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Tag: Lord

  • SHAKEN 4 – His voice shook the earth

    SHAKEN 4 – His voice shook the earth

    Hebrews 12:

    Looking only at Jesus, the Leader and perfecter of the faith..

    The writer of the letter to the Hebrews encourages the saints of the church to look to Jesus Christ, the originator of all things and only Shepherd perfecting the faith of sons chosen by the Lord God.

    In SHAKEN 3 a great cloud of witnesses over our head we shared this call to perseverance: Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus.

    FAITH: Swear it upon your biggest BIBLE, mention GOD four times only and Christ Jesus not at all — faith in US?

    Does this ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’ claim faith without fear of the LORD?

    (But I digress..) Returning to the Bible:
    Exhortation from Hebrews 12:1-2 - SHAKEN! from a troubled 2020 election to troubled times: Joe Biden Presidential Oath of Office sworn on Douay-Rheims Bible (1899) of his Roman Catholic faith

    Do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord

    Nor faint when you are punished by Him – Hebrews 12:5b

    Speaking of those who would follow Jesus Christ as Lord:

    8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

    IN GOD WE Trusted

    In the days of Moses, David and some some other leaders, a chosen and blessed Hebrew nation had trusted God. Yet at times they became divided to trust each in his own ways.

    Some like Zerubbabel responded to the voice of God through Prophets like Haggai and repented (as we pointed out previously). Faithful saints suffered once more in a fading Empire of Rome, which persecuted both Jews and Christians.

    The writer to first century Hebrews asks the church to remain faithful to God in Christ Jesus.

    $20 bill

    Is the U.S. ‘one nation under God?’

    Or are claims of both divisions of this troubled PEOPLE no different from failing faith of a divided Israel and Judah?

    Hear more from the letter to the Hebrews.

    Warnings against Rejecting God’s Grace

    12 Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet…

    14 Strive for peace with all… that no “root of bitterness” spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled; 16 that no one be immoral or irreligious like Esau…

    How are WE doing with this: our leadership United ‘under GOD?’

    Contrast of Sinai and Zion

    18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest..

    For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking.

    Hebrews 12:19 NLT

    21 (.. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

    The Unshaken Nation

    25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.

    For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth;

    but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.”

    .. the removal of what can be shaken—that is, created things—

    Is your soul shaken by this?

    Do you hear the Voice of the LORD?

    28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

    Christian fish drawing gif
    and His voice shook the earth.. Hebrews verse and picture of earth from space

    let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
    For our God is a consuming fire.

    Hebrews 12:28b-29 KJV

    Pray that this ‘one nation’ under God may repent and unite with He Who Was and Is and Will be forever unshaken.

    Roger @ talk of Jesus .com

    Amen.

  • SHAKEN 3 a great cloud of witnesses over our head

    SHAKEN 3 a great cloud of witnesses over our head

    TODAY we move forward in time from about 520 B.C. to around A.D. 100 and ‘a great cloud of witnesses’ from the New Testament book of Hebrews. This cloud of witnesses, however, goes back to the Old Covenant and continues until this day.

    Previously in SHAKEN 2 “Think carefully about your ways we found political and religious leadership along with all the people once again turning back to the Lord their God who now proclaims HE IS with them.

    “Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, ‘I am going to shake the heavens and the earth.

    Haggai 2:21 NASB

    Epistle of St Paul [*] to the Hebrews

    * NOTE: Some commentators question if this epistle or letter to the Hebrews, who’s author is unidentified in its text, was written by Paul or possibly by other A.D. 1st century apostles.

    Some excerpts from D-R Bible {pictured with Joseph Biden, a professing Roman Catholic, being sworn in as 46th President of the United States}

Most translations from NASB translation or versions as noted.

    God spoke of old by the prophets, but now by his Son, who is incomparably greater than the angels.

    The Prophets provided not only a cloud of witnesses to Israel but spoke the very admonitions of the LORD God to a disobedient and unfaithful people.

    [1] God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all,

    [2] In these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.

    A List of Fathers of our founding

    • He again sets a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

    “Today if you hear His voice,
    Do not harden your hearts.”

    Hebrews 4:7b CSB
    • 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that.
    • Melchizedek and Abraham – Heb. 7
    • Aaron & Moses – Heb. 7:11,14
    • And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us.. Heb. 10:15

    Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.

    Hebrews 10:18

    Jesus Christ OR Judgment?

    Application to a 21st century world.

    So you want justice, do you?

    Is this justice you demand finally for ones you judge (opponents to your own world view)?

    Or do you seek judgment on your own sins, transgressions and trespasses (for which you ask forgiveness)?

    The Apostles wrote to a 1st century church persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ.

    It was not faith in their failing leaders of government

    OR was it faith in a zealous vision of their pastor.

    Nor was it faith that their country would come under the LAW of God, their state under a mandate of morality and their community forced into the fellowship of love.

    The CHURCH believed GOD in Christ Jesus and it was counted to them as righteousness.

    These faithful saints suffered for their hope in the Lord and persevered by grace suffering for a higher community in a heavenly kingdom.

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com – on the 1st century saints of the Church

    Hebrews 10:

    Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

    11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

    26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries.

    For we know Him who said,

    “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

    It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

    Hebrews 10:30-31 CSB

    the cloud of Witnesses [Hebrews 11]

    "so great a cloud of witnesses -Exhortation from Hebrews 12:1-2 - SHAKEN! from a troubled 2020 election to troubled times: Joe Biden Presidential Oath of Office sworn on Douay-Rheims Bible (1899) of his Roman Catholic faith
    From the Douay-Rheims Bible [background of Biden Presidential oath pictured above]
    What faith is. Its wonderful fruits and efficacy demonstrated in the fathers.

    [1] Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. [2] For by this the ancients obtained a testimony. [3] By faith we understand that the world was framed by the word of God…

    Hebrews 11 continues, mentioning these witnesses of faith in the Lord God:

    • Abel
    • Enoch
    • Noah
    • Abraham
    • Sarah 
    • Isaac
    • Jacob [Israel]
    • Joseph
    • Moses
    • Rahab
    • Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets..

    Hebrews 12 – surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses

    Exhortation to constancy under their crosses. The danger of abusing the graces of the New Testament.

    Hebrews 12 summary from the Douay-Rheims Bible

    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..

    Hebrews 12:1-2a RSVCE
    To be continued...
NEXT: SHAKEN 4 ! His voice shook the earth

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  • SHAKEN 2 “Think carefully about your ways

    SHAKEN 2 “Think carefully about your ways

    SHAKEN 2 of our 4-post series is an update of commentary on the January 6th crisis of 2021 following the insurrection and assault on Capitol Hill - a lingering malignancy which not-so-amazingly continues to shake the very foundations of freedom of WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES of America who must agaub think carefully about our ways.

    Think back carefully: Do YOU remember this recent history correctly?

    Capitol dome behind gate
    Trump State of the union address with Speaker Pelosi tearing up the President's speech text
    inciting disrespect for Government
    We hold these truths to be selfevident..
    “So help me God.”

    GOD & Government

    Although this series points to current events of the United States and the world, SHAKEN! is not a partisan political post, but a fleeting glace at government and the role of God in the leadership of nations.

    Our next post will point back to God and government at various times including this Prophet’s writings. So here’s the setting and time, NOT the US in A.D. 2021, but Persia in about 521 B.C., some 2500 years ago.

    Darius the Great was the third Persian King of the Achaemenid Empire

    About 50,000 Jews returned. In 536 B.C., they began to rebuild the temple (cf. Ezra 3:1–4:5) but opposition from neighbors and indifference by the Jews caused the work to be abandoned (cf. Ezra 4:1–24) – source: Commentary of John MacArthur

    • Where is the great City of David or the expansive Empire of Solomon of five centuries before?
    • Where is the rebuilt Temple of the Lord from the Book of the Law uncovered during the reign of a previous administration (of Cyrus and the Governor Nehemiah)?

    Prophecy of Aggeus (Haggai)

    In the second year of King Darius..

    בִּשְׁנַ֤ת שְׁתַּ֨יִם֙ לְדָרְיָ֣וֶשׁ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ֙ הַשִּׁשִּׁ֔י בְּיֹ֥ום אֶחָ֖ד לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ הָיָ֨ה דְבַר־יְהוָ֜ה בְּיַד־חַגַּ֣י הַנָּבִ֗יא אֶל־זְרֻבָּבֶ֤ל בֶּן־שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל֙ פַּחַ֣ת יְהוּדָ֔ה וְאֶל־יְהֹושֻׁ֧עַ בֶּן־יְהֹוצָדָ֛ק הַכֹּהֵ֥ן הַגָּדֹ֖ול לֵאמֹֽר׃

    Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: This people saith: The time is not yet come for building the house of the Lord.

    Aggeus (Haggai) 1:2 DRB

    Darius the Great

    King of Kings
    Great King
    King of Persia
    King of Babylon
    Pharaoh of Egypt
    King of Countries

    Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways!

    Haggai 1:5 NASB

    6 You have planted much
    but harvested little.
    You eat
    but never have enough to be satisfied.
    You drink
    but never have enough to be happy.
    You put on clothes
    but never have enough to get warm.
    The wage earner puts his wages
    into a bag with a hole in it.”

    7 The Lord of Armies says this: “Think carefully about your ways.

    WHY has this happened?

    Are theirs not the same questions as our political and religious leaders ask in these days of desperation?

    WHY has God allowed this?

    9 “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined it. Why?”

    This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

    “Because my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

    So on your account,
    the skies have withheld the dew
    and the land its crops.

    Haggai 1:9b-10 CSB
    esile to babylon


    11 I have summoned a drought
    on the fields and the hills,
    on the grain, new wine, fresh oil,
    and whatever the ground yields,
    on people and animals,
    and on all that your hands produce.”

    What is the PEOPLE’s response?

    12 Then..

    • Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,
      • governor of the Achaemenid Empire’s province Yehud Medinata led the first group of 42,360 Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity in the first year of Cyrus the Great, the king of the Achaemenid Empire. – source: Wikipedia
    • the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak,
    • and the entire remnant of the people

    .. obeyed the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him.

    So the people feared the Lord.

    That was their response to the Lord God.

    Yet what answer now from ‘the entire remnant .. of the people’ from US?

    Washington DC mall

    God responds to righteous fear

    Haggai 2 – Encouragement & Promise

    3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem to you like nothing by comparison?

    Remember Zerubbabel their governor, the high priest Joshua and all of the people obeyed the Lord their God and therefore ‘So the people feared the Lord.‘

    The Lord’s declaration:

    • 4 Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel
    • Be strong, Joshua
    • Be strong, all you people of the land..

    Be strong, all you people of the land—this is the Lord’s declaration. Work! For I am with you—the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

    5 This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.’”

    The LORD Who Leads

    Can you imagine WHY the LORD God would restore a broken nation whose LEADERS OF GOVERNMENT AND WORSHIP had not led ALL of the PEOPLE to repentance?

    In fact, Zerubbabel, Joshua and all the remnant of Israel once again bowed down in awe to the LORD, the God who had led them from Egypt and once again from Babylon.

    Yet hear the word of the Lord to US — for WE THE PEOPLE are a stiff-necked and rebellious people led by winds of wantonness and words of wrath which stand upon our own strong wills.

    For the Lord of Armies says this:
    “Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
    I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord of Armies.

    Haggai 2:6-7 CSB
    To be continued... Shaken 3 - surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses