When the Time Had Fully Come

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

Galatians 4:4-5

God had declared in Israel through His prophet in Amos 8:11-12, " ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign LORD, ’when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.  Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.’ ” Amos’ prophecy period was 767 to 755 B.C.  He warned that there would be a famine of hearing the LORD’s words.  The Israelites had already lost God’s protection and presence through their rebellion.  Then, God stopped talking.  Hearing God speak set them apart from other nations.  Since they lost the security of His relationship, the religious leaders clung to the security of legalism and burdened the people with religious rules.

Imagine the questions of people in the market place, in the fields, and at the dinner tables.  The people envisioned political greatness, a world conquering Messiah, and an eternal King with divine power.  When would Messiah come?  When would He throw off the Roman rule over the people?  When would He raise up His kingdom?  When would the “Son of David” restore the splendor of the Jewish throne?  When would God speak again to the people?  How long would He keep silent?  Why was He waiting?

Today’s Scripture tells us that when the time had fully come, God sent His Son.  The word “fully” is from the noun pleroo.  It means “fullness, full measure, full end, abundance, completeness as in reaching the intended goal.”  It implies “gestation.”   God used time to do what only time could do.  It caused the people to be starving for a Word from Him.  Although the nation of Israel rejected Jesus, pockets of Jewish people received Him well.  They were hungry for a fresh Word from God.  An empty stomach enjoys an all-you-can-eat buffet much more than a full stomach or even a partially full stomach.  After 400 years without hearing one word from God, God sent the entire all-you-can-eat buffet of His Word and His presence.  How much a person eats depends on how much she desires to have of Jesus.  What a dream - a buffet with no limits!

God used time to prepare the earth.  He waited until the earth was completely prepared.  Have you noticed that the preparation period is very important to God?  Preparation impacts the fruit of the tree called destination.  He prepared the way by:

1.    Universal language – Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, thus ruling over the Jews in 333 B.C.  He conquered the “known” world and made Greek the common language, the second language for all.  It was the language of commerce and writing.  The New Testament was written in Greek, and the Old Testament was translated into Greek making it easy to disseminate and understand.

2.    Universal peace - In 63 B.C., the Romans conquered the Greeks.  They ruled with an iron-fist, but there was peace.  The temple doors of their god of war were closed.

3.    Established road system – The Roman army built a road system allowing them to reach a place quickly if there was an uprising.  The road network established a working postal system, protection for travelers, and opportunities never before seen.

4.    Death penalty by the Roman cross - The Roman government’s form of capital punishment was the cross.  It was a brutal, torturous, and humiliating death for criminals and a deterrent for future criminals.  The Hebrews stoned people to death.  Through Rome, God perfectly planned the death of His Son just like He planned every other detail of His life.

God may have been silent for hundreds of years, but He was not asleep.  The first three things allowed the disciples to bring the Gospel to other countries.  An earthly army may have established it, but the army of God used it for His purposes.  The fourth point prepared God’s chosen way for His Son to die for you and me.  God used these empires to prepare the way for His Son’s birth, life, and death.  God used these empires to prepare the world to receive the greatest news that God had come as a Man to redeem man.

When God declared it was time, He sent His angel Gabriel to declare the good news.  Luke begins his Gospel with the story of Gabriel visiting the priest Zechariah to announce the birth of the forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist.  Six months later, Gabriel went to a young Jewish girl named Mary.  Everything happened in God’s perfect timing.  He chose the right time on the kingdom calendar centered on the Jews, and to all races and religions:  The Incarnate Deity, Immanuel, God with us.

What about you, beloved?  Do you have an experience that was against your patience and flesh, but you later realized it was all in God’s timing?  Are you having one right now?  Hold on!  Our God just may be arranging the background for the best scene of your life.  When you and I are obedient and faithful, we give God all of the room to set the stage and raise up the curtain of His best performance in our lives – all in His perfect timing.

Pray with me:  Dear Heavenly Lord, we are amazed at Your perfect plan.  You knew that You would bring a famine of Your words to Your people.  You kept silent for those many centuries.  After You set the stage completely and not a moment sooner, You declared it was time.  It was time for Your Son to be born of a woman under the Law to redeem us who are under the Law that we might receive the full rights of sons and daughters.  We praise Your perfect plan for Jesus’ birth. 

We can’t help but exclaim that we never want to live under a famine of Your Words.  When Your words come, may we eat them for they are our joy and our heart’s delight (Jeremiah 15:16).  We are hungry for a word from You today.  There are so many of us that are in tough circumstances.  We need You in our lives, in our problems, today.  We need our daily bread.  It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray.  Amen.

Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study,

He Inhabits Eternity

He Inhabits Eternity
By Shirley Mitchell

“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV)

God’s Word is Alive! It breathes life into those who sincerely search for help, truth, answers, meaning, purpose, righteousness, and above all God Himself. Sometimes just a simple Scripture will rejuvenate and refill me so that my heart leaps and soul bounds in worship. My countenance goes from heavy and dark to uplifted and bright. Today’s verse Isaiah 57:15 did it for me. I just sat and stared at this verse for the longest time thinking about it. God just continues to stun me.

In this verse, Isaiah tells us that God is the High and Lofty One. He is higher than the sky you and I see. He is above all earthly kings and kingdoms, presidents, nations, and authorities. Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27). He is exalted over all others – every Hollywood actor, every political leader, every person of the year, every billionaire, every sheik, every sports star, every war hero, or every royalty. Their fame does not compare. Our God is exalted above all people and things on earth, throughout the solar system, the entire galaxy, the universe, and beyond!

Isaiah’s next words just get me. God inhabits eternity. He lives forever. He always has been and always will be. His reign had no beginning. It extends from eternity to eternity. Time is God’s creation and He rules over it. Time does not constrain Him, rather He constrains time.

The Hebrew word for “inhabit” is shekan. It is the same word used in Exodus 25:8-9 where God tells Moses, "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.” God had the Israelites make a sanctuary or a tabernacle so that He could dwell among them or shekan among. Shekan means “the idea of lodging, to reside or permanently stay. Abide, continue, dwell, have habitation, inhabit, remain, lay, place, rest, set.” The verb shekan is derived from the noun form of the word “shekinah.” It means “the dwelling presence of God.” Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia says it is “the visible divine presence.” God is omnipresent, but this presence indicates the fullness and the richness of His presence.

God desired to have a place where He could dwell among His people. Even though sin had come between the Holy God and man, God still desired to be with man, His prized creation, and to fellowship with him once again. Hebrews 8:5 tells us that this sanctuary was a shadow of the real thing in heaven where He shekans for eternity. God’s dwelling place is for all time.

Even though God dwells in this high and holy place, He also dwells with those who have a contrite and lowly spirit. In other words, He dwells with those who bend their knee to Him in adoration and repentance. Isn’t it beautiful that the God who inhabits eternity, all time, is also the God who comes close to you and me when our spirits are low and our hearts are contrite? He dwells with those who have their spirits crushed, and He revives their spirits. He restores those who don’t know how they can keep going on. He gets us on our feet again. When we are fatigued, in trouble, or broken, He revives and puts the pieces of our lives back together again. Through grief, loss, pain, sorrow, wanderings, and disbelief, our God who inhabits eternity, whose Name is Holy, will dwell with us and revive us to live for Him again and throughout eternity!

I have had some things happen lately that have crushed my spirit, brought a sick feeling to my stomach, and left me with the feeling of defeat. I have felt overcome by the enemy for seasons in my life. But GOD – oh what precious words to nullify everything that seeks to destroy me – But GOD who dwells in the high and holy place further than the farthest stretches of my mind AND with me is a contrite and lowly spirit.

He spans every dimension from His throne in the highest holy place to my heart. He covers the full range from being so close that His Spirit indwells me, to taking care of everyone and every sparrow on earth, to controlling our galaxy, our universe, and beyond. He goes from being bigger than my mind can handle to giving me the right word that I really needed. He is a great big God, but yet He is close enough to me to feel my pain. Oh, precious one, does it not just grab you, too, that the God Most High, El Elyon, is so close to you when you need to be revived and when you humble yourself before Him?

Pray with me: Oh, God, You inhabit eternity! You are the Alpha and Omega. You are the beginning and the end. Time is in Your hands. You are the King of Ages. You are just so much bigger than we can imagine. You never cease to stretch my mind. You span from Your holy throne in heaven to my heart and everywhere in between. I worship You, my God Most High, the Holy and Lofty One! Revive us! Breathe life into us! REVIVE us! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

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