Tag: Isaiah
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Shiloh IS Come
… until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
לֹֽא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִֽיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּֽי־יָבֹא שֶׂילה וְלֹו יִקְּהַת עַמִּֽים׃
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:10 WLC; KJVCenturies have passed since Jerusalem fell, was rebuilt and recaptured. Not only have we no peace, but live as a captive people in our own land. And no Prophet has spoken since the days of old. Shiloh, come Shiloh; LORD send peace to the people of your covenant.
The LORD has answered our prayer
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Jeremiah 17:13 KJV – 6th c.B.C.Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying, “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah…”
and that the Lord will cleanse the land by the ‘strong and abundant waters’ of Judah’s powerful enemy.
If only you had paid attention to my commands.
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. – Isaiah 48:18 CSB
Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David.
Nehemiah 3:15 NIV – 4th c.B.C.“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. – Daniel 9:17
In the Beginning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1-2 NKJV
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 NKJV6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26a-27 NASBNow a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
Genesis 2:10 NKJVWE Have Been Here Before
In our lead up to Christmas I have pointed to the Trinity and eternity of the Lord God. One way to think of an eternal Jesus is as the Son of Man in a Manger,
A Child is Born
For thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream…
Isaiah 66:12a NKJVAnd behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid… “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” – The Good News of Luke 2:9,12 NKJV
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
Luke 2:13-14 NKJV *textral translation
And on earth peace, toward men of goodwill!“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” – The Good News of Matthew 1:21 CSB
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 CSBLiving Water
Give me a drink.
request of Jesus to a woman at Jacob’s well – John 4:7Jesus asks you one thing, so do you do it?
(This is the same Jesus born in a manger just thirty years earlier and the same Jesus who was ‘with God in the beginning.’)
OR do you question the Lord?
9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
The Gospel of John 4:10 CSBYou encounter a sinless Son of Man – Jesus – in a manger, on a Cross or along the road of life. Will you ask Him for living water?
Jesus walked on water and He calmed the waters of the stormy sea.
The Lord created, gave life to dust and walked Personally alongside the faithful. He IS the source of the spring of Eden, the river of life and the pool of peace in Jerusalem.
Shiloh or Siloam flows from Him and to Him. He IS the way of salvation to the living water.
The Pool of Siloam
John 9
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth…
7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).
The Lord touched you and commands, “Go” (do this or that). Will you obey? OR Do you question Jesus?
The religious elite questioned Him, but the blind man obeyed.
“Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
And Jesus said,
“For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
John 9:39 NKJVSent to the World – Shiloh in a Manger
“Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. – The Good News of the Gentile Physician Luke 2:11
Thirty some years later He returns to Jerusalem – the Lamb of God in the Person of Jesus.
Luke 19:
Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
Blessed is the King who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!
“Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory? ”
Luke 24:26Of course it was.
We worship the Christ of the manger of Christmas because of the Lamb of God sent to the Cross for our sins.
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
John 14:27 CSBMay the Lord bless your worship of Jesus, our gift of Shiloh this CHRISTmas.
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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,
Luke 2:14 NASB – Strong’s G2107 – eudokia Blueletterbible.org
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”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 hereThe 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 7:14-16Luke 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 soulFear 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;
Psalm 33:8 Masoretic Text; NASB
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.To be continued...
