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Tag: ezra

Consecration, Sanctification – more Biblical jargon
- Can you picture what takes place when you hear Biblical words like ‘anoint?’
- OR Can you picture a process of ‘consecration?’
- Can you explain ‘sanctification?’
THIS WEEK we continue defining Biblical jargon, switching from passive verbs like consecrate to their nouns, i.e. consecration.

In case you missed our focus on anointing last week, take a look:

Roger@TalkofJesus.com

Anoint, Consecrate and Sanctify – more Biblical jargon

And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Exodus 28:41 KJV

The Anointed, the Consecrated and the Sanctified ones
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I have employed a different part of speech here for the same concept.
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Anointed, Consecrated, Sanctified: Which do you understand least?

Anointing

NOTES:

NOTE: The ANOINTED and the CONSECRATED hold the office of PRIEST.

And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.

Exodus 30:30 KJV

NOTE: Saul, the ANOINTED and the CONSECRATED King holds the office of KING, but NOT PRIEST as does Samuel.

Samuel also said unto Saul,

The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

1 Samuel 15:1 KJV

1 Samuel 16 excerpt KJV

.. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward…

Consecration
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Once again let's look at Hebrew Scripture of the Old Testament. 
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And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

Exodus 29:31-33 KJV
- Did you get all that ABOUT the food of the Priests?
- See any significant symbolism to remind us of the LORD’s grace?
- Read on and observe that the anointed Priests remain in the Tabernacle for seven days in order to remain holy to the LORD.
מִלֻּא

masculine noun from מָלָא (H4390) –

For the false Common Era priestess: The LORD only dedicated certain men as Priests.

a fulfilling (only in plural), i.e. (literally) a setting (of gems), or (technically) consecration (also concretely, a dedicatory sacrifice):—consecration, be set.

source: Strong’s H4394 – millu’

a Covenant broken by Priests

Ezekiel – The Sins of Jerusalem

Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things.

They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Ezekiel 22:26 ESV

Vision of a Future Temple

Then the man brought me to the gate that faces the east, and there I beheld the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. The sound of his coming was like the sound of a mighty torrent of waters, and the earth shone with his glory.

The vision I beheld was like the man I had seen when he had come to destroy the city, and like the vision I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell prostrate.

6 Say to the rebels of the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: I have endured enough of these abominable practices in which you engage, O house of Israel. You have allowed foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and body, to enter my sanctuary and profane it when you offer to me my food, the fat and the blood. Thus, you have broken my covenant with all of your loathsome practices…

But as for the Levites who abandoned me when Israel strayed far from me by following its idols, they must suffer the consequences for their iniquity.

22 Priests may not marry either widows or divorced women, but only virgins of the race of Israel. However, they may marry women who are the widows of priests.

They shall teach my people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and they shall make known to them the difference between what is clean and what is unclean.

Ezekiel 41 excerpt; Ezekiel 44 excerpt New Catholic Bible

Ezra
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Just a bit more from the restoration of fallen Israel.
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Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. And .. one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra,

“We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this.

Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.
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READ more of Ezekiel 10 NKJV
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Consecration of a New Covenant
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Here is where some confusion and considerable controversy can divide the Church. 
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And for their sake I consecrate myself, [fn] that they also may be sanctified [fn] in truth.
Gospel of John 17:19 ESV
– from The High Priestly Prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ
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The function notes of the ESV derive from two forms of the same Greek word [translated: hagiazō]. These notes read respectively: 
Or I sanctify myself; or I set myself apart (for holy service to God) 
and Greek may be set apart (for holy service to God)
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A deeper study of John 17 and various English translations, though not possible today, will point to the symbolism and mystery in the Lord’s words here.

Briefly, we’ll approach the chief controversy among divisions between Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches:

Holy Communion

.. the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said,

“This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth 11:23-26 ESV

Food for Thought

For today, I will simply ask one question concerning our eternal High Priest Jesus’ consecration of the communion bread and wine:

IF, ‘as often as [we, the saints of Christ’s Church] eat this bread and drink the cup, proclaim[ing] the Lord’s death, — are the body and blood proclaimed, with or without mysterious consecration of a priest, LITERAL or SYMBOLIC?
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I can hardly wait to hear YOUR COMMENTS on consecration, in general, and also specifically on Holy Communion. 
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Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 25, 2025
Jerusalem – a City Stirred Up
Then the whole city was provoked…
Acts of the Apostles 21:30 NASB20

CROWD REACTIONS with violence, retribution and vengeance, WAR between two opposing forces where some claim PEACE while others besiege it with competing claims of war and tolerance…

Nothing is new under the sun, most especially in Israel !

Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

~ In the year of our Lord 30

So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Look, your house is left to you desolate.
Gospel of Matthew 23:37-38 NIV {in context of vs. 31-39}

JESUS had testified against these same leading trouble-makers.

Now the Apostle Paul has returned to the same Jerusalem where many years before this up and coming Saul of Tarsus had stood with the leaders of the Temple who then stoned Stephen to death.

https://talkofjesus.com/stephen-indictment-of-our-founding-fathers

~ A.D. 32 – Stephen martyred in Jerusalem
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* ALL estimates of YEARS are provided for chronological comparison to other events and for historical context.
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*approximately A.D. 54-55

https://talkofjesus.com/mission-to-macedonia-with-more-exhortation

Paul has also encountered these zealous Jews in many cities throughout the ten years of his three missionary journeys; including in Ephesus of Asia Minor from where the Apostle has just returned. And Jewish opponents of the Gospel have also traveled to Jerusalem for the festival.

Acts of the Apostles 21:
~ A.D. 57

Photo of door in gate of Jerusalem's wall from ~A.D. 1900
And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
Acts of the Apostles 21:30 NKJV

Little doubt that the Apostle Paul, who had seen the Lord Jesus Himself along a road to persecuted Christians in Damascus twenty years ago (in ~A.D. 37) knew the similar intent of these same anti-Christs who had stoned Stephen.

Yet due to the prophesy of Agabus (Acts 21:20-21) Paul knew of a different outcome the Lord had in store for the Apostle.

Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
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Oh, did I mention that JERUSALEM is still UNDER the control and administration of ROME and NOT its appointed Jewish leaders (who incite the mobs to their own political advantage)?

Just like when Pilate governed JERUSALEM is controlled from beyond its oft-breached walls.
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He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them.

And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done.
Acts of the Apostles 21:33 ESV – The arrest of Paul in Jerusalem
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SOUND FAMILIAR? 

Will an arrest in JERUSALEM to appease shouting crowds restore a pax Romana? 
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21st Century of the Common Era

MAY, 2021 of the Common Era

Observant readers of Talk of JESUS .com will have noted that the COVER PHOTO of today’s post is contemporary rather than from the time of the Apostle Paul.

Palestinians protest at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 21, 2021. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

7 October 2023 C.E.

Most of us recall an initial incursion by militant Islamists into a pax UN of Israel tenuously instituted in 1949 after an A.D. 20th century holocaust of the Jews.

Their own atrocities of war and proven provocation of Jerusalem has led to great evil perpetrated by both sides.

Although I take no side in this divisive war I would ask you to consider current outcomes in light of entrenched positions which have led up to these current events.

23 May 2021

THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

OP-ED
Losing the war

2024 C.E.
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"Meanwhile, Israel celebrated the nation’s 76th anniversary on Tuesday." - IMAGE of Gaza (date uncertain) 
By The Bharat Express News
May 14, 2024
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‘What does all this have to do with Paul and ACTS of the Apostles?‘
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While you consider and compare  A.D. FIRST CENTURY JERUSALEM with a 2024 of the Common Era Jerusalem, Israel let's LOOK BACK at what 1st c. A.D. JEWISH leaders already knew about their City.
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Before Christ
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* ALL estimates of YEARS are provided for chronological comparison to other events and for historical context.
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~1000 Before Christ + David rules a United Israel for 40 years

Now Yahweh was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from Yahweh, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice..

“However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
1 Kings 11:9,13 LSB
- 930 B.C. Solomon dies. The Kingdom (which did not include Philistia & Gaza) had grown since David’s reign to influence all of the world from the Nile to the Euphrates. It now becomes divided between his sons.
- 721 B.C. Fall of Israel [Samaria] to Assyria
Assyria takes Samarian captives 722 BC & Babylon takes Judah’s captives 607-537 BC
- 661 B.C. on Yom Kippur (the day of atonement)
Now the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you.’”

So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of Yahweh [the Temple].
2 Chronicles 24:20-21 LSB
- AFTER refusing to listen to Prophets sent to them by the LORD Judah also falls.
- 587 B.C. Jerusalem falls
Flight of the Prisoners, Artist: Tissot, Photographer: John Parnell, Photo © The Jewish Museum, New York

And Judah was taken away into exile to Babylon for their unfaithfulness.
1 Chronicles 9:1b LSB
- 559 B.C.
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia,

‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Ezra 1:2 LSB

331 B.C.

After having defeated Tyre, Alexander the Great seizes Jerusalem, Gaza and much of Egypt.
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We'll skip past the Seleucid Empire to the east and Egyptian Empire to the west of Jerusalem, BOTH threats to Judea and ROME, as well as a familiar Jewish political/religious tiff between the Maccabees and Hasmonaeans.
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63 B.C.

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus or Pompey the Great captures Jerusalem and creates an alliance with the part-Edomite King of Jerusalem, Herod the Great. – Source

48 B.C.

Julius Caesar (100BC – 44BC)

Roman Rule (Before & in the years of Christ)
- Caesar was a politician and general of the late Roman republic – source BBC
- A civil war broke out, and Caesar’s soldiers were victorious against Pompey.
- Pompey escaped to Egypt in search of refuge upon losing the battle. Instead, he was assassinated in the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy XIII’s bid to win over Caesar. – source
August 9, 48 BC – Battle of PHARSALUS (in Greece)
- (Gaius Julius) Caesar went on to become the ruler of Rome, proclaiming himself to be the sole consul and dictator.
Paul: more than just a Jew
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Returning once more to  Jerusalem in A.D. 57 ... 

(where those present do NOT know that ROME will completely destroy Jerusalem and its Temple just 13 years from now...)
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Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another.

And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

for the mob of the people followed, crying out,

“Away with him!”
Acts of the Apostles 21:36 ESV (vs. 34-36 above)

Sound familiar?

NEXT, God-willing, we will continue with Paul’s troubles in Jerusalem

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
May 15, 2024
Looking Back – The Evil Before US, a history from Ezra
Ezra, Looking Back

Ezra c. 450 BC

Picture the priest Ezra speaking to the builders and worshipers in Jerusalem:

You know well how we have come to this place and the work which is before us.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

– Ezra 1:1-2

Looking Back before US

Our focus in Ezra’s story today begins in ‘the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam.’ Ezra chronicles time beginning with genealogies from Adam to the tribes of Israel. Then he proceeds to the united kingdom of David and Solomon. Finally he reveals a story from about five hundred years before the construction of the second Temple.

If today you and I looked back 500 years we would record important events of the 16th century. From our contemporary perspective it would compare to chronicling the turbulent times of Martin Luther.

Our forefathers fled wars in Europe which had caused the deaths of 10-20% of the population. Therefore colonies of the new world became a promised land for those persecuted for varying religious beliefs.

Visit this link for more well-researched history of a pre-colonial America.

Return now to Ezra’s perspective of history looking back as if you were telling the story of the US in the 1600’s. Once again, imagine Ezra telling the story.

A Story from Israel’s Past

While we rebuild the Temple of the Lord let me tell you a story from the chronicles of our history.

2 Chronicles 13:

Now there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam… 9 Have you not driven out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes for ordination with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are not gods… so there fell slain of Israel 500,000 chosen men.

Imagine: a half million men chosen by God fell on the battlefield due to the sins of Israel.

2 Chronicles 14:

Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David.

And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment…
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Do we 'Seek the LORD..and keep the law and commandment?'
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9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah.

Many of their fathers had been slain on the battlefield and now a defeated army of Israel must face a million mighty warriors.

10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God,

“O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. 13 Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar, and the Ethiopians fell until none remained alive, for they were broken before the Lord and his army.

Ezra’s lesson to a people looking back

2 Chronicles 15 English Standard Version (ESV)

Asa’s Religious Reforms

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin:

The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

3 For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, 4 but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them.

Do we do that? In our current distress will we turn to the Lord?

5 In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.

7 But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

Asa Takes Action

8 As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded:
- he took courage
- and put away the detestable idols..
- and he repaired the altar of the Lord..
- 9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin..
- 10 They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 They sacrificed to the Lord on that day..
12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul,

13 but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. 14 They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns.

15 And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

16 Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not taken out of Israel.

Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. 18 And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. 19 And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Looking Back – Ezra’s lessons for US

Americans and others tend to look back only briefly at history with eyes that will not see. And any mention of Christ Jesus or the Lord God will quickly repulse those with ears which refuse to hear.

We evaluate our present dilemma in terms of who we think has wronged US.

Justice and righteousness fail in our palaces of partisan politics where mention of the Lord is anathema to reelection.

A cynical nation cries out to the masses without one plea to Almighty God. Do we not justify our ungodly actions and inattentive inactions by a tolerant accomodation of our own self-righteousness?

Why do we not cry out to the God of our founders? (That is what King Asa did when he faced certain defeat.)

WE THE PEOPLE have forgotten the Lord. Surely the decline of our nation will outpace the fall of forgotten mighty empires.

As Lesson for US from Ezra Looking Back

Will it take a leader of another nation to lead US back to the Lord? That was the history behind the story Ezra tells here.

And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily.. – Ezra 7:21

Ezra was living in Babylon when in the seventh year ( c. 457 BCE) of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, the king sent him to Jerusalem to teach the laws of God to any who did not know them. source

In the 20th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the remnant of Jews in Judah were in distress and that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild the city.

Ezra tells of a King Asa, five centuries earlier, who the Lord used to restore Jerusalem (for a time). Then Nehemiah follows with the proclamation from Artaxerxes, king of Persia, to rebuild Jerusalem.

Yet Israel will again turn from the Lord and captive Israel will await a Messiah to save them from evil.

When will the nations of these last days remember the love of the Lord?

For the Messiah Jesus has come to us. He was sacrificed for our sins and rose from the grave in victory! And our Lord will return on the clouds in victory over sin and death. Jesus calls out to the downtrodden souls of humble sinners.

God rules over the nations and loves our worship and praise. He came to us in Person in Christ Jesus.

When will you look up and cry out to the Lord?
February 19, 2018