Have you ever cried out to God and felt like he wasn’t listening?
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.-Psalm 22:1-2
Tonight at church we started our “27-n-52” series.
We’re covering the whole New Testament (27 books) this year (52 weeks), clever, huh?
I can’t take full credit, I got the idea from Sam Rainer, Sr. Pastor at Stevens Street Baptist Church, Cookeville, TN (whom I know through Twitter). He did a series in 2012 called “66 in 52” where he covered the whole Bible in one year. I did not feel like I was ready to tackle the whole Bible, so I’m keeping it to my area of expertise, the New Testament (at least for this year).
I have actually taught the whole NT in 10 weeks before, but that was a whirlwind!
I’m looking forward to covering this much ground.
This week we looked at the Inter-Testimental Period <– NOTES HERE.
400 years where God did not send a prophet. And it’s not like nothing was going on, 6 epochs of time where various other entities controlled this ever-so-important sliver of land, what we call “the holy land.”
There were kingdoms, great leaders, unprecedented communications and learning, wars, a revolution, and with regards to the Persian rule under Antiochus IV “Epiphanies,” the darkest period in Israel’s history.
But where was God in all this? This was such a volatile and important time. The Greek language was established as a world-wide medium and the OT was translated into the common vernacular of the day…
Where was God?
He was in the same place that He was when Jesus quoted Psalm 22, and when David cried out the same words “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The reply to David was clear… I haven’t
The reply to Jesus was clearer still (in the resurrection)… I HAVE NOT!
It was the same from 425BC – 5BC… I’m still here, I’m sending my son.
God is not far, He will not leave you, nor forsake you, He is on his throne, we just have to trust His timing.
Just as the faithful waited on deliverance for 400+ years, so too, we await a Savior. He is coming…
“Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
-Rev. 22:20
