Tag: god

IT WAS A SET UP!

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

You know what a “set up” is. You work a plan to get someone in trouble. You “set them up” to get in trouble. Darius the Mede is not found in archaeological or historical records, but we trust the Bible when it says that Darius the Mede took over Babylon from Belshazzar the night of the handwriting on the wall (5:32). He is also the king of record in Daniel 6, 9, and 11. Darius had 3 commissioners and 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the 3 commissioners. Darius was planning on making Daniel the chief commissioner over the whole kingdom. Daniel 6:4 Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel regarding government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, because he was trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him regarding the law of his God.”

Let’s stop there for a moment. Look at our politics today. It is not hard to find corruption or negligence or moral indiscretion to accuse many of our political leaders of, is it? But they could find nothing to accuse Daniel of. Nothing! Lesson #1 from this chapter: what could your enemies find about you to accuse you of to make you look bad or get you in trouble? Are you totally honest in all your business dealings, paying taxes, driving the speed limit (ouch!), hours at work accountability, a little too loose with flirting or sex talk, lying to your boss (mabye just a half-lie), lying to cover up for someone, etc. No one is perfect, but our goal should be to be so spotless than an enemy can’t find a single bad thing to accuse us of.

So they plan to set Daniel up. They look at Daniel’s religious habits. What does he do so conscientiously that they can set a trap for him. Daniel had a habit of praying 3 times a day from his upper room with the window open facing Jerusalem. With a little spy work, they. had seen him doing this every single day without fail. So they got the king to issue a decree that if anyone prayed to any other god (than Marduk, the patron god of Babylon probably) or person (other than Dairus) then that person would be thrown into the lions’ den. They knew that such a decree and threat would not stop Daniel from praying every day. Lesson #2 from this chapter: What religious habit do you do so consistently that your enemies could count on you doing it even it meant you would be killed for doing it? What if the government passed a law against meeting in churches or house churches, or against distributing Bibles to others, or trying to convert others to Christianity? Would you still do those things even if it meant going to jail? Are you so consistent in doing those religous habits that some atheistic organization would get such laws passed to get you in trouble, knowing that you would still do your religious habit in spirt of the threat? Does anyone at work ever say, “Yeah I see John reading his Bible or praying every free moment at work or school or with a group for any event”? Or, “I know where you can find John on Sunday morning, meeting in a church or hosting a house church or small group in his house”? Or, “Yeah, John is always telling others about Jesus every chance he gets wherever he goes”?

BTW, we don’t really think that our government will ever pass such laws, but such is common in countries where Christians are persecuted, like North Korea, or Pakistan, or Somalia, or Lybia, or Eritrea, or Yemen, or Nigeria, or Sudan, or Iran, or Afghanistan. Those are the 10 most dangerous countries for Christians to live in according to Open Doors Ministry (a ministry dedicated to helping persecuted Christians all over the world). We take our religious freed for granted in the U.S. We need to be more concerned about using church and individual contribution money for things like helping persecuted Christians. From Stewardship.org: “There are more than 360 million persecuted Christians worldwide who suffer oppression and discrimination daily. That’s 1 in every 7 believers globally. Some face violence and abduction, while others risk losing their jobs and livelihood.” Several organizations like VOM (Voice of The Martyrs) and Open Doors help persecuted Christians. Look at how much money churches spend on buildings, staff, and programs for ourselves, and how little they give to drill wells for clean water, to print Bibles, to help persecuted Christians, to provide for poor children, to help refugees caught in civil wars, etc. Maybe its time churches looked at how they spend the money entrusted to them by donors.

Their plan worked. Surely Daniel knew about the decree but he continued praying 3 times a day in open sight to all from his open window. He didn’t say, “I think God will be ok if I start praying where no one can see me”. They told the king about Daniel praying to his God Yahweh. Daniel 6:14 Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply distressed, and set his mind on rescuing Daniel; and until sunset he kept exerting himself to save him.” But he could not change the decree. The king ordered Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den. He couldn’t rescue Daniel but he told him, “your God whom you continually serve will Himself rescue you” (6:16). Daniel 6:18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.”

You know how the story ended! Daniel 6:19 Then the king got up at dawn, at the break of day, and went in a hurry to the lions’ den. 20 And when he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king began speaking and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you continually serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.” 23 Then the king was very glad and gave orders for Daniel to be lifted up out of the den. So Daniel was lifted up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they threw them, their children, and their wives into the lions’ den; and they had not reached the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Darius then issued an amazing decree. Daniel 6:5 Then Darius the king wrote to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who were living in all the land: “May your peace be great! 26 I issue a decree that in all the realm of my kingdom people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel;

For He is the living God and enduring forever,
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be forever.
27 He rescues, saves, and performs signs and miracles
In heaven and on earth,
He who has also rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

That is a great testimony. Look at the miracles God did in the book of Daniel. The fiery furnace miracle, the handwriting on the wall, the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar, and now the lions’ den miracle. The kings of Babylon and Media saw these miracles. Perhaps the stories of these miracles convinced Cyrus to allow the Jews to return from exile. Perhaps Isaiah predicting the the return under Cyrus by name influenced him. Did Darius the Mede actually convert to belief in the one true God Yahewh? Is this his testimony, similar to that of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4? We can only hope to meet Darius and Nebuchadnezzar in eternal life some day and talk to them about their experiences. Won’t that be great? If Darius did convert to Yahweh, how many in his kingdom converted to Yahweh b/c of his decree and testimony? Such has happened before.  In Armenia Christianity is the state religion and the Armenian Apostolic Church is the national church. Armenia is the first country who recognized Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. St. Gregory the Illuminator convinced Tiridates III, the king of Armenia, to convert to Christianity. Before this, the dominant religion in Armenia was Armenian paganism. Christianity had not yet been legalized by Constantine in the empire in 301 AD. Gregory the Illuminator was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity.

Such. possible conversion stories are why Paul tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 2:1 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. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” We should pray for all countries, but especially for countries where Christians are persecuted. We should pray for the leaders of those countries, for God to work on converting those leaders or at least for them to open up religious freedom in their countries. God can do what we consider to be impossible. Who would have thought that the Berlin Wall could fall?

Daniel 6:28 So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Again, not much historical help to fill in the blanks on the transfer of power from Darius the Mede to Cyrus the king of Persia. We know that Daniel 1:21 And Daniel continued until the first year of Cyrus the king.” It was in that 1st year of Cyrus that Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom” (in 536 BC to allow the Jews in Babylon to return to the holy land to rebuild the temple). Perhaps Cyrus was influenced by Isaiah predicting that Cyrus, by name, would allow them to return. Darius defeated the Babylonians in 539 BC but Cyrus allowed the Jews to return in his first official year as king in 536 BC, so apparently Cyrus helped defeat the Babylonians in 539 BC (as history records) but only officially began reigning as king of Persia in 536 BC (his 1st year as king, Ezra 1:1). I don’t claim to be a historian, but that is my reckoning of events. We know that Daniel lived at least to the 3rd year of Cyrus b/c Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.” Daniel was carried captive to Babylon in the first deportation by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC as a youth (let’s say age 20?). He was in Babylon the entire 70 years till the 1st year of Cyrus in 536 BC, and then at least 2 more years till the 3rd year of Cyrus. That makes Daniel about 90 years old when he sees the vision in the 3rd year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1). We don’t think that Daniel returned with those who returned to the holy land to rebuild the temple. It is pure speculation as to why he didn’t if indeed he didn’t return. Maybe he was just too old for the trip. Maybe he felt he could do more good as a respected official in the kingdom of Cyrus. We don’t know when and how he died. From Wikipedia: “The Book of Daniel mentions that Daniel lived in Babylon and may have visited the palace of Susa‌, Iran, but the place where he died is not specified; the tradition preserved among the Jews and Muslims is that he was buried in Susa. Today the Tomb of Daniel in Susa is a popular attraction among local Muslims and Iran’s Jewish community alike.” The Tomb of Daniel in the city of Susa, in Iran:

That pretty much concludes the historical part of Daniel (chapters 1-6). Chapters 7-12 will be visions and predictions in the reign of Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Until then.

HANDWRITING ON THE WALL

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Most know the story of the handwriting on the wall in Daniel 5. Belshazzar was the king of Babylon in Daniel 5. He is called the son of Nebuchadnezzar in 5:22 but historical records say that he was the son of Nabonidus (556-539 BC). The Hebrew word for “son” is bar: Son, heir, pure, clean. There is no physical lineage back to. Nebuchadnezzar although some say that Belshazzar was a son in law to Nebuchadnezzar, or maybe it just means he was an heir to the throne following Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar actually co-reigned with his father Nabonidus but appears to be the one in charge.

The story begins with a feast. Daniel 5:1 Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand. 2 While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank out of them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.” In other words, they were having a drunken feast! They praised their god idols that were made out of gold, etc. They drank wine out of the gold vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem when King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC. You can see why God is going to destroy Babylon b/c of their arrogance and blasphemy of the one true God Yahweh.

Daniel 5:5 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king’s face became pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints loosened and his knees began knocking together.” Sorry but I just have to thrown this image of a boy whose knees knocked in fear. Belshazzar had to look something like this:

None of his diviners or sorcerers could interpret the handwriting. Daniel 5:9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were perplexed.” The queen reminded him of how Daniel had interpreted the vision of the statue for Nebuchadnezzar, so Daniel was summoned. The king offered to make Daniel third in the kingdom if he could interpret the handwriting, but Daniel refused any reward. Daniel reminded the king of how the great Nebuchanezzaar was humbled by God to live like an animal b/c of his pride (Daniel 4). He told Belshezzar: Daniel 5:22 Yet you, his [v]son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, 23 but you have risen up against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines have been drinking wine out of them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, nor hear, nor understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and all your ways, you have not glorified.”

Daniel then gave the interpretation: Daniel 5:26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘Mene’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 27 ‘Tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘Peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel was promoted to being third in the kingdom but that didn’t last long!

Daniel 5:30 That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.” There is no historical records of a Darius the Mede, but we trust God’s word that he did exist in history. Many times there is no historical record of some event or person in the Bible, only later to find archaeological evidence that proves that the Bible was accurate. Such was the case with the discovery of archaeological proof of the existence of the Hittites. Darius is mentioned again in Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. The Medes had actually joined Babylon to defeat the Assyrians in 612 BC. Whoever this Darius was, he had a major part in defeating the Babylonians and took over their kingdom in 539 BC. Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia, is given credit for conquering Babylon in 539 BC according to history. Both the Babylonian Chronicles and the Cyrus Cylinder describe Babylon being taken “without battle”. “King Cyrus the Great diverted the Euphrates River to conquer Babylon. He dug trenches upstream to create a reservoir, which lowered the water level in the city. Cyrus’ soldiers waded into the river at night. They marched up the riverbed to Babylon’s gates, which were left open. The Persians took the city with little resistance. The Babylonians were partying and had left the gates open and unguarded. The Babylonians also felt so secure that they didn’t expect an attack.” (AI) That matches the story in Daniel 5 of the feast that night. History says that Belshazzar was killed and Nabonidus was captured and exiled.

“The Cyrus cylinder: clay cylinder; a Babylonian account of the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 539 BC, of his restoration to various temples of statues removed by Nabonidus, the previous king of Babylon, and of his own work at Babylon.” (From theBritishmuseum.org). Cyrus is the king that Isaiah the prophet predicted would defeat the Babylonians and allow the Jews to return to the holy land. He predicted Cyrus by name over 100 years before Cyrus was even born! Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel had all predicted the fall of Babylon due to her idolatry, cruelty, and arrogant blasphemy of Yahweh.

The Nabonidus Chronicle. ” The Babylonian Chronicles (consisting of 45 tablets), specifically the “Nabonidus Chronicle,” provide a detailed account of the fall of Babylon, describing its conquest by the Persian king Cyrus the Great without a battle, and are considered a primary source for this historical event.” 

That’s a lot of history! The story in Daniel 5 reinforces that “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Nebuchadnezzar died before Belshazzar was born, so Belshazzar did not actually see Nebuchadnezzar becoming like an animal due to his pride, but Daniel said that Belshazzar knew about it. Daniel 5:22 Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.” History repeats itself unless we learn from the mistakes of the past and correct them. Pride makes some rulers think their kingdoms are invincible even though they read of earlier rulers falling even though they thought their kingdoms were invincible. We read about the fall of the Roman Empire, but we don’t really think that the U.S. could fall one day. From AI: “The fall of the Roman Empire was caused by a combination of factors including political instability, economic decline, overexpansion, military overspending, barbarian invasions, civil wars, corruption within the government, and a weakening Roman army; with the most significant factor being the constant pressure from Germanic tribes migrating into the empire’s borders, leading to numerous invasions and weakening the empire’s defenses.” We find several of those same facors in our country, do we not? Government overspending has created a deficit that might bankrupt our country (don’t think that could not happen). We have political instability in my opinion and are deeply divided politically. We have government corruption and wasteful spending. We have the constant threat of terrorists. We have violence as evidence by the many shootings. We have moral decline and a rejection of the Bible’s definition of sin and the approval of homosexuality (the LGBQT movement). We have the breakdown of the family unit with over 50% divorce rate and with homosexual marriages.

Can you pray this prayer with me? “God, please help our country return to You and to Your word. Whatever it takes, humble us before it is too late. Give us leaders who will not just make America great militarily and economically, but will lead us back to You. Forgive us for forsaking Your word and our Judeo-Christian roots. We still have so many resources that can be used to do Your work all over the world, so it would be sad to see America fall or lose those resources. Give us a grass roots revival like the first and second great awakening. Purge out the churches that no longer hold fast to your word. Thank for you the material blessings that you have given so many of us. Thank you for the remnant of conservative Christians who still hold fast to Your word. Thank you for sending your Son to die for our sins, providing eternal life no matter what happens in our country or in the world. Amen. ”

CAN YOU SPELL NEBUCHADNEZZAR?

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

He was one of the greatest kings ever in terms of his power and of his kingdom of Babylon. He reigned for 43 years (605 – 562 BC). He is know for his construction projects such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (supposedly one of the 7 wonders of the world). He was a warrior-king who defeated the Egyptians (605 BC) and the Assyrians (612 BC). God used him to. destroy Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BC. His name is used 88 times in the Bible! God used him to judge the evil nations surrounding Judah as was predicted by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. God had already used the Assyrians to take the northern kingdom of Israel capative and destroy the capital Samaria in 722 BC. God used even pagan nations to judge other nations. That really bothered Habakkuk the prophet. Habakkuk questioned God, “I know Judah needs to be punished for her sins but how can you, God, use such a pagan evil nation like Babylon to punish her?” God told him that in due time Babylon would also be judged for her sins, and she was when Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC, which was predicted by the prophets. Daniel 2:20-22 says, “He removes kings and raises up kings”. Judah would remain in captivity in Babylon for 70 years before Cyrus allowed them to return to rebuild the temple in 536 BC.

A closer look at Daniel 4. I don’t think I ever noticed that much of Daniel 4 is written in the. first person. “I, Nebuchadnezzar” is used often (4:4, 18, 34, 37), and a lot of “I, me, my”. Most of this chapter is Nebuchadnezzar telling his own story of his own belief in the God of Daniel and Judah! This is his personal testimony! Daniel 4 begins: “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages who live in all the earth: “May your peace be great! 2 I am pleased to declare the signs and miracles that the Most High God has done for me. 3 How great are His signs and how mighty are His miracles! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.” That would be his conclusion after the 7 years of madness and living like an animal. He then in 4:1-18, in 1st person, tells about his dream of a great tree cut down to a stump and the stump being given an animal’s mind for 7 period of tme to humble him. His magicians could not interpret the dream, so Daniel came and interpreted it for him. Daniel had earlier interpreted his vision of the statue in Daniel 2, so the king had confidence in Daniel’ ability to interpret dreams.

4:19 “Then Daniel, whose name is Belteshazzar, was appalled for a while as his thoughts alarmed him.” Imagine telling the king of the then known world that he is about to become like an animal for 7 years! Daniel told him that the tree was the king and the stump was that he would be cut down and humbled to live like an animal for 7 periods (probably 7 years) until he would recognize that the Most High (i.e. Yahweh the God of Judah) is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. A stump, if not dug up and its roots destroyed, can grow into a tree again and Daniel told the king that he could regain his reign over his kingdom if he humbled himself. Daniel advised him: “wipe away your sin by doing righteousness, and your wrongdoings by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.” (4:27)

Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning of the dream for a year. 4: 29 Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king began speaking and was saying, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’ “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). While he was still saying this, a voice told him that he was about to lose his sovereignty and that he would live like an animal for 7 periods until he recognized that it was Yahweh who had made him great. 4:33 Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”
Notice that 4:34-37 goes back to 1st person. 4:34 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; for His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 4:36 At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the honor of my kingdom, and my state counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just; and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” He learned his lesson the hard way! But he did learn his lesson and gave God the glory for his greatness as king of Babylon. He resumed his sovereignty and completed his 43 year reign. Did he quit worshipping the god Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon, after this? Did he have faith in the one true God, Yahweh? Did he ever lose that faith in God? Did he repent of his cruelty to Judah and the kings of Judah? Did he repent of his cruelty to many nations? Did he repent of making the golden image and requiring everyone to bow down and worship the image and the king (Daniel 3). Did he repent of throwing the 3 Hebrew lads in the fire? After that incident, he did make a decree that anyone who blasphemed the god of the Hebrews would be punished, but there is not mention of his person faith in their god. I wish we knew how his story ended.

On a side note, a lot of the book of Daniel is written by Daniel using the 1st person, “I Daniel ….”. There is a short video, “My name is Daniel and this is my story” by Holy Tales on youtube if you want to watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJc9_Yctz3c Here is a great 12 minute video on Nebuchadnezzar that include a discussioin of Daniel 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVDYObRu3HM&list=PLQmuFy0bsDto74obQhimrlIb-89175SaV&index=10

As Nebuchadnezzar concluded, God is “able to humble those who walk in pride.” Here is a site that gives verses in the Bible that warn against the sin of pride. https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-pride/

It is so easy for us to be prideful. Most of us have nice homes, good jobs, good money, good retirement, good insurance. We have worked for years and by great effort have achieved a certain level of success. It is so easy to go out on the porch and say, “Look at all that I have achieved; look at my possessions”. It might be then that God strikes us with something bad to humble us! Give God the glory for any success we achieve in life!

Does God still work among nations, to raise up kings and remove them when He wants to? We know he did that with the 4 kingdoms of the statue in Daniel 2 (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome). That led to the establishment of His church kingdom in the days of the Roman Empire, and of Jesus beginning his reign over that church kingdom (Daniel 7:13) and over all the kingdoms of the world (Revelation 11:15). God’s plan of redemption was wrapped up in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple and the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy (Luke 21:22). Did God have a specific plan for nations after 70 AD? Or did he just leave the fate of nations to the freewill of men? Did he leave it mainly to free will and then just intervened occasionally? We don’t know and there are no true prophets who can tell us how God is involved in nations? There is no prophet of God that can tell us why God allowed Hitler to do what he did, or Stalin.

9th-century-BC depiction of the Statue of Marduk, with his servant dragon Mušḫuššu. This was Marduk’s main cult image in Babylon. From wikipedia.

DEATH IN A FIERY FURNACE

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Peter spoke of trial by fire, a fiery trial. 1 Peter 1:1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith (being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tested with fire)”. Peter 4:12-19  “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you”. But I think that was figurative fire! How would you respond if you literally were thrown into a fiery furnce. Picture the fire chambers where they cremate bodies, or the iron furnaces in Birmingham, AL where they made steel. I can’t think of a worse way to die. Christians have been threatened with death by many different means over the past 2,000 years. 70 Christians were just beheaded in the Congo recently. Shelley writes, “Many Christians were even crucified. Some were sewn up in the skins of wild beasts; then big dogs were let loose upon them, and they were torn to pieces. Women were tied to mad bulls and dragged to death. After nightfall Christians were burned at the stake in Nero’s garden. The Roman people who hated the Christians were free to come into the garden, and Nero drove around in his chariot enjoying the horrible spectacle to the full.”[10] This may be what Peter was writing about, when he wrote, “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you” (1 Pet. 4:12). [10] Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language: Fourth Edition. Nashville, NT: Thomas Nelson. 2013. 44. Here is a good article of persecution and martyrdom of Christians: https://www.evidenceunseen.com/theology/historical-theology/persecution-of-christianity-ad-33-325/ Foxes Book of Martyrs is also good.

You probably know where I am headed with this since I started the last article with Daniel 1. Yes, Daniel 3 tells about the 3 Hebrew young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace. They had refused to bow to the 90 feet high, 9 feet wide, gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar had made and had commanded that all bow down and worship. That’s nine stories high. I can’t imagine what it took to even make that image and what it was worth being solid gold. Some Chaldeans told the king about the 3 Hebrews who were not bowing down when the music sounded. The king gave them a 2nd chance to bow down, but they would not. Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” I admire the courage and faith of these 3 young men. They believed not only that God was “able” to deliver them from the fire, but that “he will deliver us”. We should believe that God is able to do what we pray for, but we don’t have to believe that he will always do what we pray for. Jesus asked the Father to remove the cup of suffering and death that he was facing, but I think he knew that the Father would not do that. He knew that he had to die for the sins of the world. John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.” He added, “if not, thy will be done”. I believe that the 3 Hebrews would have been fine with just dying in the fire but they had that extra faith that God was going to deliver them. But even if it meant dying in the fire, they would not worship the image. That would violate the 1st and 2nd of the 10 commandments: Have no other gods and make no graven images to bow down and worship.

I honestly don’t know how I would respond if threatened with being burned to death, or beheaded or any other type of death, if I would not deny Christ. I hope I would respond as the 3 Hebrews did, but who knows what we will do in that moment facing threats of death. Many early Christians joyfully died as martyrs, refusing to deny Christ, such as Polycarp who was burned at the stake. Felicitas and Perpetua were Christian martyrs in the third century who were put to death in Carthage, Africa. Perpetua: A noblewoman who was recently married and nursing an infant son. Felicitas: A slave who was pregnant when arrested. Their martyrdom is told in The Passion of St Perpetua, St Felicitas, and their Companions Perpetua’s account is considered historical and is the earliest surviving text written by a Christian woman. According to the historical account of Saint Perpetua, her father repeatedly pleaded with her to renounce her Christian faith and offer a sacrifice to the Roman emperor, so that she could return home to her infant child and avoid martyrdom; essentially begging her to recant her faith to be with her baby. He might have told her that she didn’t even mean it if she would recant her faith and that God would surely understand her need to live and take care of her infant. I mean, Rahab lied about where the 2 spies were and God didn’t punish her for that. But no, Perpetua would not deny Christ even if it meant death and not being able to see her child again. They walked to the arena with their companions.They were placed in the arena with wild animals. A wild cow was let loose to mock Felicity as a nursing mother. Perpetua guided the executioner’s sword to her neck. Felicity and Perpetua embraced, kissed each other, and received the sword. (AI)

Who knows? Under such a death threat for my faith I might do as many did during the Decian persecution. The Decian persecution (250 AD) was a period of persecution of Christians that occurred under the Roman emperor Decius. The persecution was traumatic for Christian communities, and many lapsed in their faith and went into hiding, but later repented and asked to be readmitted into the church fellowship. The Novatian sect opposed the readmission of Christians who had lapsed in their faith during the Decian persecution. Would you have voted to allow those apostates, as they were called, back into Christian fellowship? What if your dad or mom had died under the persecution b/c they would not deny Christ? Would that change how you felt about the apostates being allowed back in?

These stories seem so foreign to us. There might be someone reading this blog who has suffered such persecution, but most of us have never suffered such, especially threats of death if we won’t deny Christ. In places like North Korea, Christians are under constant threat of being sent to labor camps or executed for their faith. Here are the 10 most dangersous places to be a Christian from the Open Doors ministry: https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/stories/10-most-dangerous-places-Christian/ I can only hope that I would have the faith and courage of the 3 Hebrew men if I faced death like they did and as many martyrs have faced.

What kind of persecution was Peter talking about when he spoke of “fiery trials”. This would about the same time period that Nero was persecuting Christians in Rome, burning some. In The Beast of Revelation, Kenneth L. Gentry argues that Nero’s persecution of Christians was empire-wide. So maybe that is why Peter called it “fiery” trials. Peter was writing to Jewish Christians scattered across the empire. The Hebrews letter affirms persecution in the empire since it was written to Jewish Christians in Palestine and Jerusalem. Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” 13:3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

Back to Daniel 3. They threw them in the fire but the king was astonished when he saw 4 men in the fire, he 4th like a son of the gods. Many believe that 4th man was the pre-incarnate Jesus who made brief appearances in the Old Testament such as the man who wrestled with Jacob and the angel of Jehovah. The 3 men came out of the fire, their clothes not burned, their hair not even singed. Do you really believe this miracle happened? If you do, it is a great testimony to the existence of the one true God Yahweh. The king then made a decree that anyone who spoke against the god of the Hebrew men would be killed, and promoted the 3 men.

Pray for believers who are persecuted all over the world, even facing death for their faith. Subscribe to receive the Voice of The Martyrs (VOM) magazine to read true stories of the faith of those persecuted. What if we had born born in North Korea? Why were we born in the U.S. where we are not persecuted? Would my faith be courageous in North Korea in spite of the risks? I can only hope so.

CONVICTION! DANIEL HAD IT!

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

What is “conviction”? A firmly held belief or opinion. You might have your beliefs due to religion or parental influence or peer pressure or social media or some mentor or personal study on a topic.Examples might be what you won’t watch on TV. Dating rules on sexual behavior. Is Jesus the only way to salvation. Divorce is not an option. What you will eat and what. you won’t eat. Keeping your promises. Cheating or lying. Not committing adultery on your mate. Giving your employer all your effort. Sticking to your budget. Not hanging out with people who are cursing and using sex talk. Abortion is not an option.

The best Bible example of conviction is Daniel when he refused to eat the king’s food. He and his 3 friends had a great opportunity after being carried into exile in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 BC in the first deportation of captives to Babylon. He must have still been in his teens. Daniel 1:3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.” Daniel had the opportunity to have a relatively good life in Babylon, working in the king’s palace. But he had to eat the king’s food and wine for 3 years. Daniel’s conscience would not allow him to eat that food. Why did he refuse? (AI) “Daniel refused to eat the king’s food because he believed it would “defile” him, likely due to the food being offered to pagan gods as part of Babylonian religious rituals, potentially including unclean animals according to Jewish dietary laws, and thus considered a violation of his faith and loyalty to God; he wanted to remain pure and dedicated to his own religious practices.” Do you realize what he might be giving up? He might have angered the king and been sent to do harsh slavery jobs, or even killed for insubordination.  

But he never hesitated on his decision to refuse the food. Conviction is something that you already have made up. your mind that you will or won’t do. You are tempted sexually and have an opportunity to act on that. You have to have firmly made your mind ahead of time that you will not give in. If you wait till the moment you are tempted to decide, you might be a lot more likely to give in and commit fornication or adultery. The same with all those other examples. Someone could be trying to get you to violate your conscience or sin. Maybe your friends or peers are trying to influence you or pressure you to drink or cheat. If you are convicted in your beliefs it will be a lot easier to say “no. If you have to “think about it” you are more likely to give in.

Once you have a firm belief or opinion on something, you should never violate your conscience. From gotquestions.org “The conscience is defined as that part of the human psyche that induces mental anguish and feelings of guilt when we violate it and feelings of pleasure and well-being when our actions, thoughts and words are in conformity to our value systems. The Greek word translated “conscience” in all New Testament references is suneidēsis, meaning “moral awareness” or “moral consciousness.” The conscience reacts when one’s actions, thoughts, and words conform to, or are contrary to, a standard of right and wrong.” God gave humans something that animals don’t have. We can reason out right and wrong and then we will feel guilty if we do what we believe is wrong. That is a gift from God. Paul told the Romans that they should follow their consciences on eating or not eating meats. Paul said it was okay to eat meats, but if anyone still believed it was wrong to eat then he said that person should follow his/her conscience and not eat. Romans 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” From gotquestions.org “Another reference to conscience in the New Testament is to a conscience that is “seared” or rendered insensitive as though it had been cauterized with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-2). Such a conscience is hardened and calloused, no longer feeling anything. A person with a seared conscience no longer listens to its promptings, and he can sin with abandon, delude himself into thinking all is well with his soul, and treat others insensitively and without compassion.”

God took care of Daniel when he refused the king’s food. Daniel 1:9 And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs, 10 and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel, “I fear my lord the king, who assigned your food and your drink; for why should he see that you were in worse condition than the youths who are of your own age? So you would endanger my head with the king.” I don’t know how God gave Daniel favor with that man, but He did. That man was afraid of what the king would do to him if Daniel’s not eating caused him to look worse than the youths who did eat. He could have been killed for allowing Daniel to not eat the food. But he gave Daniel that 10 day test of not eating the king’s food, probably eating vegetables only. A big risk on his part. If you are firm in your convictions, God will help you to keep them and to have a good outcome in situations you find yourself in. Daniel 1:15 At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food. 16 So the steward took away their food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.”

This led Daniel to receive a position of prominence in Babylon serving under Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 1:17 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 At the end of the time, when the king had commanded that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king spoke with them, and among all of them none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Therefore they stood before the king. 20 And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom. 21 And Daniel was there until the first year of King Cyrus.” Cyrus and the Persians conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the Jews to return to the holy land to rebuild the temple in 536 BC, so that means that Daniel lived the entire 70 years in Babylon, probably dying around the age of 90.

Several years ago my school was in the middle of being challenged on. certain doctrinal teachings. It caused them to come up with a “statement of faith” of the school’s basic beliefs. They came up with a nice basic set of beliefs that all teachers had to affirm. Doctrines like belief in the Deity of Jesus and that salvation is only through Jesus. Even that set of beliefs has been challenged with the new gender and homosexual issues. They had to add the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. They had to add that gender is either male or female, just as God stated in Genesis 1:27 which reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Sometimes we change our beliefs on a subject and that is okay. We should always be learning and open to changing our beliefs. Maybe the person who thinks it is wrong to eat meats could be shown what Paul said and change his mind. But if they don’t, then be careful not to cause that person to eat meats and violate his/her conscience, thus causing a “weak” brother to sin. Don’t influence him to do something that violates his/her conscience. Maybe you were raised to believe that certain religious practices like instrumental music were sinful, but over time you changed your mind. Now you can enjoy sitting in a worship service and being edified with instrumental worship. Preachers and church leaders have filled our minds with traditional, often sectarian doctrines, and it is hard to change. We often thing that something is wrong just b/c that’s what our preachers told us was wrong. Be like the Bereans. Acts 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” I do a lot of teaching on eschatology and my beliefs go against traditional teachings but I believe my views are logical and consistent. But I know it is hard to go against what the church and Christianity have mostly taught for the past 2,000 years (with some noticeable exceptions like the late 1800’s with several Biblical scholars who held my beliefs). I just hope that people would be open and let the Spirit lead them in studying truth and to not be afraid to go against traditonal beliefs. I do realize that I could be wrong in my teachings, but I am convinced that I am not and therefore I will continue to teach my beliefs with conviction. I believe the study of eschatology is important and vitally needed today.

So what are your beliefs that you firmly hold, that you would risk everything to follow? Are you firmly committed to being faithful to your mate? The Holy Spirit is constantly, through the Word and providential ways, convicting us of sin. John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” Does your conscience still prick you when you commit a sin that you know that the Spirt has told you is wrong? Does your conscience still prick you when you fail to do something that you know that the Spirit would want you to do? James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Were you once strongly convicted in your beliefs but now you are doing bad things that you never would have done years ago? The world puts so much pressure on our convictions. Is your faith strong enough to resist that pressure?

Maybe, like my school did, it is time for you to write down what you firmly believe in. Make a list, a “statement of faith” to live by. Read it often to remind yourself of what you believe. It might help you to say “no” when tempted to violate your conscience.

“DEM BONES” SONG AND EZEKIEL 37

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

(I Forgot to put a title on what I sent today).Your song to start your day (why do I assume that you are reading this in the morning with a cup of coffee?) is “Dry Bones” by Delta Rhythm Boys, a group active from 1934-1987. For any old tiimers reading, they performed on the Amos and Andy show! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8 They sang their version of the song in 1950 and on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1951.

Actually, the song was first sung by the Myers Jubilee Singers and was called “Dem Bones” that you can listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40FrFWxfEQ Very different wording.

“Ezekiel cried dem dry bones…Now hear the word of the Lord…Ezekiel connected dem dry bones…Well the toe bone connected to your foot bone” ….all the way up the body parts to the head and back down disconnecting them to the toe bone!

Of course this song is taken from Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. I can’t imagine actually seeing this amazing vision in person. Ezekiel is sitting down right in the middle of the bones! This sounds like a scene out of a “Criminal Miinds” TV show. You’ve walked around in a cemetery of dry bones but never something like this!

A great slide from Sara McCoy:

God gave Ezekiel the interpretation of this vision.

We can assume that, at the time of the vision, Babylon has already destroyed the temple and Jerusalem (586 BC) and that the majority of the Jews in Judah have been taken to Babylon as captives. There were actually 3 deportations of captives (606 BC, 596 BC, and 586 BC). Ezekiel himself was carried in the 596 BC deportation. He spent the first 5 years of his minstry prophesying in Judah before being taken captive. He then prophesied for 15 years in Babylon.

BTW the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive to Assyria in 722 BC, and this vision includes them also, “these bones are the whole house of Israel” (not just Judah). That can also be seen from 37:15-22 where Ezekiel is told to unite two sticks, one with the name “Israel” (the northern kingdom of 10 tribes) and the other with “Judah” (the southern kingdom of 2 tribes. The two sticks are then united into one stick. At some time in the future the two kingdoms would be reunited into one kingdom with one king.

BTW the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive to Assyria in 722 BC, and this vision includes them also, “these bones are the whole house of Israel” (not just Judah). That can also be seen from 37:15-22 where Ezekiel is told to unite two sticks, one with the name “Israel” (the northern kingdom of 10 tribes) and the other with “Judah” (the southern kingdom of 2 tribes. The two sticks are then united into one stick. At some time in the future the two kingdoms would be reunited into one kingdom with one king.

But when would all this be fulfilled? There are two keys to interpreting the fulfillment of this prediction.

  1. 37:14 “I will put my Spirit within you”. This can only be predicting the pouring out of the Spirit in the last days of the Jewish nation (from 30 AD to 70 AD) as predicted by Joel 2:28-32 and fulfilled beginning in Acts 2 when Peter said that Joel’s prophecy was beginning to be fulfilled. God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put 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 cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. God told Isaiah in Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” So it is safe to assume that when the prophets predict a pouring out of the Spirit that they are predicting the miraculous outpouring the Spirit on the Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah and who became the first church. Only a remnant of the Jews believed in Jesus. The rest were doomed to judgment when God sent the Romans to destroy the temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD, killing one million evil, rebellious Jews. The Jewish Christians heeded Jesus’ warning (Matthew 24) and escaped to Pella.

    That means that there is a lot of figurative language in this prediction. The nation of Israel is pictured as dry bones. They are dead spiritually, in their spiritual graves (37:13). The Holy Spirit raises them from their spiritual graves and gives them life, or “breath”. The Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus were raised from the dead spiritually and given eternal spiritual life in the book of Acts and the Spirit was poured out on them. God even puts them back in their land (37:14) which must be figurative also b/c God did not put the believing Jewish remnant church back in control of the holy land in the book of Acts and yet Paul said the remnant had received all of the promises God made to them by the prophets (Romans 9). Unfortunately, many teach that this return to the land was fulfilled when Israel received statehood and control of the holy land in 1948 AD, but there was no pouring out of the Spirit and raising Jews from spiritual death in 1948! That false interpretation of Ezekiel 37 (and several similar passages) had caused so much confusion and misguided political and religious expectations! God never intended to give the believing remnant the holy land itself. That is figurative of the place where the remnant dwell securely, which is in the hands of God.
  2. The second key is 37:24 “David My servant shall be king over them.”

This also has figurative language. The prophets often said that “David” would be king, shepherd, and prince in the Messianic Age and kingdom. Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. Jeremiah 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.” Ezekiel 34:23-24 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.” Surely it should be obvious that this is figurative language and that Jesus, not David himself, will be king, shepherd, and prince in the Messianic kingdom which is the church. Of course there are the “literalists” who say that all these predictions must be fulfilled literally, so I was not surprised to read one article that predicted that in our future that Jesus will set up his physical kingdom and raise David from the dead to be the prince in the kingdom. At least the author of the article was being consistent. Many literalists will admit that the “David” being king in the Messianic age is figurative and refers to Jesus and yet they insist that the land promise must be literal (and therefore 1948). 37:25 also has the same figurative return to the land as 37:14. Also 37:26-28 predicts that in the futue God would place his sanctuary or tabernacle among them and dwell in them. That has to be the church Jesus established, and we Christians are the temple of God. The book of Revelation is things to take place soon or shortly (1:1-3; 22:5-9). It is written in about 63 AD and predicts the destruction of the old Jerusalem that is about to happen in 70 AD. After describing that event in much figurative language, 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 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 dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” The new Jerusalem, i.e. the church, would replace the old Jerusalem which would be destroyed in 70 AD. The new temple or sanctuary would be the church where God dwells. All this should make it obvious that all of Ezekiel 37 would be fulfilled when Jesus established his spiritual kingdom, the church, in the book of Acts and has been reigning over that kingdom for 2,000 years now. The believing Jewish remnant received all the promises of the prophets and were raised from their spiritual graves. Jesus was no doubt referring to this spiritual resurrection in John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Even as Jesus was teaching on earth some of the spiritually dead who heard the voice of Jesus and believed would be raised spiritually, not physically. That is the “hour is coming and is now here” part in 5:25. The 2nd part that “is coming” would be when all the dead of the Old Testament would be raised just as Daniel 12:1-2 predicted. All of Daniel 12 was fulfilled in 70 AD so that resurrection was to be fulfilled in 70 AD also. That is the resurrection that Paul spoke of in Acts 24:15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that is about to be(mello, which always means “about to be” in the New Testament) a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. That is the same resurrection that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15 and he added in 15:We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Thus he is predicting that the resurrection would occur while some of those he is writing to would still be alive. He explained that the resurrected bodies would be spiritual, not physical. Believers, dead or alive, would be given immortality, eternal spiritual bodies. Where did anyone ever get the idea that the resurrection would be physical bodies coming out of the graves?

On a final note, notice that these promises in Ezekiel 37 are not for the whole nation. They are only for those Jews who would “walk in his ordinances and keep them” (37:24), for those Jews who would follow David (Jesus) (37:25), for those Jews who entered into the new covenant that only Jewish Christians would enter (37:26), for those Jews whom God would dwell in (37:27) and we know that God only dwells in believers. The Jews who supposedly fulfilled Ezekiel 37 in 1948 are not followers of Jesus. There are some Messianic Jews today who do believe in Jesus, but most interpreters say that Ezekiel 37 was or would be fulfilled by the nation of Israel even the nation does not believe in Jesus. There is just so much wrong interpretation of Ezekiel 37 and other Messianic predictions in the Old Testament.

If I lost you on this 2nd key, then relax and just remember the gist of the prediction in Ezekiel 37. Just like the Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus, we Gentile believers have been raised from spiritual death and given eternal life in Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-5). We have eternal life that the Spirit of God breathes in us. We will live forever after we die physically (John 11:24-25). Even if you don’t get into all the discussion about Israel and 1948, that really doesn’t matter.

Go back and sing along with the Delta Rythym boys the “dem bones” song and you will feel good.

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Your song to start your day (why do I assume that you are reading this in the morning with a cup of coffee?) is “Dry Bones” by Delta Rhythm Boys, a group active from 1934-1987. For any old tiimers reading, they performed on the Amos and Andy show! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoPG9HtYF8 They sang their version of the song in 1950 and on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1951.

Actually, the song was first sung by the Myers Jubilee Singers and was called “Dem Bones” that you can listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40FrFWxfEQ Very different wording.

“Ezekiel cried dem dry bones…Now hear the word of the Lord…Ezekiel connected dem dry bones…Well the toe bone connected to your foot bone” ….all the way up the body parts to the head and back down disconnecting them to the toe bone!

Of course this song is taken from Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. I can’t imagine actually seeing this amazing vision in person. Ezekiel is sitting down right in the middle of the bones! This sounds like a scene out of a “Criminal Miinds” TV show. You’ve walked around in a cemetery of dry bones but never something like this!

A great slide from Sara McCoy:

God gave Ezekiel the interpretation of this vision.

We can assume that, at the time of the vision, Babylon has already destroyed the temple and Jerusalem (586 BC) and that the majority of the Jews in Judah have been taken to Babylon as captives. There were actually 3 deportations of captives (606 BC, 596 BC, and 586 BC). Ezekiel himself was carried in the 596 BC deportation. He spent the first 5 years of his minstry prophesying in Judah before being taken captive. He then prophesied for 15 years in Babylon.

BTW the northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive to Assyria in 722 BC, and this vision includes them also, “these bones are the whole house of Israel” (not just Judah). That can also be seen from 37:15-22 where Ezekiel is told to unite two sticks, one with the name “Israel” (the northern kingdom of 10 tribes) and the other with “Judah” (the southern kingdom of 2 tribes. The two sticks are then united into one stick. At some time in the future the two kingdoms would be reunited into one kingdom with one king.

But when would all this be fulfilled? There are two keys to interpreting the fulfillment of this prediction.

  1. 37:14 “I will put my Spirit within you”. This can only be predicting the pouring out of the Spirit in the last days of the Jewish nation (from 30 AD to 70 AD) as predicted by Joel 2:28-32 and fulfilled beginning in Acts 2 when Peter said that Joel’s prophecy was beginning to be fulfilled. God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put 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 cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. God told Isaiah in Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” So it is safe to assume that when the prophets predict a pouring out of the Spirit that they are predicting the miraculous outpouring the Spirit on the Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah and who became the first church. Only a remnant of the Jews believed in Jesus. The rest were doomed to judgment when God sent the Romans to destroy the temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD, killing one million evil, rebellious Jews. The Jewish Christians heeded Jesus’ warning (Matthew 24) and escaped to Pella.

    That means that there is a lot of figurative language in this prediction. The nation of Israel is pictured as dry bones. They are dead spiritually, in their spiritual graves (37:13). The Holy Spirit raises them from their spiritual graves and gives them life, or “breath”. The Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus were raised from the dead spiritually and given eternal spiritual life in the book of Acts and the Spirit was poured out on them. God even puts them back in their land (37:14) which must be figurative also b/c God did not put the believing Jewish remnant church back in control of the holy land in the book of Acts and yet Paul said the remnant had received all of the promises God made to them by the prophets (Romans 9). Unfortunately, many teach that this return to the land was fulfilled when Israel received statehood and control of the holy land in 1948 AD, but there was no pouring out of the Spirit and raising Jews from spiritual death in 1948! That false interpretation of Ezekiel 37 (and several similar passages) had caused so much confusion and misguided political and religious expectations! God never intended to give the believing remnant the holy land itself. That is figurative of the place where the remnant dwell securely, which is in the hands of God.
  2. The second key is 37:24 “David My servant shall be king over them.”

This also has figurative language. The prophets often said that “David” would be king, shepherd, and prince in the Messianic Age and kingdom. Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. Jeremiah 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.” Ezekiel 34:23-24 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.” Surely it should be obvious that this is figurative language and that Jesus, not David himself, will be king, shepherd, and prince in the Messianic kingdom which is the church. Of course there are the “literalists” who say that all these predictions must be fulfilled literally, so I was not surprised to read one article that predicted that in our future that Jesus will set up his physical kingdom and raise David from the dead to be the prince in the kingdom. At least the author of the article was being consistent. Many literalists will admit that the “David” being king in the Messianic age is figurative and refers to Jesus and yet they insist that the land promise must be literal (and therefore 1948). 37:25 also has the same figurative return to the land as 37:14. Also 37:26-28 predicts that in the futue God would place his sanctuary or tabernacle among them and dwell in them. That has to be the church Jesus established, and we Christians are the temple of God. The book of Revelation is things to take place soon or shortly (1:1-3; 22:5-9). It is written in about 63 AD and predicts the destruction of the old Jerusalem that is about to happen in 70 AD. After describing that event in much figurative language, 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 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 dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” The new Jerusalem, i.e. the church, would replace the old Jerusalem which would be destroyed in 70 AD. The new temple or sanctuary would be the church where God dwells. All this should make it obvious that all of Ezekiel 37 would be fulfilled when Jesus established his spiritual kingdom, the church, in the book of Acts and has been reigning over that kingdom for 2,000 years now. The believing Jewish remnant received all the promises of the prophets and were raised from their spiritual graves. Jesus was no doubt referring to this spiritual resurrection in John 5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Even as Jesus was teaching on earth some of the spiritually dead who heard the voice of Jesus and believed would be raised spiritually, not physically. That is the “hour is coming and is now here” part in 5:25. The 2nd part that “is coming” would be when all the dead of the Old Testament would be raised just as Daniel 12:1-2 predicted. All of Daniel 12 was fulfilled in 70 AD so that resurrection was to be fulfilled in 70 AD also. That is the resurrection that Paul spoke of in Acts 24:15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that is about to be(mello, which always means “about to be” in the New Testament) a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. That is the same resurrection that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15 and he added in 15:We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Thus he is predicting that the resurrection would occur while some of those he is writing to would still be alive. He explained that the resurrected bodies would be spiritual, not physical. Believers, dead or alive, would be given immortality, eternal spiritual bodies. Where did anyone ever get the idea that the resurrection would be physical bodies coming out of the graves?

On a final note, notice that these promises in Ezekiel 37 are not for the whole nation. They are only for those Jews who would “walk in his ordinances and keep them” (37:24), for those Jews who would follow David (Jesus) (37:25), for those Jews who entered into the new covenant that only Jewish Christians would enter (37:26), for those Jews whom God would dwell in (37:27) and we know that God only dwells in believers. The Jews who supposedly fulfilled Ezekiel 37 in 1948 are not followers of Jesus. There are some Messianic Jews today who do believe in Jesus, but most interpreters say that Ezekiel 37 was or would be fulfilled by the nation of Israel even the nation does not believe in Jesus. There is just so much wrong interpretation of Ezekiel 37 and other Messianic predictions in the Old Testament.

If I lost you on this 2nd key, then relax and just remember the gist of the prediction in Ezekiel 37. Just like the Jewish remnant who believed in Jesus, we Gentile believers have been raised from spiritual death and given eternal life in Jesus (Ephesians 2:1-5). We have eternal life that the Spirit of God breathes in us. We will live forever after we die physically (John 11:24-25). Even if you don’t get into all the discussion about Israel and 1948, that really doesn’t matter.

Go back and sing along with the Delta Rythym boys the “dem bones” song and you will feel good.

MY JOY AND CROWN

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Usually I get my creative (what little creativity I get) early in the morning, I mean real early, like 3 AM. This morning I got nothing. So I fell back asleep and than at 7 AM I got a phone call I missed. It was from a man from Trinidad. He had tried to reach me a week ago and I didn’t recognize his name so I didn’t follow up to contact him. This morning something told me to call him, so I did. It was one of the teenagers that we baptized 50 years ago. Of course he is now 64, not the 14 when we baptized him in a crusade (what we called a “gospel meeting” but in a rented hall and not a church b/c there was no church in the town he lived in and where we held the crusade. We baptized several teens in that crusade and started the church in that town. I don’t think that I have seen him in 50 years. He has one grown son living in Queens, New York.I had a long talk with my long, lost brother in Christ. We talked about several of the brothers and sisters in Trinidad, some of whom I have talked to via WhatsApp recently. Many of those we worked with are now older than me and I am 75. Those guys were in their 30’s when we spent 3 years in Trinidad when I was in my mid 20’s. They are men whom we did intense Bible studies with to train them in the book so they could carry on the work in Trinidad after we left in 1976 and they have been carrying on the work in several congregations without any U.S. paid preachers and I am very proud of that. My long lost brother is still very active in the church there. I sadly learned that one of my most trusted friends and leaders in Trinidad now has advanced dementia; he doesn’t know anyone, he just sits and smiles. That church we started with that crusade is having their 50th year anniversary on April 15 of this year.

Ok, breaking news.My wife just came in and I mentioned our brother with dementia, that we should call them. The only phone we had for him and his wife was a landline, so we called it. She answered and we were able to talk to both of them. My dementia brother even perked up and I think remembered us! We chatted for a while and it was a joy. She said we made her day and it certainly made our day. From what she said, I’m not sure my bother has much longer to live.

All this is kinda personal, I know, and thank you for reading if you are reading it. I know everyone has their stories from the past but these are mine today! My mind is filled with a lot of thoughts right now. But I am so thankful that God providentially guided us to do 3 years of mission work in Trinidad back in the 70’s. It was a special, special time. But I think that I can relate more to what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.” 1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.” That’s exactly how I feel right now.

Paul also said in 2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” So there is a crown of life waiting for us. In the Roman Empire, crowns were often given to victorious military leaders, so the imagery of a crown carried connotations of triumph and overcoming challenges. It  signifies the reward for enduring hardship and remaining faithful to the end. In other words, eternal life somewhere with the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, angels and other believers. But Paul’s other crown he was looking for was to be rerunited in eternity with all those he had converted to Chist and mentored and taught in his 30 years of preaching the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. My Trinidadian brothers and sisters will be our crown some day, our joy. Even our boasting. We won’t boast about our good works. We will simply tell Jesus, “Look who I helped to become your brother”. We are all brothers to Jesus and sons of the same Father. Hebrews 2:11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” That means that Jesus, having finished the word of dying for our sins and setting us apart (sanctification) from sin, would tell of the name (and character behind that name) of the Father to His brothers (those who believed in Jesus). When Jesus was raised, he told the women: Matthew 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” He said the same thing in John 17:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” I don’t think he ever called his apostles “brothers” until after the resurrection. I had never thought of that until writing this article, so the word always has something new for us.

I hope you have someone to be your crown and joy, to greet you when you get to heaven (or whom you can greet if get there before they do!). This has been an amazing day! I could hear my dementia brother’s wife after we had said good bye, and I could still hear her saing “Praise the Lord!”. Yes, praise the Lord.”



JEREMIAH WAS A BULLFROG

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Yeah, that title was just to get your attention. It was the opening line of the song, “Joy to the World”, by Three Dog Night in 1970. It is a nonsensical song with no apparent meaning, just drink the wine and have a good time, joy to the world. “Jeremiah was a bullfrog, he was a good friend of mine, I never understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2wutEzjy_E If you want to watch a cute animated video of the song. or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb02JNAOBZY watching Three Dog NIght with their 70’s long hair.

Now that I maybe have your attention, or maybe lost your attention, I want to talk about the prophet Jeremiah. He prophesied during the reigns of the last 5 kings of the southern kingdom of Judah before the Babylonians destroyed the tempe and Jerusalem in 586 BC. Manasseh, the 14th king of Judah, was the most evil of the 20 kings of Judah, worshipping Asherah and Baal, worshipping the stars, practicing sorcery and witchcraft, even offering his sons to the god Molech, even putting pagan idols in the very temple of God. He reigned for 55 years and was carried captive to Babylon for 12 years, during which he humbled himself before God and repented and was returned to Jerusalem to be finish out his reign. One of the 12 (or so) books of the Apocrypha is the Prayer or Manasseh, the prayer of penitence that he supposedly prayed in Babylon. He truly repented b/c he destroyed the idols when he returned as king. His son Amon, the 15th king of Judah, was evil and only reigned 2 years before being assassinated. Manasseh’ grandson, Josiah became the 16th king of Judah and did many reforms. He became king at 8 years old. He began to seek the Lord at 16. That is a critical age for teens to decide whether to follow Christ or not. They are faced with so many temptations with the internet, the phones, the peer pressure, the drinking, the emphasis on sex. It is amazing that any of them survive all that to become sincere mature Christians, but I know several who have. At 20 he began tearing down the idols to Baal and Asherah that were still worshipped in the land. At 28 he began the massive job of repairing the temple. You can imagine the shape it was in after 55 years of idolatry. While repairing the temple, the pries Hilkiah found the “book of the Law” (i.e. the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Old Testament). It is hard to believe that there were not plentiful copies of the Law around, but apparently there were none. Josiah was shaken as he read the curses in Deuteronomy that would come on God’s people if they disobeyed God. He had the Law read throughout the land and made the people pledge to obey it. Unfortunately Josiah died in a battle with Pharoah Neco even though Neco told him that he wasn’t coming through Judah to fight Josiah but instead was going to fight the Assyrians.

Jeremiah, the prophet not the bullfrog, was chosen by God while in his mother’s womb and called to gbe a prophet at an early age (he calls himself a “child”). He did not want to be a prophet. Unlike the bullfrog, his words were not hard to understand. He began prophesying in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign which means that he helped Josiah to do his reforms. He would prophesy during the last 18 years of Josiah’s reign and then after Josiah died about 22 more years of the reigns of the last 4 evil kings of Judah. His message was simple: Judah has committed so much idolatry and evil that, if they don’t repent, God will send the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and the temple and take thousands into exile in Babylon for 70 years. He stood in the temple gate and preached his message of doom. He was mocked, put in stocks by he priest Passhur, put in prison, even put in a cistern (a dried up well where Jeremiah “sank in the mud”) to die. He would have died there if He ahd not been rescued. He wept and complained to God about his ministry and wished that he had never ben born. He is forever called the “weeping prophet”. He especially tried to get the last 4 kings after Josiah to repent, but they did not. His words were read to King Jehoiakiim who promptly cut the scroll in pieces and burned them. Can you imagine a president of the U.S. cutting up a Bible and burning the pages? He was surrounded by false prophets like Hananiah who kept telling the people that God would not allow the Babylonians to destroy the temple, the God would save the city from the Babyonian siege just as He had saved the city in the days of King Hezekiah when the Assyrians sieged the city and God killed 185,00 in one night. Jeremiah wore an oxen yoke, telling the last king, Zedekiah, that if he would submit to the Babylonians and repent of evil that God would spare the city. Hananiah broke the yoke and prophesied that the Babylonians would be defeated within 2 years. Jeremiah predicted that Hananiah would die that very year and he did. Zedekiah knew Jeremiah was a true prophet of God but he was influenced by the princes and generals and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, relying on an alliance with Egypt for protection. Egypt was defeated by the Babylonians in 605 BC.

THE 3 DEPORTATIONS OF THE JEWS BY NEBUCHADNEZZAR
1. 605 BC. 2 Kings 24:11-16. He carried off the princes, including Daniel, & mighty men in the 4th year of Jehoiakim. That means Daniel spent the entire 70 years of exile in Babylon.
2. 597 BC. 2 Kings 25:1-7. He carried off King Jehoiachin, Ezekiel, and 10,000 captivesin the brief 3 month reign of Jehoiachin. Ezekiel would prophesy for 22 years, most of which were in Babylon.
3. 586 BC. 2 Kings 25:8-21. He destroyed Jerusalem and the temple after a 2 1/2 year siege, and carried the rest of the people except the poorest in the 11th year of Zedekiah. He. carried Zedekiah to Babylon, killed his sons as Zedekiah watched, and then put his eyes out.

Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations after the city was destroyed, lamenting (expressing sorrow and grief) about the fall of Jerusalem. He did end Lamentations with hope: 3:21-24 “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” He said that b/c God had told him that the Jews would be allowed to return to their land after 70 years, which was fulfilled when the Medes and Persians defeated Babylon in 539 BC and King Cyrus of Persia allowed them to return to rebuild the temple. One good thing that came about due to the 70 year exile is that it cured Judah of their idolatry with no mention of any idolatry after that.

Jeremiah also had a few messages of hope for the distant future when the Messiah would come. 1) 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ This was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and the saving of the remnant of Jews who would believe in Jesus as the Messiah in the book of Acts.

2) 33:14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ 17 “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” This also was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and the remnant saved in the new Jerusalem, the church. Jesus did ascend to sit on the “spiritual”, not physical, throne of David in heaven where he has reigned for the past 2,000 years and will reign forever. There is obviously figurative language in this prediction since God ended the animal sacrifices of the old covenant. Those animal sacrifices would be a figurative “type” of the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus in the new covenant. I am amazed at those who say that Jesus would establish a literal physical kingdom on earth based on prophecies like these in Jeremiah (and other prophets like Ezekiel). They say that the prophecies must be fulfilled literally, not figuratively, but surely they would not say that we will return to offering animal sacrifices in some future kingdom on earth. The kingdom Jesus came to establish was a spiritual kingdom, not physical. John 18:36 “My kingdom is not of this world.”

3) 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” This was fulfilled with the coming of the new covenant which originally was established with the remnant of Jewish believers, the early church, in Acts. The book of Hebrews tells us that the new covenant would have Jesus, not Levites, as the high priest and the blood of Jesus, not animals, as the sacrifice for sins. The author of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 as being fulfilled and predicting that the old covenant was “ready to vanish away or disappear”, which it did when the Romans detroyed the temple in 70 AD, basically ending the Levitical priesthood and the offering of animal sacrifices. The temple has never been rebuilt since then.

Why study the prophet Jeremiah and the history of Judah? The author of 2 Chronicles tells why God allow the evil Babylonians to destroy his holy city Jerusalem and his holy temple. 36:15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.”

We need to pray for our country. I don’t believe we have had any prophets like Jeremiah to predict our future even though many have tried and have been proven to be false prophets. Many have unsuccessfully predicted the 2nd coming on various dates. Many have that events like 9/11 were sent by God as a warning to us, but we don’t know that was the case. But we have had men preaching from our pulpits all over the country, trying to get us to obey God, to stick to our Christian roots, to repent of our sins, to believe that the Bible is the word of God. Apparently, just as with Jeremiah and Judah, we perhaps as a nation in general have not listened and obeyed the word of God. We are consumed with greed and sexual sins. According to surveys, the majority no longer believe the Bible is the literal word of God and authority for us today. That is apparent by the majority accepting the LGBQT movement, even in many of the mainstream churches. Do you see a pattern repeated here? This country was great b/c it was built on faith in God and the word of God.

Here is a famous quote by Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . . . .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there.  Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.  America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” There are questions about the authenticity of this quote and the phrase “America is great b/c America is good”, did he really say that? Another quote by him seems to be authentic: “I went at your bidding, and passed along their thoroughfares of trade. I ascended their mountains and went down their valleys. I visited their manufactories, their commercial markets, and emporiums of trade. I entered their judicial courts and legislative halls. But I sought everywhere in vain for the secret of their success, until I entered the church. It was there, as I listened to the soul-equalizing and soul-elevating principles of the Gospel of Christ, as they fell from Sabbath to Sabbath upon the masses of the people, that I learned why America was great and free, and why France was a slave.”

So we keep hearing “Make America Great Again” recently, with emphasis on restoring our financial security by cutting federal waste and spending (which I highly approve of) and our military strength in dealing with all the crisis in the world. But I don’t hear an emphasis on getting back to faith in the Bible as the word of God. It will take a grass roots revival like the First and Second Great Awakenings or the prayer revival of Jeremiah Lanphier in 1857 to make America great again. But I feel, like Jeremiah, that such a revival is not happening. We do see signs of revival on college campuses, which is encouraging, and we see mega churches drawing great numbers. But the statistics still say that the majority do not believe that the Bible is the word of God. So, even among those who say they do believe it to be the word of God, we have the LGBQT movement in many churches. Pray for our country.

One of the most misused passages in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” It has been often used to say that God has nothing but good for believers in their future welfare. But read the entire context: 29:10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Notice that this promise of. future welfare is to be fulfilled after the 70 years in exile when the Jews will be allowed to return to their land and rebuild the temple. Notice it would only be fulfilled if the people began to seek God with all their heart. But even then, only after 70 years of slavery in Babylon. 29:18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’  So don’t use this passage in 29:11 to promise people a wonderful future that God has planned for them. Eventually, they will have a guaranteed eternal life future, and God may even bless them with a wonderful life on earth, but that is not always the case. That has not been the case for the past 2,000 years of Christianity as believers have been persecuted repeatedly for their faith.

So the 70 years of exile cured the Jews of their idolatry. They did return in 536 BC to rebuild the temple and did so in spite of great opposition from the Samaritans to their north. There was a great revival led by Ezra the scribe in the 2nd return from Babylon with emphasis on keeping the Law. Nehemiah 8:1And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4 And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose.” That might be the first preacher pulpit even built! They re-discovered the Feast of Booths from the Law that was read to them, and they had a wonderful, joyful celebration of the feast for 7 days. 8:17And there was very great rejoicing. 18 And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.” We will only have a grass roots revival if we can get our people to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God, that sin is what God defines as sin in his word. We will only have a grass roots revival if we turn to God to seek God with all our hearts, to put away the greed and sexual sins so prevalent in our society.

It took 70 years and a lof of punishment to get Judah to repent of their idolatry and turn to God. What might it take to get our country to return to God? We trust in our financial security so much. Maybe a major depression would cure us? We trust in our military strength so much. Maybe some horrible world crisis will show us that we, like Rome, are not invincible. Maybe God will not cause something bad to happen to get us to repent. Maybe he will just let us reap what we sow. Maybe God doesn’t even intervene in world affairs anymore. Maybe he does.

I don’t know the answers to all those questions. All I know is that we need to pray for our country more than ever before. But this is not about America. It is about the people in our country turning to God to be saved. People were being saved continually during the evil Roman Empire in the first 3 centuries AD. Millions of Chinese Christians are being saved in an atheistic country China. This is about souls being saved. But when America did follow God more fully, it enabled America to use their plentiful material blessings to spread the gospel and help the poor and oppressed all over the world. Many Christian oranizations have done so much good. Our wealth has enabled generous giving to such causes. Many impoverished Christians in Africa, striving just for survival in Muslim or dictator based countries, do not have the wealth we have to share with the world. From that vantage, we do want America to continus as a strong nation even if we can’t get the majority to return to our Christian roots.

Paul’s prayer in 1 Timothy 2 sums it up. 2:1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. I leave you with that prayer. Pray for our country. Pray for believers in every country. Pray that many will be saved in every country. Pray.

CHANGE MY HEART OH GOD

On By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Mark 7:14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Pharisees had just criticized Jesus’ disciples for not washing their hands before eating. In parenthesis, Mark explains that this was their tradition of washing hands when they came from the market place, which means washing away touching anything that a Gentile had touched, thus making them unclean. This was not a command under the Law for all Jewsalthough the priests were commanded to wash their hands before serving in the tabernacle or temple, so this was just a tradition of the Pharisees. Jesus then went on to show how hypocritical the Pharisees were. They held to their hand washing tradition legalistically, condemning those who disobeyed, and yet they would avoid supporting their parents in need, using a hypocritical oath saying they had given their money to God and didn’t have any for their parents. Mark 7:6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

That led to a teaching by Jesus of what defiles a man. He was not saying that he Jews should no longer follow the laws of not eating unclean meats. That would contradict what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” The Law would not be abolished until 70 AD according to Hebrews 8:13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” That verse was written around 60 AD predicting the vanishing of the Law in 70 AD. Even the Jewish Christians continued to keep the Law during the transition period from 30 AD to 70 AD.

What Jesus is saying is that it’s not really what you eat that defiles you. What you eat is digested and the wastes come out. It’s what is in your heart that defiles you and what’s in your heart will always end up coming out of your mouth, your mind, your actions. Here’s a great image.

As the capital one commercial says, “What’s in your wallet?” What’s in your heart?

These verses comfort me and scare me. The other day in inservice at school, teachers in groups were asked to give a positive comment to all the teachers in their group. All the compliments given me were “Nicky has a lot of knowledge that he shares.” That’s good but other treachers got comments like “John really cares about the kids and loves them.” Why am I known more for my knowledge than my love.

Bottom line, it’s comforting to know that God looks at the heart. David was a man “after God’s own heart”. He committed adultery and murder, but God forgave him b/c David had a pure heart even though he really messed up. He later begged God, “Create in me a clean heart” again. I have so many bad things in my heart but it is comforting that the grace of God will forgive me just as He forgave David.

But then it’s scary to know that God looks past all my knowledge, good deeds, Bible teaching and preaching, and mission work to see what’s really in my heart. He knows when I am being hypocritical, unloving, judgmental, bitter, proud. He saves me by His grace but He expects me to change my heart, to try to get rid of all the bad things in my heart.

He gives me the Spirit to help me do that b/c my flesh is so evil that I can’t do it by myself. Ezekiel 36: 26 And I will give you ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. iAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God.” (Romans 8:6-8) When you have those evil thoughts in your heart, if you ask the Spirit to help you get rid of them and replace them with pure thoughts, then He will help you. It’s called the “renewing of your mind” b/c the heart is just an organ and it’s really all about the mind. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

So we will never have a perfectly pure heart. That’s the scary part. We can fall from grace and lose our salvation. I need to try harder to allow the Spirit to change my heart. In Acts 8, Simon had been baptized but then he wanted to buy the apostles’ gift of laying hands on believers to give them miraculous gifts. Acts 8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” That means that a baptized believer could be in serious trouble with God if his/her heart is not right before God.

So this article is to enoucrage me to try harder to let the Spirit help me change my heart.

Here’s a great song to close with. Please listen to it for your devotional thought for the day and then pray, “change my heart oh God, make it ever new…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlSmG-_eJTU