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Tag: John

  • The Gatekeeper & the Shepherds – the Door

    The Gatekeeper & the Shepherds – the Door

    After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said,

    “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

    The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John – 4:1 NASB

    Heaven’s door

    Let’s not miss that the Pharisees’ debates with the Messiah question His authority from the Lord our God and Father. And Jesus’ signs and parables all point heavenward.

    Do you desire eternal life?

    It is a question of highest importance. And who may enter the gate or the door to eternal life in heaven?

    How can we know? Who will unravel this great mystery of eternal life in heaven and the judgment of sins punished by a sentence to hell?

    Closed doors to Scripture

    וַיַּעֲמֹ֤ד מֹשֶׁה֙ בְּשַׁ֣עַר הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיֹּ֕אמֶר מִ֥י לַיהוָ֖ה אֵלָ֑י וַיֵּאָסְפ֥וּ אֵלָ֖יו כָּל־בְּנֵ֥י לֵוִֽי׃

    Exodus 32:26 WLC

    Does it help you to read this Hebrew scripture about Moshe (Moses)?

    OR does the fact of the Hebrew language create a closed door to the Bible for you?

    Then read translation into English about Moshe choosing who will enter the camp of the LORD and who Moses sentences to death.

    Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

    Exodus 32:26 KJV

    Sometimes the Lord places a Moses or David or Prophet at a gate or the door to guard the integrity of His Own Righteousness.

    We addressed this first by our look at the gatekeeper and watchmen. But frequently religion’s wide door or misled path will turn the faithful away from Scripture.

    ἔστη δὲ Μωυσῆς ἐπὶ τῆς πύλης τῆς παρεμβολῆς καὶ εἶπεν τίς πρὸς κύριον ἴτω πρός με συνῆλθον οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ υἱοὶ Λευι

    et stans in porta castrorum ait si quis est Domini iungatur mihi congregatique sunt ad eum omnes filii Levi

    Exodus 32:26: Greek & Latin

    Get the picture?

    Not really, if you have received the filtered view of religious teachers’ blind teaching of faith.

    In fact many in Jerusalem’s crowds depended on the Pharisees or Rabbi’s to tell them what Scripture says. Even the literate often read their Empire-wide language of Greek, but not Hebrew.

    So the symbols of Jesus’ parables create important universal pictures to those barred by the misleading of Israel’s shepherds of the gates and the door of worship of the Lord God our Father.

    Religious leaders who manipulate Scripture become barriers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a closed door to repentance by sinners.

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

    Symbolism of a gate or a door

    Heaven must have a gate (of sorts), like a walled city.

    Not everyone gets into the heavenly Jerusalem.

    The LORD must have watchmen (perhaps angels – spirit beings who serve the King as messengers and guards in the glorious heavenly city of God).

    Who does Almighty God anoint to sit in the gate as the door to enter eternal life?

    David? Perhaps Moses? Even the great Prophet Elijah?

    No, none of these.

    And certainly not a false prophet after Jesus claiming light from the place of darkness. Not even leaders of angels such as Gabriel or Michael. And most certainly no idolatrous intercessors of mothers, antiquated saints leaving only dust in place, or Apostles long passed.

    Who then sits at the door of heaven – the gate of eternal life?

    The door IS the very Lamb of God, the Shepherd of shepherds, the Son of Man, Christ Jesus!

    To Him and no other we sinners must appeal by His mercy to enter eternal life by the grace of His Own Blood of Perfect Sacrifice.

    Are we blind too?

    Jesus the Messiah, who healed not only this blind man but others as well, clearly sheds light on the judgment for which He is sent to the world.

    But as the Lord points out, some shepherds like the Pharisees really don’t see. For the prophet Isaiah had accused:

    And they are shepherds who have no understanding;
    They have all turned to their own way,
    Each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

    These pharisees, rabbis of Judah confront their Messiah time after time questioning and denying His authority. They attempt to discredit Him even after another sign of Jesus. For a man born blind received his sight from Jesus.

    John 9: 24-25 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
    He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

    Most of these pharisees refused to believe in the Messiah sent to save sinners.

    John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

    40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

    41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

    Now this scene of controversy argued before the crowds of Jerusalem plays out in another parable of Jesus told against the pharisees just after the man born blind worships Jesus as Lord.

    John 10:

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

    Gospel of John 10:1 NASB – Caution to believers from Christ Jesus

    2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

    The LORD is my shepherd

    מִזְמֹור לְדָוִד יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃

    You know the imagery of the Messiah and require no translation or interpretation of this parable connected to the sign of Jesus leading a blind man to worship Him.

    Suppose heaven is so easy to enter as a wall without the door of the shepherd who gathers his sheep.

    Can you climb over an unguarded wall?

    Of course.

    Could just any shepherd appear to lead the sheep anywhere, even to destruction?

    Even in this day they often do.

    If heaven’s chosen sheep gathered within the walls of the holy (separated) place cannot trust their shepherd as a door, will the wolves not enter and false shepherds lead them astray?

    Are the sheep not destined for the slaughter of sacrifice if the Perfect Sacrifice has not already been made?

    I AM the Good Shepherd – Jesus

    3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

    The Messiah, the Shepherd of heaven, gathers them to a place where He IS the door.

    Then He calls to all the sheep, even by name.

    The Lord knows them personally. He makes no mistakes and they know His voice rather than that of a false teacher or shepherd who would lead them into the pit of destruction.

    Jesus knows you. Do you know Him?

    4 “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

    6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

    Will the blind shepherds hear?

    Pharisees, rabbis who teach what they will, preachers who claim they can lead everybody to heaven – all these shepherds, Jesus says, are blind.

    And clearly they do not see the Scripture before them, let alone share the Way, the Truth and the Life eternal of the Gospel Good News of our Savior from death, judgment and punishment.

    All these believe that heaven has no door or they pretend to hold the only key to the gate (if indeed heaven had a golden locked gate).

    After Jesus’ resurrection, clearly heaven’s gate is no guarded cemetery or grand golden cathedral depicting idols offering prayers for your admittance.

    These false shepherds whitewash the entrance of hell with a hologram of heaven’s golden gate, through which they lead many sheep of the world to the slaughter of hell’s punishment!

    The Good Shepherd

    7 So Jesus said to them again,

    “Truly, truly, I say to you,

    I am the door of the sheep.

    We are sheep in this world of darkness being led to the slaughter.

    False teachers seek to sacrifice follower after follower into the fires of destruction!

    The Messiah Jesus accuses these of the misleading the sheep. These self-appointed shepherds over our unrighteousness deceive and destroy.

    8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

    Jesus speaks of false messiahs, kings and leaders who only claim to follow the Lord, all who “do what is evil in the sight of the Lord.”

    I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

    John 10:9 NASB

    10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

    Jesus reiterates the contrast between Pharisees and false leaders of God’s people and himself, the One Shepherd of the Lord our God.

    The Sacrifice of the Good Shepherd

    I have told you once that I AM the door.

    When you did not understand I told the crowds my clear meaning and purpose of coming here to lead My sheep.

    Now, those with ears to hear, in addition to the clear signs before your eyes here is how you can hear the Shepherd who knows you by name.

    “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

    John 10:11 NASB

    What does this mean? (For it has not yet happened?)

    Jesus gives the hearer of His voice no time to consider a wrong solution to our leading by God, but again shows the false leadership of the Pharisees who have redefined requirements for the flock to enter heaven.

    12 “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away…

    Here into Jerusalem Rome has followed other conquerors and the hired hands of Herod abandon the faith of Abraham adding new requirements to the Law of Moses.

    “… then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

    I know My sheep

    Who will lead the scattered sheep sent to Babylon and Persia and again to Egypt then conquered once more by a mighty Greece? And though only a remnant returns, who will go into all the world now conquered by Rome?

    The shepherds have divided and run, returned and divided the flock.

    14 “I am the good shepherd,
    and know my sheep,
    and am known of mine. [KJV]

    15 “As the Father knows Me,
    even so I know the Father;
    and I lay down My life for the sheep. [NKJV]

    Now Jesus again states His relationship to God the Father as the Messiah and Savior of Israel. The Lord also clearly states fulfillment of Scripture concerning the gentiles or nations.

    A Savior of the Nations

    I have other sheep, which are not of this fold;

    I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice;

    and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

    The Good News of the Messiah Jesus to the gentiles – John 10:16 NASB

    Three points here in the parable of the Good Shepherd:

    1. The Messiah saves some who are not Jews.
    2. Jesus will include the chosen of the nations to ‘follow Him’ as the Good Shepherd of all sheep and they too will hear His call to the promise of eternal life.
    3. Jews who follow the Messiah and Gentiles will become one flock of the faithful with Him – the Good Shepherd of Israel.

    Sacrifice of the Shepherd for the sins of the sheep

    Would a father sacrifice his own son?

    Abraham offered to do so, believing that the LORD would do right.

    Jesus makes personal reference after personal reference to God as His Father. Would God provide the Sacrifice for your sins and for mine as the Lord did for Abraham?

    Why would a Righteous Father send His Perfect Son to a world of sinners?

    17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

    “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

    “This command I have received from My Father.”

    Jesus clearly states after His parable of the Good Shepherd that God His Father commanded Him – the Son of God and only Good Shepherd – to sacrifice His mortal life for the sheep. AND He has the authority and power or the resurrection of life itself!

    Controversial?

    Even to this day and in every time of these last days.

    19 The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

    21 But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

    Do you see?

    Does Jesus open your eyes to the Light of eternal life? Or are you blind too?

    What shepherd do you follow?

    The One Who IS the door?

    Or have you heard so many who make other claims about heaven?

    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.”

  • Do you believe in the Son of Man?

    Do you believe in the Son of Man?

    “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

    The witness of Jesus to Nikodēmos – John 3:13-15 NASB
    (the world knows where He is leading)

    Returning to the Light

    We have been following the signs of the Messiah which the Apostle John presents in his Gospel.

    Jesus had healed a man born blind who confronts the religious officials of Jerusalem with the evidence that this man must be the Messiah!

    “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

    The witness of Jesus to His Apostles – John 9:5

    To give a sense of some time passing in these events which took place I paused John’s story Jesus – Siloam – “I washed and I see where the man sent to Siloam to wash and could now see was questioned by Pharisees.

    Before returning to the seeing man’s witness of the Light in John 9, first let’s return to a scene of a Pharisee questioning Jesus. John has already set the stage for this sign of the Messiah giving sight to the blind.

    29:18 וְשָׁמְעוּ בַיֹּום־הַהוּא הַחֵרְשִׁים דִּבְרֵי־סֵפֶר וּמֵאֹפֶל וּמֵחֹשֶׁךְ עֵינֵי עִוְרִים תִּרְאֶֽינָה׃

    John 3:

    Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him,

    “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 

    John 9:13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.

    John 3:9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”

    10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.

    12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 

    John 9:24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind ...

    John 3:19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

    John 9:28 They ridiculed him: 
“You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.”
 30 “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. 
“You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes.

    John 9:

    35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked,

    “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

    Now here is a question from our Lord to the man whose sight He returned worthy of consideration by each and every soul who for a brief time dwells in this world of darkness.

    • “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
    • Is Jesus who now confronts you in plain sight?
    • Does the Messiah of our salvation sent to the world by God our Father ask you to believe?

    Listen, learned Pharisee of these last days, and see the Light of the Gospel. Is the Spirit of the living LORD speaking to you?

    But returning to the response of the man formerly blind:

    36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked.

    37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

    38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

    Wouldn’t you, if the Messiah had given you sight?

    Shouldn’t you, since the Messiah Jesus has drawn you from the darkness of your sin to the Very Light of Life?

    Son of Man – a view from Scripture

    Where did the Messiah Jesus come up with this favorite self-designation by which He describes His humanity to man?

    Jewish rabbis who studied scripture knew it well, for the Prophet Ezekiel uses ‘son of man’ in numerous descriptions of his heavenly encounters. First, a definition from the Hebrew:

    Son of Man!

    Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

    Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!”

    Ezekiel 1:28-2:1 NASB

    2:3 וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי בֶּן־אָדָם שֹׁולֵחַ אֲנִי אֹֽותְךָ אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־גֹּויִם הַמֹּורְדִים אֲשֶׁר מָרְדוּ־בִי הֵמָּה וַאֲבֹותָם פָּשְׁעוּ בִי עַד־עֶצֶם הַיֹּום הַזֶּֽה׃

    בֵּן
    ben

    • Meaning ‘son’ in a broad sense, specifically as ‘son’ (2978x); but also as ‘first’ (51x)
    • Genesis 27:32 וַיֹּאמֶר לֹו יִצְחָק אָבִיו מִי־אָתָּה וַיֹּאמֶר אֲנִי בִּנְךָ בְכֹֽרְךָ עֵשָֽׂו׃
    • Revelation 22:13 [gk] ἐγὼ τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ ὁ πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος
      • “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

    אָדָם
    ‘adam

    • man or mankind, generally, only occasionally specific to the first man, Adam or a human man rather than a human woman
    • Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man H120 of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man H120 became a living being.
    • Ezekiel 1:5 Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human H120 form.

    Son of man most frequently designates a human being, one born of flesh. More than any other Prophet Ezekiel uses it to describe a mortal human chosen by God to tell God’s people what the LORD must say to them.

    בֶּן־אָדָם צֹפֶה נְתַתִּיךָ לְבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל וְשָׁמַעְתָּ מִפִּי דָּבָר וְהִזְהַרְתָּ אֹותָם מִמֶּֽנִּי׃

    “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.

    Ezekiel 3:17 – Masoretic text; NASB

    Judgment by the Light

    Prior to this witness by the man who was blind the Apostle John has already witnessed the context of this sign by the Messiah Jesus.

    Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,

    “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

    John 8:12 NASB

    13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”

    Jesus’ debate with the Pharisees, some who do not believe, has already taken place. John now presents a proverbial metaphor at the conclusion of this sign by Jesus that indeed, He IS the Messiah.

    John 9:

    39 And Jesus said,

    “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

    Would we expect any better reaction to Jesus from those who have already publicly proclaimed their opposition to the Messiah before their very eyes?

    40 Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him,

    “We are not blind too, are we?”

    Are they? For they know well their own Scripture of the coming of the Messiah.

    Isaiah 29:

    הֹ֚וי אֲרִיאֵ֣ל אֲרִיאֵ֔ל קִרְיַ֖ת חָנָ֣ה דָוִ֑ד סְפ֥וּ שָׁנָ֛ה עַל־שָׁנָ֖ה חַגִּ֥ים יִנְקֹֽפוּ׃
    וְחָנִ֥יתִי כַדּ֖וּר עָלָ֑יִךְ וְצַרְתִּ֤י עָלַ֨יִךְ֙ מֻצָּ֔ב וַהֲקִֽימֹתִ֥י עָלַ֖יִךְ מְצֻרֹֽת׃
    הִתְמַהְמְה֣וּ וּתְמָ֔הוּ הִשְׁתַּֽעַשְׁע֖וּ וָשֹׁ֑עוּ שָֽׁכְר֣וּ וְלֹא־יַ֔יִן נָע֖וּ וְלֹ֥א שֵׁכָֽר׃
    כִּֽי־נָסַ֨ךְ עֲלֵיכֶ֤ם יְהוָה֙ ר֣וּחַ תַּרְדֵּמָ֔ה וַיְעַצֵּ֖ם אֶת־עֵֽינֵיכֶ֑ם אֶת־הַנְּבִיאִ֛ים וְאֶת־רָאשֵׁיכֶ֥ם הַחֹזִ֖ים כִּסָּֽה׃
    הֹ֛וי הַמַּעֲמִיקִ֥ים מֵֽיהוָ֖ה לַסְתִּ֣ר עֵצָ֑ה וְהָיָ֤ה בְמַחְשָׁךְ֙ מַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶ֔ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מִ֥י רֹאֵ֖נוּ וּמִ֥י יֹודְעֵֽנוּ׃

    Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.

    And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

    Be delayed and wait,
    Blind yourselves and be blind;
    They become drunk, but not with wine,
    They stagger, but not with strong drink.

    For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep,
    He has shut your eyes, the prophets;
    And He has covered your heads, the seers.

    Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
    And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
    And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

    On that day

    Isaiah 29:

    18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book,
    And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

    19 The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord,
    And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

    24 And those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding,
    and those who murmur will accept instruction.”

    These scriptures from Isaiah, a true Prophet of Israel, the Pharisees would know well.

    How will we know that the Messiah stands before us as the Son of Man?

    “The eyes of the blind will see.

    Give glory to the LORD your God,
    Before He brings darkness
    And before your feet stumble
    On the dusky mountains,
    And while you are hoping for light
    He makes it into deep darkness,
    And turns it into gloom.

    Jeremiah 13:16

    “We are not blind too, are we?”

    “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?” And he said, “He is a prophet.”

    “… one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

    “… You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”

    41 Jesus said to them,

    “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

    God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

    The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

    “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

    Genesis 1:4; John 1:5; Matthew 6:23 NASB

    John 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

    Have you born blind confronted your sin?

    Will you now worship the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who opens your eyes to the Light?

    Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying,

    “I am the Light of the world;

    he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness,

    but will have the Light of life.”

    John 8:12 NASB
  • Are we children of Ephraim? – Psalm 78

    Are we children of Ephraim? – Psalm 78

    A child of blessing

    Ephraim was the second child of Zaphnath-Paaneah and Asenath. His father’s high position second only to Pharaoh gave Ephraim every advantage as he was brought up with all the riches of the palace.

    You may recognize him as brother of Manasseh and both brothers known as sons of Joseph, son of Israel (Jacob).

    He was much like the church we know in the US now. These sons and their families grew up with practically everything a man could desire. But one change in leadership would relegate them to lesser roles before they lost faith in the wilderness.

    Even though they had followed the Lord when Moses returned to save Israel from slavery, during forty years in the wilderness each year of yearning for former days turned their hearts from the Lord.

    Think about their roles as followers of God in the way Asaph contemplates years later. Think also closer to home, considering your own push-back from faithfulness from the Lord who would save you.

    Psalm 78 

     God’s Kindness to Rebellious Israel
 A Contemplation of Asaph.

    9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
    Turned back in the day of battle.
    10 They did not keep the covenant of God;
    They refused to walk in His law,
    11 And forgot His works
    And His wonders that He had shown them.

    How like US

    Forget for a moment your own heritage.

    Perhaps your forefathers came to a land of promise or a home of the free. They may have bought passage to new hope in a land of milk and honey, a hopeful homeland of riches.

    Or perhaps they fled in huddled masses from persecution, slavery and imminent death. Oh, the hope of our poor and tired aliens embarking on a pilgrimage of promise.

    Who will you trust if not the Lord?

    Of Ephraim’s blessing

    Note centrality of Ephraim & Manasseh, Joseph’s sons to the promised land and a divided people of the LORD

    12 Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers,
    In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

    Do you, even in your days of difficulty, remember what the Lord has done for you and your fathers in days past, how the Lord has saved you?

    13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through;
    And He made the waters stand up like a heap.
    14 In the daytime also He led them with the cloud,
    And all the night with a light of fire.
    15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,
    And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
    16 He also brought streams out of the rock,
    And caused waters to run down like rivers.

    Here is Asaph’s embrace of the Lord’s blessing many years prior to his own life in the Kingdom of David.

    How like the blessings thousands of years later of the ‘new world,’ a new land to conquer and colonize. Ephraim was one blessed by the Lord, but the promise of the Lord was long forgotten.

    Sin and Rebellion

    Egypt or England will call it rebellion, or course. But your journey of hope from oppression must remain in the hand of the Lord.

    We know in your heart that our forefathers were not without sin. The cause of our exodus from a former existence was not so righteous as our national celebrations would have us believe.

    Though Asaph laments of his founding fathers, we could well apply their rebellion to our own hearts.

    But they sinned even more against Him
    By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.

    Psalm 78:17 NKJV

    18 And they tested God in their heart
    By asking for the food of their fancy.
    19 Yes, they spoke against God:
    They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
    20 Behold, He struck the rock,
    So that the waters gushed out,
    And the streams overflowed.
    Can He give bread also?
    Can He provide meat for His people?”

    The PERSON of GOD

    If God IS a Person, then how does He feel about your sin?

    How does God the Father react to the sin of His child?

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com on Psalm 78

    21 Therefore the Lord heard this and was furious;

    So a fire was kindled against Jacob,
    And anger also came up against Israel,
    22 Because they did not believe in God,
    And did not trust in His salvation.

    I’ll own it – I’m a rebel like Ephraim. Lord forgive me.

    And remember this, along with His many blessings to our forefathers, your own faithful or rebellious children, and what the Lord does for you.

    23 Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
    And opened the doors of heaven,
    24 Had rained down manna on them to eat,
    And given them of the bread of heaven.
    25 Men ate angels’ food;
    He sent them food to the full.

    Do you remember the miracles of the Lord’s blessings?

    Here we are so blessed more than most, yet craving the past and coveting the riches of others. Are we not like Joseph’s sons – Ephraim, the most blessed, whose rebellion failed to trust in the Lord?

    The Father’s wrath

    29 So they ate and were well filled,
    For He gave them their own desire.
    30 They were not deprived of their craving;

    But while their food was still in their mouths,
    31 The wrath of God came against them,
    And slew the stoutest of them,
    And struck down the choice men of Israel.

    How like the children of Ephraim we are!

    We plea to the Lord our God, ‘Father, give us this one thing we must have.’ Then, we think, because our Father has blessed us we will tell him of our next desire for blessing.

    32 In spite of this they still sinned,
    And did not believe in His wondrous works.

    33 Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
    And their years in fear.

    34 When He slew them, then they sought Him;
    And they returned and sought earnestly for God.

    Have you taught your children?

    SPOILED CHILDREN
A meditation of J.C. Ryle 4 min. 23 sec.
John Charles Ryle was born of well-to-do parents at Macclesfield England, 10 May 1816, appointed first Bishop of Liverpool. "His successor in Liverpool described him as ‘the man of granite with the heart of a child.’ - source

    Have you told your children of blessing that God our Father, the Lord, must be their Lord or they will suffer His wrath?

    Do you fear death and judgment (or even judgment, then death)?

    In fear have you promised God one thing, then in your comfort forgotten your Father?

    Psalm 78: (cont.)

    35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
    And the Most High God their Redeemer.

    36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
    And they lied to Him with their tongue;
    37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
    Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

    A Father’s love

    Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out:
     “The LORD, the LORD God,
     is compassionate and gracious,
     slow to anger,
     abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
     7 maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations,
     forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

     Yet He will by no means excuse the guilty;
     He will visit the iniquity of the fathers
     on their children and grandchildren
     to the third and fourth generations.”

    Do you, forgetful unfaithful claimant of the Lord, remember your repentance?

    Have you returned to the way of your sin, though your fathers repented and told you the faithfulness of the Lord?

    The Father’s compassion

    וְ֭לִבָּם לֹא־נָכֹ֣ון עִמֹּ֑ו וְלֹ֥א נֶ֝אֶמְנ֗וּ בִּבְרִיתֹֽו׃

    Psalm 78:37 WLC

    But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

    For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

    Psalm 78: (continued)

    52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
    he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
    53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
    but the sea engulfed their enemies.
    54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
    to the hill country his right hand had taken.
    55 He drove out nations before them
    and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

    Testing the Lord

    56 But they put God to the test
    and rebelled against the Most High;
    they did not keep his statutes.
    57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
    as unreliable as a faulty bow.
    58 They angered him with their high places;
    they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

    Does any sin of ours deserve the wrath of God our Father more than our worship of idol after lifeless idol, while we fail to remember our Father and Shepherd?

    Consequence of the Sin of Ephraim

    When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel:

    So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men..

    Psalm 78:59-60 KJV

    The Very Presence of God left the Tabernacle of worship for Israel, because of their rebellion.

    Psalm 78: (CSB)

    67 He also rejected the tent of Joseph,
    And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
    68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion which He loved.
    69 And He built His sanctuary like the heights,
    Like the earth which He has founded forever.

    God then chose Judah

    70 He also chose David His servant
    And took him from the sheepfolds…

    … He brought him
    To shepherd Jacob His people,
    And Israel His inheritance.
    72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
    And guided them with his skillful hands.

    • Are we children of Ephraim?
    • Children of Moses or of David?

    WHO HAS THE LORD CHOSEN?

    Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: yes Israel was chosen and blessed.

    Joseph, who came to be known in Egypt as Zaphnath-Paaneah, was blessed over his eleven brothers who finally bowed down to him.

    Then the LORD through a final blessing by Joseph’s father Israel blessed his sons, Manasseh the eldest, but giving the greater blessing to Ephraim.

    Yet through disobedience of the sons of Ephraim Israel’s blessing fell upon Judah.

    God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness – Psalm 78

    And after this all of Israel and its ten tribes were given over to their enemies Judah remained.

    But in time by their own wickedness, refusal to hear the Lord’s Prophets and turning against the Lord their God, the LORD also gave Judah over to its enemies.

    A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help – Psalm 79

    Another Psalm of Asaph – a short reading of 13 verses

    Then the Lord brought back a remnant to Judah. They again discovered the Law of Moses in the Temple the Lord had abandoned.

    Yet again after a short time they again turned against the Lord their God. And for a time no word of the Lord was heard in all Israel. Again as Israel, Judah failed to listen to the Lord’s Prophets.

    “Your own eyes will see this, and you yourselves will say, ‘The LORD is great, even beyond the borders of Israel.’

    “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of me? says the LORD of Armies to you priests, who despise my name.”

    Malachi 1:5-6a CSB

    1:6 בֵּן יְכַבֵּד אָב וְעֶבֶד אֲדֹנָיו וְאִם־אָב אָנִי אַיֵּה כְבֹודִי וְאִם־אֲדֹונִים אָנִי אַיֵּה מֹורָאִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאֹות לָכֶם הַכֹּֽהֲנִים בֹּוזֵי שְׁמִי וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה בָזִינוּ אֶת־שְׁמֶֽךָ׃

    Masoretic text of Malachi 1:6

    The Son before Abraham

    The Good News of the Son – John 3:

    “For God loved the world in this way:

    He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

    The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

    Do you, sons and daughters of blessing, sons and daughters of great blessings through the Lord our God, believe in the Son of the Father, the Messiah Jesus, the Son of Man and only Son of God in whom you have eternal life rather than God’s wrath, as we well deserve?

    What must you do?