Category: prophecy

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

“These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep” (John 11:11 KJV).

Behold, he whom God helps!

Keep reading the context of today’s Scripture: “[38] Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. [39] Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. [40] Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? [41] Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. [42] And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. [43] And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. [44] And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”

Lazarus was dead but the Lord called him back to life just four days later. In order to appreciate the importance of this literal, historical event, we will do a word study. The name “Lazarus” is Greek, but derived from the Hebrew language: it is a variant of “Eleazar,” with “El” for “God” and “azar” for “help.” To wit, “Lazarus” literally means “whom God helps.” Let us be absolutely clear in this point: this is not the nonsense in religion that “God helps those who help themselves.” Lazarus was dead, so he could do nothing to “help himself” anyway! “Help” here carries the sense of “save, rescue.” Lazarus needed deliverance from the power of physical death, salvation from the fatal consequences of the curse of sin. His bondage and subsequent release are types or previews of much larger truths….

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

“These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep” (John 11:11 KJV).

Behold, he whom God helps!

As the Lord Jesus is en route to Bethany (near Jerusalem), where Lazarus had died and been buried four days prior (verse 17), there is an exchange between the Lord and Lazarus’ sister Martha: “[20] Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. [21] Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. [22] But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. [23] Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. [24] Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. [25] Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: [26] And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? [27] She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

Martha, as noted in these verses, was a believer. She knew her brother was dead, but she also understood her Hebrew Bible. “He [the LORD] will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8). First Corinthians 15:54 interprets this as physical resurrection. For other bodily resurrection passages, see Job 19:25-27 and Daniel 12:2,13. These verses speak of an event that will take place beyond even our day, in the end times. Martha was under the impression Lazarus would be raised at the culmination point of the prophetic program, but, with Lazarus, the Lord had something else in mind. He would bring Lazarus back to life right at that moment….