Dry Bones

Dry Bones | Ernie's Musings

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:32-35)

With the cross looming just days away, Jesus’ naïve apostles wondered about Jesus’ coming kingdom and what part they would play. “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3, emphasis mine) The question inaugurated Jesus’ end-times sermon known as the Olivet Discourse. The sermon, addressed to Jesus’ Jewish disciples, delineated the events that would take place in the Great Tribulation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel and detailed by John the Apostle. Now, in order to pinpoint the proximity of these events, Jesus offered the Parable of the Fig Tree (our passage above).

Israel is compared to a fig tree in the Old Testament, and Jesus uses this imagery to signal the last days.

Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2019/02/24/dry-bones/

Weeds

Weeds | Ernie's Musings

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)

Many, many years ago, when I was between the ages of 10 and 16, my family used to “chop cotton”[1] in the Texas Panhandle. At that time, herbicides were unheard of, and the only way for farmers to rid their fields of invading weeds was to employ temporary workers to walk the long rows of cotton (or sorghum) with hoes to chop the weeds. Several farmers hired “bazeros” that came from Mexico on temporary work visas. A Quonset hut barracks next to our home in Cotton Center, Texas housed around 200 bazeros from planting season to harvest. Some of the farmers could afford to hire large crews of brazeros that could clean their fields in a day or two. Others had to rely on smaller crews, like us, to walk the fields. It took us a little longer, and by the time we had cleaned out a large field, it was time to start all over.

Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2019/02/17/weeds/

Harbinger Of Demise

Harbinger Of Demise | Ernie's Musings

That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them. (Ezekiel 23:37)

Ezekiel prophesied to the Jewish captives in Babylon. These were the first carried into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Jehoiakim’s brother, Mattaniah (a.k.a. Zedekiah), as “king,” i.e., figurehead, over the remnants of Judah. It is to these that the words of our verse above were addressed.

Read more ... https://erniecarrasco.com/2019/02/10/harbinger-of-demise/

Choice

Choice | Ernie's Musings

And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:21)

Last Sunday we observed, “Right to Life Sunday” at my church. A Lady from Involved for Life, Inc., a ministry of First Baptist Dallas, came to talk to our church about the work the organization is doing in Dallas. Between services, she had a display out in the foyer with tiny rubber replicas of babies at different stages of development. I picked up the one representing 12 weeks of development. It was smaller than my thumbnail, yet it looked like a fully developed baby, only smaller.

My throat knotted up as I looked at the tiny thing ...

Read more: https://erniecarrasco.com/2019/02/03/choice/