Tag: Isaiah

  • Lamentations of our past in a Lenten path forward

    Lamentations of our past in a Lenten path forward

    Jeremiah tells us [in Lamentations 3,4 & 5]:

    I am the man who has seen affliction
    Because of the rod of His wrath..

    Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.

    Source: TalkofJesus.com category Old Testament History

    Kinoth-Ecah How? :אֵיכָה

    How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!

    how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces,

    how is she become tributary!

    Lamentations 1:1 KJV – the sorrows of Zion

    stone wall "city of David" in Hebrew and English in Jerusalem
    Zion צִיּוֹן
    Gaza Israel war damage
    Gaza, Israel July 2018 CE

    The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts:

    all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.

    Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions:

    her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.

    the Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:4-5 KJV


    Get the picture? Jerusalem completely destroyed and its people led captive into Babylon – 605-597 B.C.

    In A.D.70 it would be ROME that would again destroy a Jerusalem built under the Caesars by its Herodian kings who again rejected God. 

    Commentary on Lamentations

    timeline of prophets after David

    As noted in my introduction and outline to this SERIES for Lent 2025 CE, although JEREMIAH belongs to the timeline as a PROPHET predicting the destruction of Jerusalem by the LORD, Lamentations – written AFTER its fall — (like the Psalms) belongs with the Scriptures.


    Matthew Henry

    An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
    The Lamentations of Jeremiah

    Since what Solomon says, though contrary to the common opinion of the world, is certainly true, that sorrow is better than laughter, and it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting,

    we should come to the reading and consideration of the melancholy chapters of this book, not only willingly, but with an expectation to edify ourselves by them;

    and, that we may do this, we must compose ourselves to a holy sadness and resolve to weep with the weeping prophet.

    stone carving of the prophet Jeremiah reading Bible - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are major Prophets of the Old Testament
    Jeremiah by Michelangelo
    • from the first word Ecah-How
    • Jewish commentators call it, as the Greeks do, and we from them, Kinoth-Lamentations.

    As we have sacred odes or songs of joy, so have we sacred elegies or songs of lamentation;

    such variety of methods has Infinite Wisdom taken to work upon us and move our affections, and so soften our hearts and make them susceptible of the impressions of divine truths, as the wax of the seal.

    We have not only piped unto you, but have mourned likewise, Mt. 11:17.

    Reverend Matthew Henry, minister of the Gospel in Chester, England,

    About Reverend Matthew Henry:

    Born 1662 the year that the Act of Uniformity was enacted, which saw over 2,000 Anglican clergymen ejected from their pulpits.

    In 1686, Matthew Henry was invited by a local Nonconformist minister to establish an assembly in Chester, England, While in Chester, Matthew Henry founded the Presbyterian Chapel on Trinity Street.

    June 22nd 1714, he went to be with God.


    The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity

    ESV HEADING – Lamentations 2

    The elders of the daughter of Zion
    sit upon the ground, and keep silence:
    they have cast up dust upon their heads;
    they have girded themselves with sackcloth:
    the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

    Lamentations 2:10
    Authorized (King James) Version


    “I am the man:” – Before and After

    I'll remind us again of my discovery that the Hebrew Bible [Tanakh] includes Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) Nevi'im (Prophets) and in a later section Eichah in Ketuvim (Scriptures).

    HERE we must see the Prophet in both his earlier identification with a chosen people turned against the LORD and later as a man suffering along with them after the prophesies had come true.

    You have persuaded me, O YHWH, and I am persuaded;

    You have hardened me, and prevail, “

    ” I have been for a laughter all the day,”” Everyone is mocking at me,

    Jeremiah 20:7 LSV

    Yet now the Prophet identifies with them as he surveys God’s people under the wrath and punishment of the LORD.

    Lam 3:1 – I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

    2 He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light …

    17 -18 And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. And I said,

    My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:

    What HOPELESSNESS! What travail! 

    And HERE we find the thread connected to ASH WEDNESDAY and LENT — a dark and narrow inescapable path out of a dark garden toward a Cross overlooking Jerusalem’s refuse.


    Crushed – dāḵā‘ : דָּכָא

    Before we proceed and also show where Jeremiah uses this word both here and earlier in his prophesy, let's consider its DEFINITION: 

    Strong’s H1792 – dāḵā’ –

    dakā'- 
    ----------------
    * Lexicon numbers of Hebrew parts of speech in  Strong's H???? will help you apply these to English, Greek (G????) and other translations.

    verb – A primitive root (compare דָּכָה (H1794)) another verb (same pronunciation) [A primitive root (compare דַּךְ (H1790)-adjective, and דָּכָא (H1792))-another verb]


    To crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken

    – be shattered, to be made contrite, (Hithpael) to allow oneself to be crushed

    • Have you found this most appropriate thread for the contrition of Lent?

    They are not humbled [H1792 – the same Hebrew word] even unto this day,

    neither have they feared,

    nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.

    From the Prophesy of Jeremiah 44:10 KJV (Hebrew visible in the link)

    Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.

    Jeremiah 44:11 KJV

    Humble your-SELVES or be CRUSHED!

    Jeremiah, who served as both a priest and a prophet for decades even before 568 B.C. 

    The warning of the LORD is clear, yet still ignored. The Nation claimed for G_d already DIVIDED (captive Israel and soon to be captive Judah) — in spite of Jeremiah’s strong rebukes continues to reject the will of the LORD.

    Therefore, when Jeremiah wrote or dictated Lamentations during or soon after Jerusalem’s fall in 586 B.C. we observe that it is too late, for the LORD has crushed His own disobedient Nation.


    Lamentations 3:31-35 BSB


    To crush underfoot

    This phrase evokes imagery of oppression and domination, often used in the context of military conquest or tyrannical rule. In biblical times, crushing underfoot symbolized complete subjugation and defeat.

    .. as a metaphor for the spiritual and emotional oppression experienced by the people.

    In a broader biblical context, it reflects the consequences of sin and rebellion against God, as seen in other scriptures..

    Commentary ‘ Doth not the Lord look on this? 

    (34-36) To crush . . .—The triplet of verses forms one sentence dependent upon the final clause, “The Lord approveth not,” literally, doth not look on. ..The three forms of evil specified are (1) the cruel treatment of prisoners of war, such as Jeremiah had witnessed daily at the hands of the Chaldeans; (2) the perversion of justice in a public tribunal acting in the name of God (Exodus 23:6); (3) every form even of private injustice.

    Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers


    HOW has Christ been sent to the CROSS?


    garden in darkness

    Consider Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane :

    as prophesied by Isaiah


    But he was pierced because of our rebellion,

    crushed because of our iniquities;

    punishment for our peace was on him,

    and we are healed by his wounds.

    We all went astray like sheep;

    we all have turned to our own way;

    and the LORD has punished him

    for the iniquity of us all.

    Isaiah 53:5-6 CSB


    Talk of JESUS .com

    a crushed worker

    Are you a CRUSHED worker for the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour CHRIST JESUS, who was crushed for us?

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  • Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD

    Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD

    And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

    Gospel of Luke 2:16 King James Version

    Mary an Introduction

    Christians, Jews and unbelievers know parts of the iconic scene unfolding in Bethlehem through a virgin Jewish mother. 

    Today I honor Mary most appropriately by retelling her story of Christmas mostly from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

    Mary, Eve of the Virgin Birth

    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem..

    .. with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

    Gospel of Luke 2:4-5 KJV excerpt

    And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

    Mary, wife of Joseph?

    Not quite, according to custom and Jewish law.

    Do YOU know any young woman who has been pregnant (even near full term) yet not married to the man she knew?

    μνηστεύω Strong’s G3423 – mnēsteuō – from a derivative of G3415; to give a souvenir (engagement present), i.e. betroth:—espouse.

    Recall that GREEK is the common language not only of Luke the Physician but also of all of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus. 

    Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused G3423 to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:18 KJV

    SCANDELOUS !

    (as least in the A.D. First Century)

    Mary, ENGAGED to Joseph

    AND they both know that the Virgin Mary had NEVER come together with Joseph her fiancé!

    Joseph, an honorable man

    (like his namesake and ancestor, Joseph, son of Jacob, who the LORD used to rule Egypt under Pharaoh.) 

    Gospel of Matthew 1:19- KJV

    Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,

    Joseph, thou son of David,
    fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
    for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

    Matthew 1:20b KJV

    And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

    for he shall save his people from their sins.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:21 KJV


    An angel of the Lord speaks to you!

    What to do?


    The adoptive father of JESUS believes God (of course). And Joseph is a righteous and honorable man.

    Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

    And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:24-25 KJV

    Signs and Witnesses

    Prophesy of Isaiah and others centuries Before Christ.

    Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

    Isaiah 7:14 KJV

    And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

    For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

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

    Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

    Gospel of Luke 2:8-14 King James Version

    Witnesses and worship

    Signs before Jesus’ birth

    There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

    And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

    And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

    And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

    Gospel of Luke 1:5-11 King James Version

    An Angel of the Lord standing beside the Priest of God right inside the Holy of Holies! A pretty big deal.

    Briefly, what happens next is a foretelling prophetic birth of JOHN the BAPTIST, preparing the way for the Lord Jesus, the consolation of Israel and Messiah sent of God the Father.

    Elisabeth, John and the Holy Spirit

    • Zacharias the Priest of God continued to serve his term in the Temple unable to speak.
      • Daily worshipers in Jerusalem must have know that something was up.
    • He returns home.
    • Elisabeth conceived.
    • An angel of the Lord then appears in Nazareth prior to their trip to register for the census of Caesar and also tells Mary:

    And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

    Gospel of Luke 1:36-37 KJV

    • And Mary went into the hill country of *Juda
    • And entered into the house of Zacharias
    • and (knowing the the angel had revealed) saluted Elisabeth.

    And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

    the babe leaped in her womb;

    and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

    Gospel of Luke 1:41 KJV signs confirming the Messiah when Mary greeted the mother of John the Baptist

    In the Year of the most controversial birth in history

    Jesus Christ born in a manger

    Church fathers, theologians who study such things, took a few centuries to articulate the trinitarian Christology from the Apostles recorded in Scripture from the A.D. first century.

    The clarity of their CREEDS and CONFESSIONS of FAITH define our hope of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
    And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
    Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
    and was made man

    Nicene Creed excerpt
    AD 325 & AD381

    εὐλογέωeulogeō

    .. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

    Luke 1:42b KJV

    κύριος – kyrios

    As were Joseph and others to whom the Lord sent His angels:

    The soul of Mary is humble, as is JESUS from her womb to the Cross.


    Talk of JESUS .com

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  • a Failure of Kings Advent 4 of Christ

    a Failure of Kings Advent 4 of Christ

    What do you think about Kings?

    • Do you have a Sovereign?
    • Would you like to follow one?

    Who is your King?

    Perhaps your gut response would be no different than that of the high priests of Jerusalem at the capital trial of Jesus.

    The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

    Gospel of John 19:15b King James Version

    You may say that WE have no religious leaders in charge of a nation. But look closer at leadership titles where you will discover priests in politics. And don’t miss some presidents, premiers, prime ministers and even kings governing as Caesars.

    Descendants of Abraham did not always have kings, nor did the kings of Israel, Judah and Judea always have power.

    a reminder of Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    a glance at kings of the Promised Land

    Previously we witnessed pre-history as a timeline, essentially beginning again from the restoration of life at the time of NOAH.

    Which kings in history have been successful and which kings were a failure?

    TODAY, before we proceed to the recognized historical kings of Israel let’s also consider others from the Mosaic record.

    kings and princes mentioned by Moses

    mālaḵ verb, מָלַךְ

    Strong’s H4427 in the following manner: reign (289x), king (46x), made (4x), queen (2x).. more

    And Bela the son of Beor reigned H4427 in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

    • KINGS of cities (or later City-States in places such as Greece)
    • Perhaps Prince would fit better.
    • Or maybe, Mayor? (But they were military generals as well.)

    meleḵ מֶלֶךְ

    The KJV translates Strong’s H4428 in the following manner: king (2,518x), misc..

    That these made war with Bera king H4428 of Sodom, and with Birsha king H4428 of Gomorrah, Shinab king H4428 of Admah, and Shemeber king H4428 of Zeboiim, and the king H4428 of Bela, which is Zoar.

    Genesis 14:2 King James Version


    These are just a few of the kings who made war. (That’s what Kings tend to do.) Therefore, Abraham (a Prince without a city. So like these kings and generals he was treated as a king when he helped them win a battle.

    And Melchizedek king H4428 of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

    14:18 וּמַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן׃

    Melchizedek NOT just the mayor of Jerusalem or a mere Prime Minister or even Prince (as Abraham was generally treated) — the כֹּהֵן – kōhēn – Priest of ʿelyôn ‘ēl


    IF in this 21st century of the Common Era WE independent evangelists (who know nothing of kings) attempt to compare Abraham, Melchizedek, David or Solomon to any common Caesar of this day,

    or

    IF WE anoint JESUS with simply the same royal title of any King (such as Charles),

    THEN WE miss many overlapping roles of Sovereignty the Lord God gave to these men

    AS WELL AS equally important roles of the Christ our High Priest and our Prophet dismissed and diminished by the common Caesar’s of these last days.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    Kings of the Promised People

    kingdom Saul David Solomon & surrounding kingdoms of Ammon, Edom and other gentiles

    From a promise of the LORD to Abraham, a king without a country,

    to David conquering King uniting twelve tribes, Solomon son of David built the Temple and an Empire.

    You will be as familiar with the Dan to Beersheba borders as me.

    Additionally you may have discerned that Solomon conquered to the north beyond Damascus as far as Tiphsah on the Euphrates River [1 Kings 4:24].

    Solomon a distant memory of success

    The Jews of Jesus’ incarnate days had visualized their glorious past in the empire of Solomon. These contemporaries of Jesus nostalgically recalled Solomon as a Caesar of Israel in his time.

    From ~989 B.C. until his death in ~931 B.C. Solomon’s influence extended even into all the nearby world.

    Centuries of Failed Kings Before Christ

    King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh [king of Egypt]—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.

    2 These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.”

    1 Kings 11:1-2 BSB

    Christian preaching makes much of monogamy here while ignoring common customs of marriage alliances between political rulers of nations through intermarriage. Yet the LORD had forbidden it.

    And incentives inviting our cultural bias against the True God of Israel continue as a leaven diluting a Common Era Church to this day.

    Frequently forced alliances led to the fall of Israel [722 BC] and decline through gradual apostasy compromised Judah just a century later [606 BC].

    esile to babylon

    606 B.C. Some captives taken to Babylon. (Daniel included)

    597 B.C. More captives taken to Babylon. (Ezekiel included)

    586 B.C. Jerusalem is destroyed by fire.


    Kings of Chosen Captives

    Without dwelling on all the kings of both Israel and Judah who ‘did evil in the sight of the LORD,’ we’ll move forward to those left powerless by defeat and the refining of the Lord our God.

    2 Kings 17 – Failure of Israel

    3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria.

    And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year.

    Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison.


    Egypt's king (not so much a god and Pharoah to an Assyrian king) wouldn't help Hoshea out of his political servitude to Shalmaneser king of Assyria. 

    Does this king's representative vassal relationship sound somewhat prophetic of a later Herodian whoredom with Rome?

    Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

    In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria…

    2 Kings 17:5-6a ESV ~724BC -722 BC


    Meanwhile, back in Judah

    Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

    7And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him. 8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

    2 Kings 18:5-8 BSB

    • 701 B.C. 200,000 of the inhabitants of Judah captured by Sennacherib
    • 621 B.C. Nineveh, Assyria falls to Babylon and Media (the Medes)
    • 586 B.C Judah falls to Babylon, the rebuilt Temple destroyed and captured families of the leading Jews led captive to Babylonia
    esile to babylon
    Flight of the Prisoners, Artist: Tissot, Photographer: John Parnell, Photo © The Jewish Museum, New York

    600 years Before Christ, No more Kings of Israel;

    No King of the Jews in Jerusalem!


    Hope only for a few

    Biblical Foundations of Freedom

    The Prophesy of Isaiah, with some familiar to Christians as prophesy foreseeing the Messiah born in Bethlehem of Judea (formerly Judah), is set earlier than what we have just read in the context of the divided kingdom.

    Isaiah 10:

    Here in part is Isaiah’s and the LORD’s lament:

    11 ” ‘..shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images

    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’ ”

    19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few

    that a child could write them down.

    22 For though your people Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.

    Two mote Empires (Before Christ & Rome)

    For those who like me may have occasionally fallen asleep in history class I'll make this rise and fall of three Empires brief.
    • a remnant does return to Jerusalem and rebuilds its wall and Temple
      • 536 B.C. Cyrus the Great permitted the return. 49,897 Jews returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.
    • 516 B.C. The temple was completed. source
      • (Jerusalem will later get a Governor, Nehemiah and a Priest, Ezra),
      • But still no King since they are subjects of Persia.
    If not a king, how about a Queen?

    And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

    Esther 2:17 KJV

    Yet Esther becomes co-regent of the Medes and Persians [~478 B.E.] not simply a small remote city of Jerusalem.

    • Malachi’s prophecy likely came sometime after the ministry of Nehemiah around BC 458-445.
    • Malachi is the last prophet to speak before Christ.

    Before Caesars, Greeks

    The advent of Christ takes place in Judea and beyond, documented in Greek texts as was the whole New Testament. Persia.

    323 BC world map of Alexander the Great

    It’s a period of some 400 years Before Christ.

    Jews from Persia in the east, in Samaria to the north and even west as far as Rome became divided in their interest in the Bible given by Moses and the Prophets.

    Thanks to Alexander the Great, the nearby world of the Herod’s and Jews spoke Greek (not Hebrew or certainly not the Latin of Rome).

    In the timeline of all history Rome’s consequent defeat of other kings, princes and generals after Alexander’s death and division of yet another Empire would set the stage for the birth of a King from before all time born into it in a little Judean town unnoticed by a vassal King appointed by Caesar, a king of a captive Israel actually raised in distant Rome.

    These centuries of ADVENT lead up to a glorious day central to all of history and all of mankind.


    NEXT: Christmas 2024 of the Common Era, God-willing

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