Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus said, “if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before”, and in chapter twenty-four and verse twenty-six of his book Matthew writes how Jesus told His disciples what to do, “if they shall say unto you, … he is in the desert” or “in the secret chambers” where we read:
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth:
behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
The verse reads, “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth:” Matthew began with Jesus' word, “wherefore” which means “then, therefore, consequently and these things being so” “if they shall say” which means “whether male or female people will utter, declare and proclaim” “unto you” or “to Jesus' disciples”, “behold” which means “look, lo and see” “he is in the desert” which means “the prophet or Messiah is in the solitary, lonely, desolate and uninhabited wilderness”; “go not forth” or “do not depart leave for the desert”. Matthew shared how Jesus said people may say the “prophet or Messiah” is in a “desert or uninhabited place”, and if so, His disciples were not to go to see them.
The verse goes on to say, “behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matthew continued with the word, “behold” or “look and see”, “he is in the secret chambers” or “the prophet or Messiah is the storage chamber, storeroom, inner chamber or secret room”; “believe it not” which means “do not have trust and confidence in what they have said”.
When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus warned His disciples about people reporting the “location” of the “prophet or Messiah”. The “desert” or the “lonely isolated place” would be one of the places they would report, and the other would be “the secret room or chambers”. Jesus is the Messiah Son of God, and He knows the people who follow “false prophets and Messiahs”. Those who are wise will study God's word and never be deceived into following the “fake pretenders” who advance their own kingdoms rather than the “Kingdom of God”. May all who read these words take heed to Jesus' warning and never follow the directions of those who do not know Him.
Next time Matthew writes how Jesus said, “the lightning comes out of the east and the west”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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