A Light in The Shadow of Death
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Matt 4:12
The New King James Version Chapter 4
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles:
16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
One of the most popular topics of songs, novels, poems, and art in general is Death.
‘Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow’, Spoken by Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5
There would have been a time for such a word.Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Theres an outlook on life you could tell yourself every morning....
The Great Shadow
The Great Shadow
1 Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, As when at first He lightly esteemed The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles. 2 The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
Its the end of the world as we know it. Many are saying, nothing to worry about go here do that and the other thing, all is well with the world. There is an impending doom that is looking to grasp us all. Under the cover of darkness the fiercest predators come out to hunt.
Job 16:16 (NKJV)
16 My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Going through the valley here in minden there is a great shadow cast over the entire valley. When the Sun falls behind the mountains the Shadow begins to grow across the valley untill eventually everything is in darkness.
A terrible truth is brought to us by in this scripture. Death has a shadow. Death the great enemy of Man. Who can escape?
The Shadow of death is an illustration of something that is to come. In our text the shadow of death is a coming time, because of sin and the Fall Death has entered into time. And just as the Death has entered there will be a time when the sun has set and Darkness will come over the whole valley.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them.
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons— 11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High, 12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help.
A light In the Shadow
A light In the Shadow
6 Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and pits, Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no one dwelt?’
Isreal is a picture of a son of God.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
Egypt is a picture of Sin
Born and raised into slavery.
Isreal is saved from the clutches of sin set free and delivered.
and then through the Shadow of Death.
All of the Old Testement is a physical representation of the Spiritual reality in the new testament.
We are born and raised into sin, and by it we are obedient to it. God saves us and frees us from the clutches of sin to be free to be obedient to him and worship him and live. and the finish line for the christian is following Christ THROUGH the Shadow of Death and into his everlasting life.
This light is a gift, you cannot pay for it, you cannot merit any value in exchange for the light, the only thing you and i can do is to See it. All we must do to be saved is to accept the gift by turning from sin to Trusting Christ.
Job 12:22 (NKJV)
22 He uncovers deep things out of darkness, And brings the shadow of death to light.
Our Text this morning is bringing hope and encouragement to all who will believe on christ and follow him.
Amos 5:8 (NKJV)
8 He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The Lord is His name.
SO then we are brought about a choice. Believe in the Light in the Shadow of Darkness, or not.
From this we Preach
From this we Preach
Matthew 4:12–17 (NKJV)
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: 16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The lord jesus says work is to be done only by the daytime.
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
What is the work of God?
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
16 Give glory to the Lord your God Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness.
Looks like brother Jeremiah has hiked up some of the same mountains as I have.
My friend and I decided to hike up to rose.
Got to 3 hours in at sunset not even to the top and realized that we had a 3 hour hike back to the road.
We did not get back untill 1am.
Like my friend and I millions of people all around us are stumbling around, tripping over things spiritually because they cannot see.
It is not that there is no light available, Jesus is abundant and everywhere, not everyone wants to see him. There is another side tho too, Not everyone wants to Preach Him.
We cannot force people to open their eyes to Jesus and behold his wonders and truth, but We can force ourselves to witness and invite those who are in darkness even now. My neighbor, My co worker,
Look outside beloved, The daylight is fading, there is only so much light to be left out there to witness before God Says, thats it.
27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Beloved the Sun will set on the world and then thats it, no more work is to be done. The work That still needs to be done is to believe on the Lord JESUS. There is but a little while we can work, but when the bell Tolls the work is stopped.
Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Our hope for all of us is that we see the light while we still can, and point to that light so all who see it believe in it for everlasting Light, before darkness becomes of us. Our desire should be that every person can say Psalm 23. that God is with us to guide us and comfort us .