1:3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation…
Generations recall what has been before.
Sin is always the downfall of the Lord’s chosen nation.
Surely scripture speaks contemporarily to those with ears to hear.
1:12 The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.
~A.D. 30
Yesterday they shouted, ‘Hosanna!’
Eight centuries after Joel and other prophets warned Judah to repent, Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem triumphantly. Even the children shouted praises and the crowds witness miracles.
Jesus then returned to nearby Bethany for the night.
A connection of Bethany to figs
Bethany was home to Lazarus, where some in the Jerusalem crowds had known that Jesus had raised him from the dead! Much is expected for this day.
Bethany “place of unripe fig tree near to Jerusalem
Bethany “house, place of unripe figs” is a village located on the E slope of Mt. Olivet, about one and one-half miles from Jerusalem.
It was called also the house of misery on account of its lonely situation and the invalids who congregated there.’ Source
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
'It lies on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, fully a mile beyond the summit. Bethany has been commonly explained "house of dates," but it more probably signifies "house of misery."
19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!”
and he said to them, “Place in your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to be careful to do, even all the words of this law.
6 So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,
8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
Have we forgotten the lesson of the fig tree?
Just in case you have missed the Prologue and Scripture bringing us to this conclusion: GO BACK to the PROLOGUE HERE
Even as we have forgotten the Lord in our daily lives, Jesus the Messiah has found no fruit of repentance in Israel — in our nation
— perhaps rarely in our churches — and even in the landscapes and homes of this 21st century christian life.
The Lord found no desire of God’s chosen people to turn back to true worship of the Lord.
God our Father sent the Son to us in the flesh to become a Sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus neared the completion of His time with us on His created earth as Son of Man and then set his face toward Jerusalem and CURSED the fig tree.
‘Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying,
“How did the fig tree wither at once?”
21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
What season is your faith?
+ Do you worship the Lord?
+ Would a King entering your town recognize your fruit?
Forgive me, Lord. Help me in my unbelief, for I have not asked you to take up the evil on this mountain of my mortal life and cast it into the sea.
Jesus IS Lord. He will return to reign forever and ever.
Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am a warrior.”
Joel 3:9-10
Consecrate them, says the LORD! Yes. It is a holy war – war between the Lord God and those who hold to their sins, following idols, false prophets, foolish sages and lying leaders.
What has been will be and what has never before been seen will blind the eyes of the nations.
Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Borders and Nations Destroyed
By what proxy have the nations divided Tyre and Sidon to the spoils of nations beyond the valley of destruction?
Have the people not fled for their lives by land and by sea to places where they remain an enemy?
Though you rebuild fallen towers and repair the breach of five-walled fortresses, refugees will yet invade your borderless regions. Their helpless will expose the evil of princes; their plight unveils the nakedness of greed.
Has anything changed? Are these last times so different than the demise of the godless in the days of Joel?
Six centuries later Peter would preach the words of Joel’s prophesy fulfilled by the Holy Spirit speaking through a few Apostles heard by the crowd in many languages. [Acts 2:16-21] The last days have begun, Peter preaches, with the incarnation of Christ Jesus and the Lord’s crucifixion for our sins and His resurrection and ascension to the Throne of the LORD!
It is the Lamb of God who will judge. He was not a sword-wielding conquering King, general or prophet. God’s own compassion for the nations sacrificed the promised king of the jews as full payment for our sins, even the sins of His own enemies.
The Rumblings of Peace
One of the Apostles of Jesus lived to see Jerusalem fall once more under the domination of Rome. John wrote letters of love to the churches of Asia (modern day Turkey). Then as the last living Disciple prophesy came to John.
Rome has since fallen. A false prophet emerged from a cave to conquer the continents. Wars to end all wars. Emperors and dictators and despots have risen with sword and perished in humiliation. Even Israel is replanted after shameful killings of the remnant.
Only the message of the Lamb remains viable – a call to repentance and redemption in the blood of love, rather than the blood of war. Like in times before the falls of the mighty some claim peace, but it is war they invite. It is the Lord who will judge. Hear the Truth of these last days:
Revelation 6:1-8 excerpt
And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Death Tolls of War
Current estimate of the population of the earth: 7,404,976,783
a fourth of the earth killed = 1,851,244,195
9/11 Death toll = 2,996
2016 Migrant deaths = 4,310 of 243,000+ war refugees
Syrian war deaths = c.300,000-400,000
Abortion deaths = 40,000,000 – 50,000,000
WWII deaths = 50,000,000 – 80,000,000
The current combined populations of China, Russia and the US = 1,831,278,025
I am not suggesting that these three empires will be those destroyed in the end. The number of souls tormented and killed on the earth will exceed the total number of people living in these three earthly super-powers!
Our sin is rampant! The judgment of evil is inevitable.
The Lamb of God IS and will be, forever, Lord and Savior!
He did not come to the world with a sword of power or a sickle to reap the riches of other lands. No, Christ Jesus came into the world as a Lamb of sacrifice for our sins. He will return on the clouds as John as prophesied.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.10 They cried out with a loud voice,
“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
How does the LORD use the Bible? How do we use the Bible to show others the Lord Jesus?
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Peter’s powerful sermon of Pentecost is perhaps among the best preaching in the Bible after Jesus is raised from the grave. Yet if you or I had been in Peter’s sandals and new position of leadership, what would we have to say?
Let’s take a look at the context and application of events confronting this ‘preacher’ and ask of our situation, ‘What do I do with this?’
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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Let’s be clear of the place and condition of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the LORD GOD, promised by Christ Jesus, Son of the Living God: “they were all together in one place.” Peter and the Apostles were worshiping.
Peter and the Apostles were worshiping in Jerusalem where Christ Jesus had been crucified on the Cross outside the gates for our sins; in Jerusalem where Christ Jesus our Lord had risen from the grave to appear to Peter, the Twelve and many (and in many places for fifty days) Pentecost is a celebration of worship, like the Passover, which brought many of the faithful to the city of Jerusalem to worship the LORD.
5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.6 And at this sound the multitude came together…
The sound of Almighty God draws worshipers to the place where worshipers dwell. Inexplicable, all-powerful Spirit of the Living God, here-present; NOT in the Temple of God (re-built by Herod), nor before only a High Priest behind a veil which separates the Holiness of the LORD from the sinners of God’s choosing. NO! The Holy Spirit of the Living God fell on the Apostles of Jesus and the Twelve began to preach with the Power of the Living GOD.
“Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
Some things only God can do. Perhaps a High Priest might witness the Holy Presence of the LORD.
Centuries before the great silence of God in defeated Israel and defeated Judah, on occasion the Voice of God would be heard out of the mouth of the LORD’s Prophet. It is one of these great Prophets this uneducated Galilean fisherman taught from and rebuked the unbelieving people who had witnessed the Crucifixion less than two months ago. It is a fisherman speaking in languages of gentiles and of Jews who all amazingly understand the Apostles. It is the Spirit of the LORD instructing Jews and gentiles through faithful worshipers, rather than by educated Pharisees like a Saul of Tarsus, who would later witness the risen Christ.
What was it the Apostle Peter reiterates in Jerusalem of Judea from the Prophet Joel of 800 years before Christ?
[Joel (meaning “one to whom Jehovah is God,” that is, worshiper of Jehovah) seems to have belonged to Judah. – Commentary by A. R. Faussett ]
What had worshipers in Jerusalem forgotten in the short weeks since a dramatic blood moon at the Crucifixion of Jesus and the tearing of the veil of the Temple?
What have some of us forgotten since the worshipful festival of Easter just a few Sundays ago?
Joel 1:
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: 2 Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days?…
8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
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Was Israel not the Chosen Bride of the Living God?
Was the Bridegroom not crucified by those rejecting God’s promised grace of Perfect forgiveness?
The Spirit of the LORD poured forth from Peter and the Apostles. Worshipers of GOD were drawn to the Invisible Word spoken through these servants of Christ Jesus.
17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
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Peter is not reading from a scroll in the Temple. This uneducated fisherman is reminding Jerusalem of not only infrequently heard words of the Prophet Joel, but of the dramatic events of just two months earlier when the sun turned to darkness and the Bridegroom of Righteousness cried out from a cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
Peter now preaches by the Spirit of what Joel had foretold of these very last days, begun on a Cross just weeks before.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
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The bold fisherman of Galilee again quotes scripture from the hymnal of the Jews, the words of Psalm 16 :
25 For David says concerning him,
“‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
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The Spirit then gives Peter not only more scripture to speak to the souls before him, but application to their salvation. Speaking of King David, a man after God’s own heart, Peters says:
31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
Speaking of what some in the crowd surely had witnessed in Jerusalem at the previous feast of Pentecost, Peter proclaims:
32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,
he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
God’s chosen worshipers are once again witnessing the invisible and inexplicable signs and wonders in the Apostles, signs and wonders not unlike those many had also witnessed personally in Christ Jesus of Nazareth.
The Spirit and Peter confront their souls with the evidence of the Messiah, sacrificed and risen. Jesus is not a King like David; Jesus is more than a King of the Jews and of Jerusalem.
34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Peter, by the power of the Spirit and the convicting words of scripture has applied the Word of God to the very moment of salvation for those with ears to hear.
The Bridegroom of the church speaks by the Spirit to those with ears to hear:
Will you hear the conviction of the Savior you crucified in the words of Peter?
Will you turn from your sinful ways to take up your cross and follow Christ Jesus?
Has Jesus’s love drawn your soul to the wedding feast which will come on the clouds of these last days?
Will this Spirit-filled sermon make any difference in your days?
Will the Lord Jesus be your Lord?
God IS in Person, Christ Jesus!
The Spirit of the I AM, the LORD, calls out to you.
