My Mission: To Know and To Love the One True God

Jesus was born to be the Good Shepherd King

2011-12-23T11:23:00.002-05:00

The Good Shepherd King came to seek out His sheep and rescue them from death, gather the outcast and those who went astray, save and carry the lame, heal and bind up the wounded, clean and feed them, protect and make them secure in His pasture, making them one flock again. He loves, cares, and has compassion for His flock and wants to dwell with them. He will raise and strengthen His sheep to be mighty warriors and they will fight in the battle. He will lead them and bring them to His city, New Jerusalem, the city of the Great King.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luk 2:1-21 ESV)

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the LORD. (Zep 3:17-20 ESV)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father."
(Joh 10:1-18 ESV)

"Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd."
(Num 27:16-17 ESV)

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
(Mar 6:34 ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
(Heb 13:20-21 ESV)

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
(Psa 23:1-6 ESV)

The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever. (Psa 28:8-9 ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah (Psa 49:1-15 ESV)

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
(Psa 78:70-72 ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!
(Psa 80:1-3 ESV)

Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
(Isa 40:10-11 ESV)

A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. Behold, they say to me, "Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!" I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face. Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction! Thus said the LORD to me: "Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. "'But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.'"
(Jer 17:12-27 ESV)

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son." Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."
(Mat 2:1-18 ESV)

"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.' For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the LORD." Thus says the LORD: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." Thus says the LORD: "Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country. I have heard Ephraim grieving, 'You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the LORD. "Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man." (Jer 31:10-22 ESV)

and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.'"
(Jer 43:10-13 ESV)

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice. "As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet? "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken. "I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD."
(Eze 34:1-31 ESV)

then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. "My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."
(Eze 37:21-28 ESV)

Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. "Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing? Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it? "For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?" Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst." "They do not know how to do right," declares the LORD, "those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds." Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered." Thus says the LORD: "As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed. "Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob," declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, "that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall come to an end," declares the LORD. (Amo 3:1-15 ESV)

I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets. A day for the building of your walls! In that day the boundary shall be far extended. In that day they will come to you, from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the LORD our God, and they shall be in fear of you. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
(Mic 7:9-20 ESV)

Ask rain from the LORD in the season of the spring rain, from the LORD who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain, to everyone the vegetation in the field. For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. "My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. From him shall come the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the battle bow, from him every ruler--all of them together. They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the LORD is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses. "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them. Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the LORD. "I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before. Though I scattered them among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them. He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. I will make them strong in the LORD, and they shall walk in his name," declares the LORD.
(Zec 10:1-12 ESV)

"On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. "And on that day, declares the LORD of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, 'You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.' And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. "On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive, but he will say, 'I am no prophet, I am a worker of the soil, for a man sold me in my youth.' And if one asks him, 'What are these wounds on your back?' he will say, 'The wounds I received in the house of my friends.' "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," declares the LORD of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land, declares the LORD, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'" (Zec 13:1-9 ESV)

Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."
(Mat 26:31-32 ESV)

Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border. Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which delay not for a man nor wait for the children of man. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. And in that day, declares the LORD, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots; and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds; and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes; and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.
(Mic 5:1-15 ESV)

For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
(1Pe 2:20-25 ESV)

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1Pe 5:4 ESV)

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Rev 7:17 ESV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
(Rev 21:1-5 ESV)

In the Beginning...Part Three

2011-09-02T12:48:00.003-04:00

All forms of life on Earth were created by the word of God.

And God said: 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.' And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. And God said: 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind.' And it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.' (Gen 1:20-28 JPS)

Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the stays of his body. He straineth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are as pipes of brass; his gristles are like bars of iron. He is the beginning of the ways of God; He only that made him can make His sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, and all the beasts of the field play there. He lieth under the lotus-trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The lotus-trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, if a river overflow, he trembleth not; he is confident, though the Jordan rush forth to his mouth. Shall any take him by his eyes, or pierce through his nose with a snare? (Job 40:15-24 JPS)

So God created all the fish and the great sea creatures in the sea, he created all the birds in the air, and all the animals that walk on the Earth. The behemoth was so large and strong, that only God could come near him with a sword. Then God brought all the animals that were on land and the birds to Adam to be named by him. Can you imagine a dinosaur like the behemoth coming to Adam to be named? Wow!

And the LORD God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.' And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man would call every living creature, that was to be the name thereof. And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the man said: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Gen 2:18-25 JPS)

Adam did not find a “help meet” or mate in all the animals. None of all the animals God created would be able to help in Adam’s loneliness. Adam’s mate would have to come from him so that they could be one body, one flesh.

Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the heavens, and stretched them forth, He that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: (Isa 42:5 JPS)

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Gen 5:1-2 JPS)

He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate." (Mat 19:4-6 ESV)

Jesus is the new Adam and His wife’s body is formed from His body - http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level3/L15a_UnitedasonewithHim.pdf

Love is what joins us together.

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1Jn 3:11 ESV)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Eph 5:25-33 ESV)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." (Joh 17:1-26 ESV)

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together. (Col 3:12-14 CEV)

In the Beginning...Part Two

2010-09-25T08:38:00.005-04:00

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." (Rev 4:11 ESV)

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Heb 11:3 ESV)

Earth was not made from pre-existing things, or a pre-existing planet or universe. Heaven, Earth, and the universe were on God’s mind as unformed substances before He spoke them into being. In His thoughts, He had a plan on how He would form them and He had a unique purpose for all of them before they were created.

God’s will, His plan from the beginning, was to form a man’s body and a woman’s body, make them new again, and then bring them together as one in Him – body, soul, and spirit.

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" (Heb 10:5-7 ESV)

Jesus Christ is the perfect man’s body that God planned on making from the beginning and the Bride of Christ would be the perfect woman’s body that would be joined to Him for eternity.

…then He said, "Lo, I come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first so that He may establish the second. By this will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10:9-10 MKJV)

Jesus came to do God’s will here on Earth. God’s plan was to create the first form, or body, and then to renew it to make it sanctified, perfect, and eternal.

As You have sent Me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world. And I sanctify Myself for their sakes, so that they also might be sanctified in truth. And I do not pray for these alone, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me, that they may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You have loved Me before the foundation of the world.
(John 17:18-24 MKJV)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer is. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away. And He sitting on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. (Rev 21:1-5 MKJV)

God’s Word became flesh as the body of Jesus. God’s Wisdom was established as a city – Jerusalem. She is the body that God chose where His people would be nurtured.
(Prov 8:12-36 JPS)

His plan was to make Jerusalem new again as New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ. We become a part of God’s Wisdom, citizens of New Jerusalem, when we allow God’s Word and Spirit to move in our life, making us born again.

(*Please read this BLT Lesson – http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level2/AllMyHeart3_childandheir.pdf)

I am the LORD, and there is none else, beside Me there is no God; I have girded thee, though thou hast not known Me; That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me; I am the LORD; and there is none else; I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, that they may bring forth salvation, and let her cause righteousness to spring up together; I the LORD have created it. Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, as a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it: 'What makest thou?' Or: 'Thy work, it hath no hands'? Woe unto him that saith unto his father: 'Wherefore begettest thou?' Or to a woman: 'Wherefore travailest thou?' Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of the things that are to come; concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me. I, even I, have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. I have roused him up in victory, and I make level all his ways; he shall build My city, and he shall let Mine exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.
(Isa 45:5-13 JPS)

He had planned from the beginning to build a city as His dwelling place, making it new again upon the foundation where He first established it and it would all be done through Jesus!

And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;” (Heb 1:10 ESV)

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
(Isa 40:21-22 ESV)

For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the LORD, the God of hosts, is His name.
(Amo 4:13 JPS)

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (Isa 65:17-19 JPS)

"Set up road markers for yourself; make yourself guideposts; consider well the highway, the road by which you went. Return, O virgin Israel, return to these your cities. How long will you waver, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encircles a man." (Jer 31:21-22 ESV)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:18-23 ESV)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he was afterward going to receive for an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he went. By faith he lived in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise with him. For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Heb 11:8-10 MKJV)

*Please also read this BLT Lesson –
http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level3/L15g_JoinedbyoneSpiritintoonebody.pdf

In the Beginning...Part One

2010-08-21T12:07:00.002-04:00

Before I go back to my study on “Isaiah’s End Times Timeline”, I wanted to go back and study the beginning again. God says He declared the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:9-10), so a study of end times must include an understanding of what God declared or made known about the end in the beginning. So, I used my Bible software and started searching on the word “beginning”. I study the Bible this way because that is how I believe God wants us to find His knowledge (Proverbs 2:1-5) – by seeking and searching His word. Computers make it much easier now!

Creation of heaven and earth happened in the beginning, which is explained in the first book of the Bible, Genesis (Genesis 1:1-13, Genesis 2:1-25). I kept searching on “beginning”, though, and found out that God didn’t just mention the story of creation in Genesis. So, in order to get the whole picture, I needed to bring all these scriptures together. I compared scriptures in several Bible versions, but the one that I thought had the best translation of the Old Testament verses was the “Jewish Publication Society Bible”. So, from these scriptures, here is my understanding of the beginning.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said: 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good. And God said: 'Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.' And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

(Gen 1:1-19 JPS)

I believe God created the heaven and earth just like a baby is made.

For Thou hast made my reins; Thou hast knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks unto Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance, and in Thy book they were all written - even the days that were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How weighty also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

(Psa 139:13-17 JPS)

In a woman’s reproductive system, a woman’s egg is unformed and floating around in the darkness of a womb. Well, so was the earth when God created it. A womb has to have the right lining or “atmosphere” in order for the egg to be fertilized. That is what the spirit of God was doing when it was hovering over the face of the waters. Fertilization happens when the sperm penetrates the egg. Earth started changing from an unformed and void state when God’s Word (His seed) penetrated it.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

(Joh 1:1-5 ESV)

“…The seed is the word of God.” (Luk 8:11 ESV)

God had heaven and earth on His mind before He even created it. He had it all planned out. The brain triggers the hormones that are needed to produce an egg in a woman’s body. God planned that His Wisdom would be the body where life would begin and where it would be nurtured.

I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of devices. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and those that seek me earnestly shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; yea, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my produce than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice; That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and that I may fill their treasuries. The LORD made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth; While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there; when He set a circle upon the face of the deep, When He made firm the skies above, when the fountains of the deep showed their might, When He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not transgress His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth; Then I was by Him, as a nursling; and I was daily all delight, playing always before Him, Playing in His habitable earth, and my delights are with the sons of men. Now therefore, ye children, hearken unto me; for happy are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Happy is the man that hearkeneth to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. But he that misseth me wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death.'

(Pro 8:12-36 JPS)

*Please also read these BLT Lessons –

http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level1/L10_TheHolySpiritinthebeginning.pdf

http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level1/L11_TheHolySpiritandLife.pdf

Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part Five

2010-08-01T21:30:00.006-04:00

BECOMING ONE AGAIN

How we handle our relationships is so important because that will determine our fate in life. Only living in the Kingdom of God will give us true freedom and true, eternal peace. The Kingdoms of this world will end, but the Kingdom of God is eternal because it is built on relationships – a covenant relationship with King Jesus and personal relationships with our neighbors in Zion, the eternal city of King Jesus. In the Kingdom of God, the Church will either be a part of the harlot or a part of His Bride (His city) when King Jesus returns. The daughters of Zion can become one body again when they repent of their adultery and reunite together in the love of King Jesus. God has promised this in His Word and it will be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. The breach in the Kingdom of God will be repaired when we are filled with His Spirit and demonstrating God’s love towards each other in our relationships.

But you, O LORD, are king forever; all generations will remember you. You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. The nations will fear the LORD; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. When the LORD rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. The LORD looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the LORD. (Psa 102:12-22 GNB)

Just like Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, King Jesus will lead His people to His city, New Jerusalem, where they will be perfectly one.

Who is like You, O Jehovah, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have led forth the people which You have redeemed. You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation. The people shall hear, being afraid. Sorrow shall take hold on the people of Philistia. Then the princes of Edom were terrified. Trembling seized upon the mighty men of Moab. All the people of Canaan shall melt away. Fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness of Your arm they shall be still as a stone, until Your people pass over, O Jehovah; until the people whom You have purchased pass over. You shall bring them and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, the place, O Jehovah, You have made for You to dwell in; the Sanctuary, O Jehovah, which Your hands have established. Jehovah shall reign forever and ever. (Exo 15:11-18 MKJV)

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. (Isa 52:12 ESV)

We can keep others out of His city, though, by breaking the Sabbath.

Thus said the LORD to me: "Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction. "'But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.'" (Jer 17:19-27 ESV)

Sabbath is broken when we carry our own burdens into the city. We are supposed to give our burdens to the Lord, but because we are afraid, we usually take up our burdens again. We prevent people from entering into the Lord’s city when we carry these burdens and complain about it.

"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high." (Isa 58:1-4 ESV)

"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isa 58:13-14 ESV)

People of Jerusalem, open your gates! Repair the road to the city and clear it of stones; raise a banner to help the nations find their way. Here is what the LORD has said for all the earth to hear: "Soon I will come to save the city of Zion, and to reward you. Then you will be called, 'The LORD's Own People, The Ones He Rescued!' Your city will be known as a good place to live and a city full of people." (Isa 62:10-12 CEV)

I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you. When you cry out, let your collection of idols deliver you! The wind will carry them off, a breath will take them away. But he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain. And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made. Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near," says the LORD, "and I will heal him. But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." (Isa 57:12-21 ESV)

*See this BLT lesson: http://www.basiclovetraining.org/BLT_Level3/Neighbor6_KeepfromStumblingandLeadinRightWay.pdf

In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim. But they shall swoop down on the shoulder of the Philistines in the west, and together they shall plunder the people of the east. They shall put out their hand against Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites shall obey them. And the LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt, and will wave his hand over the River with his scorching breath, and strike it into seven channels, and he will lead people across in sandals. And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:11-16 ESV)

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." (Isa 19:23-25 ESV)

And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, For Judah and for his companions, the sons of Israel. And take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions. And join them to one another into one stick. And they shall become one in your hand. And when the sons of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not declare to us what these mean to you? Say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with him, with the stick of Judah, and will make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand. And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. And say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and will bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one King shall be king to them all. And they shall not still be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Nor shall they be defiled with their idols, even with their filthy idols, nor with all of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in them where they sinned, and will cleanse them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God. And David My servant shall be King over them. And there shall be one Shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My judgments, and obey My Laws, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, the land in which your fathers have lived. And they shall dwell in it, even they and their sons, and the sons of their sons for ever. And My servant David shall be their ruler forever. And I will cut a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. And My tabernacle shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I Jehovah sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forever. (Eze 37:15-28 MKJV)

The redeemed daughters of Zion will become one again in New Jerusalem (Zion) because the Lord has declared it in His Word.

Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. (Isa 51:11 KJV)

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. (Isa 60:1-4 ESV)

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (Joh 17:22-23 ESV)

Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part Four

2010-07-18T20:08:00.003-04:00

RUINING THE HARVEST
The horsemen who have already come and those who are coming to attack the fields of the daughters of Zion will do damage, but the daughters themselves have done more to ruin their harvests. With our judgmental words, strife, self-righteousness, and pride, Christians have been using heavy clubs to beat the seed of God’s Word into people’s lives. We have ruined our harvest because of the endless threshing and bruising we do by nagging, criticizing, and constantly correcting each other and looking for evil in each other’s lives. This is how Christians become hypocrites. This is not following on the path of love that God has taught them.

Don't laugh at the warning I am giving you! If you do, it will be even harder for you to escape. I have heard the LORD Almighty's decision to destroy the whole country. Listen to what I am saying; pay attention to what I am telling you. Farmers don't constantly plow their fields and keep getting them ready for planting. Once they have prepared the soil, they plant the seeds of herbs such as dill and cumin. They plant rows of wheat and barley, and at the edges of their fields they plant other grain. They know how to do their work, because God has taught them. They never use a heavy club to beat out dill seeds or cumin seeds; instead they use light sticks of the proper size. They do not ruin the wheat by threshing it endlessly, and they know how to thresh it by driving a cart over it without bruising the grains. All this wisdom comes from the LORD Almighty. The plans God makes are wise, and they always succeed. (Isa 28:22-29 GNB)

"For long ago I broke your yoke and burst your bonds; but you said, 'I will not serve.' Yes, on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed down like a whore. Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine? Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD. (Jer 2:20-22 ESV)

If we want to succeed in our planting and harvesting for the Kingdom of God, then we have to go back and learn God’s ways of love.

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.
(Isa 53:1-5 ESV)

A servant of the Lord must not argue. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, teachable, willing to suffer wrong, and gentle in refuting his opponents. After all, maybe God will allow them to repent and to come to a full knowledge of the truth, so that they might escape from the devil's snare, even though they've been held captive by him to do his will. (2Ti 2:24-26 ISV)

From where are quarrels and fights among you? Is not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are jealous and do not have the power; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive, because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the Scripture speaks in vain: "He jealously longs the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. Do not speak against one another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, or is judging a brother, speaks against the Torah and judges the Torah. But if you judge the Torah, you are not a doer of the Torah, but a judge. There is one Giver of Torah and Judge, He Who has the power to save and to utterly ruin; but who are you to judge your neighbor? (Jas 4:1-12 MRC)

For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the LORD, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment. So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the LORD drives. "And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the LORD. "And as for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring," says the LORD, "from this time forth and forevermore."
(Isa 59:12-21 ESV)

Even though our sins have ruined our harvest, God promises to redeem and make our fields new again. All we have to do is return to the Lord and His ways. God always keeps His covenant with us and His Spirit assures our harvest will continue for generations.

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. "For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." (Isa 55:6-13 ESV)

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." (Gen 8:22 ESV)

"For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in the earth, and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put out branches like a young plant." (Job 14:7-9 ESV)

'Come, and let us return unto the LORD; for He hath torn, and He will heal us, He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence. And let us know, eagerly strive to know the LORD, His going forth is sure as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.' (Hos 6:1-3 JPS)

The latter rain is coming and the King’s Garden will be established, just as He promised.

*See these previous blog entries:
http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2008/01/kings-garden-part-1.html

http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2008/01/kings-garden-part-2.html

http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2008/02/women-wells-water-trees.html

Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part Three

2010-04-03T16:54:00.003-04:00

THE NEED FOR A SAVIOR...

Let’s go back to the story of the daughters of Zion that I wrote about in Part One. They are wise to do evil and they are rebellious. They curse and oppress their neighbors. They have no understanding and are acting like silly children. They have rejected God’s Law of love in their relationships.

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she has rebelled against me, declares the LORD. Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart." My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? "For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'--in doing evil! But how to do good they know not."

(Jer 4:14-22 ESV)

Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away. They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.' Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you. For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and rich; they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

(Jer 5:20-31 ESV)

Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. (Isa 59:1-8 ESV)

They did not say, 'Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?' And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. (Jer 2:6-8 ESV)

Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God, when he led you in the way? And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts. (Jer 2:17-19 ESV)

Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. (Jer 6:16-19 ESV)

That is why the sword of the Assyrian is coming upon them and their fields. They ride on swift horses, coming from the north country.

Thus says the LORD: "Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy; the sound of them is like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!" (Jer 6:22-23 ESV)

Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.

(Jer 1:14-16 ESV)

"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? "Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD's. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the LORD. They have spoken falsely of the LORD and have said, 'He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'" Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword." "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" (Jer 5:7-19 ESV)

Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, 'Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!' Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction. A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us." "In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded." (Jer 4:5-9 ESV)

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger. For thus says the LORD, "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. "For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back." At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them. And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, "Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers." (Jer 4:23-31 ESV)

Therefore so says the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, O my people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria. He shall strike you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against you, in the way of Egypt. But yet a little while, and the fury shall cease, and My anger shall be in their ruin. And Jehovah of Hosts shall stir up a whip on him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as His rod was on the sea, so shall He lift it up in the way of Egypt. And it shall be, in that day his burden shall be taken away from off your shoulder, and his yoke from off your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

(Isa 10:24-27 MKJV)

In their fear, the daughters of Zion have lied down in the dust of their fields to hide, but their attackers see them and walk all over them, trampling them. The Assyrians attack with their swords and plunder and damage the crops. They leave the daughters bare and vulnerable. After the horsemen leave, the King of Babylon rides in. The daughters of Zion are deceived into thinking he is their savior. In their weakness, they succumb to his offer of peace, allowing him to save them, but they are really his captors.

You see, the Church has become wise to do evil and has become rebellious. We curse and oppress the members of our own family, our Church congregations, and other denominations. We want our own way and we are acting like spoiled, selfish children. We have rejected God’s Law of love by dividing our families, divorcing our spouses, and deceiving our children. Unfortunately, there are many in the Church who have been taken captive by the devil, or King of Babylon already. But we have been given a choice and we don’t have to become slaves to him. King Jesus paid the price to set us free! He opened the way to His city by laying down His life for us. All we have to do is choose to follow King Jesus and walk on His highway of love. The sword of the Assyrian is coming again because we have rejected God’s law of love which was demonstrated by King Jesus. It is time for the daughters of Zion to stop fighting with each other and to start loving each other as themselves so that they can escape from the Assyrian sword and then help rescue their sisters who have already been taken captive by the King of Babylon.

Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the LORD: "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money." For thus says the Lord GOD: "My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing. Now therefore what have I here," declares the LORD, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail," declares the LORD, "and continually all the day my name is despised. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I." How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." The voice of your watchmen--they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you-- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind-- so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. (Isa 52:1-15 ESV)

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

(Isa 53:1-12 ESV)

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1Pe 2:21-24 ESV)

Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part Two

2010-01-11T09:28:00.002-05:00

BREAKING THE YOKE...

A “yoke” is a pole or bar that two oxen are chained up to so that they can pull a plow in a field. With the strength of the two of them, a field can be plowed very easily. The yoke can become burdensome, though, if it is not supported by both of them. So how does this relate to a marriage? When a man and a woman come together in marriage, they are “yoked” together. They begin their life together by moving forward in plowing out the field of their relationship and purpose together as one, but when they start to disagree on how to plow their field, that is when division can start. One spouse might want to move on to the next row to plow, but the other might not be ready and may start to pull back. Then the other spouse tugs harder, trying to turn them around, but the other spouse may stop dead in their tracks. Then the resistant spouse might start pressing the opposite way on the yoke, moving the plow right off of the field. Then the other spouse may start resisting too by constantly pressing hard on their side of the yoke and trying to make their spouse come their way, back onto the field. They might add other yokes on them to try and force the resistant spouse to stay in line, but the extra yokes become very heavy so that they can’t even move the plow anymore. The resistant spouse may then decide that they don’t want to plow the field anymore and may want to be set free from all of the yokes because they are too heavy for them to bear.

Christians can place burdens on the yoke of their marriage if they try to control the plowing of their field with unloving ways. They might resort to belittling and accusing the other spouse of not doing their part, and they may feel the need to constantly correct them if the plowing of the field isn’t being done the way they think it should. Lack of love and disrespect will cause a married couple to not want to “plow” with each other anymore. This is what has happened in the Church and this is why Zion is divided.

And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. "Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Mat 13:11-23 ESV)

Zion started in the same yoke with King Jesus, sowing the seeds of His Kingdom, but a part of her fell out of love with Him and didn’t want to plow His field anymore, so that part of her left and started to plow a field of her own, expecting her lovers to help her plow it, but they didn’t. Instead, they destroyed her field and threatened her life, forcing her to go into hiding. She ran away to other lands but still lives in fear. She hopes one day to come back to her field and her King.

The remaining part of Zion continued to plow along with her King, but then another part of her got upset on how He wanted her to plow His field, so she became disobedient and started pulling on the yoke, making it harder to plow. She grew tired of her struggle, so she left their yoke and found someone else with a plow and field she liked better and started plowing with him. He was nice at first, but then he added more yokes upon her and now the yokes are too heavy for her to bear. Enslaved to her new master, she is forced to sow his wicked seed and to do all the hard labor. She is sick, diseased, and malnourished.

The part of Zion that stayed with King Jesus has continued to divide over the years and now there is only a very small, faithful remnant of herself left. She is very weak, but King Jesus gives her the strength to continue on because His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2008/01/kings-garden-part-1.html) She knows the truth that her sisters do not know and she will patiently do the work with her Husband and will wait for their harvest.

Roam around in Jerusalem's streets and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her. And though they say, As Jehovah lives, surely they swear falsely. O Jehovah, are not Your eyes for the truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. I will go up for myself to the great men and will speak to them. For they have known the way of Jehovah, the judgment of their God. Surely these have joined in breaking the yoke; they have torn off the bonds. On account of this a lion out of the forest shall strike them; a wolf of the desert shall destroy them; a leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many; their rebellions are multiplied. Why should I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, they then committed adultery and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house. They were like lusty, well fed stallions in the morning, everyone neighing after the wife of his neighbor. Shall I not judge for these things, says Jehovah? And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Go up on her vine rows and destroy, but do not make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been very devious with Me, declares Jehovah. They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and, No evil shall come on us; and, We shall not see sword or famine. And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them; so it shall be done to them. So Jehovah God of Hosts says this: Because you spoke this word, behold! I will make My Words fire in your mouth, and these people wood; and it shall consume them. Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, O house of Israel, declares Jehovah. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men. (Jer 5:1-16 LITV)

Right now, all the daughters of Zion are under attack by the King of Assyria. All of this has come upon us because we have not joined together in breaking the yoke. King Jesus has allowed these attacks, and will allow more to come in order to get our attention and to turn us back to Him so that He can heal us and bring us back together as one.

King Jesus also wants to protect the daughters of Zion because the King of Babylon is rising in power. The King of Babylon is very deceitful and will seduce the daughters of Zion with a false peace, turning their heart away from King Jesus. The King of Babylon’s ultimate purpose, though, is to take the daughters of Zion captive so that he can kill them.

So how do we repair this division or breach in the Church and our marriages, and how do we break these burdensome yokes? Also, how do we help others escape their captivity? I believe Isaiah wrote about the answer for all these questions:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed ones go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to break your bread to the hungry, and that you should bring home the wandering poor? When will you see the naked and cover him; and you will not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break out as the dawn, and your health shall spring out quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Jehovah shall gather you. Then you shall call, and Jehovah shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take the yoke away from among you, the pointing of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. And Jehovah shall always guide you and satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. And those who come of you shall build the old ruins; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. (Isa 58:6-12 MKJV)

Let’s focus on our marriages first because marriage is the most important relationship in the Kingdom of God. Summing up these scriptures in Isaiah, I believe that in marriage, we need to be more giving to the needs of our spouses. We need to lovingly lead our spouses back home, those who have wandered off. We need to cover their sins with love. We also need to take a real good look at ourselves to see the truth on how we have actually been behaving and treating our spouses. We need to stop pointing fingers of blame at each other. We need to stop speaking vanity – slandering and criticizing our spouses and proudly telling others how we deserve better. We need to take up the King’s yoke again, and not force our own yokes on each other. We also need to follow this same advice towards our fellow members of the Church.

King Jesus gave us the example that we should follow.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (Joh 3:16 MKJV)

I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf. (Gal 2:20 MKJV)

Therefore be followers of God, as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. For let fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness not be once named among you, as becomes saints, neither baseness, foolish talking, jesting, which are not becoming, but rather giving of thanks. For you know this, that no fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous one (who is an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. (Eph 5:1-7 MKJV)

So, if God loved His wife so much that He gave His life for her, and we are supposed to follow in His loving ways, imitating Jesus, then why are we giving up on the ones we love and those who we are in covenant with? God never broke His covenant with His wife, but He renewed it with Jesus! He gave life to her dead body and they renewed their marriage vows. She now has the promise of a new, purified body as a virgin Bride when He returns.

"I hate divorce," says the GOD of Israel. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says, "I hate the violent dismembering of the 'one flesh' of marriage." So watch yourselves. Don't let your guard down. Don't cheat. (Mal 2:16 MSG)

"For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless." (Mal 2:16 ESV)

No one has greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, that you love one another. (Joh 15:13-17 MKJV)

In marriage, we have betrayed the ones we have made vows of love to and that is treacherous. It dishonors God and makes us Christians look like hypocrites. If we want to be a testimony of God’s love, then we need to lay down our lives for our spouses. Our kids need to see this kind of love because they are growing up without it and violence is filling our land.

Divorce affects our children because they become confused on which field they should help plow, so some stay with their mother and some go with their father when they split up. They don’t know the love of King Jesus and they don’t know how to plow His field, so they go off looking for other fields and a plow that they can connect with.

But if the unbelieving one separates, let him be separated. A brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace. For what do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? Or what do you know, O man, whether you shall save your wife? (1Co 7:15-16 MKJV)

"There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked." (Isa 48:22 ESV)

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. (1Co 7:39 ESV)

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (Rom 7:2-3 ESV)

We are called to peace, but neither Jesus nor any of the other Disciples said that remarriage or divorce would bring peace. A spouse is only free to marry another only after the death of the other spouse. We don’t have to live in a house of bondage, but we do not break our covenant with our spouse. We have made a grave mistake by remarrying and we need to repent of our adultery! Peace only comes from King Jesus when we follow after His ways, obeying his commands, loving each other the way He loves us.

Only God has the authority and right to divorce, to kill, and to take vengeance. God gave Israel a certificate of divorce to test her, just like He did when He let her wander in the wilderness for 40 years (Deut. 8). It was to humble her so that she could see what was in her heart. But God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16) because it covers you with violence and leads to death. And that is what happened to Samaria, after her divorce from God. But even after she left, God still considered Himself married to her and Jerusalem (Jer. 3). God had a better way planned to get the heart of His wife back. He had planned it from the beginning.

God came as Jesus to die for her! That was the only way to release her from the law (Rom. 7) that only produced death in their relationship. He did this so that she could be made new like Him, and so that they could be fully joined together in everyway. True love fulfills the law and Jesus fulfilled it by dying for His wife. There is no greater way to show love than by laying down your life for your friend (John 15:13). A husband and wife are friends, according to scripture.

Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. (Jer 3:20 MKJV)

Here’s a commentary that I found on Jeremiah 3:20 pertaining to the term “husband” and how the scripture shows that it can be equal “friend” –

Keil & Delitzch Commentary of the Old Testament:
But Israel did not meet the expectation. Like a faithless wife from her husband, Israel fell away from its God. The particle of comparison כּאשׁר is omitted before the verb, as in Isa_55:9, cf. Isa_55:10 and Isa_55:11. רע does not precisely mean husband, nor yet paramour, but friend and companion, and so here is equal to wedded husband. בּגד

"You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (Joh 15:14 MRC)

So, if we are to imitate Christ Jesus and walk in love, then divorce is not an option. Christians need to fear God and they need to stop rationalizing ways to justify divorce. Divorce just makes the breach in the Kingdom of God wider. We are commanded to love each other.

These things I command you, that you love one another. (Joh 15:17 MKJV)

And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. (1Jn 3:23 MKJV)

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. (1Jn 4:11 MKJV)

Love has patience, is kind; love is not envious; love is not vain, is not puffed up; does not behave indecently, does not pursue its own things, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. Love quietly covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But if there are prophecies, they will be caused to cease; if tongues, they shall cease; if knowledge, it will be caused to cease. (1Co 13:4-8 LITV)

In our marriages, we are to be a testimony of His love and friendship to others, especially our children. We are to remain faithful until death. God didn’t cast away His wife and covenant with her to go looking for a new nation to make a covenant with. He paid the ultimate price to make His relationship with her new again. He made the way so that she could get closer to Him – joined by His Spirit. He wants her to come back to Him, to His house, and to His city.

Repairing the Breach in the Kingdom of God - Part One

2009-11-06T23:19:00.005-05:00

Our Calling to Peace With Each Other...

The current cry in the world is for peace. The world is now claiming through media (movies, TV, etc.) that peace will only come through religious tolerance. Those who are promoting this kind of peace believe that all religions ultimately worship the same god and that is how the world wants to unify all people. This has led to our nation’s adultery with foreign gods. In the Kingdom of God, though, peace can only come when we come together as one to worship and obey King Jesus. Christians are commanded to seek God’s knowledge and understanding in His Word, the Bible, so how does God define this peace through King Jesus and what is its true purpose?

"and that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once afar off are made near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, He making us both one, and He has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity (the Law of commandments contained in ordinances) so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, making peace between them; and so that He might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in Himself. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to those who were near.” (Eph 2:12-17 MKJV)

King Jesus Himself is God’s definition of peace! It was His sacrifice that brought peace to the world because sin had separated man from God and also brought division between mankind. Peace comes when two become one. We have peace with God when we become one with Jesus and peace is achieved between people when we become one body in Jesus. The ultimate purpose of peace, then, is for the world to be reconciled to God and for people to be reconciled to each other. Peace is one of the necessary attributes in the Kingdom of God.

Romans 14:17 – “the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

The Kingdom of God is defined in this scripture by three things: 1.) righteousness – which is living the right way God wants us to, 2.) peace – living in unity, as one in Jesus, and 3.) joy – which is having happiness in our lives. These three Kingdom attributes are achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit who comes and dwells inside of us when we accept the covenant that Jesus offers to us. These Kingdom attributes pertain to how we live our lives and the relationships we have. So, that means the Kingdom of God should affect every aspect of our lives, especially in our relationships with each other. Christians are to seek peace in every relationship they have, and if they don’t, then a breach is made in the Kingdom.

Kingdom living can also be summed up into the two greatest commandments – love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, and love our neighbor as yourself. When I studied the Bible on how to love this way, I discovered that the most honorable and most important relationship in the Kingdom of God is marriage (Heb. 13:4). I believe that understanding the definition of marriage in the Bible is the key to understanding God’s peace in our relationship with Jesus and in our relationships with each other. It also helped me understand why the worship of other gods is considered adultery against God.

When I became born again, I first related to God as my Father and Creator, but then I soon learned that my relationship with Him was to grow into a more mature, intimate relationship as I joined with the body and spirit of Jesus – becoming one with Him. The Bible defines marriage as two becoming one.

For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. "For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. (Eph 5:30-32 MKJV)

I discovered that marriage is the “grown up” relationship that the Church has with Jesus and His marriage to His people is the mystery of the Kingdom that He wants to reveal to us. Unfortunately, in the Church, we have been treating marriage as the least important relationship in our lives. We have not been living in peace with our spouses. We easily give up on marriage and we have been treating our spouses with treachery, indifference, and hate. We claim that divorce will bring us peace, but it really is a false peace. Many people in the Church are facing a crisis like this in their marriage right now. Families are being divided because spouses are choosing not to repair the breach that has come between them. This pattern of defeat and divorce within the Church should concern us because it has caused a great and ever widening breach to develop in the Kingdom of God.

Christians, wanting to be in God’s will as they handle their marriage crisis, turn to many books and counselors in the Christian community for advice, but many of them have different ways of handling the situation. Some advise that if infidelity occurs, then the fate of the marriage has already been decided and divorce is the acceptable option. Christians have also fallen into the trap of believing that they deserve better, so they find scriptures in the Bible that they think justify a divorce so that they can remarry and be happy again. Christians are leaving their families to pursue new lifestyles and new loves while the other spouse is left to deal with the burdens and responsibilities of raising the children and maintaining a home alone.

So how does someone really know what they should do when they are faced with an impending division or breach in their marriage and family? While studying love in the Bible (http://www.basiclovetraining.org), I discovered that God gave us the best example on how to deal with an unfaithful and unloving spouse. It is His love story and it is found all throughout Scripture. Understanding God’s marriage and love story should radically change how Christians view their marriages and how they should really love their spouses and live at peace with them.

God’s marriage to the children of Israel took place at the mountain of God where He gave them His covenant after their exodus from Egypt (Exodus 24). He provided everything for them, but they became a rebellious “wife”. That led to her unfaithfulness to God and then it led to her rejection of God as her Husband. God then decided to separate the disobedient part of her body from the obedient part in order to preserve the heart and soul of His wife. So as she was divided, she became two sisters – Jerusalem and Samaria. (http://www.basiclovetraining.org/blt_level4)

Samaria, the disobedient sister, wanted to leave Him anyway, so she did everything she could to make God angry with her until He finally granted her a divorce, removing her from His sight. (2 Kings 17, Jeremiah 3) Even though she rejected His love, He never broke His covenant to her (Psa 89:30-37). During her unfaithfulness and even after the divorce, He still loved her and asked her to return to Him. Unfortunately, though, she didn’t come back to Him and she was destroyed.

Jerusalem, even after witnessing what happened to Samaria, wound up betraying God and became worse than her sister! She would get into trouble, and when she needed His help, she would come back to Him in pretense, but her heart was not in it. He eventually rejected her false love and allowed her to go into captivity by her lovers and they ruined her.

Despite all of His wife’s unfaithfulness and rejection, God still wanted to have peace with all of her. He wanted to reconcile their relationship personally, so in order to demonstrate to His wife how much He loved her, to give her new life, and to set her free from her captivity, He came to the earth as Jesus and sacrificed His own life for her. This would give her eternal life, and it would make her virtuous, healthy, and whole again. She could now be joined to him by spirit, and as a new united body, her new name would be New Jerusalem, or Zion, the city of King Jesus. (http://www.basiclovetraining.org/blt_level3)

God’s love story doesn’t end there, though.

Instead of becoming one body, she divided again - dividing into the daughters of Zion (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, & Laodicea), a daughter of Jerusalem (Egypt & Sodom), a daughter of Samaria, and a daughter of Babylon. I believe these are the Ten Virgins that Jesus talked about in one of His parables of the Kingdom of God. All God ever wanted was for His wife to love Him with all her heart, soul, mind, strength, and for her members to unite together as one in love in His city, New Jerusalem. Instead of joining together in the ministry that their Husband, King Jesus, called them to do, they created a breach that separated themselves from each other and from Him. This breach was made because of the wickedness, heavy burdens, oppression, and unnecessary yokes that the daughters put upon each other.

The Curse on America

2009-09-28T08:57:00.004-04:00

There is a curse on America, but it wasn't made by a magic spell.

"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deu 28:15 ESV)

"The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. (Deu 28:36-37 ESV)

For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. (Isa 60:12 ESV)

And I will bring on that land all My Words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. (Jer 25:13 MKJV)

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. (Psa 73:27 ESV)

A curse has come upon us because of our unfaithfulness, or adultery - against God and against each other. Our nation doesn't follow after God's commandments and we have accepted and are practicing the worship of other gods and idols. These practices in our nation are also seen in American Churches.

If you have been following my study, you should understand how God's people are married to Him by covenant. Jesus is the Husband and the Church is His wife. The Church became an adulteress when she started lusting after idols in the world, allowed the worship of other gods in her home, and she stopped living and loving like Jesus commanded (broke their covenant). Every nation where the Church resides and is committing adultery in will be judged.

A good indication that a nation is committing adultery is the rate of divorce in that country. Divorce is a major cause of adultery.

The Bible's explanation of committing adultery is found in these verses:

But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
(Mat 5:32 ESV)

And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."
(Mat 19:9 ESV)

And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
(Mar 10:11-12 ESV)

"Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. (Luk 16:18 ESV)

Adultery is committed by either marrying someone else after divorcing your spouse, or by marrying someone who has been divorced. If you divorce your spouse because they are sexually immoral, that does not give you the right to go and marry someone else. If you do, then you will be committing adultery. A marriage joins two people as one body and their covenant is for life. You are to either reconcile with your spouse, or remain unmarried, living separate but in peace with each other.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
(Mat 19:3-6 ESV)

We need to protect marriage in America, because through marriage, a new body is formed and a new life begins. Divorce is marital abortion!

"I hate divorce," says the GOD of Israel. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says, "I hate the violent dismembering of the 'one flesh' of marriage." So watch yourselves. Don't let your guard down. Don't cheat. (Mal 2:16 MSG)

"For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless." (Mal 2:16 ESV)

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife. To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (1Co 7:10-16 ESV)

You are only free to marry again after your spouse has died.

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. (1Co 7:39 ESV)

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (Rom 7:2-3 ESV)

Single and married people commit adultery in their hearts when they lust after someone.

But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
(Mat 5:28 MKJV)

American movies, TV shows, books, and music are full of sexual immorality, so adultery is being committed all of the time! Our nation is cursed because it is full of adultery, and when it gets to that state, then God's judgment comes (see previous blog entry - http://toknowandtolove.blogspot.com/2009/07/isaiahs-end-times-timeline-warning-4.html).

They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet come back to Me, says Jehovah.
(Jer 3:1 MKJV)

Our sins have separated us from God, but If we would just repent and turn from our evil ways, then He would forgive us, accept us back, and heal our land. If we would just repent of our adultery and stop divorcing and committing adultery, forgive our spouses and accept them back, then our marriages and families would be healed. (*Note - whatever marital state that you are in when you repent, from that point forward you are to stop divorcing and committing adultery. If you are already divorced from your spouse, but neither one of you have remarried, then you should try to reconcile. If you are in the middle of a divorce when you repent, then you should try to reconcile. If you are remarried, then you remain faithful to your current spouse. When Jesus forgives us, He makes all things new and gives us another chance to do what is right.)

Our nation can be a Christian nation again, if we start loving our spouses like Jesus loves His wife. He died and rose from the dead to make their relationship new again and to make her a Bride again. This kind of sacrificial love is what will repair the breach in the Kingdom of God and it will break the curse on our nation. For our children's sake, let's break this curse!

**********************************************************************************
Links to recent articles on divorce in America:

Divorce Rates in U.S. Rise Slightly - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/24/national/main5334553.shtml

Top Ten Myths of Divorce - http://marriage.rutgers.edu/Publications/MythsDivorce.pdf

The National Marriage Project - http://www.virginia.edu/marriageproject/

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Warning #4

2009-07-01T23:49:00.003-04:00

Warning #4: The Assyrian Horsemen are coming with war and famine

When a country sins by being unfaithful to God, God says that he will bring four terrible punishments (wars, famines, beasts, and plagues) against them (Eze 14:12-23). The first punishment listed is "wars" and wars are fought by armies. In Bible times, the strength and greatness of a King's army was measured by how many horses, chariots, and horsemen a King had. King Soloman had many horses, chariots. and horsemen.

And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. (1Ki 4:26 MKJV)

And King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. And every man brought his presents, vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and clothing and armor, and spices, horses and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. And he had fourteen hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And the king made silver like stones in Jerusalem, and he made cedars like the sycamore trees in the valley for abundance. And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and out of Kue. The king's merchants received them from Kue at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, they brought them out by their means. (1Ki 10:23-29 MKJV)

Mighty horsemen have already risen in this world to conquer, to take peace from the world, and to weigh our harvests, but a few more horsemen are to come.

So says Jehovah, Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, set in order like a man for war against you, O daughter of Zion. We have heard the rumor of it; our hands become feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain, like a woman in labor. Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear are on every side. O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter weeping; for the ravager shall suddenly come on us. (Jer 6:22-26 MKJV)

Look, your enemies are in an uproar. Those who hate you hold their heads high. They make plans in secret against your people and plot together against those you treasure. They say, "Let's wipe out their nation so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered." They agree completely on their plan. They form an alliance against you: the tents from Edom and Ishmael, Moab and Hagar, Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia, along with those who live in Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them. They helped the descendants of Lot. Selah (Psa 83:2-8 GW)

In Warning #1: Captivity by the King of Assyria, I warned about the captivity that the King of Assyria would bring, but the warning in this Isaiah's End Times Timeline is of war and famine that are coming. The spirit of ancient Assyria (modern day Syria, Iraq, and Iran) is the great sword that is coming upon our land today and I believe that many people will die from their horsemen.

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. (Isa 10:5-6 KJV)

They shall put you out of the synagogue. But an hour is coming that everyone who kills you will think that he bears God service. And they will do these things to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. (Joh 16:2-3 MKJV)

Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the LORD. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword." "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'" Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. (Jer 5:15-21 ESV)

Violent horsemen who live in the desert (ancient Chaldea) will be a part of the Assyrian army that will bring war and famine against us.

"Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. They are dreaded and fearsome; their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence, all their faces forward. They gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god!" Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof.” (Hab 1:5-12 ESV)

God warned us about them from the beginning.

Jehovah shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand, a nation fierce of face who shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young. And he shall eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land, until you are destroyed. He shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or flocks of your sheep, until he has destroyed you. And he shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down, throughout all the land. And he shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Jehovah your God has given you. (Deu 28:49-52 MKJV)

Behold the land of the Chaldeans! This people did not exist. Assyria founded it for those who live in the desert. They set up their siege-towers; they stripped its palaces. They made it a ruin. (Isa 23:13 MKJV)

The horsemen from Elam (ancient Persia) and Kir (ancient Media), who are also all a part of the Assyrian Kingdom, are also waiting at the gate.

This is a message about the Valley of Vision. What is happening? Why are all the people of the city celebrating on the roofs of the houses? The whole city is in an uproar, filled with noise and excitement. Your people who died in this war did not die fighting. All your leaders ran away and were captured before they shot a single arrow. Now leave me alone to weep bitterly over all those of my people who have died. Don't try to comfort me. This is a time of panic, defeat, and confusion in the Valley of Vision, and the Sovereign LORD Almighty has sent it on us. The walls of our city have been battered down, and cries for help have echoed among the hills. The soldiers from the land of Elam came riding on horseback, armed with bows and arrows. Soldiers from the land of Kir had their shields ready. The fertile valleys of Judah were filled with chariots; soldiers on horseback stood in front of Jerusalem's gates. All of Judah's defenses crumbled. When that happened, you brought weapons out of the arsenal. You found the places where the walls of Jerusalem needed repair. You inspected all the houses in Jerusalem and tore some of them down to get stones to repair the city walls. In order to store water, (SEE 22:9) you built a reservoir inside the city to hold the water flowing down from the old pool. But you paid no attention to God, who planned all this long ago and who caused it to happen. The Sovereign LORD Almighty was calling you then to weep and mourn, to shave your heads and wear sackcloth. Instead, you laughed and celebrated. You killed sheep and cattle to eat, and you drank wine. You said, "We might as well eat and drink! Tomorrow we'll be dead." The Sovereign LORD Almighty himself spoke to me and said, "This evil will never be forgiven them as long as they live. I, the Sovereign LORD Almighty, have spoken." (Isa 22:1-14 GNB)

I looked, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the face of Jehovah, before His fierce anger. For so Jehovah has said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end. The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not repent, nor will I turn back from it. Every city shall flee from the sound of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up among the rocks. All the city is abandoned, and not a man shall live in them. And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you dress with crimson, though you put on ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes large with paint, you shall make yourself beautiful in vain; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter, gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe to me now! For my soul faints because of murderers. (Jer 4:26-31 MKJV)

Those who leave spiritual Jerusalem at this time and return to spiritual Egypt will look to Egyptian horsemen to help them flee and to protect them instead of King Jesus.

For so says the Lord Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and rest you shall be saved; and in quietness and hope shall be your strength. And you were not willing. But you said, No; for we will flee on a horse. Therefore you shall flee. And you said, We will ride on the swift; therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five you shall flee, until you are left as a pole on the top of a mountain, and as a sign on a hill. And so Jehovah waits to be gracious to you. And therefore He is exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For Jehovah is a God of judgment; blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isa 30:15-18 MKJV)

We should not put our trust in Egypt's horsemen, for they are only men, not gods.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and lean on horses and trust in chariots, because it is great; and in horsemen, because they are so very strong, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor do they seek Jehovah! Yet He also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back His Words, but will arise against the house of evil-doers and against the help of those who work iniquity. And Egypt is a man, and not God; and their horses are flesh, and not Spirit. When Jehovah shall stretch out His hand, both he who helps shall fall, and he who is helped shall fall down, and they shall all cease together. (Isa 31:1-3 MKJV)

God is using ancient Assyrian horsemen to get our attention and to turn us (the sisters, or Seven Churches) back to him so that He can heal us, bring us back together again, and to protect us because the King of Babylon is rising in power.

The King of Babylon will come and conquer spiritual Egypt and he and his horsemen will have the power to “kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” (Fourth seal – pale horse, horseman’s name is death)

For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, So that none of the remnant of Judah who has gone into the land of Egypt to live there shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah to which they have a desire to return to live there. For none shall return except those who escape. (Jer 44:13-14 MKJV)

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!" When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Rev 6:1-17 ESV)

And I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked. And behold! Four chariots were coming from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. Red horses were in the first chariot; and in the second chariot black horses; and in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot horses with dappled, strong colors. And I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel answered and said to me, These are the four spirits of the heavens who go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses in it go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the dappled go forth to a south country. And the strong colored ones went forth and sought to go, so to walk to and fro through the earth. And he said, Go! Walk to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and fro through the earth. And he cried to me and spoke to me, saying, Behold, these who go toward the north country have caused My Spirit to rest in the north country. And the Word of Jehovah came to me saying, Take from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, from the exiles who have come from Babylon; and in that day you go and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. And take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And speak to him, saying, So speaks Jehovah of Hosts, saying, Behold the Man whose name is The BRANCH! And He shall spring up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of Jehovah. Even He shall build the temple of Jehovah; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne. And He shall be a priest on His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the crowns shall be for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah to Helem and to Tobijah and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah. And the distant ones shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah, and you shall know that Jehovah of Hosts has sent me to you. And this shall be, if you will carefully obey the voice of Jehovah your God. (Zec 6:1-15 MKJV)

The horse is prepared against the day of battle; but victory is of the LORD.

(Pro 21:31 JPS)

Before God punishes the King of Assyria, he will be allowed to strike Jerusalem (spiritual and natural). That means he will attack the Christians and their land, and the Jews and their land with sword and famine.

And it will be, when the Lord has broken off all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his high looks. For he says, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am wise. And I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the people like a strong man. And my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth; and there was none who moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. Shall the axe boast itself against him who chops with it? Shall the saw magnify itself against him who moves it? As if the rod could wave those who lift itself up! As if a staff could raise what is not wood! Therefore the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones; and under his glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and His Holy One as a flame; and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day. And it shall burn up the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a sick one faints. And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a boy might write them. And it shall be in that day, the remnant of Israel, and those who have escaped from the house of Jacob, shall never again lean on him who struck them; but truly lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. (Isa 10:12-21 MKJV)

When the King of Assyria has been punished, then the King of Babylon will take his place. The King of Babylon is the Antichrist. The books of the Prophets make this clear. Then the Beast of Revelation will arise and the Harlot (Babylon) will be riding upon him. But God has promised from the beginning that He would lead His redeemed people back to His city on His highway in the midst of great judgments - just like the plagues that came upon Egypt by the hand of Moses. King Jesus has been given authority by God to do just that and He gave us details of these judgments in the book of Revelation so that we would know what to expect.

And Jehovah shall strike Egypt; He shall strike and heal; and they shall return to Jehovah, and He shall hear them and shall heal them. In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt shall serve with Assyria. In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land; whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance. (Isa 19:22-25 MKJV)

And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall again set His hand, the second time, to recover the remnant of His people that remains, from Assyria and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Persia, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the coasts of the sea. And He shall lift up a banner for the nations, and shall gather the outcasts of Israel and gather together the scattered ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth. And the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the foes of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not trouble Ephraim. But they shall fly on the shoulders of the Philistines to the west; they shall spoil the sons of the east together; they shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; and the sons of Ammon shall obey them. And Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His scorching wind He shall shake His hand over the River, and shall strike it into seven streams, and make one tread it with shoes. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of His people, those left from Assyria; as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:11-16 MKJV)

"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. "And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' (Hos 2:14-16 ESV)

People of Jerusalem, open your gates! Repair the road to the city and clear it of stones; raise a banner to help the nations find their way. Here is what the LORD has said for all the earth to hear: "Soon I will come to save the city of Zion, and to reward you. Then you will be called, 'The LORD's Own People, The Ones He Rescued!' Your city will be known as a good place to live and a city full of people." (Isa 62:10-12 CEV)

Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. (Isa 51:11 KJV)

It is time for us to consecrate a fast from doing things our way and get back to the ancient highway that will lead us to New Jerusalem. That is where King Jesus has provisions for us and will protect us and give us rest. We have a part in helping lead others back to the safety of God’s city on His highway. We do this by walking in His love. (Read “Love Your Neighbor#6 Pledge” in my Bible Study - www.basiclovetraining.org.)

People from all nations and religions will look to King Jesus and will follow Him. They will start listening to His teachers and will be trained in His love. It is time to repair the breach in the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Example #4

2009-05-14T08:38:00.002-04:00

Example #4: Ezra

This Ezra went up from Babylon; and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. (Ezr 7:6-10 KJV)

And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, set officers and judges who may judge all the people who are Beyond the River, all who know the Laws of your God; and teach them who do not know. And whoever will not do the Law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it is to death, or to exile, or to confiscation of goods, or imprisonment. Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah in Jerusalem, and has extended mercy before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was made strong as the hand of Jehovah my God was on me, and I gathered out of Israel chief men to go up with me. (Ezr 7:25-28 MKJV)

And at the end of these things, the rulers came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands. But they are doing according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons. So the holy seed has mixed themselves with the people of those lands. Yes, the hand of the leaders and overseers has been chief in this sin. And when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down stricken dumb. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel was gathered to me, because of the sin of those who had been exiled. And I remained dumb until the evening sacrifice. And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my affliction. And tearing my garment and my mantle, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Jehovah my God. And I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to You, my God. For our iniquities have increased over our heads, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers we have been in a great sin until this day. And for our iniquities we, our kings, our priests, have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to shame of face, as it is this day. And now for a little time grace has been shown from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in His holy place, so that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a little life in our bondage. For we were slaves, yet our God has not left us in our bondage, but has given mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us some life, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its waste, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, The land into which you go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to the other with their uncleanness. And now do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever, so that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your sons forever. And after all that has come on us for our evil deeds and for our great sin, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such an escape as this, should we again break Your commandments and join hands with the people of these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had crushed us, until there is no remnant nor survivor? O Jehovah, the God of Israel, You are righteous. For we are left a remnant that has escaped, as today. Behold, we are before You in our sins, for we cannot stand before You because of this.
(Ezr 9:1-15 MKJV)

And when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there gathered to him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children, for the people wept with a great weeping. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have sinned against our God and have taken strange women from the people of the land. Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. And now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the women, and such as have been born of them, according to the counsel of the Lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. And let it be done according to the Law. Arise, for this matter belongs to you. We also will be with you. Be of good courage and act. Then Ezra arose and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swore. Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the room of Johanan the son of Eliashib. And he went there, and he ate no bread nor drank water. For he mourned because of the sin of those who had been exiled. And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the sons of the captivity, to gather themselves to Jerusalem, and that who ever would not come within three days, according to the advice of the rulers and the elders, all he owned would be lost, and he himself separated from the congregation of the exiles. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves to Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month. And all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, You have sinned, and have taken strange women to increase the sin of Israel. And now confess to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure. And separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange women. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As you have said, so we must do. (Ezr 10:1-12 MKJV)

Ezra mourned because of the guilt of the people who had left their captivity in Babylon and came back to Jerusalem to live and to rebuild the city and house of God. He was astonished at the unfaithfulness and disobedience of the people to God's command to be separate from the peoples of other lands. Their leaders were the main ones committing this sin - taking foreign wives. Because of Ezra's teaching, the people recognized their guilt and asked Ezra to help them make it right with God again, according to God's Law.

And all the people gathered themselves as one man into the street before the water gate. And they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read in it before the street in front of the Water Gate from the morning until noon, in front of the men and the women, and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people listened to the Book of the Law. And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, amen, lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. And Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the Law. And the people were in their place. And they read in the Book of the Law of God, clearly. And they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God. Do not mourn or weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, Go eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared. For this day is holy to our LORD. And do not be sorry, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength. And the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be quiet, for the day is holy. And do not be grieved. And all the people went to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words which were declared to them. And on the second day the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the Law. And they found written in the Law which Jehovah had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month, and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mountain and bring olive branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. And the people went out and brought in, and made themselves booths, each one upon his roof, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the Water Gate, and in the street of the Gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of those who had come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths. For since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read in the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth was an assembly, according to the Law. (Neh 8:1-18 MKJV)

And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful God, who keeps covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble that has come upon us, on our kings, on our rulers, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day, seem little before You. But You are just in all that is brought upon us, for You have done right, but we have done wickedly. And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers, have not kept Your Law, nor listened to Your commandments and Your words with which You testified against them. For they have not served You in their kingdom, and in Your great goodness which You gave them, and in the large and rich land which You gave before them, and they did not turn from their wicked works. Behold, we are servants today. And the land that You gave to our fathers to eat its fruit, and its good, behold, we are servants in it. And it yields much increase to the kings whom You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we are cutting a sure covenant, and write it, and our princes, Levites, and priests are sealing it.
(Neh 9:32-38 MKJV)

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Event #4

2009-04-08T09:12:00.002-04:00

Event #4: Time of Returning and Provision –
In this event, I believe all the generations that I have been writing about in the previous end times events will meet and come to a Y in the road. They will have to make a decision to either follow King Jesus (the Good Shepherd) or the King of Babylon.

A lot has happened to get them to this point. Because of their disobedience, rebellion, idolatry, and unfaithfulness, God has allowed His people to be carried away into captivity by the King of Babylon.

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house. (Eze 12:1-2 ESV)

Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.' Say, 'I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.' And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. They shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. And I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, and may know that I am the LORD."
(Eze 12:10-16 ESV)

The LORD spoke his word to me. He said, "Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful to me. I will use my power against it, cut off its food supply, send a famine to it, and destroy its people and animals. Even if these three men-Noah, Daniel, and Job-were in that country, they would, by their righteousness, rescue only themselves," declares the Almighty LORD. "Suppose I send wild animals through that country and they make it childless and turn it into such a wasteland that no one travels through it because of the animals. As I live, declares the Almighty LORD, not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could rescue their own sons or daughters. They could rescue only themselves. And the country would become a wasteland. "Suppose I bring a war against that country by saying, 'I will let a war go throughout this country.' Suppose I destroy the people and the animals in it. As I live, declares the Almighty LORD, not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could rescue their sons or daughters. They could rescue only themselves. "Suppose I send a plague into that country or pour out my fury on it by killing people and destroying animals. As I live, declares the Almighty LORD, not even Noah, Daniel, and Job could, by their righteousness, rescue their sons or daughters. They could rescue only themselves. "This is what the Almighty LORD says: I will surely send four terrible punishments against Jerusalem. I will send wars, famines, wild animals, and plagues. They will destroy people and animals. But some people will survive. Some of your sons and daughters will be brought out. When they come out to you, you will see how they live. Then you will be comforted after the disasters that I will bring on Jerusalem, after every disaster that I will bring against it. You will be comforted when you see how they live. Then you will know that everything I have done was done for a reason," declares the Almighty LORD.
(Eze 14:12-23 GW)

For thus saith the Lord GOD: How much more when I send My four sore judgments against Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beasts, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast. (Eze 14:21 JPS)

Because of war, famine, wild animals (or evil beasts), plagues, and their captivity, the people will cry out to God because of their affliction and adversity. This event is found in our continuance in Isaiah.

And so Jehovah waits to be gracious to you. And therefore He is exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For Jehovah is a God of judgment; blessed are all those who wait for Him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more; He will be very gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. And Jehovah gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction; yet your teachers shall not be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. You shall also defile the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away like a menstruous cloth. You shall say to it, Get away. Then He shall give the rain for your seed, with which you sow the ground. And the bread of the produce of the earth also shall be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle shall feed in large pastures. Also the oxen and the young asses that plow the ground shall eat clean fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.
(Isa 30:18-24 MKJV)

Eyes will be opened and they will see their teachers. These are the teachers that were being grown in Event#2/Warning #2. Ears will be opened and they will listen to these "last days" teachers.

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling, (Isa 30:15 ESV)

For precept must be on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; for with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest; cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing. Yet they were not willing to hear. (Isa 28:10-12 MKJV)

Therefore so says Jehovah, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall his face now become pale. But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, they shall sanctify My name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. Those who erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and those who murmured shall learn doctrine. (Isa 29:22-24 MKJV)

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and rulers shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen. And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of those who stutter shall be ready to speak plainly. (Isa 32:1-4 MKJV)

The teachers that have been hidden are going to help us understand how we have been unfaithful to King Jesus. They will explain why we need to return to King Jesus and not follow the King of Babylon.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. (Psa 73:27 ESV)

They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet come back to Me, says Jehovah. (Jer 3:1 MKJV)

The teachers are going to help the people understand the story of King Jesus and His Bride. They will explain the Parable of the Two Sisters - Israel and Judah, and how it relates to modern day Israel and the Church. The daughters will start to listen.

Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. (Isa 32:9 ESV)

They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet come back to Me, says Jehovah. Lift up your eyes to the high places, and see. Where have you not been lain with? By the highways you have sat for them, like the Arabian in the wilderness; and you have defiled the land with your fornications and with your wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot's forehead, you refused to be ashamed. Will you not from this time cry to Me, My father, You are the guide of my youth? Will He keep His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done all the evil things you could do. Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has fornicated there. And I said after she had done all these things, Turn to Me! But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes for which backsliding Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave a bill of divorce to her, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went and whored, she also. And it happened, from the folly of her whoredom, she defiled the land and fornicated with stones and stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says Jehovah. And Jehovah said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O backsliding Israel, says Jehovah; and I will not cause My anger to fall on you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have sinned against Jehovah your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says Jehovah. Turn, O backsliding sons, says Jehovah; for I am married to you; and I will take you one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it will be when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah! Nor shall it come to mind; nor shall they remember it; nor shall they visit it; nor shall it be made any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. Nor shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers. But I said, How shall I put you among the sons, and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful inheritance among the hosts of nations? And I said, You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not turn away from Me. Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. A voice was heard on the high places weeping, cryings of the sons of Israel; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten Jehovah their God. Return, O backsliding sons, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You; for You are Jehovah our God. Truly, for delusion comes from the high hills, tumult on the mountains. Truly, in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame has eaten up the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
(Jer 3:1-25 MKJV)

Yet the LORD heard them when they cried out, and he took notice of their distress. For their sake he remembered his covenant, and because of his great love he relented. He made all their oppressors feel sorry for them. Save us, O LORD our God, and bring us back from among the nations, so that we may be thankful and praise your holy name. Praise the LORD, the God of Israel; praise him now and forever! Let everyone say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!
(Psa 106:44-48 GNB)

Only King Jesus can set us free from our captivity and bring us back to Zion. The teachers who are arising will know what is on God's heart and will "feed" us with God's knowledge and understanding. The provision that we need to strenghten us as we return to His city will increase and rain will come for the seed in the ground - the promised "latter rain".

"and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Joh 8:32 ESV)

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. " (Joh 8:36 ESV)

But you, O LORD, are king forever; all generations will remember you. You will rise and take pity on Zion; the time has come to have mercy on her; this is the right time. Your servants love her, even though she is destroyed; they have pity on her, even though she is in ruins. The nations will fear the LORD; all the kings of the earth will fear his power. When the LORD rebuilds Zion, he will reveal his greatness. He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer. Write down for the coming generation what the LORD has done, so that people not yet born will praise him. The LORD looked down from his holy place on high, he looked down from heaven to earth. He heard the groans of prisoners and set free those who were condemned to die. And so his name will be proclaimed in Zion, and he will be praised in Jerusalem when nations and kingdoms come together and worship the LORD.
(Psa 102:12-22 GNB)

The reason why I suffer...

2009-02-22T09:35:00.002-05:00

Normally I am on the go constantly, so getting sick was not something I had planned on this week. It is hard for me to slow down and rest. But there is another reason why I try to avoid slowing down right now because that is when feelings of depression and hopelessness seem to grow and try to take over me. The other night those feelings took advantage of my physical weakness and tried to overwhelm me. In my pain, I was thrown into a battle in my mind in order to try to understand why I am going through some personal suffering in my family right now. But instead of giving in to my feelings of despair, I grabbed my Bible and started reading these scriptures:

Christ suffered here on earth. Now you must be ready to suffer as he did, because suffering shows that you have stopped sinning. It means you have turned from your own desires and want to obey God for the rest of your life. You have already lived long enough like people who don't know God. You were immoral and followed your evil desires. You went around drinking and partying and carrying on. In fact, you even worshiped disgusting idols. Now your former friends wonder why you have stopped running around with them, and they curse you for it. But they will have to answer to God, who judges the living and the dead. (1Pe 4:1-5 CEV)

Through the words of Peter, the Lord was helping me understand the reason why I was suffering. Suffering for Christians didn’t stop at the cross. Suffering, for the right reasons, was something that I needed to be ready for and it would help me know who is really in control of my life. Jesus suffered physically and emotionally here on earth and was our example on how to live in a sinful world. So for me to live my life free from sin in this world, I too will suffer physically and emotionally.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (1Pe 4:1 KJV)

In the movie, "The Da Vinci Code", there was a monk who purposely inflicted pain on himself, thinking it would purge him from his sins and make him stronger. Well, the suffering in the flesh that Peter talks about in the scriptures above is not this type of self mutilation. How do we suffer in the flesh? Talk to the recovering alcoholic, talk to the former adulterer, talk to the former gang member, talk to anyone who used to party and follow the "in" crowd. They will all tell you that in order to stop doing those things, they had to suffer in their flesh or body - physically and emotionally. How did they get to that point? They made a decision to change. So, daily they have to arm themselves in their minds to not give in to what they used to do. They have to deal with rejection, insults, and cruelty from their former friends. The great thing, though, is that as Christians, we have someone who will help us in our suffering and will strengthen us each day to live a life free from the bondage of all our sins. He is the Holy Spirit!

The enemy of our souls wants us to "feel good" and be numb to our pain and suffering so that he can inflict even more pain on us in order to destroy us. The Holy Spirit, our Master Trainer, wants us to feel our pain so that He can help us through it to strengthen us. A good soldier or athlete welcomes pain because it makes him stronger. Christians need to become more like disciplined soldiers. The spiritual battle is in our minds as we choose to either give in to what our flesh wants us to do or we choose to take a stand and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. The only way to stay armed and protected is to put on the whole armor of God and stay in continual training as a soldier in His army. This is what Paul talked about in the book of Ephesians.

Being lukewarm and getting comfortable in what we want to do and how we want to worship God just lets our defenses down. If you talk to any soldier who has been out in the battlefield, they will tell you that you could get injured or lose your life if you let your guard down. That is what idol worship does. Modern day idols are found on the TV, in movies, books, music, associated with food, beverages, and drugs. They are everywhere and we are so blinded by them!!! That is why it is SO important to guard what we put in to our minds.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. (1Pe 4:7-8 ESV)

Israel was divided and then eventually destroyed because of her idol worship. The more she got comfortable with the nations where she learned the practice of idolatry, letting them into her city and showing them her riches, that is when she let her guard down and they attacked her over and over again, eventually destroying her. This is what happens to our minds when we compromise with the world and justify the things we do that go against God's will for us.

Where are the radical Christians who hate sin but who fervently love Jesus and their neighbors? Only the love of God will win the war that we are in. We have to be in continual love training. We must really understand how God wants us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and how He wants us to love others. The enemy is attacking and he is coming to destroy our city! Judgment is coming…

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1Pe 4:12-19 ESV)

The reason why there aren't more radical Christians out there is because we are afraid of persecution. We are afraid to suffer. It hurts deeply to be rejected by the people we love and care about; especially if they are rejecting us because they don't believe the same way we do about Jesus. But we shouldn't be surprised by this. This will happen to test our faith.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1Pe 5:6-10 ESV)

So we need to rejoice, keep doing good, love fervently, be firm in our faith, and humble ourselves during our trials. Then at the right time, God's mighty hand will lift us up and will restore us and our relationships, He will confirm to us who we are in Him, and He will strengthen and establish us as mighty soldiers in His army. We will be prepared and will stand strong when the end comes. The end is just the beginning of something new and beautiful though - no more suffering, no more pain, no more tears, no more separation, just life eternal with King Jesus!

I needed this reminder on why I suffer and I hope you did, too!

http://www.basiclovetraining.org/

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Warning #3

2008-12-13T10:56:00.002-05:00

Warning #3: Captivity by the King of Babylon
Jeremiah's message of warning was not just for Judah and Jerusalem - it was for our modern-day nations, too. God appointed Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations (Jer. 1:10), Jewish and Gentile. His message of warning is for any nation that does evil and does not obey God's commands, forgetting God and doing things their own way. This evil is not just found in unbelieving nations, but it is found in nations where the Church has made her home. You see, the Church is repeating Israel's history in the nations where she has chosen to live.

The Word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My Words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was working a work on the wheel. And the vessel that he made in clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, As the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. The instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. And the instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it; if it does evil in My sight, not to obey My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good. Now then please, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah: Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own ways, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore so says Jehovah, Ask now among the nations; who has heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the old paths, to walk in by-paths, not in the highway, to make their land desolate and a hissing forever. Everyone who passes by will be amazed, and will wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. Then they said, Come and let us plot schemes against Jeremiah. For the Law shall not perish from the priest, nor wisdom from the wise, nor the Word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words. Pay attention to me; O Jehovah, and attend to the voice of my foes. Should evil be repaid for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before You to do good for them, and to turn away Your wrath from them. Therefore deliver up their sons to the famine, and give them over to the hand of the sword. And let their wives be bereaved, and widows, and their men be slain of death; let their young men be struck by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You suddenly bring a raiding party on them. For they have dug a pit to take me, and have hidden snares for my feet. Yet, Jehovah, You know all their counsel against me to kill me. Do not forgive their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight, but let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger. (Jer 18:1-23 MKJV)

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring to this city, and on all its towns, all the evil that I have spoken against it, because they have stiffened their necks in order not to hear My Words. (Jer 19:15 LITV)

The Church hasn't learned from the mistakes of her Mother. The virgin daughters that make up the Church have done a very horrible thing by going back to their old ways, forgetting their King and all He has done for them, and for refusing to hear His voice.

(See these previous blog entries: The Ten Virgins, Laodicea, and Pergamum)

We have sinned as our ancestors did; we have been wicked and evil. Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God's wonderful acts; they forgot the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. He gave a command to the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led his people across on dry land. He saved them from those who hated them; he rescued them from their enemies. But the water drowned their enemies; not one of them was left. Then his people believed his promises and sang praises to him. But they quickly forgot what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice. They were filled with craving in the desert and put God to the test; so he gave them what they asked for, but also sent a terrible disease among them. There in the desert they were jealous of Moses and of Aaron, the LORD's holy servant. Then the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and his family; fire came down on their followers and burned up those wicked people. They made a gold bull-calf at Sinai and worshiped that idol; they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an animal that eats grass. They forgot the God who had saved them by his mighty acts in Egypt. What wonderful things he did there! What amazing things at the Red Sea! When God said that he would destroy his people, his chosen servant, Moses, stood up against God and kept his anger from destroying them. Then they rejected the pleasant land, because they did not believe God's promise. They stayed in their tents and grumbled and would not listen to the LORD. So he have them a solomn warning that he would make them die in the desert and scatter their descendants among the heathen, letting them die in foreign countries. Then at Peor, God's people joined in the worship of Baal and ate sacrifices offered to dead gods. They stirred up the LORD's anger by their actions, and a terrible disease broke out among them. But Phinehas stood up and punished the guilty, and the plague was stopped. This has been remembered in his favor ever since and will be for all time to come. At the springs of Meribah the people made the LORD angry, and Moses was in trouble on their account. They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think. They did not kill the heathen, as the LORD had commanded them to do, but they intermarried with them and adopted their pagan ways. God's people worshiped idols, and this caused their destruction. They offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan. They killed those innocent children, and the land was defiled by those murders. They made themselves impure by their actions and were unfaithful to God. So the LORD was angry with his people; he was disgusted with them. He abandoned them to the power of the heathen, and their enemies ruled over them. They were oppressed by their enemies and were in complete subjection to them. Many times the LORD rescued his people, but they chose to rebel against him and sank deeper into sin. (Psa 106:6-43 GNB)

The majority of the Church today is showing herself more like a daughter of Egypt. Her pagan ways have weakened her defenses so the King of Babylon is coming to take her captive. He has already invaded other nations in the East. His eyes are set now on the nations of the West and he is sharpening his sword. There still is hope for the Church, though, if she would just confess her sins and soften her heart towards her King. He will remember His covenant with her and won't destroy her completely. He will rescue her from her captivity and will lead His chosen remnant to Zion.

"Don't make idols for yourselves; don't set up an image or a sacred pillar for yourselves, and don't place a carved stone in your land that you can bow down to in worship. I am GOD, your God. "Keep my Sabbaths; treat my Sanctuary with reverence. I am GOD. "If you live by my decrees and obediently keep my commandments, I will send the rains in their seasons, the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. You will thresh until the grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting time; you'll have more than enough to eat and will live safe and secure in your land. "I'll make the country a place of peace--you'll be able to go to sleep at night without fear; I'll get rid of the wild beasts; I'll eliminate war. You'll chase out your enemies and defeat them: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand and do away with them. I'll give you my full attention: I'll make sure you prosper, make sure you grow in numbers, and keep my covenant with you in good working order. You'll still be eating from last year's harvest when you have to clean out the barns to make room for the new crops. "I'll set up my residence in your neighborhood; I won't avoid or shun you; I'll stroll through your streets. I'll be your God; you'll be my people. I am GOD, your personal God who rescued you from Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I ripped off the harness of your slavery so that you can move about freely. "But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you. "And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees. "If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I'll set wild animals on you; they'll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you'll think you are living in a ghost town. "And if even this doesn't work and you refuse my discipline and continue your defiance, then it will be my turn to defy you. I, yes I, will punish you for your sins seven times over: I'll let war loose on you, avenging your breaking of the covenant; when you huddle in your cities for protection, I'll send a deadly epidemic on you and you'll be helpless before your enemies; when I cut off your bread supply, ten women will bake bread in one oven and ration it out. You'll eat, but barely--no one will get enough. "And if this--even this!--doesn't work and you still won't listen, still defy me, I'll have had enough and in hot anger will defy you, punishing you for your sins seven times over: famine will be so severe that you'll end up cooking and eating your sons in stews and your daughters in barbecues; I'll smash your sex-and-religion shrines and all the paraphernalia that goes with them, and then stack your corpses and the idol-corpses in the same piles--I'll abhor you; I'll turn your cities into rubble; I'll clean out your sanctuaries; I'll hold my nose at the "pleasing aroma" of your sacrifices. I'll turn your land into a lifeless moonscape--your enemies who come in to take over will be shocked at what they see. I'll scatter you all over the world and keep after you with the point of my sword in your backs. There'll be nothing left in your land, nothing going on in your cities. With you gone and dispersed in the countries of your enemies, the land, empty of you, will finally get a break and enjoy its Sabbath years. All the time it's left there empty, the land will get rest, the Sabbaths it never got when you lived there. "As for those among you still alive, I'll give them over to fearful timidity--even the rustle of a leaf will throw them into a panic. They'll run here and there, back and forth, as if running for their lives even though no one is after them, tripping and falling over one another in total confusion. You won't stand a chance against an enemy. You'll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up. Any who are left will slowly rot away in the enemy lands. Rot. And all because of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestors' sins. "On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I'll remember my covenant with Abraham. And I'll remember the land. "The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they're gone. They'll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won't reject or abhor or destroy them completely. I won't break my covenant with them: I am GOD, their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I, with all the nations watching, brought out of Egypt in order to be their God. I am GOD." These are the decrees, laws, and instructions that GOD established between himself and the People of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. (Lev 26:1-46 MSG)

"In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, 'Come, let us join ourselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.' "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, 'We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.' "Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock.
(Jer 50:4-8 ESV)

I am the Good Shepherd, and I know those that are Mine, and I am known by those who are Mine. Even as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also lead those, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd. (Joh 10:14-16 MKJV)

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Example #3

2008-11-19T05:48:00.003-05:00

Example #3: Jeremiah and the Remnant of Judah

The northern kingdom of Israel had already been captured by the king of Babylon and now Nebuchadnezzar had his sights set on the southern kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. The city had already been attacked by him and a lot of people and the temple articles had already been carried away to Babylon. Jeremiah had warned them, but the people didn't want to hear the voice of the Lord. Now that only a remnant lived there, they were tired of the war and wanted peace. They had very little food and were afraid of the king of Babylon. They thought that if they went back to Egypt, they would find peace, safety, and food. They were terribly wrong, though.

Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least to the greatest, came near and said to Jeremiah the prophet, "Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant--because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us-- that the LORD your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do." Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your request, and whatever the LORD answers you I will tell you. I will keep nothing back from you." Then they said to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God." At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, and said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the LORD, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. But if you say, 'We will not remain in this land,' disobeying the voice of the LORD your God and saying, 'No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,' then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them. "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, 'Do not go to Egypt.' Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, 'Pray for us to the LORD our God, and whatever the LORD our God says declare to us and we will do it.' And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live." (Jer 42:1-22 ESV)

When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the LORD their God, with which the LORD their God had sent him to them, Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie. The LORD our God did not send you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to live there,' but Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon." So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven-- the men, the women, the children, the princesses, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the LORD. And they arrived at Tahpanhes. Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes: "Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. (Jer 43:1-12 ESV)

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Event #3

2008-11-08T08:43:00.002-05:00

Event #3: Time of Rebellion and Captivity –

"Ah, stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. For though his officials are at Zoan and his envoys reach Hanes, everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace." An oracle on the beasts of the Negeb. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from where come the lioness and the lion, the adder and the flying fiery serpent, they carry their riches on the backs of donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people that cannot profit them. Egypt's help is worthless and empty; therefore I have called her "Rahab who sits still." And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever. For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; who say to the seers, "Do not see," and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel." Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling, and you said, "No! We will flee upon horses"; therefore you shall flee away; and, "We will ride upon swift steeds"; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. (Isa 30:1-18 ESV)

In BLT Level 4 - Lesson 19: The Sword and the Captivity, I explain that instead of trusting in King Jesus to give us what we need and to deliver us, a part of the faithful Church has gone back into the old ways of her flesh, back into Egypt to become a daughter of Egypt. Those who are rebelling have left "spiritual Jerusalem" and are now citizens of "spiritual Egypt".

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (Rev 11:8 KJV)

In my blog entry - "The Church in Ephesus", I explain how cities in the Bible have spiritual counterparts. Citizens of spiritual Egypt are rebelling against God's plan for their lives and they don't want to hear the Word of the Lord. Instead, they get their counsel from worldly sources and they reject the Truth. They are also liars who are trying to hide the sin in their lives. They believe that they are safe in the lifestyle that they now live in spiritual Egypt. If they go to Church, they only want to hear good things, not things that would convict them. They only want to hear sermons on peace and prosperity, not the judgment of God. They run away when they are convicted and when times get hard for them. Christians who do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives will go back to spiritual Egypt for help - back to the bondage that Jesus delivered them from, but that is a very dangerous place to be.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and lean on horses, and trust on chariotry, because it is great; and in horsemen because they are very strong! But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek Jehovah. And He also is wise, and brings evil, and will not turn aside His Words, but will rise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. And Egypt is a man, and not God. And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. And Jehovah stretches out His hand, and both he who helps shall fall, and he who is helped shall fall; and they shall all cease together. (Isa 31:1-3 LITV)

They will fall because they despise the Word of the Lord. They will be broken suddenly and pursued by the enemy. The king of Babylon will take them as his prisoners and with the sword, he will take over spiritual Egypt. The same punishment and captivity that came upon earthly Jerusalem in the past is coming upon those of the Church (spiritual Jerusalem) who have joined themselves with the spiritual daughter of Egypt. The only way of is escape is if they return by the leading of the Holy Spirit on God's Highway to the Heavenly Jerusalem in Zion. "In returning and rest they will be saved", but if they remain in their city of chosen bondage, they will meet a worse fate.

Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not asleep. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept for judgment; and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people- for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions- then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment, especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority. Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings. Yet even angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous accusation against them from the Lord. These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed, suffering wrong as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you. With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse. They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong. But he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity. These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them. By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him. For if, after escaping the world's corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled and conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud." (2Pe 2:1-22 ISV)

Return to me...

2008-11-05T07:46:00.001-05:00

If you will return, O Israel, says Jehovah, return to Me. And if you will put away your abominations out of your sight, then you shall not be moved. And you shall swear, Jehovah lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory. For so says Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and people of Jerusalem; lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can put it out; because of the evil of your doings. Declare in Judah, and let it be heard in Jerusalem; and say, Blow the trumpet in the land; cry, gather together, and say, Gather yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities. Set up the banner toward Zion; flee for safety and do not wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great ruin. The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations has set out; he has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without inhabitant. Put on sackcloth for this, wail and howl; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us. And it shall be at that day, says Jehovah, the king's heart will perish, and the heart of the rulers; and the priests will be amazed, and the prophets will be astounded. Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; but the sword reaches to the soul. At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind from the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse. A wind more full than these shall come for Me. Now also I will utter judgments against them. Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered! O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart from evil so that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan, and proclaims affliction from mount Ephraim. Tell it to the nations: Behold! proclaim against Jerusalem! Besiegers are going to come from a distant land; and they will set their voice against the cities of Judah. Like watchmen of a field, they are against her all around; because she rebelled against Me, says Jehovah. Your way and your doings have brought these things on you; this is your evil, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart. My bowels, my bowels! I convulse in pain. O walls of my heart! My heart is restless within me; I cannot be silent because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the ram's horn, the alarm of war. Ruin on ruin is cried; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the banner and hear the sound of the ram's horn? For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid sons, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I looked on the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and, lo, they quaked; and all the hills were shaken. I looked, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. I looked, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the face of Jehovah, before His fierce anger. For so Jehovah has said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end. The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not repent, nor will I turn back from it. Every city shall flee from the sound of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up among the rocks. All the city is abandoned, and not a man shall live in them. And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you dress with crimson, though you put on ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes large with paint, you shall make yourself beautiful in vain; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter, gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe to me now! For my soul faints because of murderers.
(Jer 4:1-31 MKJV)

Our Nation is in the Potter's Hand

2008-11-02T22:01:00.002-05:00

The Word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My Words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was working a work on the wheel. And the vessel that he made in clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, As the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. The instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. And the instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it; if it does evil in My sight, not to obey My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good. Now then please, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah: Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own ways, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore so says Jehovah, Ask now among the nations; who has heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the old paths, to walk in by-paths, not in the highway, to make their land desolate and a hissing forever. Everyone who passes by will be amazed, and will wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity. (Jer 18:1-17 MKJV)

The cup of Jehovah given to the Nations:

The Word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; the Word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, that is the twenty-third year, the Word of Jehovah has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking. But you have not listened. And Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but you have not listened nor bowed down your ear to hear. They said, Turn again now, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever. And do not go after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm. Yet you have not listened to Me, says Jehovah, so that you might provoke Me with the works of your hands, for harm to you. Therefore so says Jehovah of Hosts, Because you have not heard My Words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Jehovah, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and will bring them against this land, and against its people, and against all these nations all around. And I will completely destroy them, and make them a waste, and a hissing, and everlasting ruins. And I will take from them the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall be, when seventy years are fulfilled I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, and the land of the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, for their iniquity, and I will make it an everlasting ruin. And I will bring on that land all My Words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall lay service on them also. And I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands. For so says Jehovah, the God of Israel, to me, Take the wine cup of this wrath at My hand, and cause all the nations to whom I shall send you to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be maddened, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then I took the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom Jehovah had sent me. Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings of them, and their rulers, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his servants, and his rulers, and all his people, and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the rest of Ashdod; Edom, and Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands beyond the sea, Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and those who trim the edges of their beards. and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. So you shall say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And it shall be if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, You shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by My name; and should you be found entirely without guilt? You shall not be without guilt. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Jehovah of Hosts. And prophesy against them all these Words, and say to them, Jehovah shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation. He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place. He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes, against all the people of the earth. A noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for Jehovah has a controversy with the nations; He will enter into judgment with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword, says Jehovah. So says Jehovah of Hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be stirred up from the corners of the earth. And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on the ground. Howl, shepherds, and cry; and roll, leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and of your scatterings are fulfilled; and you shall fall like a desirable vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the choice ones of the flock, to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the choice ones of the flock shall be heard; for Jehovah has spoiled their pasture. And the peaceful pastures are cut down because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. Like the lion, He has left His den; for their land is wasted because of the oppressor's pressing fury, and because of His fierce anger. (Jer 25:1-38 MKJV)

The Scariest Thing on Halloween

2008-10-31T08:47:00.002-04:00

*I posted this to my Battlecry blog last year, and I believe it still applies this year, especially with the Presidential Election coming up.
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Many people in America today will be celebrating Halloween by watching scary movies, dressing up in scary costumes, and going to parties with dark themes. Things like ghosts, vampires, and witches might be scary, but as a Christian, these things should not scare us. This is what should scare us:

"But if you refuse to obey me and won't observe my commandments, despising my decrees and holding my laws in contempt by your disobedience, making a shambles of my covenant, I'll step in and pour on the trouble: debilitating disease, high fevers, blindness, your life leaking out bit by bit. You'll plant seed but your enemies will eat the crops. I'll turn my back on you and stand by while your enemies defeat you. People who hate you will govern you. You'll run scared even when there's no one chasing you. "And if none of this works in getting your attention, I'll discipline you seven times over for your sins. I'll break your strong pride: I'll make the skies above you like a sheet of tin and the ground under you like cast iron. No matter how hard you work, nothing will come of it: No crops out of the ground, no fruit off the trees. "If you defy me and refuse to listen, your punishment will be seven times more than your sins: I'll set wild animals on you; they'll rob you of your children, kill your cattle, and decimate your numbers until you'll think you are living in a ghost town. "And if even this doesn't work and you refuse my discipline and continue your defiance, then it will be my turn to defy you. I, yes I, will punish you for your sins seven times over: I'll let war loose on you, avenging your breaking of the covenant; when you huddle in your cities for protection, I'll send a deadly epidemic on you and you'll be helpless before your enemies; when I cut off your bread supply, ten women will bake bread in one oven and ration it out. You'll eat, but barely--no one will get enough. "And if this--even this!--doesn't work and you still won't listen, still defy me, I'll have had enough and in hot anger will defy you, punishing you for your sins seven times over: famine will be so severe that you'll end up cooking and eating your sons in stews and your daughters in barbecues; I'll smash your sex-and-religion shrines and all the paraphernalia that goes with them, and then stack your corpses and the idol-corpses in the same piles--I'll abhor you; I'll turn your cities into rubble; I'll clean out your sanctuaries; I'll hold my nose at the "pleasing aroma" of your sacrifices. I'll turn your land into a lifeless moonscape--your enemies who come in to take over will be shocked at what they see. I'll scatter you all over the world and keep after you with the point of my sword in your backs. There'll be nothing left in your land, nothing going on in your cities. With you gone and dispersed in the countries of your enemies, the land, empty of you, will finally get a break and enjoy its Sabbath years. All the time it's left there empty, the land will get rest, the Sabbaths it never got when you lived there. "As for those among you still alive, I'll give them over to fearful timidity--even the rustle of a leaf will throw them into a panic. They'll run here and there, back and forth, as if running for their lives even though no one is after them, tripping and falling over one another in total confusion. You won't stand a chance against an enemy. You'll perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will eat you up. Any who are left will slowly rot away in the enemy lands. Rot. And all because of their sins, their sins compounded by their ancestors' sins. "On the other hand, if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors, their treacherous betrayal, the defiance that set off my defiance that sent them off into enemy lands; if by some chance they soften their hard hearts and make amends for their sin, I'll remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my covenant with Isaac, and, yes, I'll remember my covenant with Abraham. And I'll remember the land. "The land will be empty of them and enjoy its Sabbaths while they're gone. They'll pay for their sins because they refused my laws and treated my decrees with contempt. But in spite of their behavior, while they are among their enemies I won't reject or abhor or destroy them completely. I won't break my covenant with them: I am GOD, their God. For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I, with all the nations watching, brought out of Egypt in order to be their God. I am GOD." (Lev 26:14-45 MSG)

When you ask Jesus into your heart, you come into covenant with Him. Breaking covenant with Him is a serious and scary thing. My fellow Americans, instead of celebrating this Halloween, lets confess and repent of our sins. Jesus always forgives! If we do, He will remember our land.

Here is an opportunity to pray for our nation this weekend: http://www.thecall.com/

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Warning #2

2008-10-01T22:40:00.003-04:00

Warning #2: God's Wrath is Coming -
In early American times, the Bible used to be the only text book in school. Now it is banned from the teacher's desk and our children have very little knowledge of Scripture. Their knowledge of God is being taught from the doctrine of men, not from God's Word. God's commandments are also being removed from our court houses. We have also accepted other God's and religions into our nation. We worship idols. God's wrath is coming upon us and we don't even realize it!

And if they are bound in chains, and are held in cords of affliction, then He shows them their work, and their sins, that they have behaved themselves proudly. He also opens their ears to teaching, and commands that they return from iniquity. If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in blessedness, and their years in pleasures. But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. But the ungodly in heart heap up wrath; they cry not when He binds them. (Job 36:8-13 MKJV)

God, our Creator, told us everything we needed to know to live our lives, and He even had it written in a book to remind us, but we don't even want to read it. It is now time for the teachers to start teaching from God's Book again!

An instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; bow down your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will speak dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their sons, showing to the generations to come the praises of Jehovah, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done. For He set up a testimony in Jacob, and ordered a Law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their sons; so that the generation to come might know; sons shall be born, and they shall arise and tell their sons, so that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His Commandments; and might not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God.
(Psa 78:1-8 MKJV)

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pe 1:1-11 ESV)

We become unfruitful and blind when we don't supplement our faith with Godly qualities and we forget how the Lord has cleansed us from our sins. Teachers are being grown at this time, though, to remind us of God's promises, prophecies, and commandments in order to prepare the Bride for the coming day of the Lord. This "Josiah generation" are these Churches: Philadelphia and Smyrna.

Dear friends, this is now the second letter I am writing to you. In them I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles. First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us by saying, "What happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation." But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God's word out of water and with water, by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed. Now by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed. Don't forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a 1,000 years, and a 1,000 years are like a single day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, by which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to have him find you without spot or fault and at peace. Think of our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures. And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continually be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people, lest you fall from your secure position. Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen. (2Pe 3:1-18 ISV)

The Book has been opened and fruit is being grown. The last day teachers will speak and you will know them by their fruit.

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Example #2

2008-08-12T20:18:00.003-04:00

Example #2: King Josiah -

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. And he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath. And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And it happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, so that he may count the silver which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. And let them deliver it into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And let them give it to the workers who are in the house of Jehovah, in order to repair the breaks of the house, to carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and cut stone to repair the house. Only, the silver that is given into their hand shall not be reckoned with them, for they are dealing in faithfulness. And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the Book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers, who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a Book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it happened when the king had heard the Words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king, saying, Go inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the Words of this Book which is found. For great is the wrath of Jehovah which is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this Book, to do according to all which is written concerning us. And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. And she lived in Jerusalem in the second part. And they talked with her. And she said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil on this place and on the people of it, all the Words of the Book which the king of Judah has read; because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense to other gods, so that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Jehovah, so you shall say to him, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, The Words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you have humbled yourself before Jehovah, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its people (that they should become a waste and a curse, and have torn your clothes and wept before Me), I have heard you, says Jehovah. Behold, even so I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace. And your eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And they brought the king this word again. (2Ki 22:1-20 MKJV)

Each King of Israel was to write a copy of the Law of God in a book so that he could read it "all the days of his life".

And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write a copy of this Law in a book from before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this Law, and these statutes, to do them, so that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he does not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he may make his days longer in his kingdom, he and his sons, in the midst of Israel. (Deu 17:18-20 MKJV)

Because the kings failed to do this, they and the people of Israel would forget and not obey God's Laws. So, God would send a prophet to them to remind them of what He had said to them. The prophet was usually required to write in a book all the words that God had spoken to them as a reminder for them and for future generations.

And it happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, this Word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Take for yourself a roll of a book, and write in it all the Words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I plan to do to them, that they may each man turn from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah. And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of Jehovah, which He had spoken to him, on a roll of a book. (Jer 36:1-4 MKJV)

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - Event #2

2008-08-07T22:48:00.003-04:00

Ok, now back to my study of end times prophecy and the end times timeline that I am seeing in Isaiah. If you are new to reading my blog, please go back and read over some of the previous entries I have made on End Times Prophecy. My first entry for this study was "A Woman's Perspective on End Time Prophecy".

I am going to break up the events of "Isaiah's End Times Timeline" into sections because they are becoming long. :) For each event, there will be an example and a warning.

Event #2: Time of fruit, when the Book is opened –
I explained in Event #1 how there would be "times of refreshing" from the Lord when He would speak to His people and pour out His Spirit upon them like wine, but unfortunately, during these times, the priests and prophets would eventually become spiritually "drunk" and err in vision. Then a deep sleep would come upon the prophets and their eyes would be closed, as if they were blind. Their vision would become "like the words of a book that is sealed". Their wisdom would perish and their understanding would be hidden. People heart's would then be far from God and their fear of God would be "taught by the command of men".

It shall even be as when a hungry one dreams, and behold, he eats, but he wakes and his soul is empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and behold, he is faint and his soul is longing. So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations who fight against mount Zion. Stand still and wonder! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For Jehovah has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; He has covered the prophets and your heads, the seers. And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who knows books saying, Please read this; and he says, I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him who does not know books, saying, Please read this; and he says, I do not know books. And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men; therefore, behold, I will go on doing among this people, a wonder, even a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the understanding of their intelligent ones shall be hidden. (Isa 29:8-14 MKJV)

Despite all of this, there is a prophecy where those who are deaf will "hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see." Those who erred in their visions will come to understand and those who murmured and taught the wrong doctrine will accept correction and instruction from the Lord. This is the time of fruit when the book is opened.

Ah, you who hide deep from the LORD your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?" You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, "He has no understanding"? Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to do evil shall be cut off, who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right. Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: "Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. For when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in awe of the God of Israel. And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction." (Isa 29:15-24 ESV)

Now go, write it before them in a tablet, and note it in a book, so that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, (Isa 30:8 MKJV)

A "book" of end time visions is mentioned in Habakkuk and Daniel.

And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain on the tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is still for an appointed time, but it speaks to the end, and it does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not tarry. (Hab 2:2-3 MKJV)

But you, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Dan 12:4 MKJV)

And I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, O my lord, what shall be the end of these things? And He said, Go, Daniel! For the words are closed up and sealed until the end-time. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried. But the wicked shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. (Dan 12:8-10 MKJV)

This book is opened and read at the "time of the end". That is when its words and vision will be understood.

And I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel showing me these things. Then he said to me, Behold! See, do not do it! For I am your fellow-servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the Words of this Book. Do worship to God. And he said to me, Do not seal the Words of the prophecy of this Book; for the time is at hand. (Rev 22:8-10 MKJV)

King Jesus is the one who, by His Spirit, gives us understanding of this Book of End Times Vision/Prophecy - the sealed book of the Prophets. Each Prophet contributed to it and had the job of preserving the Words. Jesus is the final Prophet to contribute to it and He also testifies to the Words in it.

I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let the one who is thirsty come. And he willing, let him take of the Water of Life freely. For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book. And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book. He who testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly, Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen. (Rev 22:16-21 MKJV)

It is time for the end times teachers and leaders to open their eyes, be sober, and let the Holy Spirit give them understanding of this Book of End Times Vision/Prophecy.

Isaiah's End Times Timeline - an explanation

2008-07-21T10:35:00.002-04:00

I know it has been a while since I posted, and I'm sorry for that. Our family has been dealing with some issues and the enemy has tried to silence me because of that, but I am not giving up and our family will overcome these matters. I ask that you would pray for reconciliation and a change of heart for all of us. Thanks!

Now, I wanted to get back to "Isaiah's End Times Timeline" but before I continued the timeline, I wanted to give you more explanation of why I believe there is a timeline. Well, while studying the nation Israel and all that happened to them as they were established as a people and a Kingdom and how they related to God and His response to them, I started to see a pattern, or cycle, that they would continually repeat.

God would provide for His people in His Kingdom and would make them successful and prosperous, but then the people would get too comfortable and prideful and then would forget God and His Law, wanting to live their lives their own way. Then they would seek after other gods, wanting to be more like their worldly neighbors, provoking God to anger. God would send a prophet to speak His Word to them to remind them who He is, His love for them, and what He had done for them so that they would repent, but the people wouldn't listen. So, to punish them for their disobedience and to bring them to repentance, He would send the sword, captivity, famine, and disease upon them. Some people would repent and return to Him, but those who didn't eventually perished. God would then take the remnant of those who were faithful and those who repented and would use them to build up His city and Kingdom again.

Now, I know that God hasn't changed who He is and how He feels about disobedience and idolatry. Unfortunately, though, human nature hasn't changed, either. God still provides and propers His people, but if we aren't careful to walk in His Spirit and His ways, we too forget about Him and how He wants us to live. We then start doing what we think is best and start lusting after the ways of the world, thinking that we can still be a Christian but do what everybody else is doing. Jesus, God's Word, will speak to our spirit, but we will drown out His voice because what He is saying is too uncomfortable to hear. He will send others to speak His Words of love to us, but we will either ignore them or get defensive, telling them that they are judging us. Then we go after what we want, enjoying it for a time, but we end up falling into a trap. We become addicted and go far into debt so that we eventually lose everything we had and are left all alone. We are broken and bruised and our lives our filled with pain. We are captives to the life that we have chosen to live. But, in the midst of the darkest night, Jesus is there and He sheds His light over everything. He has already made a way of escape, but it is our choice to repent and follow Him. Some people do repent at that point, but others harden their hearts because they don't understand how a God of love would let them get to this point, and they reject Him and eventually perish. Those who repent and have been faithful to King Jesus then go on to help build up His Kingdom.

So, with that being said, why do we think that the end times, His return, and the establishment of His Kingdom and the New Jerusalem will go any other way?

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecc 1:9 ESV)

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isa 46:9-10 KJV)

I have foretold the former things from the beginning; and they went out of My mouth; and I made them hear; I acted suddenly; and they came about. Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your brow bronze. And I declared it to you from the beginning. Before it happened I revealed it to you; lest you should say, My idol has done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them. You heard; see it all; and will you not declare? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you did not hear them; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them. Yea, you did not hear; yea, you did not know; yea, from the time that your ear was not opened; for I surely know that you will betray and trespass; from the womb it was called to you. For My name's sake I will put off My anger, and for My praise I will hold back for you, that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not with silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction. For my sake, for My sake I will do it; for why should My name be defiled? And I will not give My glory to another. Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, My called; I am He; I am the first, I also am the last. My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand has stretched out the heavens. I called; they stood up together. Let all of you gather and hear; who among them has declared these things? Jehovah has loved him; He will do His pleasure on Babylon, and His arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, I, have spoken; yea, I have called him; I brought him and he makes his way succeed. Come near to Me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah, and His Spirit, has sent Me. So says Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. And your seed would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like its grain; his name would not have been cut off nor destroyed from before Me. Go out of Babylon; flee from the Chaldeans. Tell it with a voice of singing, let this be heard, let it go out to the end of the earth; say, Jehovah has redeemed His servant Jacob. And they did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; He cut open the rock also, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace, says Jehovah, to the wicked.
(Isa 48:3-22 MKJV)

Is there anybody else out there who can see the cycle that we are in?

Modern day time of refreshing

2008-05-22T10:26:00.002-04:00

A time of refreshing is a kick-off event that triggers other prophecied events that happen before the final destruction of a city that has turned away from the Lord. These other events that follow a time of refreshing are a time of going (preaching the gospel, teaching God's commandments), a time of falling backward (rebellion), a time of being broken (crushed or torn apart), and a time of being snared and taken (captivity). I'm not an expert on the history of the Jews or Church history, but I know that both the Old and New Testament is full of examples of this type of timeline, especially in the stories of the Kings of Israel and Judah and the cities of Samaria and Jerusalem. These events repeat, like waves, until the final destruction comes.

Since the end of April, there has been a modern day time of refreshing that has been taking place here in America. It started in Lakeland, Florida. Here are the signs: there are many reports of miracles and healings taking place in peoples lives. There are also reports of heavenly visitations - children and adults are seeing visions, having dreams, prophesying. Peter confirms the signs of this time of refreshing in Acts chapter 2 and 3. All of this is happening in the same manner as predicted by Isaiah and the prophet Joel.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees for not being able to discern the signs of the times (Matthew 16:1-4). They knew God's law, but they were blinded by their own doctrine to really see what was happening. This is why I believe it is now time for all believers to open our eyes and discern Isaiah's endtimes timeline. The key to understanding the times is to go back to the basics - loving God and loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

What spiritual city have you been living in? Destruction and captivity is right around the corner for the spiritual cities (churches) that have removed themselves from the authority and protection of King Jesus. The Day of the Lord is coming! This time of refreshing is for us to repent and return to the city of the King. Only the city of Zion is where we will find true protection and rest.

Links to info on the Florida Revival:
http://www.god.tv/florida
http://www.freshfire.ca/

Other revivals happening now:
http://www.morningstarministries.org/
http://www.morningstarministries.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000031456

Another message on getting back to the basics:
http://www.morningstarministries.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000031933