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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – May 18

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The Time of Jacob’s Trouble,

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Part 7:

“7 Bowls of Wrath on The Church!?!”

To read Part 1, click here…July 13th (Jacob’s Trouble, Part 1: Alone With God)

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 “Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled;

and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee!

when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled;

and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously,

they shall deal treacherously with thee.

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee:

be thou their arm every morning,

our salvation also in the time of trouble.”

Isaiah 33:1, 2

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This above passage from Isaiah is especially prophesied for these last moments of time in which we are now in!

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This passage speaks of the reward for evil deeds. It promises of recompense for all treachery. It foretells of the Judgment to come upon all who needlessly oppress others.  

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But this above passage from Isaiah is not merely for the last days. No, but rather, judgment has always been meted out upon wrong-doers!

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Book of Isaiah – cropped photo – Wikimedia – C.C. Share-alike License

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JACOB’S TIME OF TROUBLE

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Take, for instance, the story of Jacob. Yes, Jacob hearkened to his mother’s bad advice, by dealing treacherously with his brother, Esau, stealing away Esau’s blessing.

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But Jacob didn’t get away with his dishonest ways. No, God was going to save Jacob. But God was also going to purify Jacob from his wickedness.

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James Tissot – Jacob & Esau – The Mess of Pottage – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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JACOB’S NOSE RUBBED IN HIS OWN SINS

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And so, the following decades became Jacob’s training ground, as Jacob became oppressed by Uncle Laban who continually swindled Jacob, time-and-time-again! Yes, when Jacob made an end of oppressing his brother, Jacob became the oppressed one.

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Oh yes, God graciously allowed Jacob to enjoy many years of joy and hope, as he labored in hope of one day obtaining Rachael for his bride, there in that foreign land! But that joy and hope was somewhat marred by Uncle Laban’s under-handed dealings with Jacob!

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Jacob Meets Laban – by Antonio Balestra – cropped photo – www.wikigallery.org – Public Domain

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OUR LONG NIGHT OF TROUBLE

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Now just what does all this have to do with us, upon whom “the ends of the world are come?” (see 1st Corinthians 10:11)

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Well, just listen to Jeremiah’s prophecy…“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:6, 7

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Now what in the world could this above passage be speaking of!?!

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Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Wikipedia – public domain

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LABOR PAINS

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“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:6, 7

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Simple! Here is a very unusual, yet frightful prophecy concerning the time we are now in!

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You see, the Church of God was given the great commission to bring forth and give birth to Christ, individually as well as collectively. And each and every man, woman, and child has been given the task of allowing the seed of Christ, which God has planted, to grow and thrive in our hearts, until the day comes when Christ will finally come to full blossom in our lives!

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CO-LABORERS WITH CHRIST

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And we have been chosen to be co-laborers with Christ, as husbandmen (farmers), in causing this birth to finally occur!

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This was to be a joyful work. But like Jacob, we too have inward corruption, which God must purify out of our hearts.

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And even though God has given us many joyful and hopeful experiences, He nevertheless has mingled these good times with not-so-good-times, just as he did with Jacob, in hopes of causing us to hate the sin which we once loved and practiced.

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Girl – Depression by Danielzanetti for Wikimedia – cropped photo – C.C. Share-alike License 3.0

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WRESTLING WITH GOD

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But alas, time has come to an end! There are not to be decades of time as Jacob experienced. We have now arrived at that time known as “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”! It is now time to engage in that same wrestling match as Jacob engaged in his long night of combat against that nameless stranger.

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Yes, this long-promised tempest now coming upon us will be, “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12:1

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During this long night before us, we will be wrestling: wrestling in prayer: wrestling against sin and Satan: wrestling against extreme discouragement and murmuring: Wrestling to allow Christ to be fully formed within! 

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Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain

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THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD

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This time of trouble is spoken of in Ephesians 6:11, 12, in which the Lord exhorts us…“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (click to read entire Ephesians 6:10-17)

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Here above is revealed that our wrestling match will be against the unseen powers, but ultimately with God Himself!

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UNCLE LABAN ALIVE AND WELL!

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And like Jacob, we too will be tormented by that wily old “Uncle Laban” who will come at us through various people and events. And Uncle Laban is in actuality, the Devil/Satan, who fully knows our every sinful trait which must be eradicated from our hearts!

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And so, Satan has gained permission to “sift him as wheat”, just as he did to both Jacob, but also to Peter during Peter’s long night of trouble! (see Luke 22:31)

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Christian and Apollyon – Pilgrim’s Progress – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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GOD’S WRATH ACCOMPLISHES OUR SALVATION

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And so, O Jacob (Christians), do not be surprised when God’s bowls of wrath begin being poured out in our own life!

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These are not poured out to merely destroy us.

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But they are to purify our old sin-nature, “the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts”, which still exists. (see Ephesians 4:22) 

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ABOVE PICTURE: Battle for the heart – www.signsofheaven.org

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SEEING GOD FACE-TO-FACE

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And even though it may seem as if all our old past mis-deeds are now coming back to haunt us, know for a certainty that they are, like Jacob, so that when the Dawning of the Day finally arrives, that “Stranger” with whom we wrestled with though the night will finally pronounce the following blessing… “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”

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And on that glorious morning, when this pronouncement has been made, we will joyfully exclaim…“I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Genesis 32:28-30

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Jacobs Ladder to Heaven – Wikipedia – pub.dom.

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TO READ PART 8, GO HERE…

June 28 (Jacob’s Trouble, Part 8: “Sin Multiplied!”) 

Jacob – Wikimedia-US – Public-Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Help me to endure the trials and troubles ahead….

Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read…July 13th (Jacob’s Trouble, Part 1: Alone With God)“, or you can also read… April 6th (Wrestling With God!)

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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SO WHERE ARE THE “MULTITUDES”?…

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“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,” Isaiah 2:2, 3

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So where are the multitudes in this constellation? Well if you look at this sketch to the right, carefully, you will see an ENTIRE GALAXY making a slow trek up the steep slope toward the summit of one of the mountains. It is the mountain which is to the north in this sketch. This is the galaxy commonly called Andromeda. It is estimated to have possibly a trillion stars! Is a trillion stars a big enough multitude? Oh yes! Listen to God talking to Abraham…

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“And He (God) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Genesis 15:5 

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But this mountain in which this multitude of stars is climbing represents a very awesome and wonderful Bible concept. This mountain in Scripture is known as Mount Zion. And it is also known as the Mount of Blessing. It represents that spiritual mountain which Believers must climb, in order to reach the City of God. 

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Listen to Scripture… “But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…To the…church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven…” Hebrews 12:22, 23.

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Well it sure seems that this verse is correct when it says the words… “which are written in heaven”! Because this galaxy in this constellation group is a wonderful picture of the Church as it makes it trek to the summit of this starry mountain; a picture of God’s Church…His faithful people…written in the heavens. These are the Signs of Heaven, promised long ago to be revealed before that “great and terrible Day of the Lord”…

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“And I will show WONDERS IN THE HEAVENS and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.” Joel

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(Joel 2:30, 31 Drawing of Abraham counting stars – Wikipedia – public domain. Click here for full size. 

Andromeda Galaxy by Adam & Wikipedia share-alike license)

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READ MORE…

November 28 (Valley Of Decision, Now! Part 8: “Are You An Andromedanite?”)

Andromeda Galaxy – Adam Evans & Wikipedia – Share-Alike License

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TOMORROW:

May 19 (Image of the Beast, Part 4: “Signs (Images) of the Times:”)

Store window mannequins – Wikimedia – Share-alike License 3.0

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