Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: messiah

  • The Beginning of the End – A Burden of the Prophets – 2

    The Beginning of the End – A Burden of the Prophets – 2

    Previously - Part 1

    The Hope of a Savior King

    Jeremiah 23:

    5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

    יְהֹוָה צִדְקֵנוּ Yĕhovah tsidqenuw 

    Matthew 1:

    20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

    “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

    21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

    23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).  24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

    The Messiah Prophets Predicted

    His Name IS Jesus, the Christ and Messiah. Only a remnant of faithful would come to the Messiah and recognize this King of righteousness. Many are called; few are chosen. He came to his own, yet they received him not.

    In the seventh and sixth century before Christ idolatry would replace worship of the Lord. The Temple would fall, though prophets warned the people of the error of their ways.

    Are we so much less idolatrous?

    Do more than a few, a mere remnant, even now remain faithful to God?

    In addition to holding out the hope of a Messiah to come, Jeremiah warns against evil leaders and false prophets:

    Jeremiah 23:

    Their course is evil,
    and their might is not right.

    11 “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
    even in my house I have found their evil,
    declares the Lord.

    Lies of evil leaders and false Prophets

    • Do shepherds of these last days seem ungodly? Do false prophets since Christ yet stir hatred into the evil hearts of violent men?
    • Will any nation, shepherd, priest or prophet endure the wrath of the LORD when judged apart from the holy, sinless and risen Savior of lost sheep?

    Jeremiah 23:16

    Thus says the Lord of hosts:

    “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

    17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord,

    ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

    21 “I did not send the prophets,
    yet they ran;
    I did not speak to them,
    yet they prophesied.

    23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’

    Power Prevails against False Prophets and Evil Shepherds

    Yes, men seeking power will claim gods or prophets of their own desires. Idolatry against the Living God!

    Men seeking power will always deny the Lord.

    Evil men will always lead others toward their own destruction, rejecting the Lord who forgives through Christ’s sacrifice. They do not bow down to to God’s own love for those He made in His own Image, but rather wallow in their own inevitable hopelessness. Vain hopes.

    God only will judge!

    He will lead. And to those called to His love, the Lord will redeem them in love with great grace through His own sacrifice.

    True Prophets such as Jeremiah and true kings such as David have spoken the word of the Lord.

    They have pointed to the truth of the Messiah, truth for those ‘with ears to hear‘ of His great love and mercy.

    To be continued…

    Next: Amos

  • The Beginning of the End – A Burden of the Prophets

    The Beginning of the End – A Burden of the Prophets

    Prophets – Predictions of Destruction, Redemption and the Messiah

    How many Prophets can you name?

    Why do some prophets have a book and others do not? Is every prophet of God? Why all the predictions of destruction? These are but a few of the unanswered questions about the prophets.

    Major prophets, minor prophets, false prophets, seers, and more… No wonder we seldom hear preaching from their harsh messages of doom.

    Yet more important than the messenger would be the message of the LORD.

    Burden of the Prophets

    What is the God trying to tell these people to whom the LORD sent prophets? What is the LORD telling us through the warnings of the prophets?

    Is He speaking to me? What messenger can we believe?

    What must I do now that we have heard the burden of the prophets?

    In this year’s Advent series we will explore an even more important prediction of the prophets: the burden of the end times and coming of the Messiah King.

    The Righteous Branch

    Jeremiah 23 

    “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people:

    “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

    3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

    5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.

    And this is the name by which he will be called:

    ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

    The short answer 

    Returning to our initial memory test of Names:

    Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel… Let’s see: Ezekiel and then Elisha, but they don’t have books.  (Why not, we wondered?)

    Then there are a whole bunch with shorter books… Let’s see: Zechariah (or was he a priest?), Micah… Malachi (I remember it, the last one). We are hard-pressed to remember them all, let alone know or understand what they wrote and why they wrote it.

    In fact, most books or the minor prophets are short and their message of the LORD directed to specific lands of their day. Yet I caution that the message of the LORD remains applicable in these last days.

    Timeline of the Prophets

    Here's a quick look at the 12 minor and 4 major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and (oops, I forgot briefly) Ezekiel.
    time line of mayor and minor prophets of Israel and Judah

    We find references to Elijah, Elisha and many others in several books of the Bible, largely the historical books of Kings and Chronicles. The Old and New Testaments also list those who are false, guiding God’s faithful to discernment of the agendas of evil lying men of every age.

    A brief overview of Jeremiah 23

    Jeremiah lived in the 7th century B.C. He is called the weeping prophet for good reason. Lamentations looks back to the destruction of Israel (the northern kingdom).

    Jeremiah and Zephaniah both prophesy the beginning of the end for Judah as well. King Josiah, who was the last king to do good in the sight of the Lord, would die (as do all earthly kings). A succession of evil kings would bring about the end of Judah as well. The Assyrian empire fell, but the ten banished tribes would not return to the land the Lord had promised.

    The imagery of the shepherds and the sheep is common to leaders and their followers. 

    “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” 

    Kings, religious leaders, even military or political leaders of families or tribes. Shepherds. We could apply it to a governor or bishop, a president or leader of false religion.

    “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

    Pretty harsh condemnation of powerless leadership leading their followers like sheep to the slaughter. Has so much changed in these last days?

    I will repay, says the Lord, the God of Israel.

    To be continued…

    Next: Jeremiah’s Hope

  • Feasts: Thanksgiving to God

    Feasts: Thanksgiving to God

    “These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. – Leviticus 23:4

    Feasts, Fasts & Festivals

    Americans view Thanksgiving as a defining national holiday, complete with feasts focused on our  Utopian culture of American families. Yet a stark reality lingers as a less than an alternative truth of family feasts of the American family. In fact, as I pointed out in the preface to this Thanksgiving message for 2017, we focus almost entirely on ourselves rather than God.

    Festivals, feasts and celebrations have digressed to a holiday from work. Who do we thank, anyway? Certainly not the Lord. Though these feasts may have originated with God and governments, the LORD loses honor in all lands in our contemporary celebrations of self-accomplishment.

    Never-the-less, let’s take a brief Biblical look at the origin of feasts and fasts appointed by the LORD.

     Note: Most information shared from other sources. Check out the several links for additional study.

    Feast and Holy Days and Dates 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
    Purim Adar 14 Mar. 12 Mar. 1 Mar. 21 Mar. 10 Feb. 26
    Pesach (Passover) Aviv 14 Apr. 11 Mar. 31 Apr. 20 Apr. 9 Mar. 28
    Feast of Firstfruits Aviv ___ (varies) Apr. 16 Apr. 1 Apr. 21 Apr. 12 Apr. 11
    Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) Sivan ___ (varies) June 4 §May 31 May 20 §May 20 June 9 §June 9 May 31 §May 29 May 23 §May 17
    Rosh haShanah (Feast of Trumpets) Tishri 1 Sep. 21 Sep. 10 Sep. 30 Sep. 19 Sep. 7
    Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Tishri 10 Sep. 30 Sep. 19 Oct. 9 Sep. 28 Sep. 16
    Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) Tishri 15-22 Oct. 5 Sep. 24 Oct. 14 Oct. 3 Sep. 21
    Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) Kislev 25 Dec. 13 Dec. 3 Dec. 23 Dec. 11 Nov. 29

    Feasts of the Lord

    חָגַג – to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger

    Contemporary Jewish Calendars include a mixture of Hebrew Festivals, some which are considered minor festivals, with others of more importance.

    Names of Hebrew festivals in other languages vary widely, without a singular reference such as ‘Thanksgiving’ for each.

    All preexilic festivals were “holy convocations”

    PRE-EXILIC Annual (Hebrew) Festivals
    1. Passover, 15th-22d Nican
    2. Pentecost, 6th Ciwan) Pilgrimage
    3. Tabernacles, 15th-22d Tishri) Festivals
    4. Shemini ‘Atsereth, 23d Tishri
    5. New Year, Feast of Trumpets, 1st Tishri
    6. Atonement, 10th Tishri

    Five festivals, in addition to the all-important weekly Sabbath [שַׁבָּת], monthly (28 days) New Moon, Sabbath Year (every 7) and Jubilee Year ( every 50) ALL honor the LORD! The Day of Atonement was the only ‘pre-exilic’ fast.

    Faithful worshipers of God included fasting, prayer and preparation for these feasts honoring the LORD. A feast was much more important than a mere family gathering, a feast followed a prescribed honoring of Almighty God.

    Leviticus 23:

    The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

    Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement

    Yom Kippur (in Hebrew)

    More Feasts, Fasts & Festivals

    The Hebrew calendar begins with two thanksgivings (holy convocations, rather than festivals) to the LORD.

    Both commemorate events when the Lord saved Israel: Passover or Pesach the Lord saves the Hebrew people through Moses from slavery in Egypt. And  Purim celebrates the Lord using Queen Esther during the exile to save the Hebrews from holocaust at the hands of Haman the Persian.

    Post-exilic Festivals

    After the fall of Jerusalem more than a dozen new celebrations and fasts were added to the Hebrew calendar. The period of the Babylonian captivity marks a complete change, not only in the kinds of festivals instituted from time to time, but also in the manner of celebrating the old.

    God, America & Thankfulness

    What do Hebrew holidays and a uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving have to do with you?

    (After all, most of the world is neither Hebrew or American.)

    I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations. – Psalm 57:9

    Yes, giving thanks is our most appropriate witness to the Lord.

    O, give thanks! you sons and daughters of Jacob. Yadah, yadah יָדָה the unrighteous will hear nothing of your blessings; yet we give thanks, laud and praise to your glorious Name, O Lord of Hosts!

    1 Chronicles 16:8  הֹודוּ לַֽיהוָה קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמֹו הֹודִיעוּ בָעַמִּים עֲלִילֹתָֽיו׃

    As the Lord has chosen but a remnant of Jacob for eternal redemption. God chooses no nation, but only a faithful remnant of those who believe.

    Israel fell. Rome fell. The U.S. spirals down toward destruction as has every earthly nation before us. The Lord will judge each man and woman for our own sin. He has prepared a remnant for His witness, praise and thanksgiving.

    εὐχαριστία – thankfulness, the giving of thanks

    Our witness is that the Messiah Jesus was, is and is to come – He is God in the flesh, the Spirit and Creator of all things.

    He will judge and condemn the evil which surrounds us.

    He will redeem those who call upon His Name; therefore give Him thanks for the covering of our sins.

    Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ

    John 1:

    16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

    John 3:

    God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

    and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

    See how evil unmasks evil. It cannot remain covered and neither will our sin, unless we are in Christ by his love and mercy and grace.

    20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

    Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
    the King of creation!
    O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
    health and salvation!
    All ye who hear,
    Now to His temple draw near;
    Sing now in glad adoration!

    Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
    is in me adore Him!
    All that hath life and breath, come
    now with praises before Him!

    Let the Amen
    Sound from His people again;
    Gladly for aye we adore Him.

    Psalm 103