Author: nrfaught

I have spent 5 years in mission work in the West Indies and South America. I have preached mainly part time for 40 years, much of that time while working with a full time job in Christian education. I am currently at Madison Academy in Huntsville, Alabama and serving as a shepherd at the Monrovia Church of Christ. God has blessed me with a wife and 3 grown children (and their families) who are much more loving than I am!

KING JEHOSHAPHAT: THE RIGHTEOUS KING WHO DIDN’T SAY “NO” TO AHAB

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Jehoshaphat was the 4th king of Judah.  Second Chronicles 17:3–6 gives this commendation: “The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel. The Lord established the kingdom under his control; and all Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so that he had great wealth and honor. His heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord; furthermore, he removed the high places and the Asherah poles from Judah.” In addition, Jehoshaphat sent men throughout the kingdom to teach the people the Law of God (2 Chronicles 17:7–9). He removed the male cult prostitutes (1 Kings 22:46). Judah and Israel had been fighting constantly since the kingdom split, but he made peace with wicked king Ahab of Israel.

Nothing but good is said about him until 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. Jehoshaphat goes to visit King Ahab in Samaria. He joined with wicked King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel to retake Ramoth-gilead from the Syrians. Ahab has replaced the 450 prophets of Baal that Elijah had killed in 1 Kings 18 with 400 more prophets of Baal. They tell Ahab what he wants to hear, that he will be victorious in the battle. Jehoshaphat demands that a true prophet give his prediction, and Micaiah predicts that Ahab will die in the battle. You would think that Jehoshaphat would break off this partnership with Ahab and head home to Jerusalem, but instead he still joins Ahab in the battle. Ahab is killed by a God-guided random arrow even though he disguised himself as a regular soldier instead of wearing the kingly garments.

2 Chronicles 19:1 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned in safety to his house in Jerusalem. 2 But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. 3 Nevertheless, some good is found in you, for you destroyed the Asheroth out of the land, and have set your heart to seek God.” To his credit, he apparently received that rebuke and continued to be a righteous king. The same prophet Hanani had rebuked Asa (Jehoshaphat’s father) but Asa imprisoned Hanani. Jehoshaphat then appointed Levites and priests as judges, warning them to give impartial judgements and not take bribes.

After the rebuke by Hanani, Judah was attacked by Moabites and Ammonites. Jehoshaphat led a long, humble prayer asking God for help, acknowledging that he was powerless without God’s help (2 Chronicles 20). The prophet Jahaziel told Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, “Don’t be afraid for the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15). Did you ever wonder where that song “The Battle Belongs to the Lord” came from? The Lord set an ambush for the attacking enemy. Apparently they ended up fighting among themselves and with the Edomites and were all killed. The army of Judah didn’t even have to fight. When they arrived, all they saw was dead bodies. They took great spoil for 3 days and then on the 4th day they celebrated and praised God with musical instruments and singers.

But we have to ask ourselves, “Why would a righteous king like Jehoshaphat even go visit Ahab? Why would he join with him in a battle that a true prophet of Yahweh warned against, one that he insisted on hearing his prediction?” This all goes back to 2 Chronicles 18:1 Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.” This is referring to a marriage between Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son, to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Jehoram succeeded Jehoshaphat as king and was an evil king, restoring pagan worship in Judah. Athaliah was the daugher of the wicked Queen Jezebel of Israel who fed 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah at her own dinner table, and desperately tried to kill Elijah. Jezebel was the main ungodly influence of her husband King Ahab. After marrying Jehoram and become Queen of Judah, Athaliah turned out to be “like mother, like daughter”. She restored and promoted Baal worship in Judah, and even built a pagan idol in the temple of God. Ahaziah (Athaliah and Jehoram’s son), succeeded Jehoram as king of Judah. Jehu was appointed by Elijah to kill Ahab, Joram (Ahab’s wicked son who succeeded him), all of Ahab’s descendants, Ahaziah, 42 of Ahaziah’s descendants, Baal’s worshippers and prophets (those 400 prophets of Baal who told Ahab he would be victorious in battle?), and Jezebel. After Athaliah’s son King Ahaziah was killed by Jehu, Athaliah killed all of the royal household of Ahaziah (yes, that would be her grandchildren) and made herself queen for 6 years. Only the baby Joash was spared through the efforts of his nurse Jehoshaba. He was hidden for 6 years in the temple until the priest Jehoiada had Athaliah killed and Joash made king at the age of 7.

Jehoshaphat’s father, King Asa, was a righteous man (for most of his reign until his pride caused him to imprison Hanani) and Jehoshaphat followed in his righteous footsteps. But Jehoram (Jehoshaphat’s son) did not follow in his father’s righteous footsteps. He chose to marry wicked Athaliah. Could Jehoshaphat not have stopped that marriage? That’s a tough question b/c many of us have not been able to stop our children from entering what we feel is a bad marriage. Samson’s parents were not able to stop Samson from marrying the Philistine woman which led to all kind of problems. But that marriage alliance was the beginning of Jehoshaphat’s problems. That no doubt led to a visit to Ahab in Samaria, which led to joining Ahab in a forbidden battle.

We don’t know what Jehoshaphat was thinking or what his motives were for joining Ahab. He had made peace with Ahab and there were no wars betwen Israel and Judah as had been in the past. Was he afriad that Ahab would turn on him and go to war with Judah if he refused to go to battle with him? Jehoshaphat was wealthy and that could hurt his cash flow, as war always does.

What we do know is that Jehoshaphat violated the principle in the rebuke by Hanani, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” The same principle in 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? 15 Or what harmony does Christ have with Belial, or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,“I will dwell among them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.”

God commands us to be the salt of the earth, preserving and adding godly flavor to a sinful world. To do that, we must be “in the world but not of the world”. Associating with the ungodly in this world is inevitable unless you live in a monastery. Paul wrote, 1 Corinthians 5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world.” At the same time, He warns us about making unnecessary friendships, partnerships, and associations with the ungodly. We must be careful about “why” we associate with the ungodly. We must ask, “Is this association or partnership, or. friendship something that God might use to His glory, or am I doing it for selfish reasons.

Apparently Jehoshaphat had a character flaw (don’t we all). For whatever reason or motive, he was afraid to say “no” to Ahab when asked to join him in battle. Or he selfishly saw some possible monetary reason for joining him. Do you (or I) have that same character flaw? Do you join the ungodly in drinking parties b/c you don’t want to be different? They say that the first semester in college is when many kids from Christian backgrounds and families first start drinking b/c they feel the pier pressure that “hey, that is the college experience, everyone does it”. It is hard for high school and college kids to say “no” when pressured by their peers to drink or do drugs. No one wants to be mocked b/c they are different, “better than thou” Bible thumpers.

But what about your business and friendship decisions? Do you get into business deals that make you money even though you know they might lead you to compromise your Christian values? Does hanging around with the ladies or guys in your friend group lead you to doing things that violate your conscience? Maybe doing that enhances your image or popularity?

BTW, you would think that Jehoshaphat would learn his lesson from the incident with Ahab, right? Wrong! 2 Chronicles 20:35 After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel (the son of Ahab and Jezebel), who acted wickedly. 36 He joined him in building ships to go to Tarshish, and they built the ships in Ezion-geber. 37 Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made.” And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.” He got into trouble by joining Ahab and was rebuked by God. But then he makes another partnership, joining Ahab’s wicked son Ahaziah in a shipping venture.

Perhaps this shows that Jehoshaphat’s character flaw was the love of money. In the words of Paul, 1 Timothy 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” As someone said, “it’s all about the money”. We are so driven by the desire to have nice things, to keep up with the Joneses (whoever that is), to wine and dine with our friends. Many of us fell into that “snare” and are plunged into ruin and destruction. Can you think of some Christian men and women who started drinking and partying, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and now they have left the faith? I can.

Let us pray for ourselves first of all. Then pray right now for those whom you think have left the faith b/c of their love of money. Pray for our college students and high school students who face enormous evil peer pressure. Don’t give up on those who fall. James 5:19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

HOSEA: A STRANGE MARRIAGE

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The prophet Hosea prophesied in the 8th century B.C.E., during the reign of Kings Jeroboam II and Hoseah.  King Jeroboam II (787-747 BCE) was the 13th king of Israel and King Hoseah (731-722 BCE) was the 19th and last king of Israel. Hosea had a very long prophetic ministry, probably from about 750 to 722 BCE.  He prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel in the 30 years before they were carried into Assyrian captivity in 722 BC as punishment for idolatry. We don’t know how or where he died. Jereboam I (931-910 BC), the 1st king of Israel,

had began the idol worship by making the two golden calves at Dan and Bethel, but the worship of Baal and Asherah persisted throughout the history of the northern kingdom (from 931-722 BC). Especially King Ahab (874-853 BC), the 7th king of Israel, who built a temple for Baal in Samaria. His wicked wife Jezebel had 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who “ate at her table”. Elijah had the test at Mt Carmel and then they killed all those prophets of Baal and Aserah. Jehu (841-814 BC), the 10th king of Israel, was anointed king by Elijah for the purpose of killing all of Ahab’s descendants and killing Jezebel. He did just that, beheading 70 of Ahab’s sons and killing Ahab’s son, Ahaziah (853-852 BC), the 8th king of Israel, and all his relatives. He pretended to host a banquet for the followers of Baal, only to trap and kill them. He tracked Jezebel down and some men cast her down from an upper story as she put on her makeup. The dogs ate all of her except her hands, feet, and skull. The dogs licked her blood in the same place that Jezebel had Naboth killed to get his vineyard for Ahab. Unfortunately, Jehu eliminated Baal worship from Israel but he continue to worship the golden calves of Jereboam I.

Hosea 1:1The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.” That would be Jereboam II (793-753 BC), the 13th king of Israel (no kin to Ahab). From https://www.julianspriggs.co.uk/pages/KingsOfIsrael “Jeroboam restored the land to the same boundaries as in the days of David and Solomon (14:25). He also had control over Damascus, as ordained by God and spoken through the prophet Jonah (14:27). During Jeroboam’s reign, Assyria had a succession of weak leaders. The peace brought economic prosperity and trade with Phoenicia.Hosea and Amos condemned the north for abandoning God and oppressing the poor. Ivory was used to build mansions. Some administrative documents have been found. Great quantities of oil was bought at low price from the farmers (Amos 6:6). These economic as well as the moral iniquities caused the decline of Israel.” During the reign of Mehahem (752-742 BC), the 16th king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser III (called Pul – 15:17) became one of the strongest rulers of Assyria. 

During the reign of Pekah (740-732 BC), the 18th king of Israel, “Tiglath-pileser’s campaign of 734-732 took him to Philistia, which he subdued, then on to Israel by 733, destroying cities in Galilee and Naphtali. People were deported to Assyria, as was his custom. After Israel, the Assyrians continued up to Damascus, which they took in 732. Rezin was killed, thus ending the nation which was often used by God to judge Israel. Damascus became an Assyrian province (2 Kg 16:9-10). Pekah was spared by Tiglath-pileser.” Again, from https://www.julianspriggs.co.uk/pages/KingsOfIsrael During the reign of Hoshea (732-722 BC), the 19th and last king of Israel: “By this time, Israel had become a small vassal state paying regular tribute to Assyria, who had occupied the whole of Galilee and the Transjordan.Hoshea rebelled and made an alliance with So, the weak king of Egypt. When Assyria came to suppress the revolt, Hoshea tried to give them tribute again. It did not work and he was put in prison, the land was invaded and Samaria was besieged for three years (17:1-5). Unable to withstand, Samaria fell and its inhabitants were deported to Assyria and further east in the land of Media (17:6).”

All that history of the northern kingdom to tell you what things were like in Israel when Hosea prophesied. Israel’s doom of Assyrian captivity was sealed and we think Hosea lived to see it happen. But his book is not just more condemning of Israel. It is a stange love story. From AI: “In the Bible, Hosea’s marriage to Gomer, a woman described as a prostitute, served as a symbolic representation of God’s covenant with Israel, where God, like Hosea, remained faithful despite Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness and idolatry, illustrating God’s enduring love for his people even when they stray away from him; essentially, Hosea was commanded by God to marry Gomer, who then committed adultery, mirroring Israel’s betrayal of God through worshipping false idols.” Their 3 sons had names symbolizing the punishment about to come on Israel. Chapter 3 is a key chapter. Apparently Gomer left Hosea and her sons and went back into prostitution, ending up on the auction block. Hosea 3:1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.”

So, even though Hosea condemns Israel, he gives Messianic hope for at least some of them. We know this is a Messianic chapter b/c “David will be their king in the latter days”. Ezekiel 37 had made this same prophecy: 37:24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.” So that is figurative language fulfilled in Jesus as the future Messianic king. Isaiah and Jeremiah both said that a “root (or descendant) of Jesse” would arise in the Messianic age (again that was fulfilled in Jesus). David being king and Israel being restored would happen in the “latter days”, or the last days of the Jewish Age (from 30 AD to 70 AD). The northern kingdom would be without a king for many years until the Messiah would come. Benson Commentary: “And this prediction was remarkably fulfilled upon the ten tribes, when made captives by Shalmaneser, (compare Hosea 9:4,) and upon the two remaining tribes, after the destruction of their temple and commonwealth by Nebuchadnezzar, and during their captivity in Babylon.” I think Benson is correct in saying that this prediction would include Judah after her exile in Babylon. The exiles cured Israel and Judah of her idolatrous practices. There is no more mention of idolatry in Judah from the time of her return from Babylon in 536 BC until Jesus came.

I find this prediction amazing. God still loved the northern kingdom of Israel in spite of her idolatry. They were carried into Assyrian captivity to become known as the “lost 10 tribes of Israel’. “Once exiled, the tribes gradually integrated with other populations, losing their distinct identity and cultural practices.  Due to the lack of historical records after their exile, the exact location of the “Lost Tribes” remains unknown, leading to various theories and speculation about their descendants.” From gotquestions.org “Many of the Jews who remained in the land intermarried with people from Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim who had been sent by the Assyrian king to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2–11).” They became the “Samaritans” of the New Testament. There are many mysteries, legends, and traditions as to what happened to the ten “lost” tribes of Israel. One legend says that the ten tribes migrated to Europe (the Danube River, they say, got its name from the tribe of Dan). Another legend says the tribes migrated all the way to England and that all Anglo-Saxons today are actually Jews—this is a teaching of the heretical British Israelism (Herbert W. Armstrong who claimed that the United States is descended from the tribe of Manasseh, while England and the British Commonwealth are descended from the tribe of Ephraim). A surprising number of groups around the world claim to have descended from the “lost” tribes: there are people in India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and North America who all claim such ancestry. Other theories equate the Japanese or the American Indians with the ten “lost” tribes of Israel (taught by the Mormons). The truth is that the “lost tribes of Israel” were never really lost. Many of the Jews who remained in the land after the Assyrian conquest re-united with Judah in the south (2 Chronicles 34:6–9). Assyria was later conquered by Babylon, who went on to invade the Southern Kingdom of Israel, deporting the two remaining tribes: Judah and Benjamin (2 Kings 25:21). Remnants of the northern tribes would have thus been part of the Babylonian deportations. Seventy years later, when King Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return to Israel (Ezra 1), many (from all twelve tribes) returned to Israel to rebuild their homeland. In the Gospels, the prophetess Anna (Luke 2:36) was from the tribe of Asher (one of the ten supposedly lost tribes). Anna wasn’t lost at all. Both Zechariah and Elisabeth—and therefore John the Baptist—are from the tribe of Levi (Luke 1:5). Jesus promises the disciples that they will “sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). Paul, who knows he is from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1), speaks of “the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night” (Acts 26:7)—note the present tense. James addresses his epistle “to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations” (James 1:1). In short, there is ample evidence in Scripture that all twelve tribes of Israel are still in existence and will be in the Messianic kingdom.”

Thus the 10 tribes dispersed and no longer existed as distinct tribes after the Assyrian captivity, but they still claim to know which tribe they descended from. The amazing thing is that God still had a remnant from among the 10 tribes who would become part of the Jewish remnant church of the book of Acts, which would have included Jewish Christians from all 12 tribes.

Worshipping other gods is spiritual adultery, or “whoredom (spiritual prostitution)”.

Hosea 4:12 “They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future! Longing after idols has made them foolish. They have played the prostitute, serving other gods and deserting their God.”

Hosea 9:1 “O Israel, do not rejoice as other nations do. For you have been unfaithful to your God, hiring yourselves out like prostitutes, worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.”

Ezekiel 6:9 “Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols.” NOTICE THAT GOD IS HURT BY SPIRITUAL ADULTERY JUST AS A HUSBAND OR WIFE WOULD BE BY THE ADULTERY OF A MATE.

Ezekiel 16:32 “Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband.”

Jeremiah 3:1 “If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, says the Lord. Yet I’m still calling you back to me.”

Isaiah 1:21 “See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers.”

Judges 2:17 “Yet Israel did not listen to the judges but prostituted themselves by worshiping other gods. How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had obeyed the Lord’s commands.”

Leviticus 20:5“I myself will turn against them and cut them off from the community, because they have committed spiritual prostitution by worshiping Molech.”

God is a “jealous God”, just like a husband or wife would be jealous of an adulterous mate who gives their love to a stranger. Exodus 34:14 “You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you.”

Jesus has a passionate love for us, his bride, but do we still have a passionate love for him? Zechariah 8:2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: ‘My love for Mount Zion is passionate and strong; I am consumed with passion for Jerusalem!’” You became the bride of Christ when you became a Christian. Your loyalty and devotion to God must be pure like that of a loyal husband or wife. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Maybe you are thinking, “I’m glad I don’t worship idols like Israel did”. But read what James said: James 4:4 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.” James says that friendship with the world is spiritual adultery. The solution: James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” Greed is idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

We have a Hindu temple right here in Huntsville, Al, which is hard to believe in the Bible belt. I have taken my Bible classes there on several occasions to walk around the temple and see all the Hindu god and goddess idols around the walls. They still practice idolatry in that temple. But how many of us Christains practice idolatry when we give our devotion to our idols of materialism, sports, hobbies, and greed? The Ephesian church in Revelation 2 had “lost their first love”.

God, please help me to restore that passion I had when I first became a Christian, when I was in my honeymoon stage of my spiritual marriage to Jesus. Help me to destroy or give up all my idols, things that I put ahead of God and Jesus in my life.

But the comforting thing comes from the book of Hosea. In spite of all the many times that I have committed spiritual adultery, God and Jesus still have a passionate love for me and will forgive me. I may find myself at the bottom of the barrel spiritually, like Gomer when she ended up on the auction block, but God still loves me and will buy me back (which is the meaning of the word “redemption). I don’t deserve that love any more than an unfaithful husband deserves a loving wife who forgives him after he has had an affair.


PLAYLISTS

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I’m a little behind on technology. When I was at UA in 1967 starting my engineering degree, one of my first classes was using IBM punchcard machines to run simple programs.To run a simple program you would have a stack of punchcards. If any one of them was done incorrectly, your program would not run.

Texas Instruments (TI) invented the first handheld calculator in 1967. I had one of those. It would only do math. It had no trig functions or anything like that. I wish I had kept mine.

One of my first classes was learning how to use a “slide rule”. (AI) “In 1967, a slide rule could be used to perform basic mathematical operations like multiplication, division, square roots, cube roots, logarithms, and trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent) with a good degree of accuracy, making it a valuable tool for engineers, scientists, and anyone needing to perform quick calculations without relying on an electronic calculator which was still relatively new and not widely available at the time.”

Actually I never got very far past all that in technology! I do remember a lot of things about the 60’s. The JFK, MLK, Robert Kennedy,and Malcom X assassinations. The Freedom Writers and the Civil Rights Movement. The Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs Invasion. Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong taking our first steps on the moon (I have a few of my students who really don’t think that happened). The 1967 summer riots in many major cities, Detroit being the worst (40 dead, thousands injured). The Soviet Gagarin was the first to orbit the earth in space. Woodstock, marijuana and LSD. Miniskirts introducted. The Vietnam “Conflict”, the draft, and war protests (and war protest songs like Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ In the Wind”: my favorite was “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire).

Speaking of songs from the 60’s, I finally (several years after most people learned how to do this) learned how to do a simple Amazon Music playlist. I had already picked my favorite 200 songs of the 60’s, and now I have them all on 2 playlists. Some of my favorite groups were The Righteous Brothers, The Lettermen, The Association, Herman’s Hermits, and The Mamas and the Papas. My wife to be and I would listen to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in my 64 1/2 white Mustang (the first mustangs sold) on my 8 track tape player that we installed in the car (that was before cassettes and CD’s). It wasn’t my favorite song back then , but perhaps is now is When A Man Loves A Woman” by Percy Sledge. Maybe my choice is influenced, not so much by memories of the 60’s, but by watching the Muscles Shoals documentary. The song was cut in the small studios in little Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Percy was an orderly in a local hospital. Percy Sledge said that when he originally sang this, he had in mind Lizz King, his girlfriend of three years who left him for a modeling job in Los Angeles. Said Sledge: “I didn’t have any money to go after her, so there was nothing I could do to try and get her back.”

BTW we are actually listening to “You Can’t Hurry Love” ( an original Supremes song) at our customary Sunday morning Egg McMuffin at McDonald’s. They usually don’t play songs from the 60’s, so that has to be a sign of something (not sure what except that it was a good time for this 60’s blog).

Most importantly in the 60’s I began liking and dating my future wife, Deborah. Her parents went to the same church as me. People say that I “married up” (way up according to some). I resent that even if is true. My version is that “she chased me in high school and I finally decided to let her catch me”. We have been married 54 years. God has blessed us with 3 great kids who have gone on to marry Christians and we now have a total of 10 grandchildren (5 of whom are adopted). God allowed us to do mission work in Trinidad, West Indies and Colombia, South America. I have been working in Christian Education for 35 years (as a principal or teacher). God has blessed us so much.

So stop right now and write out your memories of your teens and your life. Give God thanks and praise him.

I’ll try to get back to the deeper studies in the divided kingdom or the prophets! My wife just previewed this article and said that I will probably have more readers for this than the Bible articles, especially the history of Baal and Asherah worship!

CONCIDENCES: CASTLE

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I am watching all the seasons of Castle on Amazon Prime. It’s one of those TV series, like Murdock’s Mysteries, where there is a constant romantic suggestion building between the male and female stars (Beckett and Castle). But the writers are brilliant. Castle is always coming up with crazy possibilities for solving crimes, but he always says “there is no such thing as ‘coincidence'” when looking at events in a crime. The events are always connected. The key to solving the crime is to find what the connection is.

That got me thinking about “coincidences” in life. A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection. I was waiting for service on my car. I was trying to get hot water out of the machine. I pressed all the right buttons, or so I thought, and I got cold water. This Mexican lady and her husband were seated nearby. She saw my dilemma and stepped over, pushed the same buttons (or so I thought) and bingo, hot water for my tea. She sat down at a nearby table. I thanked her and waited a moment to see if she seemed to want any kind of conversation. She initiated the conversation and we talked for 30 minutes. Her husband is a cook and doesn’t speak English well. She is from Mexico and has been in the U.S. for 21 years. She has 4 kids. We talked about my missionary experiences in Colombia, South America. They attend a Spanish speaking church nearby. I plan to visit that church tomorrow. Maybe my random meeting with that lady might have some purpose in God’s plans.

I don’t believe that every single event in life is necessarily a part of some predetermined plan of God. But I firmly believe that we can use every event or circumstance to do His will.” God desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 2:4) Paul said “13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13).

Mordecai told Esther to go ask the king to stop Haman’s plan to kill all the Jews. Esther sent word to Mordecai: Esther 4:11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Saying “who knows” indicates to me that Mordecai did not have some direct revelation from God to tell Esther to go to the king. He is saying that she is in a special position as queen to perhaps save the Jews, and that maybe God put her there just for that situation. The whole choosing of a new queen and Esther, a Jew, becoming the new queen out of 128 provinces of beautiful women was part of God of God’s providence, but it still had a lot of moving parts to it. Parts that depended on the free will of people. Esther could choose to go into the king or not. The king could choose to kill her if she came to him, or not (he chose not to kill her). The king could chose to save the Jews once Esther told him about Haman’s plat, or not. But let’s be clear. Mordecai told Esther, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.” If God wants something done, He will find someone who will choose to be a part of God’s working.

So that’s my take on coincidences. We should view every event or circumstance in our lives as a possible part of God’s plan to save souls. We should try to figure out how God might be using us to do HIs will. It’s called “possibility thinking”. “Possibility thinking requires both imagining what is not there and creating paths to it, so that it can become a reality.  Possibility Thinking is the willingness to see possibilities everywhere instead of limitations.”

BAAL AND ASHERAH WORSHIP IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL

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I wanted to do an article on this and found a great article from https://www.gotquestions.org/Baal-and-Asherah.html that was better than anything I could have come up with. But here is a summary of Baal and Asherah worship using quotes from the article. Why reinvent the wheel? Maybe I can add a little.

“God had commanded Israel not to worship idols (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7)—indeed, they were to avoid even mentioning a false god’s name (Exodus 23:13). To prevent compromise, they were warned not to intermarry with the pagan nations and to shun practices that might be construed as pagan worship rites (Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:15; Ezekiel 11:12). Israel was the nation chosen by God to one day give rise to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Yet, even with their heritage and so much riding on their future, Israel was continually drawn into dalliances with Baal and Asherah.

Baal was the supreme god in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. As the storm god, he was usually depicted holding a raised lightning bolt. His consort, Asherah, was the chief female deity and was represented by a carved pole or limbless tree trunk planted in the ground. Baal and Asherah are often mentioned together in Scripture. Sometimes Baal is mentioned with the goddess Ashtoreth who, in Canaanite mythology, was closely related to Asherah and may have been for a time considered the same goddess. All of them were fertility gods, and their worship rites involved sexual perversion.”

History of the worship of Baal and Asherah (or Ashtoreth) in Israel: it goes back to Balaam. Balak, the king of Moab, had hired Balaam the prophet to curse Israel as they passed by his land on the way to the promised land. Numbers 22:41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.” The pagans gave Baal various compound names (similar to Yahweh Rophe, Yahweh Shalom, etc.) and named places after Baal: Baal-gad (“lord of good fortune”, Joshua 11:17), etc. The Spirit did not allow Balaam to curse Israel, but instead through Balaam blessed Israel 4 times. But Balaam got his money by a cunning move. He knew God would curse Israel if they worshipped the gods of the pagans, like Baal. So he persuaded Balak to get Moabite women to intermingle with and worship the gods of the Moabites, which included having sex with them. That happened at Baal-peor. Numbers 25:1 While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.” Numbers 31:16 Behold, these (i.e. the women who had sex with the Israelite men at Baal Peor), on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.” 24,000 died before Phinehas drove a spead through an Israelite man and Moab woman as they were having sex brazenly right in the camp of Israel.
The history of Baal worship continues in Judges. “After the death of Joshua, the worship of Baal and Asherah became a plaguing and perennial problem for Israel. It didn’t take long: in the very next generation after Joshua, “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs” (Judges 3:7). Later, God told the judge Gideon to clean house: “Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it” (Judges 6:25). (Judges 8:33 No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals.) They set up Baal-Berith as their god.Again, in the days of Jephthah, “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 10:6).”

The last judge Samuel persuaded the Israelites to stop worshippin Baal and Asherah at least for a little while. 1 Samuel 7:3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.” After Samuel anointed Saul as the first king, the people confessed: 1 Samuel 12:10  ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth (i.e. during the period of the judges).”

The “peak”, or maybe better called the “low”, of Baal and Asherah worship came under King Ahab and his wife Queen Jezebel. 1 Kings 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.” The prophet Elijah confronted “four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and . . . four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:19) at Mt Carmel. 1 Kings 18: 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”The prophets of Baal and Asherah could not get Baal to bring down fire on the altar, but Elijah drenched the altar with water 3 times and then Yahweh consumed the altar with fire. The Israelites killed all 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. Jezebel then swore to kill Elijah within the next 24 hours and that caused Elijah to flee, ending up at Mt Sinai. He was depressed that Jezebel had not been killed, that his life was in jeopardy. He told God, 1 Kings 19:10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”” God rebuked him in a gentle breeze, telling him to get back to his work as a prophet and leave the judging to God. He was to anoint Hazael as king of Syria (who God would use to kill many Israelites), Elisha (to take Elijah’s place later), and Jehu as a later king of Israel (whom God would use to kill all of Ahab’s descendants, cutting off the heads of 70 of his sons (2 Kings 10), to kill Baal worshippers in a trap (2 Kings 10), and to kill Jezebel (he told men to thrown her down from a 2nd story and she died with the dogs eating all of her but her hands, feet, and skull). He told Elijah, 1 Kings 19:18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” Unfortunately, 2 Kings 10:28 Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. 29 But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.”

Ahab’s evil son Ahaziah was the next king. He fell through the lattice and was severely injured. Elijah told him: 2 Kings 1:16 He told the king, “This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!”

It was b/c of this persistent worship of false gods, the worhsip of the golden calves set up by Jereboam, and especially the worship of Baal and Asherah that in 722 BC God sent the Assyrians to take the 10 northern tribes into exile, to be lost forever in history. 2 Kings 17:14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. 16 And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. 17 And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only.”
You would think that the southern kingdom of Judah would see what happened to the northern kingdom and would not worship foreign gods or Baal and Asherah. But apparently the worship of Asherah began early during the reign of the first 3 kings of Judah. It says of the 3rd king, Asa, 2 Chronicles 14:2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim.” “The “Asherim” refers to the cultic symbols or sacred poles associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah, essentially representing her presence in worship and considered idolatrous by the Bible; they are often translated as “Asherah poles” in English translations.” (AI) Of the 4th king Jehoshaphat it says, 2 Chronicles 17:3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals”.

The next king of Judah was Jehoram. He married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and no doubt she reinforced the worship of Baal and Asherah in Judah. 2 Chronicles 21: 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. 7 Yet the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.” That promise was the only things that kept God from sending Judah into captivity earlier than he did. After the death of Athaliah’s evil son, Ahaziah, Athaliah killed all of the royal house of Judah except for one son, Joash, who was hidden from her for 6 years, making herself queen. The priest Jehoida had her executed and Joash made king. 2 Chronicles 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. 17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.”  Joash began restoring the temple and made this comment in 2 Chronicles 24:7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.”

The 12th king of Judah was Ahaz. 2 Chronicles 28:And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.” King Ahaz of Judah was the first king of Judah to sacrifice his son in a pagan ritual. According to the Bible, Ahaz sacrificed his son by fire to the god Moloch. 

“According to the Book of Hosea, the prophet Hosea prophesied during the reigns of four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Hosea’s prophetic ministry primarily focused on the northern kingdom of Israel under King Jeroboam II, but his writings also reference the aforementioned Judah kings.” (AI) Several times he condemned northern kingdom’s worship of Baal. The book of Hosea aptly uses adultery as a metaphor to describe Israel’s idol worship. Forsaking the God of their covenant and chasing after false gods such as Baal and Asherah was akin to spiritual adultery.

The 14th king of Judah was the wicked grandson of Ahaz. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah had made many great reforms in Judah, but that didn’t last long. 2 Chronicles 33:2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.” Manasseh’s son was Amon: 2 Chronicles 24:22 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.” But Manasseh’s grandson was Josiah, who began reigning at the age of 8. When he was 16: 2 Chronicles 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and the metal images. 4 And they chopped down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and he cut down the incense altars that stood above them. And he broke in pieces the Asherim and the carved and the metal images, and he made dust of them and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6 And in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, in their ruins all around, 7 he broke down the altars and beat the Asherim and the images into powder and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.”

Josiah’s reforms were “too little, too late”. Jeremiah began prophesying in the 13th year of Josaih and prophesied for 40 years during the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah), and Zedekiah. He condemned the worship of Baal many times during his 40 years. Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah and predicted the fall of Judah. Zephaniah 1:“I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests, 5 those who bow down on the roofs to the host of the heavens, those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom (the god of the Ammonites), 6 those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

You must be a history buff if you are still reading this long article! We have to ask ourselves, why was the worship of Baal and Asherah such a tempting, persistent problem in the entire history of Israel, going all the way back to Balaam and when the new generation was headed into the Promised Land?

From https://www.gotquestions.org/Baal-and-Asherah.html “There are several reasons why the worship of Baal and Asherah was such a problem for Israel. First, the worship of Baal and Asherah held the allure of illicit sex, since the religion involved ritual prostitution. This is exactly what we see in the incident of Baal of Peor, as “the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods” (Numbers 25:1–2). During this episode an Israelite named Zimri brazenly brought a Midianite woman into the camp and went straight to his tent, where the two began having sex (verses 6–8, 14–15).

Another reason that the worship of Baal and Asherah was a perennial problem for Israel is what we could call international peer pressure. Israel wanted to be like the other nations (see 1 Samuel 8:5, 20). The other nations worshiped Baal and Asherah, and so many Israelites felt a pull to do the same.” In order to placate their gods, the Canaanites would offer their children to the gods and bury them in the foundations of a house under construction.

Many statues of Baal have been uncovered.


Many images of Asherah have been uncovered:

The article from gotquestions.org ends this way:

“The problem of Baal and Asherah worship was finally solved after God removed Israel from the Promised Land. Due to the Israelites’ idolatry and disregard of the law, God brought the nations of Assyria and Babylon against them in an act of judgment. After the exile, Israel was restored to the land, and the people did not dally again with idols.

Christians today may be quick to judge the Israelites for their idolatry, but we should remember that idols take many forms. Idolatrous sins still tempt the modern-day believer (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8–10). Instead of bowing down to the ancient forms of Baal and Asherah, we today sometimes honor possessions, success, and physical pleasure to the dishonoring of God. Just as God disciplined the Israelites for their idolatry and forgave them when they repented, He graciously disciplines us and extends the offer of forgiveness in Christ (Hebrews 12:7–11; 1 John 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9).”

We need to heed the words of John: 1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I need to examine my heart. Have I put my money, possessions, prestige, and hobbies above God in my heart, my time spent, my devotion, my priority in life?

FIGURATIVE FULFILLMENT OF MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

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Malachi 4:55 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” The Jews expected Elijah to come in person, but Jesus said that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prediction. Matthew 11:13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 17:10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.”

This is a great example of Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled in a figurative or spiritual way instead of a literal way. John the Baptist would have the same type of ministry as Elijah did, i.e. of trying to get the Jews to repent before judgment fell on them. For Elijah, that judgement on the northern kingdom would be the Assyrian captivity. For John, that judgement would be the Romans killing one million Jews when they destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD. Many OT Messianic prophecies were fulfilled figuratively in the new Messianic kingdom of Jesus in the NT. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel predicted that David would be the prince, shepherd, and king of the Messianic kingdom (Ezekiel 34:23,24; Jeremiah 30:9), but most agree that figuratively refers to Jesus as our king, Prince of Peace, and Good Shepherd. Jesus predicted that the kingdom to be established in the days of the 4th empire of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (Daniel 4) was “at hand”. He even said that some of those he was talking to would be alive to see Him coming (2nd coming) in his kingdom. Matthew 16: 27 `For, the Son of Man is about to come (mello which always means “about to) in the NT) in the glory of his Father, with his messengers, and then he will reward each, according to his work. 28 Verily I say to you, there are certain of those standing here who shall not taste of death till they may see the Son of Man coming in his reign.’ Was Jesus a false prophet or mistaken in this prediction of an imminent establishment of the kingdom of Daniel 2? Of course not. That prediction was fulfilled figuratively in a spiritual kingdom, the church. Paul said that the Colossians were in that kingdom. Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Revelation 1:To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6 and He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Another example: Jeremiah 33:14 ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 For this is what the Lord says: ‘David shall not lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 and the Levitical priests shall not lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to prepare sacrifices continually.’” The Branch of David always is a prediction of Jesus in the OT, so this is a prediction for the Messianic Age to come. “David not lacking a man to sit on his throne” is a prediction based on God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-13. That is fulfilled by Jesus siting on the throne of David figuratively, forever.

But what about vs 18? If this was to be fulfilled literally, then in the Messianic Age, which is the church age now, will the Levitical priesthood with Aaron’s descendants being the high priests be restored, and will animal burnt offerings be resumed? I like these comments: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers(18) Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man . . .—Here again we have a promise which received a fulfilment other than that which the words appeared to imply, and which doubtless was in the prophet’s thoughts. The Levitical priesthood passed away (Hebrews 7:11), but Christ was made a Priest after the order of Melchizedek; and by virtue of their union with Him, His people became a holy priesthood (Hebrews 10:19-22), offering, not the burnt-offerings and meat-offerings which were figures of the true, but the spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving (1Peter 2:5; Hebrews 13:15,16), the sacrifice of body, soul, and spirit, which alone was acceptable to God (Romans 12:1).” The burnt offerings would be the offering of Jesus’ body for our sins on the cross once for all time. This prophecy could include the spiritual sacrifices that we offer as a spiritual priesthood.

But what about the predictions that Israel would be restored and live in the holy land again? Jeremiah 30:2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’” 33: 7 And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will rebuild them as they were at first.” Ezekiel 36:26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances. 28 And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.” Was the restoration of Israel to the promised land to be fulfilled literally, or is that another prophecy to be (and has been) fulfilled figuratively in the church? A key to interpret this correctly is vs 27: “I will put My Spirit within you”. That was fulfilled during the last days of the Jewish Age (AD 30-AD 70) as Jesus poured out the Spirit on believers in the church (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-22), so we expect the land prediction to be fulfilled at the same time. Also, who is to be filled with the Spirit? Is it the nation of Israel even though most of them rejected Jesus as the Messiah? Of course not. It refers to spiritual Israel, i.e. the remnant of the Jewish nation who would accept Jesus as the Messiah and become the first church. The first Jewish remnant church in the book of Acts did not receive the physical holy land as a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prediction. This prophecy was, like all the others, fulfilled literally. Jesus said the “meek would inherit the earth”. Any kingdom must have land. The spiritual kingdom, the church, has spiritual land. That spiritual land is the “new heavens and new earth that Isaiah predicted in Isaiah 65:“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing.” The new heavens and earth is the spiritual realm of the kingdom of Jesus over which he rules in the church. It does not refer to the nation of Israel receiving the holy land in 1948 as many claim. It is fulfilled spiritually. It refers to a restoration of the fortunes of only the remnant of Jews who accepted Jesus. It refers to spiritual, not physical land. The “new Jerusalem” of Isaiah 65:18 is a prediction of the church which is the new heavenly spiritual Jerusalem. Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.”

Likewise, 2 Peter 3 is not referring to something in the future where the heavens and earth are destroyed to prepare the way for the earth to be restored to the Garden of Eden state. It is predicted the imminent destruction of the old heavens and earth, i.e. the Jewish system and replacing it with the spiritual new heavens and earth which is the Messianic system.

Revelation predicted things that would happen shortly. Revelation 1:1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” 22:6 And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. 10 And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” The time restraints of “soon” and “near” must mean soon in he lifetime of those John is writing to. The warning is that they must repent and keep the commands written in the book b/c the time was near and soon in their time frame, not God’s. Sure, a day is as a 1000 years and 1000 years as a day to God, but that is not the context when God is warning people to repent b/c of imminent judgement on them in their lifetime.

Revelation 21:1-4 must be interpreted in light of those time restraints. 21: 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

The book of Revelation was written during the reign of the 6th emperor of Rome, i.e. Nero. Revelation 17:10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.” Beginning with Julius as the first king of Rome (Josephus affirms that and he lived in the first century so he should know who was considered to have been the first king of Rome), Nero would be the 6th, the “one is”. He died in 68 AD so the book had to be written before 68 AD. The book’s main prediction is the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. In chapter 17, the harlot Jerusalem is destroyed by the sea beast Rome. 17:16 And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. 17 For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. 18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Chapter 11 identifies who the “great city” (which is the same as the harlot) as Jerusalem, the place where the Lord was crucified. 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.”

So 21:1-4 had to be fulfilled soon after the time of writing (and it was written before 68 AD). It was fulfilled spiritually in a spiritual new heavens and earth (the new spiritual realm of the Messianic kingdom) and a spiritual new Jerusalem, the church. These came down to earth soon after the time of writing and could only refer to spiritual things. It also calls this new Jerusalem the bride of Christ which we know refers to the church. 21:9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.”

This figurative spiritual fulfillment of Messianic predictions is the reason Paul could say in Romans 9 that God had kept his promises to Israel. 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed.” The Israel that would receive the Messianic promises would only be the remnant Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel may be like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.” 11:5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” Those Messianic promises were received figuratively spiritually by the remnant. The rest of the Jews who rejected Jesus as the Messiah would be judged in 70 AD.

It is so misleading to hear many saying that the OT Messianic prophecies are being fulled literally over in Israel, especially beginning in 1948 when Israel was officially given statehood by the UN. Please study the nature of fulfillment of those prophecies to see that they were never meant to be fulfilled literally in the Messianic Age. Paul said that God kept his promises to Israel (the remnant) but many are basically saying that he has not kept those promises yet (they are expecting a literal fulfillment).

I know this is a controversial topic, but I hope this article helps.  

KING ASA OF JUDAH: PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL

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King Asa, the 3rd king of the southern kingdom of Judah, reigned for 41 years and was one of the more righteous kings of all 19 kings of Judah. But “pride goeth before a fall”, which means “People who are overconfident or too arrogant are likely to fail.” Humility might be the most important thing for sinners who are seeking a right relationship with God. James 4:6 Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” 1 Peter 5:5 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Luke 14:11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Here is a great image of King Asa’s reforms in Judah.

2 Chronicles 14:2  And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. Judah had decayed morally to the point that there were male shrine prostitutes, which Asa remove. He removed pagan altars. Judah had peace with no wars for most of his reign. He bullt walled cities. He had an army of 580,000 men of valor from the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin (which made up the southern kingdom after the kingdom split).

Even when Zerah the Ethiopian attacked Judah with one million men, Asa humbly prayed “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”  (2 Chronicles 14:11). Psalm 149:4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” God gave Asa the victory b/c he was humble and trusted God in battle.

The prophet Azariah told Asa, ““Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chroniclles 14:2). After hearing those words, Asa immediately responded by tearing down pagan altars throughout Judah. He persuaded all the people of Judah and Benjamin, and even those from some of the northern kingdom tribes who had moved to Judah to get away from the idolatry in the northern kingdom, to enter a covenant to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. Whoever broke the covenant would be put to death. He even removed Micaah, his own queen mother, from being queen b/c she built a detestable image for Asherah. “The heart of Asa was wholly true all his days” (2 Chronicles 15:17).

But things changed in the 35th year of his 41 year reign. The evil king Baasha of the northern kingdom built Ramah on the border between the two kingdoms in order to stop defectors from leaving the northern kingdom to go to Judah to live. There was war between Baasha and Asa. God would have given Asa victory over Baasha if he had just humbly trusted God like he did in the victory over Zerah. Instead, Asa bribed King Beh-hadad of Syria with gold and silver from the temple to attack Baasha and force Baasha to withdraw from fighting Judah. It worked! Apparently Asa was feeling pretty confident in his ability after that.

Hanani the prophet met Asa and told him ““Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. 8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand.” (2 Chronicles 15:7-8) How did Asa handle this rebuke from the prophet? Did he humbly repent and ask forgiveness? 2 Chronicles 15:10 Then Asa was angry with the seer and put him in the stocks in prison, for he was in a rage with him because of this. And Asa inflicted cruelties upon some of the people at the same time.”

What happened that changed Asa from the humble man who sought God with all his heart to one who would in a rage put God’s prophet in stocks in prison and inflict cruelties upon some of the people? PRIDE. Proverbs 16: 18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” In the 39th year of his reign, he was afflicted with diseased feet, but instead of seeking the Lord for help, he only sought his physicians. He died without any record of his repenting of his pride.

It is hard to be humble in America when we have so many resources to rely on. Not all, but most o us Christians have money, medical insurance, retirement funds, prestige at work, and respect at work. But when we have a crisis, like health, money, job, marital, or family problems, who do we turn to first? God has given us doctors and there is nothing wrong in seeking help from doctors. But who do we turn to first in a medical crisis: physicians or The Great Physician. When there is a crisis at work or possibly losing my job, who do I turn to first? In a money crisis, who do I turn to first: a financial counselor or the word of God? In a marital crisis, who do I turn to first: a marital counselor or God? Who do I rely on to help me either solve a problem or cope with the problem? The one you turn to first in a crisis is the one you trust to be fully able to help you in the crisis.

God told Solomon after he built and dedicated the new temple: 2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” I think that our country is at a critical point right now. We have been blessed with so many material wealth. “In 2023, the mean personal income in the United States was $63,510. The median household income was $80,610.” “According to the World Bank’s classification, the mean income in “third world” countries, categorized as low-income economies, is typically below $1,145 per capita per year, with lower middle-income countries ranging between $1,146 and $4,515 per capita”. “According to data from the World Bank, around 84% of the world’s population lives in “developing countries,” which is often considered synonymous with “third world countries,” meaning the majority of the global population resides in these regions.” Many complain about lack of money, but usually that is b/c of mismanaging money and debt from a high standard of living. The U.S. has more military might and capability than ever before. “The United States military is considered the most powerful in the world, with a large budget, advanced technologies, and a global presence. The US military’s strength is measured by its capability, capacity, and readiness to handle missions.” 70 % in our country say they believe in God, but according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, only 54% of US adults believe in “God as described in the Bible”. So only half of our people believe in Yahweh of the Bible. That other 16% would believe in the god of some of the world religions like Buddhism. Only 30 % attend church. I am not a big proponent of organized churches, but church attendance is still a good indicator of an active faith in God. Only 25% believe that homosexual relations is a morally wrong and a sin. 64% believe that homosexual relations are morally acceptable.

All those statistics sound to me like America is in need of moral reform. If the prophet Azariah was here today, I think he would tell us the same thing he told Asa, “The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” . That means believing in the Bible as the verbally inspired error free word of God (the orginals were error free and the translations we have are trustworthy). If the Bible says that homosexuality or adultery or drunkenness in a sin, then it is a sin. That means relying on Yahweh as the only true God and Jesus Christ as the only Savior from our sins. That means relying on God for how we live, think, and do. That means humbling ourselves to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That means fellowshipping with other Christians in house churches or even orgainzied churches.

MAGA: “make America great again”. I’m all for that. But I prefer MAHA: “make America humble again.”

AT LEAST KING JOSIAH TRIED!

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King Josiah was the 16th king of the southern kingdom of Judah from 640-609 BC.

Josiah’s grandfather was perhaps the most evil of the 19 kings of Judah. His 55 year reign was mostly marked by terrible evil.

The Assyrians carried Manasseh to Babylon in hooks, bound with bronze fetters. In his suffering there, he humbled himself and repented of his evil way. We don’t know how, but God brought him back to Jerusalem. He then removed the idols, foreign gods, altars for sacrificing to those gods, etc. 2 Chronicles 33:18-19 mentions his prayer. There is a book in the Apocrypha called “The Prayer of Manasseh”, a short prayer that he supposedly prayed. We are not sure of the authenticity of that book, but 2 Chronicles 33:19 says that his prayer was recorded in the records of Hozai, so it is possible that “The Prayer of Manasseh” is really his prayer passed down throught Jewish history. As evil was Manasseh was, God forgave him and he died in a right relationship with God. God is such a merciful, forgiving God.

His father was the evil king Amon, the son of Manasseh. Amon began to reign when he was 22 and reigned for only 2 years. Most of his teen and young adult life would have been watching his father Manasseh do evil things. He would have also sseen Manasseh’s repentance and reforms, but that did not make an impact on Amon. How evil was Amon?

Josiah began to reign when he was 8 years old. Amon his father reigned for 2 years. That means that Josiah was 6 years old when his grandfather Manasseh died and 8 years old when his father Amon died. . His memories of his evil father Amon would not have been good as a 6 and 7 year old child. Fortunately his memories of his grandfather might have been mostly good as a 4 and 5 year old child since Manasseh would have been doing his reforms during those years of Josiah’s childhood.

Here is a great image detailing the age of Josiah when he began to reign at age 8 and did reforms. (Actually it should be 26 years old, the 18th year of his reign, when he repaired the temple.

During the repair of the temple when he was 26 that Hilkiah the priest found the “book of the Law” (i.e. the Pentateuch) and brought it to Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:14-21). The king tore his clothes and he himself read the book of the Law to all the elders, priests, Levites and people of Judah. He told Hlkiah to ask the prophetess Huldah what his (i.e. Josiah’s) fate would be in light of the curses that he read from the book of Deuteronomy, no doubt, as consequences for all the evil that Manasseh and Amon had done in Judah ( 2 Chronicles 34:22-30). Huldah told him that he would be spared seeing the punishment that God was going to inflict on Judah, but that the evil was so wide spread that Josiah’s reforms were “too little, too late” to save Judah from being carried off into Babylonian captivity. There were 3 deportations to Babylon that began almost immediately after Josiah died during the reign of the last 4 evil kings of Judah, and in 586 BC King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and took the last group of captives to Babylon, beginning the 70 years of exile in Babylon.

So why this lesson on King Josiah at this particular time? It is b/c of my concern for America. I know there is a lot of talk about “make Ameria great again”. You can buy a MAGA hat for $50. I do hope that we can balance the budget, trim the deficit, cut government spending, secure the border, reduce inflation, etc. But will America truly repent of the greed and sexual immorality that permeates our country? Will the churches who promote LGBQT go back and read the Bible condemnation of homosexuality and repent? Will our leaders truly turn to God for guidance on how to lead this country? America has typically bounced back from ungodly stretches of its history with “grass roots revivals” like the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings, and the Jeremy Lanphier prayer revival (that spread across many cities with thousands praying every day at noon)? But those revivals were based on people believing that the Bible was the word of God. If the Bible said drunkenness was a sin, then to repent means to quit getting drunk. But today about 70% of Americans believe that same sex relationships are morally acceptable. If someone does that believe that homosexuality is a sin, then they won’t repent of that. Therefore a grass roots revival will be nearly impossible unless we do what Josiah did. We need to rediscover the Bible, open and study it, and let the Bible tell us what sin is, and then repent if we are guilty of sin. What will be the fate of America if we do not repent and restore the Judeo-Christian values that this country was built on? Only God knows the answer to that, but I am praying for a revival. American Christians have so many resources that can and are being used to drill wells overseas and print Bibles to spread the gospel. I don’t want to see that end.

In the mean time, we need to pray daily and earnestly for our country and our leaders. 1 Timothy 1:1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

THE INAUGURATION OF JESUS AS KING OF KINGS

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Most of us are watching the inauguration ceremony of Donad Trump as I write this article. I am amazed at the bureaucracy of the federal govenment, but also anxious to see what reforms Trump will initiate very soon once he is inaugurated. I am anxious to see if anyone will actually curb government spending and try to balance the budget (fat chance!). Boos and cheers at the ceremony as different ones walk in: sounds more like a sporting event. Oh well, enough of that. First time in 47years that it is indoors (due to the cold). I hope that it not a bad omen! All smiles as the most recent presidents are announced. A stirring rendition of “Glory, glory hallelujah, His truth is marching on”. I pray that God’s truth in morals will truly march on. Will we truly have one of those “grass roots revivals” that America experienced like the 1st and 2nd Great Awakenings and the Lampier Prayer revival? That remains to be scene. The smiles have rescended among some as Trump takes shots at the past administration. Very interesting that he claimed that he was saved by God from the assassination attempt on his life so that he can make America great again. Several standing ovations and applause. He just declared that the government would recognize two genders, male and female. Closing with a moving prayer by Pastor Sewell, quite appropriate on MLK day, reminiscent of a MLK speech.

I want to focus on a far more important inauguration, i.e. the inauguration of the king of kings, Jesus Christ. I read several articles that suggested different moments in the life of Jesus in which he was inaugurated. Was it at His baptism, Last Supper, or maybe His ascension?

We need to look at a couple of key passages in discussing this.

Daniel 7:13 “I saw in the night visions,and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Most say this refers to the ascension of Jesus into heaven, but there’s a passage in Luke that needs to be considered.

Luke 19:11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”

Several things to notice in this parable. Some supposed that “the kingdom was going to appear immediately”. The kingdom referred to in the kingdom promised in Daniel 2:44-45 that would be established in the days of the 4th kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, i.e. the Roman Empire. Both Jesus and John the Baptist had said “the kingdom is at hand”. The phrase “at hand” means “at hand” in the time frame of those Jesus is speaking to. Jesus made that even clearer in Mt 16:27  “For, the Son of Man is about to come ( mello, which. always means “about to be or about to happen” in the NT) in the glory of his Father, with his messengers, and then he will reward each, according to his work. 28 Verily I say to you, there are certain of those standing here who shall not taste of death till they may see the Son of Man coming in his reign.” (YLT) Not only does Jesus say that the judgement and 2nd coming was “about to” happen, but He also says that some of those he was speaking to would still be alive to see Him coming (His 2nd coming) in his kingdom. That kingdom that was “at hand” would indeed be established in the first century, but it was not a physical kingdom like that of the Jewish kingdom in the OT. It was a spiritual kingdom, the church. Jesus had said, John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my officers had struggled that I might not be delivered up to Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence.” (YLT) Jesus had said to Peter in Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Peter used the keys to open the door to enter that kingdom when he preached the first “gospel sermon” in Acts 2 and 3,000 were baptized for the remission of sins, becoming the first church, which is the spiritual body of Jesus of which he is the head. The kingdom of Jesus on earth in the NT was the church. Paul said, Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” The Colossian Christians were in that kingdom.

So that kingdom of Daniel 2:44,45 was to be established within the lifetime of those Jesus spoke to, but in Luke 19 some supposed it was to appear immediately (i.e. immediately after Jesus’ lifetime which ended in about 30 AD). The establishment of that kingdom, the church, would indeed begin soon in Acts 2, but would involve a transition period of 40 years, from 30 AD to 70 AD. The parable says that “the nobleman would go into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return”. It says that “having received the kingdom” (in the far country) that he would “return” (the 2nd coming) to “reign”. That tells us Jesus did not officially receive his reign over his kingdom until his 2nd coming (his “return” from the farcountry).

Doesn’t that sound just like our inauguration process? We elected a president back in November. There was a transition period until Jan 20 till the official inauguration. The president elect did not take over the powers of the president until Jan 20. Jesus ascended into heaven to receive his kingdom, so technically he became king at this ascension. But he would not officially begin to reign fully until 70 AD, just as in the parable of Luke 19. Jesus’ official inauguration as King of Kings began in 70 AD and continues today since his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

I close with Revelation 11: 15 Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, “We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” This would be fulfilled after the events of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. God and His Christ would begin to reign in the everlasting church kingdom from then on and He is reigning today over His spiritual kingdom, the church, which is above all the kingdoms of the world.

Gabriel told Mary, Luke 1:32 He (her baby Jesus)will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Isaiah had predicted, Isaiah 9:For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this.”

Peter preached Acts 2:29 “Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 So because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. 32 It is this Jesus whom God raised up, a fact to which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore, since He has been exalted at the right hand of God, and has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ Peter is saying that Jesus was raised and exalted at the right hand of God and had begun sitting on the throne of David. Not the physical throne of David as in the OT, but sitting on a spiritual throne of David (figurative fulfillement of 2 Samuel 7). He has been sitting on that throne since Acts 2 in 30 AD.

Zechariah adds another promise, Zechariah 6:13 Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the majesty and sit and rule on His throne. So He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”’ Jesus will be king and priest at the same time. That would nto be possible under the Law since Jesus was of the tribe of Judah but the high priest could only come from the tribe of Levi. I think all Christians agree that Jesus is our high priest today. That must be in heaven since the Hebrew writer said, Hebrews 8:4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law”. A little deductive reasoning here: 1) Jesus is our high priest in heaven now, and He could not be high priest on earth. 2) He is our king at the same time that he is our high priest. 3) Therefore, he must be king in heaven and not of earth.

His kingdom must be a kingdom that was established in the first century. That could only be the spiritual kingdom, the church. This debunks all the theories that Jesus will return some day to establish a physical kingdom on earth and reign a thousand years in that kingdom. Most say that Jesus did plan to establish a physical kingdom in the first century, but that he delayed that b/c of his rejection by the Jews. Hebrews debunks the notion of a delayed kingdom (and 2nd coming): Hebrews 10:For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay. That was written in about 62 AD and predicts that Jesus would come in a “very little while” (the 2nd coming) and would not delay. That fits his 2nd coming in 70 AD.

Even if you don’t agree with some of this article, we can all agree that Jesus is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords. We can agree that the church is an important part of his kingdom, even if not all agree on the establishment of some future kingdom. Let us offer praise to the King of Kings.

One of my favorite songs is King of Kings by Hillsong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQl4izxPeNU

Listen to that song as you read the lyrics:

In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope, without light
‘Til from Heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfill the law and prophets
To a virgin came the word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt

Praise the Father, praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
God of glory, Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

To reveal the kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the cross
For even in your suffering
You saw to the other side
Knowing this was our salvation
Jesus for our sake you died

Praise the Father, praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
God of glory, Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

And the morning that You rose
All of Heaven held its breath
‘Til that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death
And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored

And the church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel, shall not faint
By His blood and in His name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me

Praise the Father, praise the Son
Praise the Spirit, three in one
God of glory, Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

Praise forever to the King of Kings

Amen and Amen!

WE SAW THEE NOT

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

I google youtube.com and get multiple videos on sports, politics, even the Bible and Christian songs. This morning the song “We saw thee not” popped up and I listened to it. You might want to listen to a youtube acapella version of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d25PYT8v71I

1 We saw Thee not when Thou didst come
To this poor world of sin and death;
Nor yet beheld Thy cottage home,
In that despised Nazareth;

Refrain:
But we believe Thy footsteps trod
Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God:
But we believe Thy footsteps trod
Its streets and plains, Thou Son of God.

2 We saw Thee not when lifted high
Amid that wild and savage crew;
Nor heard we that imploring cry,
“Forgive, they know not what they do!”

Refrain:
But we believe the deed was done,
That shook the earth and veiled the sun;
But we believe the deed was done,
That shook the earth and veiled the sun;

3 We gazed not in the open tomb,
Where once Thy mangled body lay;
Nor saw Thee in that “upper room,”
Nor met Thee on the open way;

Refrain:
But we believe that angels said,
“Why seek the living with the dead?”
But we believe that angels said,
“Why seek the living with the dead?”

4 We walked not with the chosen few,
Who saw Thee from the earth ascend;
Who raised to heav’n their wond’ring view,
Then low to earth all prostrate bend;

Refrain:
But we believe that human eyes
Beheld that journey to the skies;
But we believe that human eyes
Beheld that journey to the skies.

Anne Richter wrote the hymn “We Saw Thee Not”. John Hampden Gurney modified the hymn and published it in Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship in 1851. The tune (Shaw) was composed by Knowles Shaw (1834-1878; see #75).  It first appeared around 1877 in one of his Sunday school song collections and became popular after being included in James H. Fillmore’s The New Christian Hymn and Tune Book, Part III, in 1887. There was a 5th stanza added: Stanza 5 (not used by Shaw) says that we do not see Him now, yet we believe His word “And now that Thou dost reign on high, And thence Thy waiting people bless, No ray of glory from the sky Doth shine upon our wilderness. But we believe Thy faithful word, And trust in our redeeming Lord” (repeat).

What a great song! The life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Do you remember what Jesus said to doubting Thomas? John 20:27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Thomas was able to put his fingers in the holes in Jesus’ hands and side. It took that for Thomas to believe. That is a great proof for the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection was not just believed by a group of people who were expecting a resurrection. It was believed by the apostles who did not expect Jesus to die, certainly not die and be raised. But it was also believed by Thomas who did not even show up when Jesus first appeared to the 10 apostles on the night of the day he was raised (John 20:19-25). John 20:24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” So he still didn’t believe even though the 10 told him they had seen the resurrected Jesus. He needed more proof. So this adds to the proof that the resurrection of Jesus really happened.

The same argument could be made of James, the Lord’s brother, who did not believe in Jesus when he was alive but became a believer after seeing Jesus raised. We don’t know when the resurrected Jesus appeared to James, but 1 Corinthians 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” The same argument could be made of Saul who was killing Christians until the resurrected Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Nothing could have converted Saul (Paul) other than actually seeing the resurrected Jesus. He had everything in Judaism but gave it all up after seeing Jesus and spent the rest of his life witnessing the resurrection and suffering for Jesus, eventually being beheaded by Nero in 67 AD. So the resurrected Jesus was seen and believed by his skeptics.

But Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That would be anyone who believed or believes in Jesus even though they did not actually see the resurrected Jesus. That would be us. That’s not saying that we are more blessed than those who actually saw the resurrected Jesus. It is just saying that we can be blessed with faith even though we did not see the resurrected Jesus.

An interesting question: Would you rather have lived back then and have been able to actually see the resurrected Jesus, or live today when you have to rely on the written testimony of those who did see the resurrected Jesus? It would be nice if Jesus would appear to any skeptic today and allow them to put their fingers in the holes, but he doesn’t. Why doesn’t he? A little speculation here. Satan told Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down (from the pinnacle of the temple) and the angels will catch you”. Jesus replied, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”.

We use the law of gravity and the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s^2) in many equations and applications in physics. What if, every time we use that, someone says “would you prove to me that the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s^2 ? That would be proving something that is a solid, irrefutable,proven law of physics. The same with the resurrection of Jesus. God gave us sufficient proof that Jesus was raised from the dead. We have the credible witness of the apostles. We have many post resurrection appearances of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15), even to 500 (many of whom Paul said were still alive when he wrote that so that skeptics could actually talk to some of them if they so wished). Luke told Theophilus that Jesus was raised from the dead and that he had confirmed that by talking to “eyewitnesses” (Luke 1:1-4). We have skeptics like Thomas, James, and Paul who were very reluctant to believe in Jesus until they actually saw the resurrected Jesus. We have the resurrection of Jesus being preached in the same city in which it allegedly occurred (Jerusalem) just 50 days after the resurrection, and yet no one said “you can’t prove that”. Imagine if I claimed that someone was riased from the dead in Maple Hll Cemetary 50 days ago right here in Huntsville, Al. That would be so easy to disprove if it did not actually happen. But thousands in Jerusalem became believers. Not all did, but there was sufficient evidence to convince thousands right there in Jerusalem where the resurrection happened. I doubt there would be one single believer of my claim that someone was raised 50 days ago in Maple Hill.

Could Jesus have appeared to even more after his resurrection? Sure. Would that have made the proof of his resurrection greater? I suppose. Could he make multiple appearances today to prove to skeptics that he was raised? Sure. Would that help people believe in Jesus? Mabye some. But do you remember what Jesus said to the rich man: Luke 16:27 And he (the rich man in torment) said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” Not everyone would believe if even if Jesus made appearances today. But the bottom line is that God gave us sufficient proof that Jesus was raised and He will not allow us to continually test him over and over to prove that again. A teacher will not stop his physics lesson every time someone asks him/her to prove that the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s^2.

Peter felt that the proof for the resurrection of Jesu was sufficient. Acts 10:39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” He did not feel that Jesus needed to appear to “all the people” to prove that He was raised.

Back to the song: We did not see him walk the earth, be crucified, be raised, and ascend to heaven. But we believe! We are the “blessed” who did not see the resurrected Jesus and put our fingers in the holes, and yet we believed. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”

Now would be a good time to listen to the song, “I know whom I have believed” acapella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRV3J4n8cc The song says “I know not” why God and Christ so graciously loved and saved us, how faith saved us, how the Spirit moves to convict men of sin and create faith, or what good or bad times we will face in the future. But one thing is sure: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is able, to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day”. This is another of those great songs from the 1800’s (1883 AD to be exact). It is interesting that different endings to the refrain appear in different song books based on 2 Timothy 1:12. Some versions, similar to the KJV (for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”), read “He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him” and others read “He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me”. Was it what Paul entrusted or committed to God or was it what had been entrusted to Paul (i.e. the gospel). Let’s just say “both” and get the main point. “I know (without a doubt) whom (Jesus) I have believed”. To know Jesus is to know and believe the intellectual facts of his life, death, and resurrection and that he is our Savior. But it is also to have an intimate knowledge of Jesus like what you have with your mate b/c you made a commitment to him/her to spend your whole life with him/her. You committed your whole life and love to your mate, and your mate committed his/her whole life and love to you. Both is true.

So, begin your day today listening to “We saw Thee not” (and maybe “I know whom I have believed”).