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Tag: jeremiah

  • for it was not the season for figs – 4

    for it was not the season for figs – 4

    Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    John 6:15

    יַמּא דטבריא; גִּנֵּיסַר
    Lake Tiberias – Rome’s name for Kinneret [Sea of Galilee]

    Conspiracy to force Jesus to be King

    Returning to Galilee, held by Rome..

    Jesus faced crowds with different motivations than the Lord God on occasions other than His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

    The Prophet Jeremiah had warned:

    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:

    who can know it?

    – Jeremiah 17:9 KJV

    Jesus knew the motivations of the crowds.

    John 6: ESV

    After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick…

    9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number…

    14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

    15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

    The Messiah who cursed the fig tree knew the hearts of men who would be led by a King rather than follow the Lord God.

    Returning to a time after the Judges, let us recall briefly the appointment of Israel’s first King. The Elders of Israel have conspired against the Lord.

    1 Samuel 8:

    4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “… Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

    7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

    Jesus knew the hearts of the crowds, of the leaders of Israel, parties of religious officials of the Temple. Their hearts deceived them and their wickedness chose any course other than obeying the Lord.

    Rule Over Us

    Returning now to Judges and Gideon, mighty man of God after the Lord’s great victory:

    JUDGES 8:

    22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,

    “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” 

    … 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

    King Saul of Israel before David;

    kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord warned by the Prophets;

    King Herod, puppet kings to Rome motivated by men —

    Kings, Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers, Princes —

    Prophets (who are as false as gods carved from stone) — all men of the people!

    Jesus would be like none of them.

    Jesus could only be the One King obedient to the LORD God.

    But that was not what the crowds desired.

    It never was and never will be.

    To Be Continued…

  • Padiddle

    Padiddle

    Padiddle

    ‘Padiddle,’ it came to me as I was driving home at dusk one evening. Padiddle, where did that come from? Then I remembered.

    I had not grown up with it, for our family had played other travel games in the car. In fact, as I observed a car in traffic with no lights on at all, the very moment from 45 years ago came to me.

    The car in my rearview mirror had only one headlight, which from a perspective of safety was just a little better than a car with no lights whatsoever. ‘Padiddle,’ I thought. I had first heard it from my first wife (so many years before). She went back to her daddy after just a little more than a year of our young marriage. I was devastated, but recalling some of our happier moments brought a smile to my heart.

    Failures from our past

    I had failed in that marriage forty-five years ago and in other relationships/marriages since. Of course I was part to blame; but I was never the one to give up on my vows or run out on my marriage. I had even had a successful, ‘until death us do part’ marriage which lasted more than two decades. Nevertheless, even after all these years guilt and regrets remain from my marriage to the bride of my youth.

    Why couldn’t I have gotten it right – the first time… or those other times? Why didn’t I see the hurt in store from the most-intimate of relationships?

    “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? – Luke 6:39

    Embarking into the mysterious journey of a dating relationship can be a most blinding experience. We listen to our own hearts and hormones. We look to others for advice, if anyone at all. Seldom do even the faithful seek to be equally yoked; thus we run into the love of a new relationship at different speeds.

    The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it? – Jeremiah 17:9

    A further examination into this description of our blind hearts will reveal more convicting words than sick. (Who has not been described as ‘love sick?’) Think of it more like  עָקַב beyond cure, exceedingly corrupt or desperately wicked, to name a few.

    Truly, failed relationships recall times of great darkness. Yet in Christ we have a Light brighter than the darkness of the world. … in him is no darkness at all. 

    Relationships often rush forward without tail lights to warn, ‘don’t follow too close.’ An oncoming unexpected one of the opposite sex approaches you with only one dull light, frequently trespassing God’s centerline in their approach to winning your love.

    Will you swerve to miss the impact of the pain ahead? Or will you too cross the center line of God’s will?

    A Promise we can hold

    So what is it we have, if we look to the Lord for hope in our marriages?

    Although Jesus was never married to a woman, for our Lord is married to His church; Christ gives couples a new hope to which we can hold.

    [ctt title=”Christ\’s promise of forgiveness releases us from the deserved guilt for the wickedness of our past and the continued trespasses of our flawed daily lives.” tweet=”https://ctt.ec/EjeI4+” coverup=”EjeI4″]

    “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

    – Hebrews 13:5, quoting Deuteronomy 31:6

    If the Lord is part of our marriage, He will not leave us stranded or deserted or alone once more.

    Although the intent of this quote of the Law in the letter of Hebrews is not specific to marriage, it applies to the character of Christ. Taken in context, a look a the preceding verse will also encourage.

    Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

    [ctt title=”Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” tweet=”Hebrews 13:4 https://ctt.ec/b6Qkc+” coverup=”b6Qkc”]

    May I remind us of Jesus’ words to the Apostle Philip, who followed Him three years?

    Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? – John 14:9

    I find it most encouraging in our marriage that Jesus, who said,

    ‘Let your yes be yes and your no be no;’

    Jesus, who watches over the lost sheep and our Lord who teaches that ‘the two become one;’

    He who IS and was, the One judge of all souls at the end of the age assures us:

    “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

    In Him there is no darkness at all

    Matthew 5:

    14“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

    31“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

    1 John 1:5

    This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

    To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:43

    [ctt title=”A marriage without forgiveness is one soul without light.” tweet=”Love forgives, as the Lord lifts guilt from the forgiven.” coverup=”Va0Wr”]

    Have you replaced your missing Light?

    In Christ Jesus we have forgiveness of sins.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned. John 3:18a 

    This includes your partner in marriage. Jesus includes you, as well. Believe in the forgiveness of of your sins of the past. Just replace the light and turn back to your Lord and Savior.

    John 3:19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

    Padiddle, I say. We cannot have just half the light the Lord intends for our marriage.

    21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

    Replace the darkness of the broken light of your failing love. For He IS our Light. Our love cannot shine clearly for others, even the one we love, without Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Each husband and every wife need the complete Light of Christ in the oneness of their marriage; for He IS the One who says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

     

  • 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?