Holy Spirit – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

February 7, read the Bible in a year in PowerPoint; commented.

Matthew 4:1-11 tells of Jesus as He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan after he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus combated Satan with scripture, but Satan could quote scripture too. In the end Satan left him “for a season”.

Exodus 27 tells how the altar of burnt offering was to be constructed and how to construct the courtyard around the tabernacle. It also specifies there must always be oil for the lampstand.

In Exodus 28 the priestly garments are specified, in detail, with the breastplate, down to the urim and thummim, and the plate “HOLINESS TO THE LORD”. Even the undergarments are specified.

Exodus 29 specifies how the consecration of priests was to be performed.

The scripture for today tells that even Jesus was tempted by the devil and had to use scripture to defend against it. We get the advice from scripture: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7). This usually works, but with sexual sin the only advice is: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. (1 Corinthians 6:18). This is important, since the importance of the tabernacle was God’s dwelling here on earth, and in the New Testament the body of the believer is called the Tabernacle or Shrine of the Holy Spirit in Greek: Do you not know that your bodies are temples (shrines)of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Thought of the day. Rejuvenate your wineskins!

This passage in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 5, is one that puzzled me for a long time: (Jesus speaking)

First, let ‘s dispense with the King James’ translation, the original Greek mentions wineskins, not bottles.

Wine is made from grapes, and the sugar content of grapes is about 16%. The wine making process is to convert the sugar into ethanol via fermentation, and grapes come replenished with their own yeast, so the fermentation starts whether you like it or not. If you leave the grapes out in the air they will ferment and the ethanol will oxidize into vinegar, so they must ferment in a vessel that locks out oxygen. The fermentation has two phases, the first phase is fairly fast, a little more than 10 days, where the sugar converts to ethanol. This process releases CO2; nearly half of the weight of the sugar goes up in the air in the form of CO2, the rest is ethanol. No wineskin can handle that, so fermentation was usually done in a clay vessel with a lid on to prevent air to enter. At the end of 10 to 15 days they had “new wine”.

Bur the fermentation was not over, the aging process began, and that lasted from a few weeks to a few months. During that time there is a slow release of CO2, but the vessel had to be air tight so no oxygen would spoil the wine and turn it into vinegar.

This is where new wineskins come in, they can handle this process by being ever so slightly permeable, if they are made from young goatskin, properly prepared.

Old wineskins on the other hand are hardened and can even be brittle, like an old leather glove that has been lost in the snow for the winter, and when it is found in the spring, it is ruined.

Jesus did not teach wine-making when he used that parable, in the parable the wine is the Holy Spirit and we are the wineskins.

Many people, me and my wife included have been praying for a great new, worldwide revival, and following that, a great worldwide awakening. Revivals usually start small and local, but with great intensity. The intensity will be greatest among young people, and they will celebrate with a new song in their heart. They are the new wineskins, they will be filled with new wine, and their new music will be less refined, raw and unpolished, or so it will seem to us old wineskins. We better prepare for the outpouring of the Holy spirit in our old wineskins by rejuvenate them with the oil of joy to make us ready to receive the old wine, aged to perfection with the full bouquet, like when Jesus turned water into wine. Then we who have been saved for many years can join with the young and appreciate each other, we appreciate their youthful enthusiasm and music, and they will appreciate the good wine that comes from lifelong experience.

There is a great passage in Isaiah 25, a song of praise coming right after the dreadful chapter 24. It speaks of aged wine being the finest of wines.

Revelation 7:17: For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Yes, there will be a great worldwide revival, and an even greater awakening.

January 24: Read through the Holy Bible in a year.

John 16:1-16. Jesus continued his instructions to his disciples, telling why it is good he leaves and sends the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 48 describes how Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. He blessed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, even though Manasseh was the older of Joseph’s sons.

In Genesis 49 Jacob blessed all his sons with a different blessing for each of them.

And finally, Genesis 50 tells how Jacob was buried back in Canaan near Mamre where Sarah also was buried. Joseph forgave his brothers; “Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good”. Finally even Joseph dies, and he wills that his bones will be carried out when they depart and enter into the promised land.

January 17, read through the Holy Bible in a year in Power-point, with comments.

The three chapters chosen for today are all different. John 16 is full of promise and trouble, more promise and trouble in Genesis 35, followed by a chapter on genealogy.

January 17: John 16, Genesis 35, Genesis 36 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

In John 16 Jesus continued his instructions to his disciples, beginning with explaining why it is good he leaves and sends the Holy Spirit. He ends with this encouragement: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Genesis 35. Jacob returned to Bethel, got rid of all the idols and built an altar. Moving on from Bethel, Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, a birth so hard Rachel died in childbirth. Finally it tells of the death of Isaac.

In Genesis 36 is recorded the genealogy of Esau and the rulers of Edom.