#121

ABOUT ASH WEDNESDAY, & lent 

BY APOSTLE JANICE L. WILLIAMS

WEEKLY BIBLE STUDY FOR MARCH 5TH-12TH-19th-26th- APRIL 2ND, 2014   

SCRIPTURES PRINTED IN RED ARE WORDS SPOKEN BY JESUS

Definition for

Ash Wednedsay 

With some scriptures to meditate on

1. Ash Wednesday is the seventh Wednesday before Easter/ Resurrection Sunday Celebration, and the first day of Lent, on which many Christians receive a mark of ashes on their forehead as an outward expression of penitence, mortality, and humility to God our Creator & Heavenly Father.

    

• Genesis 3:19 NKJV * 19/ For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

• Psalm 103:13-14 CEV * 13/ Just as parents are kind to their children, the LORD is kind to all who worship him, 14/ because he knows we are made of dust.

• Psalm 103:13-14 NLT * 13/ The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. 14/ For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.

•  2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV* 9/ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

• Psalm 139:13-14 NIV * 13/ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14/ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

• Acts 17:28 NKJV * 28/ for in Him {in GOD} we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

• Philippians 4:13 NLT * 13/ For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

• 2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV  * 16/ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

• 2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT * 16/ That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.

• Matthew 11:29 NIV  * 29/ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

In A Typical Ash Wednesday Church Service:

1. Observers receive Holy Communion or The Lord's Super. The Pastor then applies ashes in the shape of the cross on the forehead of each observant participant, while speaking the words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19 KJV * 19/ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return). This is what God spoke to Adam and Eve after they had eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. These words indicated to our first parents the payment for sin is death and separation from God {all sin and the first sin committed by man was the sin of disobedience to God's WORD of instruction, thou shalt not- Genesis 2:16-17 KJV * 16/  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17/ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.} The cross reminds each penitent of the good news that through the crucified body and shed blood of Jesus Christ there is forgiveness for all sins, all guilt and all punishment; the atoning blood of Jesus paid the full price for our sins, when He resurrected from the dead with eternal life in a glorified body, and reconcilled us to God our Heavenly Father.

• Romans 4:7-8 KJV * 7/ ......  Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8/ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.  
•  Romans 4:24-25 KJV* 24/ But for us also, to whom it {righteouness} shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25/ Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Definition for Lent:

1. Lent consists of forty days before Easter/Resurrection Sundy. The western Church skips over the Sundays when counting the days of Lent, because Sunday is always the joyful celebration of our Resurrected Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST! Therefore, the first day of Lent in the western Church is always a Wednesday.

• Lent is a 40-day period of consecration to God, when Christians prepare for the Easter/Resurrection Sunday Celebration.
• Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten season; this year beginning March 5th, and ending on Thursday, April 17th, 2014. Friday, April 18th, 2014 is the day we commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross at Calvary. It is the Holy Day known as "Good Friday".

Observers of Lent practice:

• self-observation

• repentance

 Psalm 51:10 KJV

• fasting, moderation and spiritual discipline which is meant to imitate Jesus Christ’s actions and reflect on His life, death and resurrection.

The 40 days of Lent, stems from two biblical accounts. 

• The first is the Old Testament account of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years before going into the promised land. 
• The second is the New Testament account of Christ’s 40 days spent fasting and praying in the wilderness when he was tempted by Satan before publicly beginning His ministry on Earth. {Personally today, this can be indicative of being processed, tried and tested by God before moving into your ministry calling or divine assignment and purpose in life.}

Ash Wednesday, like the season of Lent, is not mentioned in Scripture and is not commanded by God. Christians are free to either observe or not observe it. It also should be clear that applying  ashes, like other similar external practices, are meaningless, unless there is a corresponding faith in God, inner repentance and/or a committed heart to stop wrong behavior. God makes this clear in

Isaiah 58:6-7 NIV

 6/ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

7/ Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Observed by:

• Ash Wednesday and Lent is most commonly observed by the Presbyterian, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican denominations. The Eastern Orthodox Churches also observe Lent, but during the 40 days before Palm Sunday with fasting continuing during Holy Week until Orthodox Easter -Resurrection Sunday Celebration, this year on April 20, 2014.

• Palm Sunday {4-13-2014} * is the Sunday before Resurrection Sunday {commonly called Easter}; which commemorates Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem through a crowd praising Him and waving palm branches. {JESUS under threat of murderous plots to seize & kill Him before going to celebrate the Jews Passover Feast, which was to be His Last Supper in communion with His disciples, before going to the cross to be crucified; JESUS VICTORICOUSLY ENTERED JERUSALEM, BEING PRAISED AND HONORED WITH PALM BRANCHES AS THE KING OF ISRAEL!} 

Livestock Diseased

• According to the Bible, Israelites were forbidden to create images of themselves (reference Exodus 20:4). However, neither the Egyptians nor the Assyrians had such restrictions. Both of these nations have picture archives of the ancient Hebrew Israelites.
   Pictured below: Israelites, Hebrew Slaves of the Egyptians approximately 1440 b.c.

 HEBREW BRICK MAKERS"And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. (Bible reference Exodus 1:14 NKJV) 

 HEBREW WATER BOY 

 As slaves of the Egyptians, child labor was common among the Israelites.
Israelite children about 10 years old worked in the fields of the Egyptians, as their parents labored in the brick pits.

• PASSOVER-Translation of Hebrew Pesah , “to pass without affecting,” alluding to the Bible (Exodus 12:5–27 KJV) where God, seeing the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the two side posts & upper door post of their houses, passes over the Israelites, while the firstborn of other families are killed. JESUS HIMSELF A JEW CELEBRATED PASSOVER-THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD {MATTHEW 26:17}. * PASSOVER DATES THIS YEAR CO-INCIDE WITH "HOLY WEEK". IT BEGINS AFTER SUNDOWN MONDAY, APRIL 14TH, 2014 to TUESDAY APRIL 22ND, 2014}  

ON PALM SUNDAY

Palm fronds are distributed at some church services on this day.

• John 12:12-15 NKJV
  12/The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13/took branches of palm trees and went out to meet, Him; and cried out:
  "Hosanna!  "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"14/Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15/"Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt." {This is the prophecy that Jesus fulfilled, found written in the Old Testament Book of Zechariah 9:9.}

APRIL 13TH, 2014 Traditionally, the ashes for the Ash Wednesday service come from burning the palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebration.

Definition: Holy Week is the week preceding Easter/resurrection sunday celebration. during THIS TIME the last days of the life of jesus on earth are commemorated. it is a most sacred time and the final week of Lent. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday and ends on saturday, the day before Easter/resurrection sunday celebration. The holy day called "good friday", {april 18th, 2014} the day we commemorate jesus dying on the cross at calvary is included in holy week.