Day 2/16 – Faith and God’s Promises

Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Faith and God’s Promises
Day Forty-seven

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, … were persuaded of them.” Hebrews 11:13

The promises of God determine the difference between walking by faith and presumption. You and I fly over your city on a clear, beautiful day. At five thousand meters I look out the window and ask, “Do you think God could catch me if I jump without a parachute?” You express apprehension, and, after responding with “Oh ye of little faith” I jump out. On my way down I realize that although the statement is true, “God can catch me,” He never promised He would. What I anticipated to be a step of faith, I found to be presumption.

You cannot hope to leverage God into doing your bidding by an act of faith. By faith you respond to what God wants, never vise versa. God gives you promises to encourage you to do His will, not so you can talk Him into doing your bidding.

Although the promises of God can never eliminate risk, they do give your faith direction. His promises come from His revelation; Scripture forms the source of ascertaining His will. Because God’s promises originate in Revelation, they tend to provoke the animosity of the world. The wisdom of God appears foolish to the world.77 Since God’s promises come from His wisdom, they can never find the affirmation of the world.

“…he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”78 You must believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He promises. There will be times when it will appear as though His promises fail you; they don’t seem to be answered in accordance with your expectation. During these times of testing, your faith must rest in who He says He is rather than your understanding of what He has promised. You are best served trusting His character.

77 cf. I Corinthians 1:18 f.
78 Hebrews 11:6

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Leviticus 19-20 Matthew 27:51-66 (New King James Version)

Leviticus 19-20
Moral and Ceremonial Laws
19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
3 ‘Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
4 ‘Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves [a]molded gods: I am the Lord your God.
5 ‘And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it of your own free will. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day. And if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an abomination. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the hallowed offering of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.
9 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.
11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
13 ‘You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
17 ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely [b]rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
19 ‘You shall keep My statutes. You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine, and who has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be [c]scourging; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make [d]atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed. And the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.
23 ‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as [e]uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. 25 And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.
26 ‘You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord.
29 ‘Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry, and the land become full of wickedness.
30 ‘You shall [f]keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.
31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.
32 ‘You shall [g]rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.
33 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as [h]one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37 ‘Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them: I am the Lord.’ ”
Penalties for Breaking the Law
20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who [i]dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that man, and will [j]cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land should in any way [k]hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate[l] yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the Lord who [m]sanctifies you.
9 ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.
10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. 11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them.
17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. And they shall be [n]cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. He shall bear his [o]guilt. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her [p]sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has [q]exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be [r]cut off from their people.
19 ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister nor of your father’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is an [s]unclean thing. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
22 ‘You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make yourselves [t]abominable by beast or by bird, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I have separated from you as [u]unclean. 26 And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’ ”
Footnotes:
• Leviticus 19:4 molten
• Leviticus 19:17 reprove
• Leviticus 19:20 punishment
• Leviticus 19:22 Lit. covering
• Leviticus 19:23 unclean
• Leviticus 19:30 observe
• Leviticus 19:32 rise to give honor
• Leviticus 19:34 native among you
• Leviticus 20:2 As resident aliens
• Leviticus 20:3 Put him to death
• Leviticus 20:4 disregard
• Leviticus 20:7 Set yourselves apart for the Lord
• Leviticus 20:8 sets you apart
• Leviticus 20:17 Put to death
• Leviticus 20:17 iniquity
• Leviticus 20:18 Or customary impurity
• Leviticus 20:18 Lit. made bare
• Leviticus 20:18 Put to death
• Leviticus 20:21 indecent, impure
• Leviticus 20:25 detestable or loathsome
• Leviticus 20:25 defiled

Matthew 27:51-66
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
55 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and [a]Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb
57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting [b]opposite the tomb.
Pilate Sets a Guard
62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come [c]by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
Footnotes:
• Matthew 27:56 NU Joseph
• Matthew 27:61 in front of
• Matthew 27:64 NU omits by night