In God’s Time…
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Gal 4:4-5)
God does everything on a schedule. This came to my attention 40+ years ago as our choir practiced the Christmas Cantata: In the Fullness of Time, by Gloria Roe. Repeating Bible truths are good for us and this piece of music hammered that truth home for me.
Later, in my daily Bible reading I came across this striking passage where God is telling Moses how it’s going to be for the next four hundred years: And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Gen 15:13-16)
The Jewish population must increase to make up a nation and that would take time. Egypt became the national womb where Israel could multiply. God told Moses of another thing that must be allowed to play out and that pertained to the Amorites whose land God was going to give to Moses and his people. God was going to give the promised land of the Amorites to Moses but He couldn’t do it yet.
God saw how the Amorites were growing more wicked by the day and He had his eye on them. God is holy and righteous and He could not give the land of the Amorites to Moses until the Amorites were hopelessly wicked, beyond remedy. At that point of moral decline, God would destroy the nation of the Amorites and give their and, their houses and groves and vineyards to the Jews and it would be the right thing to do. That’s how it was done.
Fast-forward to the day Jesus was about to show himself to Israel. His brothers did not believe in Him and they were taunting Jesus to go up to Jerusalem to the feast and show Himself to the people. This would have been a dangerous thing to do. Then Jesus said unto them: My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. (Joh 7:6-8)
John 9 is about a man in Jerusalem who had been blind from birth. It was time for Jesus to heal him. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. (Joh 9:2-3)
Several strange things show up in this story. The disciples bring up a question held by some Jews in that day about being struck blind or some other problem because of sin in the life. But to ask if the man had sinned while in his mother’s womb was strange indeed. How could a baby in the womb sin to be struck blind by the Lord? But Jesus was patient with the question. Neither the man nor his parents had sinned in a bad way. He was blind from birth so that on this day, he could be healed by the hands of the Son of God in a display to a great number of people, including some of the Temple leaders.
The blind man was under the care of his parents but we are told by his mother that he is of legal age and able to answer for himself. So, he could have been 30 years old or older. Notice the timing of this whole thing. He and Jesus meet up on a day to perform a public miracle. It’s in God’s time. This story also displays characteristics of obstinate unbelief. John MacArthur says it well:
“This section in the story of the healing of the blind man reveals some key characteristics of willful unbelief: (1) unbelief sets false standards; (2) unbelief always wants more evidence but never has enough; (3) unbelief does biased research on a purely subjective basis; (4) unbelief rejects the facts; and (5) unbelief is self-centered. John included this section on the dialogue of the Pharisees with the blind man most likely for two reasons: (1) the dialogue carefully demonstrates the character of willful and fixed unbelief, and (2) the story confirms the first great schism between the synagogue and Christ's new followers. The blind man was the first-known person thrown out of the synagogue because he chose to follow Christ (see Joh_16:1-3). (MacArthur)
One other story is worth mentioning here. When Jesus met the Samaritan by the well in John 4, it was a classic story of a well-coordinated time line. The woman was at the well and Jesus met her there and was alone with her so they could talk privately. Jesus knew about this woman before He went to the well. The timing was in God’s hands.
I daresay that each of us was conceived and born in God’s time. God has a plan for each of our lives and we do well to seek the Lord with the idea of walking with Him and fulfilling His plan daily. You think? Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 4, 2017 – TUESDAY
A.M. Judges 12-14 P.M. Luke: 9:37-62
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Memory Verse This Month:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Act 2:36)
Song for Today:
The Power of the Cross (3:21) – (Adult Choir) (C.M.C. Southern Pines, NC)
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