I suppose this is a testimony. At least very interesting to me. A couple of weeks ago I watched all the Nashville conference videos. So all of last week I can't get out of the book of Genesis. Mainly the first 3 or 4 chapters. Read those chapters 8- 10 times anyway.
Three nights ago I'm lying in bed trying to go to sleep. I start thinkin. Usually not a good sleep aid for me. This pops in my head. LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. WHY? I mean why are we to love our enemies. Who are my enemies? Who was Jesus' enemies? Scribes and pharisees I guess. Cain was Abel's enemy.(there's the Genisis thing) . I started to think about the old testament shadow new testament light kind of thing. I have never studied the bible like that. With that kind of thinking. Until BT I really didn't even have that knowledge. I knew the old testament was some sort of example but that's about as far as that went.
So my train of thought leads me to this: Cain vs. Abel scribes/pharisees vs. Jesus our enemies vs us.
About an hour or so later I'm lying WIDE AWAKE. It's 4 a.m. I suppose i ain't sleepin till I get to the bottom of this. Up I get.
Well long story short, 3 to 4 hours later I've done an almost word for word study of Cain and Abel.
Gen:2-8. (I still can't believe how much info I got out of those seven verses.) Plus numerous scriptures of Jesus "The Shepard", scribes and pharisees bound to the law, all sorts of things. Studied and searched until I was convinced Cain and Abel was a shadow of Jesus and his enemies (scribes and pharisees).
At this point I am dog tired. The sun's rising. Need to sleep. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to the our enemies vs us thing which had started all this to begin with. But to bed I went. Determined to get up and finish what was started.
Well.....next day or later that day I resume my study. But I can't seem to connect the our enemies vs. us part of this thing. I get a little discouraged. So for the next day and a half I basically do nothing. By this time I feel like I was pretty much making a stretch with the shadow and light comparison. I mean I couldn't get all three elements of this thing together scripturally so I must not be correct. I decide to move on to something else. Many called-few chosen comes to mind, sounds good to me, so hear I go.
So I do a little e-sword search and start reading Mat:22. Well it starts with a parable and in verse 14 ends with many called few chosen. But I keep reading all the way until chapter 23 verse 35 which states:
"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth,from the blood of righteous Abel unto.......
I mean there it is in plain english. I DID get it. I mean gee if I would have only read this at first, all the time I could have saved. But I think I have been taught a couple of leasons on how to study and read scripture that I wouldn't have learned otherwise.
You know. Excitement---I think I'm on to something.
Disappointment----Well I guess not.
Astonishment---It had to be His way. Mysterious and perfect.
By the way, as I was writing this it dawned on me. Jesus in us. Our enemies are His enemies.
scribes/pharisees vs. Jesus our enemies vs. us = same thing
looking forward , Brian