Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: God

  • Behold, the days are coming

    In case you missed the introduction to this post and if impressions of the post image below lead you to current impending events, we are continuing here in Jeremiah’s prophesies about Judah in the 7th c. B.C.

    God’s Nation under No One

    Jeremiah 8:

    Sin and Treachery

    4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
    When men fall, do they not rise again?
        If one turns away, does he not return?
    5 Why then has this people turned away
        in perpetual backsliding?
    They hold fast to deceit;
        they refuse to return.

     Jeremiah 9:

    Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
        and put no trust in any brother,
    for every brother is a deceiver,
        and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
    5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
        and no one speaks the truth;
    they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
        they weary themselves committing iniquity.
    6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
        they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

    7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
    “Behold, I will refine them and test them,
        for what else can I do, because of my people?

    23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

    25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh—

    Circumcise your hearts you people without God!

    Who do you trust?

    This message from Jeremiah is written to the political and religious leaders of Judah (the circumcised sworn to obey the Lord). The Lord’s messenger is severe in words given to the prophet by the Lord God.

    What leader will step forward to lead as the Lord would lead?

    No one, says the Lord. The Lord directs Jeremiah to be absolutely clear that it is the Lord speaking to the leaders of Judah; not just a man. The difficulty of Jeremiah’s obedience will reap earthly consequences most unpleasant at the hand of men in power.

    Yet are we not obliged to obey the Lord?

    Our leaders hope God will speak against or act against our enemies. Yet as Jeremiah’s story unfolds the Lord makes clear that Judah’s enemy in another nation is the Lord’s servant completing His will.

    Is it not right that the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth should punish His own for disobedience?

    Judah will fall, as all nations will fall. For the Lord endures while the nations fall and are no more remembered.

    Yet God is gracious. For the Lord makes a way for sinners, even the nations to come to Him in Christ Jesus.

    Righteous jews such as Daniel and others will influence leaders and others of the nations who have not known the Lord. God has purpose in this, while the Lord warns the nations (gentiles) of the futility of the worship of idols. The Lord warns even those who claim His Holy Name.

    Jeremiah 10:

    Idols and the Living God

    10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:

    “Learn not the way of the nations,
        nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
        because the nations are dismayed at them,
    3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity…

    Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
        and they cannot speak;
    they have to be carried,
        for they cannot walk.
    Do not be afraid of them,
        for they cannot do evil,
        neither is it in them to do good.”

    6 There is none like you, O Lord;
        you are great, and your name is great in might.

    7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
        For this is your due;
    for among all the wise ones of the nations
        and in all their kingdoms
        there is none like you.

    8 They are both stupid and foolish;
        the instruction of idols is but wood!

    Behold, a 21st c. Lesson from a Prophet from 7 centuries Before Christ

    What should we take from the warning of Jeremiah to Judah?

    In these last days the most powerful of nations turn against the Lord. We turn our backs on righteous ways and run to the power of sin in this decaying world.

    The Lord God brought even his own chosen people to destruction, because of their worship of idols.

    Do we not have more idols than the hills of Samaria?

    Vengeance is the Lord’s; he will repay! [Hebrews 10:30]

    • Who will lead your actions in this nation of sin?

    It is the question of Jeremiah. It is the question of these last days.

    What is your answer?

    The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners.  [1 Timothy 1:15]

    Are you and I not two of these?

    Christ Jesus is my Lord. He saved me.

    What is your answer to the hard questions from the LORD? What is your answer, fellow sinner, to a merciful savior of souls like ours?

     

     

     

     

  • God’s Nation under No One

    God’s Nation under No One

    Leadership Crisis Ahead for the Nation

    Although things have been going along well for the past few decades, change is inevitable. As we think back to the differences between past leaders of our nation, we must tremble for the day fast-approaching of a choice between the lesser of two evils.

    A nation cannot long endure divided by strife and torn apart by godless men and godless women.

    We will reap what we sow, as did Rome… as did the Kingdom of David… and as it is with powerful nation after nation throughout mortal history. For it was King Solomon who said: “Nothing is new under the sun.”

    What has been is what will be,
    and what has been done is what will be done,
    and there is nothing new under the sun.

    Ecclesiastes 1:9 

    The Kingdom of Israel, God’s own nation, fell into division after Solomon’s death circa 920 B.C. A divided kingdom left Jerusalem in Judah to the south. Examination of the years following the initial division of God’s own Nation reveals a predictably repetitive theme not unlike an evaluation of these last days of this post-modern kingdom.

    Kings (or Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers, Princes, Emperors & other earthly titles)

    Josiah, king of Judah (640–609 B.C.), had nearly rebuilt Judah, with Jerusalem as its central place to worship God, into a kingdom of strategic importance to  The background of our story begins during times of increased Judean influence within a declining Assyrian Empire. But life turns quickly for a powerful nation.

    Judah under King Josiah & Assyria c. 650 BC
    Judah under King Josiah & Assyria c. 650 BC

    The Bible documents the problem of a nation (or king or president, etc.) who does not follow God. This includes the next king, son of Josiah.

    And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

    2 Kings 23:32

    Think how many now would fit this description of godlessness in their leadership style and substance. Nothing is new under the sun and evil in the sight of the LORD is a common theme preceding God’s wrath allowing the fall and defeat of God’s own nation.

    {See just a few references of evil leaders in the history behind the link above.}

    Therefore I ask US: When did we no longer acknowledge that we are ‘one nation, under God, indivisible?

    Judah would eventually fall in 586 B.C.

    Jeremiah

    The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

    God speaks to His nation, under no one (except evil leaders). God speaks of their evil through the words and actions of the prophet, Jeremiah.

    14 Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah.

    16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me.

    They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you…

    The defeat of a nation under no one begins

    Jeremiah 2:

    11 Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
    But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
    12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
    declares the Lord,

    … Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
    19 Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
    Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
    declares the Lord God of hosts.

    … But in the time of their trouble they say,
    ‘Arise and save us!’
    28 But where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
    Let them arise, if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
    for as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.

    What was will be.

    Jeremiah 5:

    12 They have spoken falsely of the Lordbabylonian empire 606-536BC
    and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
    no disaster will come upon us,
    nor shall we see sword or famine.
    13 The prophets will become wind;
    the word is not in them.
    Thus shall it be done to them!’”

     …

    21 “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
    who have eyes, but see not,
    who have ears, but hear not.

    22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
    Do you not tremble before me?

    I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
    a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
    though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
    though they roar, they cannot pass over it.

    23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.

    To be continued: 

    “Behold, the days are coming…

  • The Fire of His Wrath, The Gospel of His Salvation

    The Fire of His Wrath, The Gospel of His Salvation

    The fire of the Lord consumes the complacent,

    The wicked and the righteous fleeing their homes.

    They flee His great wrath and abandon their plans,

    The Gospel of His Salvation will comfort or condemn. 

    Revelation 14 King James Version (KJV)

    NOTE: For ease of reading our contemporary language the ESV is recommended; I have chosen the KJV for its powerful poetic presentation and direct translation from the original Greek. The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John is presented here by excerpt only, a brief glimpse into awe unspeakable. Read the Book of Revelation in its entirety. You will be blessed.

    And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion…

    Make no mistake: the apocalypse here revealed is from the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, to the Apostle John. The Book of Revelation is a trumpet warning of the wrath of God to this generation and generations to come.

    The-Sacrificial-Lamb-Josefa-de-Ayala-ca-1670Christ is Atonement for man

    He IS the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Messiah, Christ, who suffered and died for your sins and for mine.

    Leviticus 4:35
    And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement כָּפַר  for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

    Revelation 14:

    2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:

    The LORD GOD speaks! The LORD speaks with a voice of absolute power and majesty and might. The LORD proclaims the victory of the Lamb of God over the sin of the world.

    And angels worship the LORD!

    3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne…

    Do you take ANY time to worship Almighty God? Do you worship the One who has created you? He has dominion over all creation; for the LORD IS and was and will always be! The LORD is worthy of worship. He IS a father unto those who seek him. He is a consuming fire to those who flee from him.

    6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

    7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

    What do you think of the Judgment?

    Who would not fall down in fear in this awesome moment? Who would fail to worship the LORD of all creation?

    How presumptuous of man to exhaust our brief days of mortal consumption with no regard of the Image reflected in our soul.

    Pompeii2Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? – Genesis 18:25b

    His purifying judgment shall consume more than Sodom. Neither shall pillar of salt stand nor ash-baked corpse remain in that awful day. His fire will make way for a new heavens and a new earth!

    Returning to Revelation 14

    …Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

    14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

    15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

    And in the end…

    Yes, there is more to the Apocalypse. Can your soul bear it? Will your soul not awaken from the sleep of death to the sounds of deafening waters and unspeakable thundering of His Voice? Are you not in awe of the LORD GOD?

    Remember your days, that we are dust. The LORD has created us for himself, for worship, for our own sacrifice of love to others, as the Lord God Almighty gave His only Son Christ Jesus on the Cross as Perfect Sacrifice for our sins.

    The Lamb of God will come on the clouds! He will stand on Mount Zion once more and rule as the loving King of all creation. The Lord will judge the sins of mankind and He will cover the sins of the saints.

    Did you know that in Christ Jesus you are a saint of God?

    For God IS as a Father to you, as well as a Father to Jesus the Messiah, the Sacrifice of the LORD’s great love and mercy. The Lord God IS in the Holy Spirit reaching into your soul to embrace the worship of your soul with a purpose of love to follow faithfully.

    Will you respond? Will you call on the LORD, while it is yet today?