Talk of JESUS .com

Category: Prophets – Warnings for 21st century ‘christians’

Jeremiah by Michelangelo

Old Testament Prophets WARNED Israel, Judah, and neighboring nations about what GOD has planned IF they did NOT REPENT (and they usually didn’t).

How does this speak to 21 c. ‘christians’ in these last days? Are you bold enough to WARN your SOCIAL ‘Friends’ of what Jesus Christ warns? Does the message of a Prophet apply even more to them and US, now? SHARE your scriptural warnings from the Prophets and WITNESS for our LORD, WHO IS and returning… soon.

Son of Man – a Prophetic Path to Gethsemane
Where have we heard the scriptural depiction, ‘son of man’ most in the Bible?

And to whom do we point by calling some mortal the “son of man?”
```
Hold your answers for a moment until we look into who said that in the Bible and who was called that by whom. 
```
Prophets Before Christ

Recall that true Prophets of God speak for the LORD God.

In part 1 we glanced at an important prophesy of Moses and then we followed Elijah observing some of the Prophet’s miracles.

Elijah – on a Prophetic Path to Gethsemane

Also in part-1:
```
We also glanced quickly at historical context of the Jews from Canaan to Babylon and A.D. 1st c. Jerusalem.
```
~1450 B.C

The Prophet Moses

~870 B.C. – 849 B.C.

The Prophet Elijah

Later, as prophesied:
- defeat of ISRAEL the Northern Kingdom
  - 722 B.C.
~620 B.C. – 570 B.C
- eventual fall of JUDAH the Southern Kingdom…
  - 586 B.C.
Introduction to the Son of Man

You’ll read in just ten times in the books of Moses:

לֹא אִישׁ אֵל וִיכַזֵּב וּבֶן־אָדָם וְיִתְנֶחָם הַהוּא אָמַר וְלֹא יַעֲשֶׂה וְדִבֶּר וְלֹא יְקִימֶנָּה׃

Numbers 23:19 Masoretic Text

In Hebrew, literally, “ben adam” or ‘son of adam.’

It is illustration of created man made in the image of the LORD.

You will find it frequently in the New Testament as well, most frequently with the Lord Jesus referring to Himself.

In the common Greek of the A.D. first century Roman empire, “huios anthrōpos” or ‘son of humans.’

It is here we see the significance of God born to a virgin woman (Mary) as a Son of Man.

One in substance with the Father and Holy Spirit — yet the Lord Jesus IS a real human Person.
```
First Century A.D.
```
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.

Gospel of Matthew 25:31 LSB

The Prophet Ezekiel

We return not to Jerusalem, but to Babylon where Nebuchadnezzar, powerful arm of the LORD’s judgment against Judah resides.

10,000 Hebrew captives led to Babylon
```
Ezekiel dates his prophecies from 597 B.C. ..also 573/72,..in 571/70 B.C. (29:17)
```
Commentary of John MacArthur

.. while I was among the exiles by the Chebar Canal, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:1 b (CSB)

I looked, and there was a whirlwind coming from the north, a huge cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire, there was a gleam like amber. 5 The likeness of four living creatures came from it, and this was their appearance: They looked something like a human —

Ezekiel 1:4-5 (CSB)
```
You must picture the same scene of GLORY as the Prophet sees -- NO illustration can do it justice -- Ezekiel sees something sons of Adam just do not see! 
```
A voice came from above the expanse over their heads;

— Ezekiel 1:25 (CSB)

This was the appearance of the likeness of the Lord’s glory.

When I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.

— Ezekiel 1:28 (CSB)

Son of Man

He said to me,

“Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak with you.”

As he spoke to me, the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet,

and I listened to the one who was speaking to me.

— Ezekiel 2:1-2 (CSB)

The SON OF MAN — in this instance, Ezekiel — has seen the GLORY OF THE LORD and spoken of it to sinful humans chosen to follow Him.

Ezekiel bows down — and obeys the word of the Lord.

The Spirit takes Ezekiel to Jerusalem’s Temple

Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim.

— Ezekiel 10:18 (CSB)

The Spirit then lifted me up and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house.. I saw [25] leaders of the people.

The Lord said to me,

“Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses? The city is the pot, and we are the meat.’

Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man! ”

— Ezekiel 11:1-4 (CSB)

A New Shepherd of the Lord’s Chosen

The word of the Lord came to me:

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them,

‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds:

Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?

You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost.

— Ezekiel 34:1-4 (CSB)
```
Does ANY of this sound familiar -- you 21 century shepherds of the Gospel -- have you tended your flock? 
```
Dry Bones “rising from the dead”

“Prophesy concerning these bones

I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

— Ezekiel 37:5-6 (CSB)
```
Yet some of you do not believe the Prophets or in the resurrection of the dead to the Judgment or Heaven. 
```
‘This is what the Lord God says:

I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, my people, and lead you into the land of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord, my people, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it.

This is the declaration of the Lord.’ ” —

Ezekiel 37:12-14 (CSB)

In Visions of God – a New Temple

It is not our purpose today to point out similarities of a new temple and city to the Levitical outline of Moses or the Temple of David which had witnessed the glory of the LORD descending into the Holy of Holies. Nor can we visit such visions of Daniel and the Apostle John.

Sufficeth to say the Lord God will send a new Temple to Jerusalem and personalize a saved world in new worship.

προφήτης – prophētēs
1. in Greek writings, an interpreter of oracles or of other hidden things
2. one who, moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman, solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation
source: Strong’s G4396 – prophētēs – BlueLetterBible.org

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying,

“A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.”

Gospel of Luke 7:16 CSB
```
~ in the year of our Lord 30 
```
The Son of Man

“But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

Gospel of Matthew 9:6 CSB

“Who do people say that the Son of Man is? ”

They replied,

“Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”

Simon Peter answered,

“You are the Messiah [*Χριστός christos], the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:13-16 CSB

“You know that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
Matthew 28:2 CSB
April 14, 2025
Elijah – on a Prophetic Path to Gethsemane
Today, in the first of a 2-part look at ordinary men chosen as extraordinary Prophets speaking for God, we will glance briefly at Moses and Elijah.

Prophets Before Christ

Recall that true Prophets of God speak for the LORD God.

NOT every man who claims to be a be a Prophet of God truly speaks God’s word. Nor is every mortal who speaks a prophesy of God is a worshiper of the LORD.

And not every prophesy of a true Prophet is an oracle into the future or an eschatological look into the fulfillment of days.

Yet many prophesies do point us to places and times not yet seen by any man but the appointed Prophet of the LORD.

The Prophet Moses
```
What could be more prophetic than the written words of the man who encountered the 'I AM' speaking the very commands of the Almighty? 
```
Moses brought the Law – the very words of the LORD – to the Hebrew people.
```
The LORD had called Moses, age eighty to lead the Hebrews out from Egypt. Moses was 120 years old as the Hebrews prepared to cross the Jordan.
```
Before he led them from bondage in Egypt into Arabia for forty year prior to crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Moses instructed God’s chosen in the LORD’s ways and means of redemption.

So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.

“It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you..

Deuteronomy 31:1,3a,5a LSB

Yet the LORD instructs Moses with a prophecy of what the Hebrews will surly do:

a Prophesy through Moses:

.. and this people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them.

“Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed…

Deuteronomy 31:16c-17a LSB

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

Deuteronomy 32:8 BSB
```
This general reference to humanity and God's 'chosen' would be worthy of your separate study, but we cannot cover it here. 
```
from Canaan to Babylon

Let’s go quickly across the Jordan through the years (centuries, really) with the chosen sons until fulfillment of a foreseen time of Hebrew prophesy from Babylon.

In order to move so quickly we must overlook and pass many important scriptural milestones.

Moving past Joshua,
- the capture of much of the promised land
  - 14th c. B.C.
- a time of the Judges
  - 14th-11th c. B.C.
- a king of the people (Saul)
  - 11th c. B.C.
David King of Judah united with Israel
- David united Israel and Judah
  - ~1000 B.C.
- Solomon expands his influence back to Egypt and east to Babylon and beyond
  - 973-931 B.C.
- then, a civil war between Solomon’s sons and their heirs,
A quick glance at the timeline below will reveal the book of 1 KINGS where we will find Elijah’s story.

Old Testament Books timeline

The Prophet Elijah

~870 B.C. – 849 B.C.

Later, as prophesied:
- defeat of ISRAEL the Northern Kingdom
  - 722 B.C.
- eventual fall of JUDAH the Southern Kingdom…
  - 586 B.C.
The Man of God

The LORD sent powerful Prophets to both Israel and Judah during a divisive time when most every leader (king) “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”
- This includes EVERY KING of ISRAEL for a little more than 200 years !
Wouldn’t a NATION claiming GOD repent — when confronted by the man of God showing great signs and even raising a man from the dead?
- Furthermore the Kings of JUDAH fared no better in their 334 years with only eight of twenty kings who “did right in the eyes of the LORD.”
Elijah was a man of God WARNING the evil LEADERS of a NATION.

Taking a brief stop on our timeline Before Christ, we proceed past Moses and beyond the break-up of the Kingdom of David to a time of evil kings infamously represented by King Ahab of Israel who reigned for about twenty years from 874 B.C. until 853 B.C. when he was killed in battle.
```
Jezebel, the King's wife - arguably a head of Ahab - also proved infamous with her own evil legacy. 
```
Elijah’s Prophetic proofs:

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab,

“As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command! ”

1 Kings 17:1 CSB
```
The severest of droughts - over one thousand dry days in the land - people  and animals will die. 
```
Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.

1 Kings 17:4b CSB

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood…

But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked — only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”

1 Kings 17:10a, 12 CSB

Drought. Famine everywhere — and for days upon end.

Have you ever considered the gravity of the fragile mortal lives of those already suffering under the evil reign of Jezebel and Ahab?

But a miracle of God through Elijah: the widow’s flour and food never ran out. But then —

Her son becomes ill and dies. (Probably a common occurrence in these desperate conditions of a three year drought.)

She said to Elijah, “Man of God, what do you have against me?

Have you come to call attention to my iniquity so that my son is put to death? ”

1 Kings 17:18 CSB

That’s some accusation from the widow who has just lost her only son. Yet note the widow’s contrite acceptance of God’s authority to punish sin (iniquity).

עָוֹן
```
Note the long list of Scriptures [above] from the Law of Moses (beginning with Cain) pointing to punishment for our iniquity. 
```
Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead!

He cried out to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again! ”

So the LORD listened to Elijah, and the boy’s life came into him again, and he lived.

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the LORD’s word from your mouth is true.”

1 Kings 17:20-22, 24 CSB

Elijah – a contest to the DEATH

Three years of drought. The King will not like this and consequently blame the righteous man of God.

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him,

“Is that you, the one ruining Israel? ”

He replied,

“I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the LORD’s commands and followed the Baals.

1 Kings 18:17-18 CSB
```
Tell me if this does not apply to Israel in this day (except that their gods are dreams of their past)? 

Tell me how King Herod and the religious rulers of Judea were so different from Ahab as the King of Israel challenged the true Prophet of the Lord? 
```
Then Elijah approached all the people and said,

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.”

But the people didn’t answer him a word.

18:21 וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל־כָּל־הָעָם וַיֹּאמֶר עַד־מָתַי אַתֶּם פֹּסְחִים עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים אִם־יְהוָה הָאֱלֹהִים לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְאִם־הַבַּעַל לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְלֹא־עָנוּ הָעָם אֹתוֹ דָּבָר׃

Much later King Ahab will publically repent! But it will be too late…

Next Contestant

~852 B.C. After the death of Ahab

“Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down! ’ ”

.. “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

2 Kings 1:9- excerpts CSB

So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah.

“Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately! ’

“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”

So a divine fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.

Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him,

“.. Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”

Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.

2 Kings 1:11-17 excerpts CSB

The Ascension of Elijah.

The time had come for the LORD to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal,

2 Kings 2:1 CSB

Elijah’s departure is unique, as he is one of only two people in the Bible, along with Enoch (Genesis 5:24), who did not experience death.

The whirlwind signifies God’s powerful presence, often associated with divine intervention (Job 38:1, Nahum 1:3).

Elijah’s ascension prefigures Christ’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11), symbolizing victory over death and the promise of eternal life.

2 Kings 2:1:: Biblehub.com STUDY BIBLE commentary
```
First Century A.D.
```
A Son of David, the Son of Man, rides victoriously into Jerusalem now captive of Rome, challenging Jerusalem’s leaders to a duel to the death –

+ His +

– for the redemption of sinners.

“King Jesus, King Jesus, King Jesus, Hosanna!, they cry out…

And within a few days their KING of the JEWS will be crucified on a Roman cross.

An Uplifting Recollection

The Son of Man walked once more toward a familiar hillside covered with an olive grove.

What must Jesus have recalled as the Lord approached Gethsemane with His eleven dear friends one last time?

Remember?

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.

Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Gospel of Mark 9:4 CSB

A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud:

“This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”

Mark 9:7 CSB

.. They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant…
```
NEXT: Ezekiel 
```
April 8, 2025
The Sun and the Moon Stood Still – Why won’t we?
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation:

at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Habakkuk 3:11 KJV

Sun and moon stood still before God

What’s the picture?

An illustrative celestial EXAMPLE to those created ones of GOD

bowed DOWN before the GLORY of our FATHER

Habakkuk – a Prophet burdened for a people humbled

1:2 עַד־אָנָה יְהוָה שִׁוַּעְתִּי וְלֹא תִשְׁמָע אֶזְעַק אֵלֶיךָ חָמָס וְלֹא תוֹשִׁיעַ׃
```
The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.
```
IF you have not already felt the full weight of a Prophet painting a picture for men without eyes to see —

a sun and a moon which had stood still, — then you have sensed a low and quiet place where the Lord has prepared an unseeing Common Era people by a BLINDING LIGHT in the darkness of these last days…

O LORD, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.

Habakkuk 1:2 NKJV

Sound familiar?

(Even from your own arrogant lips?)

Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.

Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.

Habakkuk 1:2-3
```
The LAW of which the Prophet speaks 
-- the Commandments of the LORD 
-- NO LAW = No Justice! 

Do we blindly suppose that the righteous are US? 
AND therefore WE the named and claimed PEOPLE of God suffer by His Almighty Hand! 
COULD THAT BE JUST? 
```
WHY does this sound so familiar to a Common Era people who rarely read or hear the oracles of WARNING by the Prophets of God?

And what does Habakkuk ask early-on in his plea to the LORD?

Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
14 Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?

Habakkuk 13b-14 NKJV
```
IS THIS any way to PLEA to the Lord our God of Whom WE are commanded to 'love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ even confirmed by the Messiah and Lord Jesus? 
```
More Writing on the wall
```
(for those casting a first stone at Habakkuk) 
```
Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.

“Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.

Habakkuk 2:2-4 NKJV
```
Again, what is the picture? 

The SOUL of the proud is fallen. 
AND the soul of the Lord's faithful remains bowed down in the witness of our lives. 
```
Therefore, for the hope of the faithful know that the LORD pronounces many woes (and NOT blessings) on the proud who seem to be in charge of our mortal lives. And to name just a few:
- hell שְׁאוֹל
- death מָוֶת
- transgressions (treachery) בָּגַד
- evil רַע
- and the violation of several specific Commandments.
THEN the LORD closes his response to the Prophet with an authoritatively THUNDERING VOICE to humble worshipers bowed down in faithfulness:

“But the Lord is in His holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

Habakkuk 2:20
```
What would happen IF Common Era worshipers would put down our devices and our coffees and entered into WORSHIP like this? 

Let thos whw with eyes to see Christ's writing in the sand see God's zeal for faithful worshipers. 
```
and now:

This prayer sung by the prophet Habakkuk:

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk 3:2 NKJV

God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

And the earth was full of His praise.

4 His brightness was like the light;
He had rays flashing from His hand,
And there His power was hidden...

He looked and startled the nations.
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills bowed.

from the prayer of Habakkuk

GET THE IDEA?

all bowed down before the Lord – in HIS Presence everything else stood still or was swept away by the hidden power of HIS GLORY!

Your bow was made quite ready;
Oaths were sworn over Your arrows. Selah

The sun and the moon stood still
```
Now returning to the context of our opening picture and illustration: 
```
You divided the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw You and trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by.
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted its hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation;
At the light of Your arrows they went,
At the shining of Your glittering spear.

12 You marched through the land in indignation;
You trampled the nations in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,
For salvation with Your Anointed.
You struck the head from the house of the wicked,
By laying bare from foundation to neck.

Selah

When I heard, my body trembled;
My lips quivered at the voice;
Rottenness entered my bones;
And I trembled in myself,
That I might rest in the day of trouble.

Habakkuk 3:16a NKJV
```
Is THIS your reaction -- contemporary christian worshiper? 
```
A Hymn of Faith
```
NO hymns for OUR praise band! 
NO Old Testament Prophets and their drama that could SILENCE the applause and bring the CROWD to its knees.
```
Who remembers Jesus cursing the fig tree as the Lord entered Jerusalem?

The unfamiliar picture and significant symbolism Jesus drew is the same as that of Habakkuk’s hymn of faith.

We examined this great symbolism in an earlier series.

for it was not the season for figs – prologue
```
Even if you choose not to read the prologue above you will find these references from Habakkuk below -with which we will conclude.

AND consider our 2025 CE Lenten theme of contrition replanted in the hearts of 21st century worshipers:
```
We stood there and did nothing
- Habakkuk and other Prophets of the Lord have warned us to WORSHIP the Lord our God.
- The Messiah JESUS — Son of the Living God — enters Jerusalem cursing a tree that bore no fruit (though thousands applaud Him).
- Crowds of worshipers enter a Common Era gathering little noticing a cursed fig tree as they bring their coffees and distracting devices toward the gate of the grand stage.
- LENT?
  - WE don’t do that anymore…
for it was not the season for figs – 7

O, faithless fig tree, dear dried up vine;

do you believe that you alone have cried out to the Lord for mercy?

Habakkuk 3:

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.

for it was not the season for figs – 7 – July 9, 2017 TalkofJESUS.com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
March 13, 2025