Tag: kings

  • King of the Jews Savior of Sinners

    “How long will you be limping between two opinions?

    If Yahweh is God, follow Him..”

    But the people did not answer him a word.

    1 Kings 18:21 excerpt – Legacy Standard Bible
    GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

    Are YOU of the multitudes? OR one of His disciples?


    QUESTIONS are important to the celebration of the Passover.

    Later we will return to Elijah's QUESTION in this context.

    The Passover Lamb – (Exodus) 12: שְׁמֹות

    “And it will be when your children say to you, ‘What is the meaning of this new slavery to you?’ [Lit What is this service to you?]{some translations use ‘rite‘ or ‘ceremony’} that you shall say,

    ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to Yahweh who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but delivered our homes.’”

    And the people bowed low and worshiped.

    Exodus 12:26-27 LSB
    NOW consider this as one of the MULTITUDES and hypocrites living the life in this world or in the time of Jesus' sacrificial days in Jerusalem. 
    
    Do you WORSHIP the Pascal Lamb? 
    (Can you make up your mind about JESUS?)
    Borrowing briefly from a PRIVATE moment of Christ Jesus with the Twelve - a sorrowful scene before the night unfolded toward the Cross.

     “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

    Gospel of Luke 22:15b – New King James Version

    And this day will be a memorial for you..

    12:14  וְהָיָה הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן וְחַגֹּתֶם אֹתוֹ חַג לַיהוָה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם חֻקַּת עוֹלָם תְּחָגֻּהוּ׃

    On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you..

    Exodus 12:16a – NKJV regarding the required Passover Feast
    מִקְרָא from H7121; something called out, i.e. a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place); also a rehearsal:—assembly, calling, convocation, reading. 

    Exodus 12:21slaughter the Passover lamb.

    וְשַׁחֲטוּ הַפָּסַח׃

    Every rendering of the LORD’s command sheds additional pathos of God’s only Son sacrificed on the CROSS and commemoration of HOLY COMMUNION for Christ followers.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com
    • slaughter the Passover animal.
    • kill the Passover lamb.
    • kill the passover. [KJV]
    • slay the Passover lamb.
    • slay the passover.
    • kill it for Passover.
    • kill the Passover animal.
    • celebrate Passover.
    • slaughter the Passover-sacrifice
    (and 'lambs,' by the way, in Hebrew is pronounced, "ṣō'n."
    

    pesaḥ :פֶּסַח

    Lexicon :: Strong's H6453 - pesaḥ
    • sacrifice of passover
    • animal victim of the passover
    • festival of the passover

    a sparing immunity from penalty.. From פָּסַח (H6452)

    Lexicon :: Strong's H6452 - pāsaḥ 
    
    

    פָּסַח pâçach, paw-sakh’; a primitive root; to hop, i.e. (figuratively) skip over (or spare); by implication, to hesitate; also (literally) to limp, to dance:—halt, become lame, leap, pass over.


    Communion – a ‘difficult’ memorial

    “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed..

    Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

    Gospel of John 6:55,60 NKJV

    Limping toward the CROSS! – a ‘difficult’ Judgment

    Returning to ELIJAH'S QUESTION to worshipers of a FALSE god of FALSE prophets:

    “How long will you be limping between two opinions?

    ..  “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made.

    1 Kings 18:21b,26b LSB
    'by implication, to hesitate; also (literally) to limp..
    - - - - - - - - - -
    HOW CAN GOD PASSOVER OUR SIN?
    
    HOW CAN THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF THE SON OF GOD BECOME OUR PASSOVER OFFERING?
    

    Progress toward confession of Christ

    An excerpt from THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS 
    by John Bunyan ~A.D. 1675
    Christ nailed to the Cross

    Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews,

    “Behold, your King!”

    Gospel of John 19:14 LSB


    “How long will you be limping between two opinions?

    Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

    Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

    1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NKJV

    Amen


  • No Prophet is welcome in his hometown – 2

    No Prophet is welcome in his hometown – 2

    Jesus’ reference to the Prophets of Kings

    This week we have been talking about Jesus of Nazareth and other Prophets of the Old Testament mentioned by Jesus. We continue by asking why Nazarites rejected their local Messiah who had worked miracles like these Old Testament Prophets. What do you know about the two Prophets of the first book of Kings Jesus mentions?

    Read the conclusion of this 2-part post from 2014 to learn more.

    Scriptures

    Luke 4

    1 Kings 16 & 17

    Original talkofJESUS.com Post

    February 15, 2014 – Topic: Prophets of Kings
    Summer Reruns! with picture of sun wearing sunglasses
    Summer 2021 AD {Scriptural} Reruns
    • CLICK “…Continue reading ” above,
    • THEN Ask a question or comment at the end of this post
    • OR email Roger@talkofJesus.com with your reaction, questions & comments.

    Stay tuned from more Summer of 2021 Reruns from talkofJESUS.com

    (ditto: Summer 2022 – more to come)

  • You Will Not Be Led -2- Lot’s Wife

    You Will Not Be Led -2- Lot’s Wife

    WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?!

    As the world reports with great frequency, something BIG just happened (somewhere); and now you ask (if again threat of impending doom is not dire), “What does this have to do with Lot’s wife?”

    If kings or enemies have caused it, let’s quickly CONVICT them so they cannot do this to US again.

    And if ‘mother nature’ reeks unpredicted peril to our precious environment of sin, let’s legislate change (to keep things the same).

    Lot’s wife

    • Do we even know her name?

    No, only the caution (and we don’t know much about that).

    • Do you know who Lot is?

    Perhaps, but not fully.

    • How about their home town: do you know where they lived?

    Not really. (I think they had to leave suddenly, but I don’t know how they got there or where they went when they left.

    Kings, alliances, wars & ordinary men

    “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.

    Mark 13:7 NASB

    Powerful and ambitious men and kings frequently impact the everyday lives of those in their path. This warning of Jesus about WHEN the end will come is given millennia beyond the times of Abraham and Lot.

    Even now as in every age we see kings and wars affect the outcomes of life, even for men of faith like Abraham, Moses or David.

    Sojourners in the lands of kings

    כִּֽי־גֵרִים אֲנַחְנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ וְתוֹשָׁבִים כְּכָל־אֲבֹתֵינוּ כַּצֵּל יָמֵינוּ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וְאֵין מִקְוֶֽה׃

    “For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

    1 Chronicles 29:15 WLC, NASB – words of the shepherd king, David

    Who was Lot? (& where is he from?)

    Really, like Abraham, Lot was a shepherd sojourner a long way from home (back in kingdoms of the eastern kings near Haran and river Euphrates) now traveling in a land of western kings near the Jordan (or southern kings like those along the Nile).

    • Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. – Genesis 11:31
    • Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan. – Genesis 12:4b-5
    • So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that belonged to him, and Lot with him.. Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. – Genesis 13:1,5

    Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.

    Genesis 13:10 – Lot separates from Abram

    Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. – Genesis 13:12

    (Of course, shepherds follow sheep to places of pasture.)

    Ordinary men near cities of kings

    By grace of the Lord God, Abraham and Lot, shepherds called into other lands were leaders of men (although not kings of cities as were the men with whom they kept covenants to live nearby).

    • Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. And the land could not support both of them while living together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together.. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time. – Genesis 13:5-6,7b
    • When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

    These are not poor men, but ambitions merchants of wool trading with men of other leaders(i.e. kings of nearby cities) to support their own wives, children and servants, men protecting their households – tents, at times – and goods (the sheep of their pastures).

    Are we not ordinary men caught up in the struggles of the powerful men of the world struggling for advantage against each other, even though the Lord is our Shepherd?

    Roger @talk of Jesus {dot}.com

    The Alliances of War

    Genesis 14:

    And it came to pass.. That these made war..

    We need not get into the details of who were the ‘democrats’ or ‘republicans,’ so to speak, among these big city kings opposed to each other.

    The outcome will later prove to be the end for Lot’s wife and a blot on Lot’s legacy which lingers for all time as a warning to any dwelling too near the city of destruction destined by sin. (Read it for yourself, if you’d like.)

    Brief highlights:

    • Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations VS.
    • Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (Zoar).
    • The battle takes place in the Siddim Valley, near the Salt Sea.

    10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country. 11 Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.

    Captured, then rescued

    The kings where Lot and his family lived lost the war and all of them (including the wives of the men, riches and sheep) became the spoils of war to the winning kings.

    BUT, Abraham hears of it and saves not only Lot, but many others.

    16 He brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the other people.

    17 Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

    (After its rescue, it seems the city of Sodom has a new king.) An important communion of the victorious kings takes place here when Abraham returns. Our focus today, however, is only on Sodom.

    18 וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הוֹצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא כֹהֵ֖ן לְאֵ֥ל עֶלְיֽוֹן׃

    Avram gave him a tenth of everything.

    It is Abraham, the victorious shepherd (though not a king) who with the help of the Lord returns from battle with the spoils of victory.

    21 The king of S’dom said to Avram, “Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself.” But Avram answered the king of S’dom,

    “I have raised my hand in an oath to Adonai, El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal thong of anything that is yours..


    Therefore, Lot, his wife and daughters and servants were returned to the land near Sodom, where they moved within the walls of the wicked city of the land they entered as sojourners.

    Messengers of Mamre

    18:1 וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ יְהוָ֔ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א וְה֛וּא יֹשֵׁ֥ב פֶּֽתַח־הָאֹ֖הֶל כְּחֹ֥ם הַיּֽוֹם׃

    22 The men turned away from there and went toward S’dom, but Avraham remained standing before Adonai.

    To be continued...