THE COVENANT OF THE LAST SUPPER - Jesus was fulfilling this part of the ritual that had been observed for centuries. All the symbolism of the Passover meal was being fully satisfied forever by Christ. Jesus was initiating a new covenant! Christians in the first century began to “break bread” or have communion on a daily basis. Communion is a way to commune with God while at the same time be in fellowship with each other. After the Passover meal that night, they sang a song. Then, they went out to the Mount of Olives, one of Jesus’ favorite places to pray. He warned them that they would all stumble that very night because of what He was about to face. The disciples were clueless as to what “raised from the dead” meant. They were still struggling with the statement regarding them being made to stumble. Peter, along with the other disciples, assured Jesus that they would never stumble or deny Him. But, Jesus knew. He said that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed by morning. Maybe the disciples are sensing that something is going awry in their estimation – maybe Jesus isn’t going to deliver them from Rome … and why does He talk about His death? Jesus was not fearful of dying, but He was associating His death with the weight and the price of mankind’s sin. He was sensing His imminent separation from the Father.

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The Covenant of the Last Supper

Communion is a way to commune with God while at the same time be in fellowship with each other

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Jesus was fulfilling this part of the ritual that had been observed for centuries. All the symbolism of the Passover meal was being fully satisfied forever by Christ. Jesus was initiating a new covenant!

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After the Passover meal that night, they sang a song. Then, they went out to the Mount of Olives, one of Jesus’ favorite places to pray. He warned them that they would all stumble that very night because of what He was about to face. The disciples were clueless as to what “raised from the dead” meant. 

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Peter, along with the other disciples, assured Jesus that they would never stumble or deny Him. But, Jesus knew. He said that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed by morning. Jesus was not fearful of dying, but He was associating His death with the weight and the price of mankind’s sin. He was sensing His imminent separation from the Father.

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He was experiencing extreme anguish and intense grief as His sweat (on a cold night) fell like drops of blood – so much so that an angel was sent to strengthen Him. When Jesus finished praying, He woke up His sleeping disciples and said that it was time to go. His betrayer was present. While He was still speaking, Judas approached Jesus and kissed Him.

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Can you imagine being betrayed with a kiss? That is just what the wiles of the devil and his evil are like. He will approach you at your weakest moment. But, Jesus was in control of the situation even though it looked like the end. He submitted Himself to the mob that came out to arrest Him; it was all a part of God’s plan to redeem mankind.

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Sometimes when it seems darkest, we
need to remember that God has everything under control. When you face a dark time, look unto Jesus. Look up! In the daytime, we can only see a few yards – or, at best, a few miles. But in the nighttime, we can see for hundreds or even thousands of miles. Just look up at the stars and remember that He knows each one by name!

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How much more does God know your name and your condition? If you are in covenant with Him, He will take care of you. Be assured that when you pray, even if you don’t know what the outcome will be, God entered the situation as soon as you prayed! That, my friend, is a promise!

EQUIPPING FOR POWER

Judy Jacobs

 

Let’s walk with Jesus in the moments leading up to the Last Supper!

In Matthew, Jesus says, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” (Matthew 26:2).

For the preceding months, Jesus had been announcing His impending death. Now, He gives the exact date.

We generally recognize this date on Maundy Thursday, which is the Christian holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter.

At this point, Jesus had ended His public ministry and began to spend time with His disciples in a more intimate setting.

During this time, we see the foot-washing and last supper of Jesus with His disciples, as described in the canonical gospels.

Scholars (such as Finis Dake) pinpoint the actual date of the Last Supper as being sometime after sunset on Wednesday of Holy Week.

However, before the Last Supper even happened, Judas had already gone to the chief priests and made a deal to hand over Jesus for the price of thirty pieces of silver.

Can you imagine one of your hand-picked associates betraying you?

Jesus already knew who would betray Him when He announced, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

Then He pronounced a “woe” on Judas saying, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

That’s a serious indictment.

Yes, God is love; but, He also expects our love and devotion.

We all have choices to make in life. I choose to follow Jesus as Lord of my life.

Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal together that night.

We call it the Last Supper because it was the last time Jesus and His disciples would eat together before His death.

The original Passover meal is recorded in Exodus 12. God told the Jewish people to take a male lamb without blemish, put its blood on the doorposts and lintel of their homes.

God’s last plague against the Egyptians was the death of all firstborn males, both humans and animals.

The Lord spoke this saying, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt and will strike all the firstborn in the land … against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment … and when I see the blood, I will PASS OVER you” (Exodus 12:12-13, emphasis mine).

The Passover meal was always in an intimate setting in homes, not in public places or even the synagogue.

Jews throughout all generations celebrated this feast commemorating the original Passover event of their freedom from Egypt. The actual meal, or Seder, included:

·      A time of reading;

·      Reminiscing;

·      Telling stories;

·      Eating special and symbolic foods;

·      Drinking four ceremonial cups of wine; and

·      Singing.

The menu consisted of bitter herbs (like veggies), dipped in salt and served with horseradish, which reminded them of the afflictions in Egypt.

Originally, the meat served was roasted lamb.

They also served Matzah bread (cracker-like bread without yeast), which had a special meaning. 

The Matzah bread was broken in half–one half broken again and served, while the other half was hidden.

The cups of wine were also symbolic as “toasts” to the miracles of God.

The third cup of wine was called the cup of redemption. It was this cup that Jesus shared with His disciples after He had broken the bread with them.

The disciples had eaten this meal many times in their lifetime. But they had never heard anyone say, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

I wonder if they looked at each other in amazement.

What Jesus was indicating by this was that in just a few short hours, His body would be broken and marred by beating with many stripes.

Later, the disciples would remember Isaiah writing that “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

Then Jesus took the cup, gave thanks, and distributed it to the disciples saying, “Drink from it, all of you” (Matthew 26:28).

As stated above, most likely this was the third cup of the Passover meal which was the cup of redemption.

Right then and there, Jesus was fulfilling this part of the ritual that had been observed for centuries. All the symbolism of the Passover meal was being fully satisfied forever by Christ.

Jesus was initiating a new covenant!

Wow, what a night! What covenant relationship! What intimacy! A true prophetic occurrence!

Then Jesus said this, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

In doing this, Jesus not only fulfilled the Jewish Seder observations, but He was also giving them hope for His return.

Christians in the first century began to “break bread” or have communion on a daily basis.

Remember, the first Christians were all Jewish until God opened the door to Gentiles (like Cornelius through Peter).

Luke recorded a beautiful picture of the church, alive and in action, saying;

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So, continuing daily, with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:44-47).

Communion is a way to commune with God while at the same time be in fellowship with each other.

Perry Stone calls communion “The Meal that Heals.” 

It heals our bodies, and it also allows us to join together with pure motives and a clean heart and conscience.

After the Passover meal that night, they sang a song. Then, they went out to the Mount of Olives, one of Jesus’ favorite places to pray.

He warned them that they would all stumble that very night because of what He was about to face.

Jesus quoted Zechariah, saying, “Strike the Shepherd” and the sheep would scatter.

Trying to give them hope, He then said, “But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go before you to Galilee” (Matthew 26:32).

The disciples were clueless as to what “raised from the dead” meant. 

They were still struggling with the statement regarding them being made to stumble. Peter, along with the other disciples, assured Jesus that they would never stumble or deny Him.

But, Jesus knew. He said that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed by morning.

I know we’ve all done this – making rash promises to God without the knowledge or the power to fulfill them.

Remember, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Maybe the disciples are sensing that something is going awry in their estimation – maybe Jesus isn’t going to deliver them from Rome … and why does He talk about His death?

Matthew’s gospel changed the scene as Jesus began praying in Gethsemane. He prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Your will.”

Jesus was not fearful of dying, but He was associating His death with the weight and the price of mankind’s sin. He was sensing His imminent separation from the Father.

He was experiencing extreme anguish and intense grief as His sweat (on a cold night) fell like drops of blood–so much so that an angel was sent to strengthen Him (see Luke 22:43).

When Jesus finished praying, He woke up His sleeping disciples and said that it was time to go. His betrayer was present. While He was still speaking, Judas approached Jesus and kissed Him.

Can you imagine being betrayed with a kiss?

That is just what the wiles of the devil and his evil are like. He will approach you at your weakest moment.

But, Jesus was in control of the situation even though it looked like the end. He submitted Himself to the mob that came out to arrest Him; it was all a part of God’s plan to redeem mankind.

Sometimes when it seems darkest, we need to remember that God has everything under control.

When you face a dark time, look unto Jesus. Look up!

In the daytime, we can only see a few yards – or, at best, a few miles.

But in the nighttime, we can see for hundreds or even thousands of miles. Just look up at the stars and remember that He knows each one by name!

How much more does God know your name and your condition?

If you are in covenant with Him, He will take care of you. Be assured that when you pray, even if you don’t know what the outcome will be, God entered the situation as soon as you prayed!

That, my friend, is a promise!

My next post will be on the Crucifixion and the events leading up to it. So, keep watching! Redemption is about to come, even though all hell may break loose.

What are some situations in which you are believing for redemption to come forth?

Hi, I’m Judy Jacobs. Welcome to my blog!

I’m a worship leader, psalmist, writer, mentor, speaker, and a lover of Jesus. I’ll tell you some fun stuff about myself if you scroll down (or you can read my official bio here); but first, let me tell you how I want to serve you:

I believe you have gifts, anointing, and a calling from God, and I want to help you walk in them.

The Bible says that everybody has a gift, talent, anointing, and calling. Sometimes, however, it’s tricky trying to find out what your purpose on Earth is. But you know what can get you down the road a lot more quickly? A MENTOR!

Here on my blog, you will receive MENTORING. You’ll also receive lots of prophetic encouragement about your gifts–encouragement that will help you step into your ministry with POWER!

Also, I want to help you hear the right-now, prophetic word of the Lord!

Sometimes, I’ll share the prophetic words, prayer directives, and urgent war cries the Lord gives me for you! Other times, though, I’ll be teaching you how to hone your OWN ability to hear God. (Yes, YOU have ears to hear God too–and you can prophesy as well!)

I want to mentor you to go deeper in God.

https://www.judyjacobs.com/the-covenant-of-the-last-supper/?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com&fbclid=IwAR3mc0T81GyaXesMLLC67NL7sBy7KSFUJcgemud6PS7lW8ytO3Rxj_srX6c

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Broken For You

Written by :  Janet Lunt

CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2019/01/broken-for-you-janet-lunt-broken-for-me.html

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Broken For You

In celebrating His supper, remember His sacrifice

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2021/02/broken-for-you-at-last-supper-jesus.html

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DELILAH - The Woman Who Betrayed Her Husband for Silver - Delilah is a sweet-sounding name which any vain woman would covet, for it means “delicate” or “dainty one.” Because of the foul deed of which Delilah was guilty, no other female in Scripture appears with such a tarnished name. In fact, it is rare indeed to find a woman bearing this name.

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DELILAH

The Woman Who 
Betrayed Her Husband for Silver

Scripture References—Judges 16:4-21 (Read Proverbs 5)

Name Meaning - Delilah is a sweet-sounding name which any vain woman would covet, for it means “delicate” or “dainty one.”

Because of the foul deed of which Delilah was guilty, no other female in Scripture appears with such a tarnished name.

In fact, it is rare indeed to find a woman bearing this name.

Family Connections—The Bible gives us no knowledge of her parentage and background save that she came from the valley of Sorek which extended from near Jerusalem to the Mediterranean, and which entrance was beautiful with rare flowers perfuming the air with sweet odors.

The record of Delilah, the heartless wrecker of a mighty man, is given in eighteen verses; and the description of Samson’s betrayal, fall, bondage and death is one of the most graphic in the Bible.

We cannot, of course, write of Delilah without mentioning Samson.

What a contrast they present, and how symbolic they are of characters in the world today!

Samson was physically strong but morally weak. Although able to rend a lion, he could not fight his lusts.

He could break his bonds, but not his habits. He could conquer Philistines but not his passions.

Delilah was a woman who used her personal charm to lure a man to his spiritual and physical destruction, and she stands out as one of the lowest, meanest women of the Bible—the female Judas of the Old Testament.

This Philistine courtesan was a woman of unholy persistence and devilish deceit, who had personal charm, mental ability, self-command, and nerve, but who used all her qualities for one purpose & - money.

She and womanly honor and love had never met, for behind her beautiful face was a heart as dark as hell, and full of viperous treachery.

“Her supreme wickedness lay not in betraying Samson to his enemies but in causing him to break faith with his ideals.”

Deluding Samson into believing she really loved him, Delilah sold him to blindness, bondage and death.

The ease with which she betrayed her husband revealed that she belonged to the enemies of God’s people, the people of whom Samson was the recognized leader at that time.

The Philistines did not like Samson around because he was the champion of Israel and as such interfered with their practices.

Therefore he must be got rid of, and in Delilah, the Philistine prostitute, the Philistines had one who was willing to be bribed to act as their agent.

She had one purpose and that was to secure money, and had no qualms of conscience to trifle with love for the sake of wealth.

Samson became a traitor to himself because he could not resist a woman’s charm. First one woman and then another took advantage of this deep-seated weakness and basic sin of his, and Delilah was the most effective in destroying him.

She remains as a warning to all men to beware of the charm and wiles of a wicked, scheming woman. As one unknown writer puts it—

The women of the Bible pass before the imagination in the vision of antiquity, like pure and radiant stars, their frailties scarcely more than the wing of a transparent cloud upon these beautiful spheres.

Delilah rises suddenly from darkness, as a glorious meteor, describes an arc of romantic and fatal light, and goes down in a horizon of awful gloom.

The lords of the Philistines offered an enormous sum as a bribe, namely, 1,100 pieces of silver. Jesus was sold by Judas for only 30 pieces of silver.

Such a fortune was no small temptation to Delilah, and sharing her tempters' passion for revenge, she set about, in a subtle way, to earn the price of blood.

She tried four times in her cunning, evil way to get Samson to reveal the secret of his supernatural power.

The first three times Samson humorously lied in answering Delilah’s question by enumerating the green withs or twigs, the new ropes, and the weaving of the hair.

Thrice deceived, Delilah the enchantress employed her final weapon—tears.

Sobbing, she said, “How canst thou say I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.”

Samson was conquered. A weeping woman melted his heart, and he confessed the truth of his Nazarite vow, and how, if shorn of his long hair, his strength would depart and he would become like any other normal man. 

Recognizing that the truth had been told, Delilah lulled Samson to sleep. As he slept, the waiting Philistines destroyed the sign of the vow, and when Samson awoke, although he tried to exert his power as before, he found it had deserted him.

The rest of the tragic story belongs to Samson. His foes gouged out his eyes, bound him in fetters and in Gaza, where his God-given strength was manifested, he was made to grind corn.

But out of the depths Samson cried unto the Lord, and, as we read, his hair began to grow. Forsaken by all, there was

One near at hand, and the God of grace restored unto His sinning and now repentant servant, the power he had lost. Samson’s extremity became God’s opportunity. 

While Samson was in prison, in the palace, three thousand Philistines gathered to honor their god Dagon for victory over their feared enemy.

As hearts beat high and warm, with banquet wine and dance, the cry goes up to have blind Samson brought in to be made the butt of their jests and ridicule.

A lad brings the giant in and places him between the pillars of the heathen temple where all eyes could see him. The mockery of the drunken crowd begins.

They ask for a riddle and Samson acted one they did not expect. With his arms around the pillars, and deeply penitent for his sins, he prayed, “O Lord, remember me and give me strength only this once.”

Then shaking himself as of old, he threw his arms around the pillars, the massive temple tottered and the 3,000 Philistines, including the treacherous Delilah perished.

It was a victory that cost Samson his own life, and we find that he slew more at his death than he had in the heyday of his power.

But a woman like Delilah did not know how to repent; and as Judas went out and hanged himself, so it would seem as if Delilah, gloating over the price received for Samson’s betrayal, died a terrible death when buried beneath the frightful ruins of the temple her husband’s restored, divine strength had caused.

What are the lessons to be gathered from Samson and Delilah, whose record Hollywood could not resist turning into a sexy movie with box-office appeal?

The question may be asked, How can we learn any lesson from such an unpleasant story? Why is this sordid record to the last degree in the Bible?

The reading of the man under a vow to God and of great physical strength and mental agility choosing a woman of no morals may be deemed unfit for inclusion in Holy Writ.

Yet all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and the writer of the Book of Judges was guided by the Spirit to set forth the details of the amorous life of Samson.

Our answer is that the Bible would not be true to life and to its mission in the world if it did not hold up the mirror and reveal to us, in restrained language, workings of evil, and the boundless love and grace of God toward those whose lives are so bankrupt of virtues pleasing to Him.

Delilah was not concerned about the weakness of Samson, but his strength. Once a man betrays his strength, he has no reserve, and courts disaster.

A further lesson to be learned from the story before us is that true feminine charm and the appeal of love are gifts received from the Creator, and that when these fairest and most effective of gifts are misused or deliberately trifled with, divine retribution overtakes those who prostitute such gifts.

Another lesson to be gleaned from the ancient record before us is that of the folly of being unequally yoked.

Samson married outside his own country, people and religion.

Had Samson, hero of Israel, married an Israelitish maiden, the tragedy overtaking him would never have happened.

But he took to wife a devotee of a heathen god which, for a judge of Israel, was against the divine decree, and he paid the fatal price of his action.

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Delilah