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Forty in the Bible
by Jasti Victor Forty days it rained, destroying all the living, Except Noah, his family and forty five thousand animals, God blessed them all and said, Be fruitful and multiply. Manna, fresh, white, pearl like grains, Ground, and made into honey tasting pancakes, God did provide Israel, for forty years. Up went Moses, high up the mount, Where clouds covered, from view below, Forty days and forty nights was he up there. The Promised Land was within sight, and God said, Send a man from each tribe, to spy on the land, And they returned after forty days, bringing good reports. Eli ruled Israel for forty years and when the Ark was captured, He fell back, hearing the news and died, with a broken neck, As he was an old man and heavy in build. Goliath, the philistine, ten feet tall, taunted Israelites, Every morning and evening, for forty days, Till David, killed him, angry that he defied his God. David from the age of thirty, Ruled over all Israel and Judah for forty years, He grew mighty in the sight of the Lord. Solomon, ruled over all Israel for forty years, He had God's promises, guidance and answers to prayer, But sin slowly crept in, making him loose everything. Elijah, escaping the death threat of Jezebel, Rested and ate, and God gave him special strength, The next forty days and nights to travel on foot, to Mount Sinai. Joash was seven years old, when he was made king, And he did that, which was right in the sight of the Lord, Ruled he, for forty years in Jerusalem. Jonah traveled to Nineveh, a powerful and a wicked city, To preach them to repent, as God had asked him to. But he instead said that it would be destroyed in forty days. Jesus was tempted by Satan, a fallen angel, promising Physical desires, possessions, power and pride. Being hungry and weak, having fasted forty days and nights. Jesus spent forty days teaching His disciples, The time from resurrection to ascension, About the Kingdom of God and about His Second Coming. Of all the forty in the Bible, the most important of them all, Are the forty days Jesus spent with His Twelve Disciples. Before that, they argued, deserted, lied, that they, know not Him. But after meeting the living Christ, They learned about the Kingdom of God, about Holy Spirit, And were convinced about the resurrection. At Jesus' death they scattered, were disillusioned, And feared for their lives, but seeing the resurrected Christ, They became fearless and risked everything, And spread the Good News about Him, around the World, Facing imprisonment, beatings, rejection and martyrdom, Yet they never compromised their mission. Twenty centuries later we can still be positive, That our faith is based on fact, With Jesus' coming, the Kingdom of God was inaugurated, When He ascended into Heaven, it would be in the believers hearts, But it will not be fully realized until Jesus Christ comes again, And till that time, we, the believers are to work to spread God's Kingdom. Victor Jasti lives in India and is passionate about writing short stories based on the Bible and real incidents. He also writes Christian fiction and poetry. Five of his poems were published in Temporal Currents compiled by an American author, Ms. Christine Tricarico. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |