1) Watch with me one hour

Jesus (Yeshua) frequently commands his followers to “watch”. At a critical point, Jesus (Yeshua) says,

My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou will.
And he comes unto the disciples, and finds them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26: 38-41

We are told, "Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come". (Matthew 24:42 Also in Matt 25:13 in the Parable of the ten Virgins),

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16: 15-16.

Also Paul writes,

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; ...Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 1Thessalonians 5: 2-3, 6

• What do we look for?

• What do we see ?

• Do we have the perception to realise what we are to look for?

• What are we looking for in the future?

To do anything in life, whether at work or to go on a journey, we need to watch out for signs. In the Bible there are signs by which Yahweh reveals his power and shows he is in control.

Signs in the Old Testament

And that thou may tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD. Exodus 10:2

The sign of the presence of Yahweh was fire and earthquake!

And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. Exodus 19:18

Or has God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Deuteronomy 4:34

The LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:Deuteronomy 6:22

A sign in Yahweh's power over the shadow cast by the sun,

And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 2Kings 19: 9-10

The greatest work of Yahweh was shown in remarkable events in the 'natural' world, to underline His power over events in the political world.

Signs in the New Testament

The birth of a king in the political world was shown as a Sign in the natural world, as Yahweh shows he has power over a bright star.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Matthew 2:1-2

The sign of the resurrection, and of power over all life,

But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:39-40

It is declared that there will be Signs in the political and religious 'heavens',

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Luke 21:25

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: Acts 2: 19-20

A sign is given to Peter by power over a rooster!

Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shall deny me thrice. Matthew 26: 34

A sign of the significance in God's power over darkness,

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. Matthew 27:45

A sign shown in God's power over earthquake, as there were two great earthquakes one at Jesus' death and one at his resurrection,

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; Matthew 27: 50-51

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. Matthew 28: 1-2

Where Yahweh is working in the nations he also shows his power over the natural world, and the natural event precedes the political one.

• Site Index

Sections

• Site Contents
• God & the Bible
• BFn Notes
• Consider
• The Living Word
• Faith In Action
• Quotes
• About this Site

• What's New
• 2pi Bible Pages