Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Lord

Times of Difficulty
Joel 1:

Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.

While disasters loom and chaos rules, talking heads debate over who said what about the rein of evil isolated in time or place.

I’m outraged!
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(But it's not what you think.)
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One death causes lingering debate, then a couple dozen again across the sea.

India – 2 million child deaths/year

Yet  what of a crisis in a hospital in India where 68 children died because of a financial dispute over who would pay for oxygen?

What of 250 dead, lost to floods in Nepal, India and Bangladesh?

Would a press so entertained over a single firing dare mention 28 deaths from a national election controversy in a poor country like Kenya?

These acts of violence by evil men of many races and differing religion are not news. Extreme political positions and taunting of opposing opinion are nothing new under the sun.

Hidden in the headlines of Shiite Islam vs. Sunni Islam in Iraq (along with Syria, another war no one has won) we see starving children, victims of war’s atrocities, malnourished and wounded, gleaning fields for a few bites to eat. Least of all world-wide entertaining news would never herald the passing of 100 souls from hunger each and every hour!

China commits ‘staggering’ 23 million abortions per year, according to US State Dept.

Could self-defining generations of sexually active ‘single’ women ever be chastised for their ‘right’ to end the lives of more than 25 million babies so far this year?!

[ctt title=”Could the two most populous countries in the world ever be held accountable for all the babies and young children who have died? ” tweet=”https://ctt.ec/j1nfg+” coverup=”j1nfg”]

When will the LORD finally say, enough is enough?

Genesis 6:

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Exodus 12:29

At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

The Lord intervenes

You may not have read from scripture of the great power of the Lord, though you witness the magnificence of His Almighty hand every day. Recall (or read for the first time) how a prayer reached the hearing of the Lord and the Lord saved Israel.

2 Kings 19:

5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me…

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said:

[ctt title=”“O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.” tweet=”“Whom have you mocked and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes to the heights? Against the Holy One of Israel! 2Kings19:” coverup=”iFGf9″]

16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”

35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians.

And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

Judgment of the Lord

Not so remarkable that the Lord of all the heavens and earth, the Lord who makes the sun and moon and stars to move; not so awesome that 185,000 men or all the first born of Egypt should unexpectedly be struck down.

Have you heard of the Lord’s covenant to never destroy all mankind by flood? Do you believe that? You who cannot gaze upon the brilliance of the sun the Lord has placed in the heavens, uncover your ears to hear his warnings to repent!

His patience withholds fire and brimstone from the destruction of evil, yet their judgment will come. In the Person of Christ Jesus the Lord has come to man and He will return.

Cover your eyes and open your heart. Look only to Jesus and no false man, dead or in power, mortals who cannot save your eternal soul.

Joel 1:

15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Joel 2:

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

²⁸“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

³⁰“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹

The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

^{32 [ctt title=”And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ” tweet=”Christ Jesus is Lord! A new heavens and a new earth await the Lord’s return.” coverup=”W2wAz”]}

To be continued…
August 21, 2017
For you will always have the poor – 4

ἀλάβαστρον – alabastron

The alabaster receptacle of the anointing oil

To understand why Jesus would say, “the poor are with you always,” we must understand anointing as commonly understood in the culture of the day.

People traveled to and from homes with no running water mostly by foot and anointing is often associated with washing or cleansing. Jesus instructs us to give to the poor. He cautions not to neglect washing or anointing ourselves with oil when we fast for the Lord.

MATTHEW 6:17-18

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

A common anointing

Anointing with oil along with washing up was part of hospitality, a godly attribute commanded of the Jews. Of course these various oils and ointments needed kept in some sort of container.

On special occasions a newly opened, expensive fresh oil was most appropriate. The ancients considered alabaster to be the best material in which to preserve their ointments. Breaking the box, probably means breaking the seal of the box. 1.

An earlier anointing

This scene takes place in the early days of Jesus’ preaching of the Good News in Galilee. Jesus cleansed lepers. Jesus healed a man who could not walk and a man who could not use his hand.

Crowds came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled with unclean spirits cured and all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

LUKE 7:

Jesus heals the servant of a Roman soldier by command from afar. Amazingly, Jesus raised the son of a widow to life from a coffin at his funeral! Healing – healing of every imaginable sort, cleansing of the body and soul by the hand of God!

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

Jesus accepts our common anointing

There it is again, earlier in Jesus’ ministry, the alabaster flask of ointment. How does Jesus react here in the presence of his esteemed host?

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Consequently, Jesus admonishes his host for neglecting the very least of hospitality commonly extended to guests. He corrects Simon’s hesitation to honor a guest by instead praising the anointing by this woman. For she has done what Simon was obliged to do. And the Lord further emphasizes his authority by his peace of dismissal.

” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Anointed as a welcome guest, healer, one who revives the soul of one dead in the flesh. Jesus, anointed as a King given His due. And finally, anointed for his own burial, only to rise again to rule eternally.

To be continued…

August 12, 2017
for it was not the season for figs – 8
The Fig Tree Languishes

In this concluding part of our 8-part series we draw our conclusions of why JESUS on his way to Jerusalem cursed the fig tree.
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[circa 835 BC]
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The Prophet Joel:

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.
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~A.D. 30
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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

Matthew 21:

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
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'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." 
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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!”
Gospel of Matthew 21:19

And the fig tree withered at once.

Once a withered fig, Jerusalem will wither once more

Israel and Judah had been destroyed.

Jerusalem’s walls and Temple are rebuilt after many years, first by Ezra then built back bigger and better by Herod the Great.

Rome, like other nations, has again captured a chosen people; sons of Abraham, sons of David.

A King rides up to the gates triumphantly and crowds praise Jesus.

Now the Lord returns to Jerusalem and curses a fig tree.

Do these jews praising Jesus know their scripture?

Of course they do.

“Nearly every 1st century jew knew the word of God better than most jews or christians in these last days with abundant access to unread Bibles.”

32:46 וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם שִׂימוּ לְבַבְכֶם לְכָל־הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מֵעִיד בָּכֶם הַיֹּום אֲשֶׁר תְּצַוֻּם אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶם לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשֹׂות אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי הַתֹּורָה הַזֹּֽאת׃

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.
Deuteronomy 32:46

Deuteronomy 8:

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?
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Just in case you have missed the Prologue and Scripture bringing us to this conclusion: GO BACK to the PROLOGUE HERE
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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.’”
Deuteronomy 27:26

It was not the season for figs, but a time for sacrifice.

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up – John 3:13

Matthew 21:

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying,

“How did the fig tree wither at once?”

²¹And 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. ²²And 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?
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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.
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Jesus IS Lord. He will return to reign forever and ever.

Amen.
July 12, 2017