Tag: prophet

  • Behold the Light of a New Covenant Rises from an Empty Tomb

    Behold the Light of a New Covenant Rises from an Empty Tomb

    The Solid Promise of a Covenant

    And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you. Genesis 9:9a

    And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. Exodus 24:8

    The LORD works miracles for those He loves and God works miracles impossible for man or hidden from those without eyes to see.

    Scripture records many miracles as the light of new hope for the faithful. Even when all hope seems lost, the Lord responds to prayers of the faithful.  Even before the greatest miracle ever, the Lord confirms new covenants with the return of sinners to righteousness. 

    Israel and Judah Defeated, Yet a King in the line of David Appears

    Christians may think that the miracle mentioned here is the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Yet even the greatest miracle of Jesus’ resurrection is not the only instance of an unexpected son of David.

    Perhaps a Jew diligent in scripture will recall a new covenant following a prior appearance of a son of David. 

    (Go ahead, take a shot. Do you recall such a miracle?)

    וַיִּכְרֹת כָּל־הַקָּהָל בְּרִית בְּבֵית הָאֱלֹהִים עִם־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם הִנֵּה בֶן־הַמֶּלֶךְ יִמְלֹךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה עַל־בְּנֵי דָוִֽיד׃

    Sadly, most Christians discount the importance of the Old Covenant which enriches the New Covenant of Christ.


    In a commentary of David Guzik we learn: 

    From the place where the oath was made and the context of the oath, we learn that the worship of the true God was not dead in Judah. These captains could respond to their responsibility before the LORD.

    Behold, the king’s son shall reign:

    This was a dramatic moment. For six years everyone believed there were no more surviving heirs of David’s royal line and there was no legitimate ruler to displace the wicked Athaliah. The secret had to be secure, because the king’s son would be immediately killed if his existence were revealed. The captains must have been shocked by the sight of this six-year old heir to the throne.

    And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.

    2 Chronicles 23:32


    Author’s note:

    Although I generally quote the English Standard Version, the King James suggests a forgotten formality appropriate to covenant with the LORD. 

    The King James Version English translation of the Bible was completed in 1611. It was brought to the original colonies of a rebellious new world, fleeing kingship served by religious authorities.

    Jesus entered a Jerusalem ruled by a king and religious authorities politically beholden to a godless foreign Emperor. The aging fallen empire of Israel and Judah was ruled by a growing Roman empire. But before Rome ruled Judea, Samaria, Galilee and more, several different empires had ruled a captive remnant of the Lord’s ‘chosen people.

    Israel and Judah defeated, yet another promise of a New King

    For further study of the original Hebrew, see the Jeremiah 31 link below, which includes the Orthodox Jewish Bible, ESV & KJV,

    Six centuries before Christ, Jeremiah partially reveals the character of the coming sinless Messiah 

    Jeremiah 31: KJV

    31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

    32-34 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

    But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

    And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.


    Do you also recognize his mention of the Holy Spirit, the gift of a risen Christ?

    From the Second Temple to the Herod’s Temple

    Now we move on from survival of the line of David and renewal of covenant with the Lord to about four centuries before Christ.

    Malachi, the messenger and Prophet just before a great silence foretells the arrival of another great prophet.

    Malachi 3:

    Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

    Again, Malachi speaks of not only a messenger, but also that he will be the messenger of the covenant.

    Before this most controversial teacher, prophet and King of the Jews will come another great prophet.

    Behold the Light

    “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

    – John 9:5

    Genesis 1:

    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

    3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

    John 1:

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    2 The same was in the beginning with God.

    3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

    4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

    5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

    6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

    7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

    8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

    9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

    10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

    11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

    The Expected Messiah

    Luke 3:15-22

    15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not…

    And those in Judah remembered that Herod had beheaded John.

    Yet some recalled hearing thunder as Jesus had been baptized by John. Others recalled how Jesus had healed many, saying their sins were forgiven. Some even told of a boy in Nain who Jesus raised to life from a coffin! Even more witnesses knew the truth of Lazareth from nearby Bethany.

    But the authorities had arrested Jesus secretly at night during the Passover. How could they capture the seemingly all-powerful Son of Man and sentence Jesus to a death more horrendous than John? Why would God allow this to happen?

    The LORD began to reveal a few answers just at the time of the Sacrifice of Righteous Blood on a Cross. For only the Twelve had first witnessed the reason for Jesus’ Sacrifice as they shared a last Passover Seder in a private upper room.

    Matthew 26: NKJV

    ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”

    19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

    20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve…

    A New Covenant

    26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

    27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.

    28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

    Between the Cross and the empty tomb

    We could have begun with the road to Emmaus or other liturgically familiar retelling of the Resurrection of Christ Jesus. I have chosen instead to share less familiar scriptures, also testimony to the Truth of the resurrection of Christ.

    Imagine the immanent fear of those who had cried out, “crucify him! crucify him!” when this happened?

    Matthew 27:52-53 KJV 

    And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

    Who would not fear it, after realizing that our own words and actions had convicted the Messiah – God With Us in the flesh?

    Yet His Disciples, who witnessed His New Covenant, would teach the reason for His Sacrifice.

    “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” – Matthew 26:23

    Those who had just celebrated Passover knew well the need for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins. But because of our contemporary worldly forgetfulness, allow me ask your consideration of the meaning of remission.

    ἄφεσις ἁμαρτία – in the common Greek of the day: aphesis hamartia

    The remission of sins:

     I. release from bondage or imprisonment

    II. forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty

    [Sin] I. to be without a share in, pr to miss the mark, to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin

    II. that which is done wrong, sin, an offence, a violation of the divine law in thought or in act

    III. collectively, the complex or aggregate of sins committed either by a single person or by many

    The blood of Christ, given for you and for many for the remission of sins.

    His purpose is clear.

    Jesus becomes our Perfect Passover Sacrifice for the remission of sins. The Messiah suffered death, that final enemy captive to sin.

    Christ returned from the darkness of death; He IS the Light of eternal life!

    Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw Jesus. Jesus met the Apostles and they came up to Him, held the Lord by His feet and worshiped Him. [Matthew 28]

    The Lord walked with two disciples leaving Jerusalem, explaining the Messiah of Scripture, breaking bread with them and after being recognized, He vanished! Jesus appeared to the Disciples, allowing them to touch His resurrected body, and He ate fish with them. He taught them, as before; but now their eyes were opened. [Luke 24]

    Jesus appears to the Disciples again by the Sea of Tiberius (Sea of Galilee). John reveals an intimate conversation of Jesus with Peter, restoring him from denial and telling Peter of the kind of death he would suffer.  The Acts of the Apostles reveal that the risen Christ prepared the Apostles for their mission to go into all the world for forty days until His ascension into the clouds. (Imagine witnessing that!) And Paul later reveals that ‘Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom [were alive at the time he wrote his letter to the church at Corinth].

    Clearly, Jesus IS! He is the Light of life and the hope of mankind.

    No covenant or promise between the LORD and His created is more important to the redeemed in Christ than this New covenant, a New Testament to the love of Almighty God for those made in his Image.

    May the joy of the resurrection of Christ Jesus fill your heart, satisfy your soul and embrace your failing flesh in the Light of His love.

    Grace and peace, beloved saint.

  • 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

  • for it was not the season for figs – 7

    for it was not the season for figs – 7

    The Lord Christ Jesus preaches the Prophets as well as the Law.

    Read Habakkuk or any prophet and see the Lord predicted in days & centuries Before Christ.

    Jesus shares scripture in ways few understand. Application may well apply to these last days as well. RH

    Roger@TalkofJesus.com
    This series from summer 2017 began here.
    https://talkofjesus.com/not-season-figs-prologue/ 

    The Lord warns of the tree and it’s fruit

    In the early preaching of Jesus (right after the golden rule) Jesus offers this warning.


    A Tree and Its Fruit

    15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. 

    Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

    17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

    19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.


    Though the fig tree does not blossom

    What shall we do?

    “We live thistle-bound lives in lands of lost promise.”

    “For the nations are led astray by men and women who seek not the will of the Lord.”


    The garden of the Lord seems long lost to sin.

    Leaders listening to the Lord’s command are no more.

    Judges enact rules of unrighteousness.

    Kings conquer, covet and divide.

    Prophets no longer warn of God displeasure of even ‘christians‘ living this ‘life’ and the Lord’s silence disheartens the generations.


    In the first century A.D. during Jesus’ ministry:

    The head of John the Baptist has passed on a platter and crowds of Jerusalem under Rome look for a Messiah and King. 

    A prophet seven centuries earlier had cursed a fig tree on their behalf echoing the hearts of this Passover procession with Palms – our Palm Sunday multitude.


    Habakkuk 1: NKJV

    O Lord, how long shall I cry,
    And You will not hear?

    Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
    And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
    A person more righteous than he?

    O, faithless fig tree, dear dried up vine; do you believe that you alone have cried out to the Lord for mercy?

    Habakkuk 3:

    O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid;
    O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
    In the midst of the years make it known;
    In wrath remember mercy.

    A Hymn of Faith

    17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
        nor fruit be on the vines,
    the produce of the olive fail
        and the fields yield no food,
    the flock be cut off from the fold
        and there be no herd in the stalls,
    18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
        I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
    19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
        he makes my feet like the deer's;
        he makes me tread on my high places.
    

    A second look at a triumphal entry

    17 Though the fig tree may not blossom,
    Nor fruit be on the vines;
    Though the labor of the olive may fail,
    And the fields yield no food;
    Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
    And there be no herd in the stalls—
    18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will joy in the God of my salvation.


    Matthew 21:
    4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

    5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
    ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
    humble, and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

    9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

    10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

    11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

    12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

    14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

    17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.


    To be continued…

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