Tobit's Thanksgiving and Prophetic Jerusalem

After realizing the great magnitude of blessings that God had endowed upon him and his family, Tobit wrote the prayer of Thanksgiving below. The words of praise are consistent with many of the praise of other Israelites from the Old Testament. Perhaps one thing that stood out is the description of the extravagance of Jerusalem. Although Jerusalem would have been quite magnificent in the times of Solomon, the description of Jerusalem using precious stones, gold and jewels suggest this may be a prophetic view of Jerusalem and not too different from the eternal Jerusalem described in Revelation.


Tobit 13: Tobit’s Thanksgiving to God
Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said:
“Blessed is God who lives for ever,
    and blessed is his kingdom.
2 For he afflicts, and he shows mercy;
    he leads down to Hades, and brings up again,
    and there is no one who can escape his hand.
3 Acknowledge him before the nations, O sons of Israel;
    for he has scattered us among them.
4 Make his greatness known there,
    and exalt him in the presence of all the living;
because he is our Lord and God,
    he is our Father for ever.
5 He will afflict us for our iniquities;
    and again he will show mercy,
and will gather us from all the nations
    among whom you[a] have been scattered.
6 If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul,
    to do what is true before him,
then he will turn to you
    and will not hide his face from you.
But see what he will do with you;
    give thanks to him with your full voice.
Praise the Lord of righteousness,
    and exalt the King of the ages.
I give him thanks in the land of my captivity,
    and I show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners.
Turn back, you sinners, and do right before him;
    who knows if he will accept you and have mercy on you?
7 I exalt my God;
    my soul exalts the King of heaven,
    and will rejoice in his majesty.
8 Let all men speak,
    and give him thanks in Jerusalem.
9 O Jerusalem, the holy city,
    he will afflict you for the deeds of your sons,
    but again he will show mercy to the sons of the righteous.
10 Give thanks worthily to the Lord,
    and praise the King of the ages,
    that his tent may be raised for you again with joy.
May he cheer those within you who are captives,
    and love those within you who are distressed,
    to all generations for ever.
11 Many nations will come from afar to the name of the Lord God,
    bearing gifts in their hands, gifts for the King of heaven.
Generations of generations will give you joyful praise.
12 Cursed are all who hate you;
    blessed for ever will be all who love you.
13 Rejoice and be glad for the sons of the righteous;
    for they will be gathered together,
    and will praise the Lord of the righteous.
14 How blessed are those who love you!
    They will rejoice in your peace.
Blessed are those who grieved over all your afflictions;
    for they will rejoice for you upon seeing all your glory,
    and they will be made glad for ever.
15 Let my soul praise God the great King.
16 For Jerusalem will be built with sapphires and emeralds,
    her[b] walls with precious stones,
    and her towers and battlements with pure gold.
17 The streets of Jerusalem will be paved[c] with beryl and ruby and stones of Ophir;
18     all her lanes will cry ‘Hallelujah!’ and will give praise,
    saying, ‘Blessed is God, who has exalted you for ever.’”

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him

John 6:44
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

In various evangelism and preaching, we may be led to believe that it is our decision to come to Christ and accept Him as Lord and Saviour. Although it may not be the preachers' intention to do so, sometimes we believe it is because of our faith that leads to our salvation. This can be deceptive, because firstly, salvation is done by Yshua only through the cross. Secondly it is not our decision, but God who chooses and draws us near Him. Our response can be appreciation, gratefulness, love, and so on. We have nothing to boast at all about our belief or faith that is saving us.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Making disciples can be understood in the following way. Usually we think this verse means to tell the gospel with the intention of converting others. However, to make disciples may also mean that the seed has sown, and that the people have already been converted to Christ by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. At that stage, they will be like newborn babes. God as the Father would want to see these new Christians being cared for, hence the making of disciples could well mean grooming new Christians by bringing them into lifelong discipleship of our Lord Yshua.

The works that I do he will do also

John 14:12
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

The works our Lord Yshua mentioned in the passage above usually leads us to think about compassionate works or works in spreading the gospel, which is true. However there is another part of our Lord concerning the thing He always did on Earth is praying. So we too must emulate Him in this matter of praying.

Prayer is the thus the important work, not just as a supplement or tool to assist in our work. Its focus must be put at a higher level, so that we should be talking to God more and not be overwhelmed by the logistics of the physical tasks. Also our prayers need to be presented like a child, rather than a planning and rationalizing adult. And it does not matter what the circumstances are, whether we feel this is a good place to carry out God's mission or not - there is always a time for prayer.

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth

Matthew 28:18-19
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

To obey and go on the mission directed by God, requires us to have Him always in mind. Namely, we must remember that we will be going in His Authority and since He is Sovereign, this is very powerful indeed. To know His authority, we need to know Him more ourselves, we need to be close to our Lord Yshua. One way of doing this is to abide in Him, that is to live according to His words and become a living witness to others.

be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect

Matthew 5:48
be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Yshua asked us to be like Him in perfection. How can that be when He and us know that we are never really perfect as humans in this world. Yet it must be possible because He calls us to be perfect. This perfection is not the kind of human perfection that we can achieve. On the contrary it is God's perfection that is revealed in us. The way this is evident is through our love we have for others, just as Yshua has loved us - this is the means that the world may see God through us.

Pray to your Father who is in the secret place

Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

God values our prayer when we prayer to Him, that means there is no reason we need to show others when we pray to God. Just like when we are talking with someone, we don't need to talk in front of other people that we are not directly talking to. To do so would be pretense. And God also values simple childlike prayer as Yshua has thought us, instead of repetitious religious sounding phrases. Finally prayer may include asking things, but those are supposed to be things which are consistent with the will of God, not just things that we want for our personal benefits only.

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

John 17:4
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

Jesus has surrendered His will to His Father. We are called to do the same thing to God. Surrendering our wills involve a willful surrender on our own. It is not sometime that God will force onto us. When we come to that time when we happily surrender our wills, then we can be fully made use of by God. It is then that we become united with Jesus.

My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

John 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Most of us associate joy with happiness, so it may be surprising to learn that this is not necessarily the case, nor is there even a strong correlation sometimes. The joy of Yshua is to do His Father's will. This did not always result in pleasant outcomes, especially towards the end when He was crucified. Yet He counted this as joy. So our joy need to be similar and the source of our joy is Yshua. Circumstances may cause trouble for us, but our walk and oneness with God shall produce a joy in us that non-believers would not understand.

Lord, teach us to pray

Luke 11:1
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

One of the popular misconception is that prayer is only about asking God to give us things. This is similar to what other religions promote about their idols. However, the prayer to the Creator, Lord, Father of All is much more than that. There is no denying to the aspect of prayer where we can ask God and He will give like a Good Father, but there is much more.

Prayer is getting in touch with the Father via the Holy Spirit. It is talking to God, and maintaining that relationship, otherwise it will grow cold and we would lose touch with God. It is to nourish us, to build our character, to acknowledge our lack and hence dependence to God. A commentator said, "prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person's inner nature."

But I have called you friends

John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

Our Lord Yshua calls us His friend. This is extraordinary to most people, even among the people of God, but it should not be too surprising for those who really know God. Back in the Old Testament days, we already see God making a few people his friends and they were not close to perfect people anyway. The two great examples are Abraham and Moses. As part of this friendship, the relationship would involve self-sacrifice. This also means obedience to God, on the people's part. One aspect of this obedience would be to seek out God's will in the various things in our lives and not just fulfilling our own desires.

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father

Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly

God is in the secret place, so when we pray we have to come to Him in that secret place. This is not some place that can contain God, because God cannot be contained in any location, whether it is the Tabernacle, the Temple or our private praying place. Instead, this secret place is where we meet God in the private one to one correspondence with God, where nothing else in the world mattered. Do we know how to get into such a meeting place with God? There is no specific formula but it is generally a quite place with no disruptions so that we can focus on the Lord alone.

Father, I thank you that you have heard me

John 11:41
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

Yshua's prayers to His Father is always heard and He knows this. Do we have that kind of confidence in the God that we call Lord? Certainly when we have the Holy Spirit in us, then God hears our prayers. It is thus important that we stay in constant communication to God via the Holy Spirit. As we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, as the Scripture says, and this is by prayer no matter what circumstance we are in.

Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?

Luke 2:46,49
After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

This is one of the few recorded instance of Lord Yshua's childhood. This image may bring thoughts about Yshua the child-wonder, which is not unexpected since He is God in flesh. In more detail, this shows that from an earlier age, He is in touch with God the Father. There is no reason why other young human cannot also have this level of relationship with God. In fact, even for adults, when we are supposed to come to God in a childlike relationship, totally dependent on the Father God. If we haven't got the mindframe of the twelve year old Yshua, we need to ask why not?

In that day you will ask in my name

John 16:26
In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

Believers in Yshua have been given great confidence that their prayers would be answered, by our Lord Yshua Himself. His name is above all names, and He teaches us to use it when we pray. Although there is a role for intercessors, we can now speak directly to God in the name of Yshua. This does not mean that all our prayers will result in us getting what we want - that is our definition of answered prayer. Whereas God does answer prayers but those answers may not be what our carnal mind wants. Prayer and asking God is an exercise to be at one with God, to be aligned with His will and to abandon ours.

How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him

Matthew 7:11
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

God reminds us of who He is, our real Father and the Creator who is still in control. Anyone who truly understand this would not be succumb to the cares of this world. They would have perfect trust in the Lord. In times of hardships and troubles, it is easy to forget who God is and that He is in control. This is the reason that we have to keep practising to acknowledge these facts when we are not in trouble. He knows about everything, in control of everything and He knows our individual cases. We need to actively practise trusting Him.

Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple

Luke 14:26,27,33
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, ..... And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me ....So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

This passage is often taught that it is not trivial to follow Jesus and that it comes at a great cost. Another teaching is that following Jesus is a worthwhile cause and so we should count the cost and decide it is worth it. Yet another perspective is that of following Jesus rather than following doctrine. It is quite clear that Jesus asks people to follow Him and to be completely devoted. He does not advocate our devotion to any kind of doctrine. He asks us to look toward Himself rather than any of His teachings. So it is clear that being a disciple and following Him requires our complete devotion to the person of our Messiah Yshua.

But for this purpose I came to this hour

John 12:27-28
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”

Our Lord Yshua is pouring His heart out to God the Father. He knows the trials that He will go through soon. As a man, the thought of saving himself must have spark his mind as the electrical impulses in his brain fires up the possibility. However, He is the perfect example that although unholy thoughts enter our mind, we have the free will to fight those thoughts and be fully devoted to God. Living on earth, we face all kinds of temptation - we just have to will it away by focusing purely on God. There is no other way, there is no in between, there is no tasting a little of the forbidden fruit. It has to be all out rejection of the things that we know would not be pleasing to God. Only then can we glorify God's name.

A servant does not know what his master is doing

John 15:13-15
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

This is one of the various passages that debunk the myth that God works in mysterious ways. All through history, from examples with Abraham, to Moses, David and Yshua, God has revealed His plans to people. Previously it was to the prophets, but after Christ, where we have the Holy Spirit in us, we too have been revealed His plans. So for any believers who still think God's plans are mysterious, it is time to walk closer with God and have more frequent communion with Him.

I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you

John 16:26-27
In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.

In the days after His ascension, the Holy Spirit comes to live within the believers. Our Lord is saying that we can invoke His name, because of our close relationship with Him, and that He does not need to pray to the Father anymore, because He is with the Father. The Father will respond to His children, because of the relationship established between the Son and His children. In other words, we have direct communication with God the Creator, as a Father to us.