bread
Spiritual Bread for the Spirit Bred
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
"For God so loved the world that He gave His onlyh begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16 - NKJV)
SPIRIT BREAD WEEKLY
THE LAST FORTY DAYS
By Jerry D. Ousley
By Jerry D. Ousley
The Last Forty Days
By Jerry D. Ousley
Early in the morning, the sun barely catching a glimpse of the day over the horizon, several women made their way to a tomb. A group of soldiers had been ordered to guard the tomb but these women wanted to make certain that the men who had placed Him in the tomb had prepared His body properly. But when the tomb came into view, the soldiers had scattered and the large stone that had been rolled over the entrance had been pushed out of the way. They rushed down to see what may have happened. Did they move His body? Had a thief arrived to claim Him? But when they got there, two men in bright, shining garments told them that He had risen from the dead!
Later, Jesus showed Himself to Mary Magdalene, then to Peter and John, and then to the disciples who had gathered in the upper room, except for Thomas and of course Judas. Then, that evening, He appeared to two men as they traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Over the next forty days Jesus appeared several times to different numbers of believers. I’ve often wondered why He did this. Why forty days? Then I realized that a period of forty days seemed significant in the Bible. A quick search revealed the following:
In Genesis we see that the people on Earth had become so wicked that God told Noah to build an ark. After it was finished and all the animals and those who were to be saved were on board, God shut the ark and for the next forty days and nights it rained.
Genesis 50 tells us that when Joseph died, they spent forty days, according to the Egyptian culture, embalming his body.
In Exodus, God gave the Law to the Moses. He had to do this twice because the first time, after he came down from Mount Sinai, because the people of Israel were dancing and worshiping a golden calf, in his anger he threw down the tables on which God had written the Law, breaking them – symbolic of how the people of Israel had broken God’s Law. So, Moses spent another forty days on Sinai, this time cutting the stone tables himself.
In Deuteronomy, Moses sent twelve spies to explore the land God had promised and they spent forty days doing that.
1 Samuel 17 tells us that Goliath challenged the army of Israel for forty days before David brought him down – literally!
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was fed a meal by an angel and he went forty days on that meal.
In Ezekiel 4:6 After laying on his left side for ninety days for the sins of Israel, God told him to roll over on his right side for another forty days for the sins of Judah. Imagine that!
In Jonah, after the prophet finally was obedient to God, he told the Ninevites that in forty days God was going to destroy the city. He didn’t because they repented.
And in the Gospels, we are told that Jesus fasted forty days before beginning His public ministry.
So, what does all of this have to do with Jesus’ last forty days on Earth? To be honest with you, I’m not sure either. I just know that the number of days is significant to God. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it takes about that long for something to become a habitual routine for mankind. It takes us a while. Maybe it took that long for the disciples (followers – students) to be transformed into Apostles (those who are first, ministering to a group, or beginning a new movement). He spent this time deeply teaching His followers, plainly telling them the gospel and what they should be teaching the world.
Whatever the reason was, I’m very glad for it. Because of it we are saved from certain death because of our sin. Because Jesus spent those forty days with His disciples, we are what we are now. Maybe we should spend the next forty days thinking about that. Perhaps God will do great things in our lives!
By Jerry D. Ousley
Early in the morning, the sun barely catching a glimpse of the day over the horizon, several women made their way to a tomb. A group of soldiers had been ordered to guard the tomb but these women wanted to make certain that the men who had placed Him in the tomb had prepared His body properly. But when the tomb came into view, the soldiers had scattered and the large stone that had been rolled over the entrance had been pushed out of the way. They rushed down to see what may have happened. Did they move His body? Had a thief arrived to claim Him? But when they got there, two men in bright, shining garments told them that He had risen from the dead!
Later, Jesus showed Himself to Mary Magdalene, then to Peter and John, and then to the disciples who had gathered in the upper room, except for Thomas and of course Judas. Then, that evening, He appeared to two men as they traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Over the next forty days Jesus appeared several times to different numbers of believers. I’ve often wondered why He did this. Why forty days? Then I realized that a period of forty days seemed significant in the Bible. A quick search revealed the following:
In Genesis we see that the people on Earth had become so wicked that God told Noah to build an ark. After it was finished and all the animals and those who were to be saved were on board, God shut the ark and for the next forty days and nights it rained.
Genesis 50 tells us that when Joseph died, they spent forty days, according to the Egyptian culture, embalming his body.
In Exodus, God gave the Law to the Moses. He had to do this twice because the first time, after he came down from Mount Sinai, because the people of Israel were dancing and worshiping a golden calf, in his anger he threw down the tables on which God had written the Law, breaking them – symbolic of how the people of Israel had broken God’s Law. So, Moses spent another forty days on Sinai, this time cutting the stone tables himself.
In Deuteronomy, Moses sent twelve spies to explore the land God had promised and they spent forty days doing that.
1 Samuel 17 tells us that Goliath challenged the army of Israel for forty days before David brought him down – literally!
In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was fed a meal by an angel and he went forty days on that meal.
In Ezekiel 4:6 After laying on his left side for ninety days for the sins of Israel, God told him to roll over on his right side for another forty days for the sins of Judah. Imagine that!
In Jonah, after the prophet finally was obedient to God, he told the Ninevites that in forty days God was going to destroy the city. He didn’t because they repented.
And in the Gospels, we are told that Jesus fasted forty days before beginning His public ministry.
So, what does all of this have to do with Jesus’ last forty days on Earth? To be honest with you, I’m not sure either. I just know that the number of days is significant to God. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it takes about that long for something to become a habitual routine for mankind. It takes us a while. Maybe it took that long for the disciples (followers – students) to be transformed into Apostles (those who are first, ministering to a group, or beginning a new movement). He spent this time deeply teaching His followers, plainly telling them the gospel and what they should be teaching the world.
Whatever the reason was, I’m very glad for it. Because of it we are saved from certain death because of our sin. Because Jesus spent those forty days with His disciples, we are what we are now. Maybe we should spend the next forty days thinking about that. Perhaps God will do great things in our lives!