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

stone carving of the prophet Jeremiah reading Bible - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are major Prophets of the Old Testament
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.

  • WE Have Been Here Before – in Awe of JESUS

    WE Have Been Here Before – in Awe of JESUS

    We show no awe of Jesus in our no-salt ‘christian’ lives. Oh, perhaps in a stanza of singing, a sentence of sermon or a moment of compassion in our encounter with another; but for the most part we Christians fail to show any awe of Jesus in our worship or daily lives.

    Our church and yours will most likely witness the “aahhh” of a baby born in Bethlehem directed for our children. Ah, not awe — the small sprinkling of Christ for the community, rather than Spirit led worship of the Christ who still lives.

    AWE!

    The forgotten awe of the Lord God witnessed in the past becomes the superstition of today’s disbelief.

    When we read of the awe of Jesus we quickly overlook it. How easily we miss a personal awe of the Lord.

    So just for a moment put yourself in the sandals of some witnesses we missed in Jesus’ introduction. (For the Gospel shows us much more than the ‘ah’ of a babe in a manger.)

    The Gospel of Matthew

    1:20b an angel of the Lord appeared to him [Joseph] in a dream… 24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him.

    Note: Maji: Matthew 2:1 A caste of wise men specializing in astronomy, astrology, and natural science

    2:2 “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”

    13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.

    19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

    The Gospel Mark

    The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

    9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

    The Good News (εὐαγγέλιον) of Luke

    1:8 … he was serving as priest before God… 11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified and overcome with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah…

    26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David…

    2:9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid

    13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

    “Glory to God in the highest,
    And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

    Luke 2:14 NASB – Strong’s G2107 – eudokia Blueletterbible.org

    33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.

    Does Jesus still amaze you after hearing HIS STORY each year?

    Do you hear the awe in these witnesses of Christ? And like them do hold HIM in awe as well?

    34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed

    Prophecy – Simeon recalls and applies prophecy of the Messiah to Jesus, the Son of Man born in a manger in Bethlehem.

    The Gospel of John

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    The same was in the beginning with God.

    John 1:2 KJV of Christ Jesus ‘this one, visibly present here
    manger with shadow of cross falling across
    The Lamb of God in a manger

    The Lamb of God

    29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

    30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’

    John the Baptist was in awe of Jesus. Are you?

    51 And He said to him [Nathanael], “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

    Awesome! Truly, the Gospel records many instances of awe connected to Christ Jesus.

    What is Awe?

    φόβος – phobos

    You know the greek root and its connection to fear, dread, terror and that which strikes terror.

    Yet we marginalize our phobias even of miracles. And awe in this sense startles our sense of the natural. For our human understanding must be finite and understanding of the infinite baffles us.

    We mention the fear of the shepherds who witnessed the awe of angels at Jesus’ birth. Yet seldom will we note the supernatural motivations for the multitudes of followers who subsequently had to see and hear the Messiah Jesus.

    In just one scene here in Nain, imagine yourself as part of the crowd gathered for the funeral of this man. Jesus, of whom you have heard, walks up and touches the coffin.

    “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

    The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

    Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying,

    “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and,

    “God has visited His people!”

    Luke 7:14-16

    Luke further records witness of the first century church.

    Everyone kept feeling a sense G5401 of awe; G5401 and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

    Acts of the Apostles 2:43 – awe = Literally: fear was occurring to every soul

    Fear as Consequence of Awe

    We frequently live in fear during this brief mortal journey of our life.

    Do we fear man and circumstance or the Lord?

    Therefore here this one example of awe from the Hebrew Bible [Old Testament] as wisdom for our fear.

    33:8 יִֽירְאוּ מֵיְהוָה כָּל־הָאָרֶץ מִמֶּנּוּ יָגוּרוּ כָּל־יֹשְׁבֵי תֵבֵֽל׃

    Let all the earth fear the LORD;
    Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

    Psalm 33:8 Masoretic Text; NASB
    To be continued...
  • WE Have Been Here Before – Prophecies

    WE Have Been Here Before – Prophecies

    Prophecies of Christ’s Birth

    We have been here before in scripture. You likely know Bethlehem from the New Testament, yet this little town’s importance derives from prophecies in the Old Testament. The Messiah is predicted in prophecies of Isaiah, who we met previously and also Micah of Moresheth-Gath.

    Bethlehem

    map of Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem

    ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,
    ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;
    FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER
    WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’” – Matthew 2:6

    (‘ephrath; Ephratha)

    The Good News of Matthew quotes the prophecy of Micah 5:2.

    Luke tells us why Joseph had to go to Bethlehem for the Roman Census commanded by Caesar Augustus.

    Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

    Luke 2:4-5 NKJV

    You may have to register for a #census2020. Rome was not so accommodating as to come to you, but ordered citizens to go to the home of your birth. Rome accounted for every captive local and taxed each and every one of them regardless of where they lived.

    Matthew records this lineage of Joseph from David. Bethlehem becomes his town of registration because of David.

    Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse…

    1 Samuel 17:12a NASB

    Listen, House of David

    Therefore, Jesus is born of the house of David rooted in Bethlehem. Mary and Jesus are also registered as Joseph’s family of the lineage of David. As we learn later even wise men come to this place of the Lord’s birth due to the prophesies of the Old Testament.

    More than 700 years Before Christ Ahaz would become a vassal king subjected to Assyria, just as Herod was subjected to the rule of Caesar Augustus. The Prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah even in this time centuries before the Messiah Jesus.

    13 Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign:

    See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

    Isaiah 7 excerpt CSB, WLC

    14 לָ֠כֵן יִתֵּ֨ן אֲדֹנָ֥י ה֛וּא לָכֶ֖ם א֑וֹת הִנֵּ֣ה הָעַלְמָ֗ה הָרָה֙ וְיֹלֶ֣דֶת בֵּ֔ן וְקָרָ֥את שְׁמ֖וֹ עִמָּ֥נוּ אֵֽל׃

    The wise men from the east in generations past understood these prophesies. Isaiah answered Ahaz not in the singular, but in the plural for the descendant house of David. Almost literally the LORD prophesies through Isaiah “the woman pregnant with the Son named [‘el] [`Immanuw’el].

    Prophecies of the Messiah

    עִמָּנוּאֵל

    Immanuel = “God with us” or “with us is God”

    symbolic and prophetic name of the Messiah, the Christ, prophesying that He would be born of a virgin and would be ‘God with us’

    And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.

    Isaiah 8:8 KJV

    We will speak more of the context of this when we continue, God-willing, but first let’s return to the prophesy of Micah of Moresheth-Gath.

    Coming Judgment on Israel

    5 וְאַתָּ֞ה בֵּֽית־לֶ֣חֶם אֶפְרָ֗תָה צָעִיר֙ לִֽהְיוֹת֙ בְּאַלְפֵ֣י יְהוּדָ֔ה מִמְּךָ֙ לִ֣י יֵצֵ֔א לִֽהְי֥וֹת מוֹשֵׁ֖ל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וּמוֹצָאֹתָ֥יו מִקֶּ֖דֶם מִימֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם׃

    2 לָכֵ֣ן יִתְּנֵ֔ם עַד־עֵ֥ת יוֹלֵדָ֖ה יָלָ֑דָה וְיֶ֣תֶר אֶחָ֔יו יְשׁוּב֖וּן עַל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

    מיכה 5 The Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC)

    Micah 1 (CSB)

    1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Moreshite—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

    2 Listen, all you peoples;
    pay attention, earth and everyone in it!

    The Lord God will be a witness against you,
    the Lord, from his holy temple.

    3 Look, the Lord is leaving his place
    and coming down to trample
    the heights of the earth.
    4 The mountains will melt beneath him,
    and the valleys will split apart,
    like wax near a fire,
    like water cascading down a mountainside.
    5 All this will happen because of Jacob’s rebellion
    and the sins of the house of Israel.

    Micah 5: (NASB)

    Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
    They have laid siege against us;

    With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
    2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
    From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

    His goings forth are from long ago,
    From the days of eternity.”

    3 Therefore He will give them up until the time
    When she who is in labor has borne a child.

    Then the remainder of His brethren
    Will return to the sons of Israel.

    4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock
    In the strength of the Lord,
    In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
    ..

    Much prophetic voice here about Jesus the Messiah born in Bethlehem to a trial of the Son of Man in Jerusalem.

    Micah foresees and explains the Lord giving up on Israel until the Messiah’s return! The prophecies of Isaiah and Micah speak not only to the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, but beyond to a day yet unseen.

    8 The remnant of Jacob
    Will be among the nations,
    Among many peoples…

    10 “It will be in that day,” declares the Lord…
    “I will also cut off the cities of your land
    And tear down all your fortifications…

     וְעָשִׂ֜יתִי בְּאַ֧ף וּבְחֵמָ֛ה נָקָ֖ם אֶת־הַגֹּויִ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֥א שָׁמֵֽעוּ׃ ס

    “And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath
    On the nations which have not obeyed.”

    Micah 5:15
    To be continued...
    

  • You Scoffers Who Rule Jerusalem – a Bed too Short

    You Scoffers Who Rule Jerusalem – a Bed too Short

    Perhaps by now you know from introduction in my previous post that the complainant in this case is the LORD. His indictment of leaders is not my complaint for today, but that of the prophet of Judah in the eighth century BC. Therefore Isaiah approaches these leaders, scoffers who rule Jerusalem with warnings from the LORD.

    Scoffers who rule …

    Our application, of course, may call the question to our own nations:

    Are our leaders also scoffers who rule with a bed too short?

    Let’s return to excerpts from the LORD’s rebuke from where we began previously. (You may follow various translations, including Hebrew, on the link below.)

    Scoffers who rule Israel

    Isaiah 28:

    14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
    15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
    and we have an agreement with Sheol;
    when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
    it will not touch us,
    because we have made falsehood our refuge
    and have hidden behind treachery.”

    Did the catastrophe pass over the Jewish leaders of Isaiah’s day?

    Again, as I pointed previously in our chronology of Israel, it did not. The Jews were overrun by Assyria in that day, as Empires rise and fall even unto this day. So what does the Lord promise through Isaiah to a people about to be taken from their homes to a foreign land?

    A Cornerstone in Zion

    If you do not already know it, you will find it helpful here to understand some significance of Zion to Hebrew history.

    צִיּוֹן

    Zion (153x), Sion (1x). Zion = “parched place,” a “sunny mountain,” a fortress, the southern and higher hill (of the LORD) upon which Jerusalem is built. On it set Mount Moriah, where the Temple was built and the LORD worshiped. It is used for the holy “city of David” specifically and for all of Jerusalem in general, especially by the prophets: Isaiah 47x, Jeremiah 32x and six other prophets 30x.

    16a [NASB] Therefore thus says the Lord God,

    “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
    A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.

    This from the LORD, of course, is prophecy. The question we must understand is not only when, but the identity of this symbolic cornerstone of the Temple.

    Who IS this costly cornerstone of Israel’s future? And what makes this Savior of Israel so costly to the LORD?

    The one who believes will remain anchored to the Cornerstone of the heavenly Temple, established with justice as it’s measuring line and righteousness as its level.

    Yet if you do not hold to this cornerstone, a stumbling block to scoffers who rule without guidance from God — if you support godless scoffers who rule — then you will stumble as well on the cornerstone of righteousness. For like those you manipulate, you cannot hide on the day of your accounting before the LORD.

    What does Isaiah predict?

    Isn’t this the same prophet we hear quoted every year in this season leading up to remembering a birth of righteousness, the Cornerstone in Zion that rebuilds the Temple of the LORD for all time?

    Yes, Isaiah prophesies not only the fall of Jerusalem in their near future, but the coming of the Messiah of Israel born some seven centuries later.

    Consequence for Scoffers Who Rule

    Have you leaders been hiding behind lies of convenience?

    “Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies…

    Can you really hide the truth of your sins forever?

    “And the waters will overflow the secret place.

    The LORD and others, even your enemies, will find you out.

    “and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
    when the overwhelming scourge passes through
    you will be beaten down by it.

    19 [CSB] Every time it passes through,
    it will carry you away;
    it will pass through every morning—
    every day and every night.
    Only terror will cause you
    to understand the message.

    NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM THE LORD GOD!

    Hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule any of God’s people anywhere.

    Isaiah’s imagery shows the futility of trying to keep your sin from God, for it will be shown to others.

    Perhaps you will take this warning as your one and only opportunity to repent of your sin. Maybe just one of our scoffers who rule will humbly return to fear of the Lord, our heavenly Father.

    The Bed too short

    Do you recall when you were a child how you thought that you could hide from your father under the bed or from fearful noises under the covers.

    Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
    and its cover too small to wrap up in.

    Isaiah 28:20 CSB

    Isaiah illustrates that leaders seeking rest from any but God as laughable at best, but futile in any instance. Judah was burdened with threats from and alliances with other leaders. They sought rest from war and peace with the world flowing through their porous defences.

    Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

    Matthew 11:28 NLT

    Once Isaiah mentions their frustration of trying to sleep on a bed too short (their alliances with other evil leaders) and of remaining of cover of their trust in others, he again proceeds to prophesy what must happen.

    Parazim & Gibeon

    21 [NASB] For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
    He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
    To do His task, His unusual task,
    And to work His work, His extraordinary work.

    You scoffers who rule in other places must understand the significance of these places to which Isaiah refers.

    So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there; 
    and he said,
    “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me
    like the breakthrough of waters.”
    Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.
    They abandoned their idols there,
    so David and his men carried them away.
    - 2 Samuel 5:20-21

    David, King of a once-united Israel, did not win the land and the people without the help of the LORD!

    And there in his victory, David gave thanks to the Lord before the people of the land. Yet before David and following leadership of another revered man of God and giver of the Law [Torah], Joshua also credits the LORD who has taken this land from their enemies.

    Joshua 10:10 And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

    Warning & Advice to Scoffers Who Rule

    Isaiah speaks to scoffers of God. Yet are your ears this day so filled with twisted speech that you do not even understand the significance of his warning?

    לוּץ

    Scoffers translated from Hebrew luwts holds a pointed meaning. From Strong’s Concordance:

    לוּץ lûwts, loots; a primitive root; properly, to make mouths at, i.e. to scoff; hence (from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret, or (generally) intercede:—ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker, scorn(-er, -ful), teacher.

    “(from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret..” Sounds like #media, doesn’t it?

    Do you think even in seven-hundred some years before Christ scoffers who rule were any different than those who rule this day in the year of our Lord 2019?

    Of course not! These men and women of power: scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly; They boast, mock and deride.

    Isaiah warns:

    22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
    Lest your bonds be made strong…

    Shall I mock Isaiah, scripture and the word of the Lord?

    (What do you think? Do you, your leaders or even opponents fear your shackles of slavery to lies tightening?)

    For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
    Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

    Isaiah 28:22b NASB

    Decisive destruction on all the earth. It is not the causes for which these ambassadors of hypocrisy which will destroy the earth, the Lord God at a time and place of His Own choosing.

    Where’s a leader to hide?

    Again, Isaiah’ illustration of the futility of it all.

    • 24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
    • Or does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?

    There’s a process here, a plan of the Lord; and you will be a part of it.

    • 25 Does he not level its surface
    • And sow dill
    • scatter cummin
    • And plant wheat in rows,
    • Barley in its place
    • and rye within its area?

    God’s ordered ways

    26 [CSB] His God teaches him order;
    he instructs him.

    27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
    with a threshing board,
    and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
    But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
    and cumin with a rod.
    28 Bread grain is crushed,
    but is not threshed endlessly.
    Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
    his horses do not crush it.

    Even a king, prime minister or president in a palace will see the ridicule of the farmer using the wrong tool to accomplish his purpose. Perhaps even a scoffer in Congress, Parliament or leadership claiming the rule of Law will see their own error and return to the Lord.

    Woe to the scoffers who rule the worldly cities.

    We cannot nearly complete the prophesies of Isaiah today. For if I continue, like Isaiah’s critics you would surely complain:

    “Law after law, law after law,
    line after line, line after line,
    a little here, a little there.”

    Therefore in closing I’ll caution US.

    Hear the Lord your God, for woe is akin to death. Isaiah uses it more than any other Prophet of the Lord.

    Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
    For what he deserves will be done to him. – Isaiah 3:11 NASB

    Woe to those who enact evil statutes
    And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,

    So as to deprive the needy of justice
    And rob the poor of My people of their rights…

    Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
    And in the devastation which will come from afar?
    To whom will you flee for help?
    And where will you leave your wealth?

    excerpt: Isaiah 10:1-3 NASB

    After these warnings to leaders of the nations and specifically Judah, Isaiah warns:

    “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
    An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
    Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
    Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?

    Isaiah 45:9 NASB

    In a time yet to come — neither next Wednesday nor next year — Isaiah shows hope in a day to come and judgment against those who refuse the Way of the Lord, even those who yet deny the Truth Who IS and will judge from the Throne of Heaven, even those scoffers who rule in this life lacking regard for the Life that is to come — the life or the punishment after death.

    The LORD Rises Up

    Isaiah 33:

    Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
    you traitor never betrayed!
    When you have finished destroying,
    you will be destroyed.
    When you have finished betraying,
    they will betray you.

    2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.

    Blessing or Woe?

    Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5

    Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. – Matthew 5:7

    Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:10

    But woe to you, blind guides… scoffers who rule…

    “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. –Luke 11:46

    Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey. – Nahum 3:1

    Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;

    They will see the land that is very far off.

    Isaiah 33:17 NKJV

    The Scroll of Isaiah

    Luke 4:

    17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

    The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent me
    to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to set free the oppressed,
    19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

    He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”

    The words of the Messiah Jesus from the Gospel of Luke 4:21

    And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

    KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 19:16 NKJV